DESIGNING BETTER LIVING THROUGH STRENGTH
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EUGENIZATION
a personal training blog

I Can’t Perform This Exercise.

June 23, 2009

One of my young wards has an algebra final today that he has been dreading for the better part of the last two weeks.  The obvious reason: He’s “not so good in math.”  Now, mind you, he’s a thoughtful, insightful kid to whom most things (in school, anyways) come easy.
Often, when undergoing the learning process, [...]

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The Restaurant Analogy.

June 18, 2009

Often I’m asked why I disagree that fat loss is “merely a game of calories in vs. calories out” and maintain that it’s a function of hormonal tone.  Gary Taubes makes an interesting analogy:
If you owned a restaurant and hired me as a consultant to help you figure out why business is down, and I [...]

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Priorities: Part 2, or Nutrition in 5 Easy Questions.

June 11, 2009

In Part 1 of this mini-series, I proposed that creating an algorithm can help you minimize confusion and help you to wade through the muck of needlessly complex training systems out there.  I proposed a general method of cataloging “valid” exercise systems based on emphasis on strength, progression, and recovery.  Part of why it’s difficult [...]

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Priorities – Part 1: Exercise.

May 29, 2009

This whole fitness and nutrition thing can be tough.  The newsstand at your local Barnes and Noble carries no less than 10 different magazines, all purporting to offer The Program for vibrant health and physical beauty; and did I mention that each magazine contains 8 or 9 different routines (all different, of course, depending on [...]

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Progress…Is Really Boring.

May 26, 2009

An awful lot of money is spent on promoting the whiz-bang, glamorous image of being fit, strong, and healthy.  What you don’t see promoted is the diligence required to get there.
Here, in no particular order, are some inconvenient truths about going from looking like this to this:
1. It takes the patience of a stonecutter, the [...]

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Compounding.

May 21, 2009

I had an interesting exchange with a client earlier today.  Actually, “exchange” is too polite a term; let’s call it what it was – a full-on argument.  The fundamental disagreement: We spend too much time talking about the exercises and not enough time doing them.
What my client wanted to do was to bang out exercises, [...]

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Ignore The Voice.

May 14, 2009

I woke up today desperately wishing I hadn’t.  I’m sure you know the feeling – everything hurts, and it feels like it takes all the strength in the world to walk those 5 steps or so into the bathroom and start your day.
All day, I had a voice inside my head telling me, “You’re tired.  [...]

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Misalignment.

May 12, 2009

One of the key concepts that I’ve tried to use in my application of Brazilian Jiujitsu is the idea of misalignment.  If you’ve ever partaken in an organized sport of any kind, you’ve probably heard the phrase, “Where the head goes, the body follows.”  Well, the converse is true as well – if you want [...]

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An Apology, an Explanation, and an Observation.

April 28, 2009

I’d like to apologize to the readers of this blog for my inactivity as of late.  Several interesting changes have occurred in my life recently, two of which are notable enough to me to actually mention:
First, I received my purple belt in BJJ.  To say I was stoked is an incredible understatement.  I refer you [...]

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On Efficiency and Effectiveness.

April 15, 2009

Phyllis asks:
…but why do my shoulders keep popping up? If I know what the proper form is supposed to be, then why do I keep doing the same thing wrong? It’s not like I’m trying to do the exercise in bad form, it’s like they have a mind of their own.
The short answer: [...]

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