Holistic Fitness

I remember the day I realized I’d been teaching squats somewhat incorrectly for the first ten years of my career. It was about fifteen years ago, and I was working with a 62-year-old grandmother who’d never set foot in a gym before. I was going through my usual spiel about keeping your knees behind your…

About twenty one years ago, I made one of several mistakes of my training career, and it taught me much about what I needed to know about the real pros and cons of squatting. I was working with this enthusiastic client named Ed who’d heard that squats were the “king of all exercises” and wanted…

For the first fifteen years of my career, I completely underestimated the power of squatting. I was so caught up in all the fancy equipment and complex training programs that I overlooked one of the most fundamental human movements. Then I met Elena, a 78-year-old woman from Greece who visited my gym while staying with…

Years ago, I had what I now call my “evolutionary fitness wake-up call,” and it happened in the most unlikely place – as I was speaking to a customer while loading his pick up truck. I was there loading functional fitness equipment he had chosen, feeling pretty confident about my modern training methods and all…

I find it educational to reflect back on three decades of watching people transform their bodies and, more importantly, their lives through strength training, I’ve seen just about every mistake you can imagine. And honestly? I’ve made most of them myself back in the day, some more than once. The biggest eye-opener for me came…

I had what you might call my “movement awakening” about fifteen years ago, and it happened in the most unexpected place – watching my friend’s two-year-old daughter play in their backyard. While the adults sat around talking and barely moving except to reach for our drinks, this little kid was in constant motion. She’d squat…