The merriment of yet another season. It officially starts with Thanksgiving, followed by Christmas, and ultimately ends with New Year’s Eve.  It is at this time of the year that most individuals, who are disciplined in watching what they consume, fall victim to the holidays and ingest food in incalculable proportions. I chronicled my own episode in the “Christmas Glutton”.  This year, I decided…

I have seen a lot of strange things occur in the gym, but nothing remotely close to what I’m about to describe.  I just finished training a client and was headed back to the office when the following happened.  “Can you tell me what this is?”  A lanky young man was pushing his cellphone towards me. In the picture, he was shirtless. He must have noticed the perplexed look on my face, because he…

I just stepped out of the office and saw a familiar face on the hyperextension bench. Since I did not want to interrupt her, I simply nodded.  “Hello,” she said.  I nodded again.  “I don’t know why I can’t lose it.”  “Uh?”  “I can’t lose the fat,” she said, pointing at her stomach and hips.  “Have you tried working those lagging areas first?”  “Hmm?”  “Work those areas at the outset of…

It must be disconcerting when one comes to the realization that he or she has been living a lie.  The above statement has so much resounding truth that one needs to really introspect the validity of the protestation, to determine where did he or she went wrong.  I alluded to it in previous articles, “What Did You Do”, and “What Are You Hiding?”  I’ll let you in on how this conversation…

Oh no, I can hear you crying if you’ve read any of my previous articles. Not another one about being out of shape. I can unequivocally state that this article is nothing similar to “I Want To Lose Weight”.  While the topic may be similar, the tenets of this article are vastly different. The thought came when a client asked a simple question. He was performing a Standing Calf Raise, and looked at…

If you think that people are not looking at you, then you are sadly mistaken. I would say that you could count me in with the latter. No where was this more prevalent than in the gym. My wife would query about a particular person doing an exercise. My daughter would ask me if I saw the look another gym goer gave her.  What befuddled me wasn’t their questions, but if each had been working hard at…

I had just finished my workout. I was inputting my last set into the BodySpace App, when I became aware of a group of women by the Hack Squat Machine.  My attention was drawn by the fact that not one of the women used the machine, but rather stood by it engaged in conversation. I watched in dismayed for a few moments more, knowing that my annoyance might have shown if I had needed the…

This will sound harsh, and perhaps it is. There is a mindset one must develop in order to transform his or her physique. When confronted with the daily, weekly, and monthly expectations in order to achieve results most individuals start planning for contingencies, well in advance of laying the foundation of a SMART plan.  Why would someone do this?  The answer may have a myriad of reasons, but…

Read any of my previous articles and you will discover that I don’t spend an inordinate amount of time telling you how to do a particular exercise or go into great details about workout programs.  Bodybuilding is not a cookie cutter approach. What may work for one individual, invariably might not work for the next. What I do however, and some may say it borders on the excessive is to detail, the…

It’s mind boggling to think that something so simple can be construed as being shrouded in a veil of secrecy. What is even more astounding is there are individuals who frequent the gym year after year, doing the same thing and seeing little to no results. These individuals mistakenly believe that anyone who has transformed his or her body, must be taking some extra substance that they are not…

It’s the battle cry heard around the world. It’s a dissonant unmelodious cry, which often goes unheard. How could that be, you may ask.  How could a sound be filled with so much discord, yet be so imperceptible that it goes unheeded. If the hearer was able to discern the sound, why would he or she not heed its simple request?  Let me state the complete aforementioned title before I…

I am quite sure you will recognize this person. This individual query what you do for a living. He or she doesn’t really care to hear your answer, it is just a way for them to expound ad nauseam what he or she does for a living.  I encountered this particular individual at the local bagel shop I frequent. Up to that point I had been lucky that his unwelcome and unwarranted prattle was levied at…

All you have is time . . . "Why is a raven like a writing desk?"

There is a mad scramble to get things done. People are in such a rush. They will honk at you if you are driving slowly, oblivious that there may be an obstruction ahead of you.  They are in a rush. They are in a hurry. It’s a world of instant gratification. They are impatient. They simply cannot wait.  I encounter some many of these overeager underachievers at the gym. Most are overweight, and…

The desire to do a thing, means you have the power to do it. The reason why you are incapable of doing it at the moment is that the power to do it is undeveloped.  Someone told me that they lacked motivation to go to the gym.  I immediately corrected her, and told her that what she lacks was desire. She looked oddly at me, and asked what was the difference.  The two most prevalent motivations…

What could be more insidious than Fear of Failure (FOF)?   Can anything really be worse than that? Not worse, but just as debilitating. What we have here with is an affliction of the mind.  The other side of a two-faced coin is where FOS resides!  Once rooted in the mind, this unceasing, and unyielding fear engulfs the individual, rendering him or her powerless to act.  The FEAR of…

Are you willing to help me, help you?

This has occurred more often than I can or care to remember. Surprisingly and unerringly, always culminating in the same outcome.  I am often deluged with requests to assist an individual in achieving their fitness goals. In the beginning, I made the folly of believing that all who sought help really wanted it. I soon discovered that what most wanted was a sympathetic ear to listen to them as…

I was seated with my wife and daughters in an unfamiliar restaurant. At the conclusion of brunch, my eldest daughter began telling me what exercises she had performed in the gym. The routine consisted of what I would characterize as a two-day split. One day she did upper body, and the next day her lower.  I listened intently as she spoke, restraining myself from interrupting or passing…