So, you’ve decided you want to get swole, how much work do you need to put in to see results? It seems like the evidence-based fitness folk have come to a fairly strong consensus that optimal volume for building muscle mass is between 10-20 sets per muscle group. But how much time do you (andContinue reading “How much do we have to lift to get bigger muscles?”
Category Archives: Disability
Can Intuitive Lifting Lead Us Towards a More Inclusive Lifting Space?
There’s lots of folks out there who want to be stronger and build muscle. Only a small percentage of them can commit to 4-5 training sessions a week, an hour more at a time, doing the most effective, optimal exercises year in and year out. Barriers include, but are not limited to: So, here’s aContinue reading “Can Intuitive Lifting Lead Us Towards a More Inclusive Lifting Space?”
Lifting with Tigers in the Room
I have PTSD and lifting weights can trigger me. I love lifting weights, and I’ve spent the last half year or so trying to figure out how I can keep lifting in my life. What I have learned is that lifting, for me, for now, requires that I practice radical self-acceptance–listening to all the subtleContinue reading “Lifting with Tigers in the Room”
How much do genetics define our physique results and how much should we care?
At 16, I dreamt of becoming a geneticist–that or the lead singer/songwriter for a band. Genetics was a new and exciting scientific frontier (whereas my songwriting admittedly didn’t mesh with the then-current Pacific NW grunge scene). Back in the Nineties, we believed that we could unlock the genetic code of anyone and read each ofContinue reading “How much do genetics define our physique results and how much should we care?”
The Importance of Inclusive Examples
How do I color like a 4-year-old? The question perplexed me. I was fourteen, working my first “real” job at a daycare center, and I’d been given the instruction that when I join them for creative tasks, I was to protect the children’s self-esteem by not working too far ahead of their abilities. So, asContinue reading “The Importance of Inclusive Examples”
The Value of Resilience and Lazy Metaphors
What do you do when life throws you a curveball?(1) Do your systems collapse? Do you rigidly adhere to what you think is best or most optimal and hope you can hold it all together until things settle down? Or do you practice flexibility and self-compassion, allow things to change as they need to butContinue reading “The Value of Resilience and Lazy Metaphors”
My Take on the Sumo Debate
Is the Sumo deadlift cheating? There’s a lot of discussion in the evidence-based space and once again, it’s a discussion being had between elite strength and physique athletes who are men. So, what’s missing from this conversation? Rather than debating the relative efficacy of sumo versus conventional, limb lengths, angles, which is quad dominant orContinue reading “My Take on the Sumo Debate”
“Don’t instill fear unless it’s going to actively harm someone,” Iron Culture Podcast, Ep. 168- Movement Screens & Modalities Roundtable (ft. Nick Licameli, Jared Maynard & John Flagg)
I was very happy to hear this conversation on Iron Culture last week about pain, physical therapy and getting back to activities after an injury. I talk a lot about my own physical limitations, and I’ve seen a lot of physical therapists in the last decade. When physical therapy works well for me, it givesContinue reading ““Don’t instill fear unless it’s going to actively harm someone,” Iron Culture Podcast, Ep. 168- Movement Screens & Modalities Roundtable (ft. Nick Licameli, Jared Maynard & John Flagg)”
“There is no going back,” Iron Culture Podcast, Ep. 167- The Resurrection of a Powerlifter (ft. Mike Tuchscherer)
Gotta say, I’ve enjoyed this conversation more than most of the recent episodes of Iron Culture. I like it when the guys get other folks with new perspectives on the show to broaden the conversation. Without out it, in my opinion, especially on the science-focused conversations, Eric can get a little mansplainy, and I missContinue reading ““There is no going back,” Iron Culture Podcast, Ep. 167- The Resurrection of a Powerlifter (ft. Mike Tuchscherer)”
Never Stop Lifting: How to Use Progressions and Regressions to Make Any Program Work for You
Regressing lifts might be one of my superpowers. I’ve written many times about the numerous physical challenges I experience and have to work around in order to keep lifting part of my world. And when my body was bigger, and my fitness levels were nearly nonexistent, most strength training programming was way over my currentContinue reading “Never Stop Lifting: How to Use Progressions and Regressions to Make Any Program Work for You”
Progressive Strength 