There are lots of reasons to want a strong butt: looks, decreased back pain, healthier knees, and stronger hips. As I tell my clients all the time, a strong butt sets you up to do whatever you want in life. It is literally key to everything, and that is a hill I’m willing to die on.
In this blog post, we’ll focus on activating your glutes. Gluteal muscles switch off for all sorts of reasons (Dead Butt Syndrome anyone?). What we want to do is flip that glute switch the ON position.
The good news is that there are dozens (if not more) of glute exercises. I’ll do my best to organize them into something that makes sense here, so let’s look at some of my favorite glute exercises.
Working out at home can be convenient, safe, and fun — but only if your space is set up right. Otherwise, it can be a total disaster. In this blog post, we’ll go over what to do (and not do) when you’re setting up a home gym or workout space.
Ever wonder why some people seem to get better results out of their workouts than other people? Chances are, if you talk to a gym rat who knows what they’re doing, they’ll tell you about the strategy behind their workouts — periodization.
Kind of like how babies learn to crawl before they learn to walk, a good workout program should build on itself in a systematic way. Another way to think about it is like gears on a 10-speed bike (or in a car). You start out in the lowest gear, which gets you ready for the next gear, and so on.
There are all sorts of ways to build periodized programs, but just so we don’t get in the weeds, I’ll focus on only one way: a workout program built for my typical client.
“Coffee: because I’ll sleep when I’m dead,” said the smiling Don Draper-looking man, gesturing carelessly with his mug of black coffee, which caused a little to splash out. This was on a magnet at a coffee shop I worked at when I was younger. Funny, yes. True, also yes.
Sleep is one of the most important things a person can do to live linger, get better results in the gym, be more productive, and be happier all around. It’s also my favorite way to be healthier! As a personal trainer and nutrition coach, I recommend it to literally every single client I work with.
Ever see someone without a butt? I have. It’s usually an old white guy who has never purposefully exercised after his high-school sports career was over. But more and more, it’s been happening to all sorts of people. People who wanted weight loss but have lost more than they bargained for — their asses.
A common side effect of rapid weight loss starting to get more attention thanks to social media communities on TikTok and Instagram. What is now being called “Ozempic Butt,” is what happens when someone rapidly loses weight without their body hanging onto muscle tone. Even if a person is active, weight-loss-induced muscle wasting is a common side effect of popular GLP-1 agonist drugs like Ozempic and Mounjaro. The drugs, which work by slowing the digestive tract, thus tamping down hunger signals, can be incredibly helpful and even life-saving for people with certain medical conditions but are commonly prescribed off-label for rapid weight loss.
According to the National Cancer Institute, almost 4 out of 10 people will be diagnosed with cancer at some point in their life. While the survival rate continues to rise,exercise has been shown to reduce the risk of recurrence in cancer patients. Regular vigorous physical activity can also improve mood, sleep, and energy levels, as well as lessen anxiety and treatment-related side effects. Sam Mayercik had thyroid cancer in 2006 and remembers how much a simple walking routine helped her, “I knew it was a big part of my healing.”
Anyone who is even mildly interested in fitness has probably seen a gym fail video or two. If you haven’t, let me tell you what you’re missing. Imagine a montage of video clips showing people flailing around with a set of dumbbells, lifting too much weight with bad form, or just convulsing on a machine that wasn’t supposed to be used that way. Some of them are pretty hilarious, but a lot of them show people getting injured. The first few times I saw one, I thought it was pretty funny, but now I just find them a little bit mean and sad.
