Four Advanced Moves for Building a Strong, Balanced Back

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Four Advanced Moves for Building a Strong, Balanced Back

Everyone loves a good chest workout, including yours truly, but you shouldn’t neglect your “posterior chain”. Ignoring back day can deteriorate your posture, lead to injuries and wreak havoc on your athletic performance. If your back program is in need of some inspiration, consider these programming tips and four advanced moves for adding functional strength and symmetry to your upper, mid and lower back. Oh, and they’ll help you look great in a tank top too.

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Q: Can You Really Hit Your Ideal Protein Goal? A: Yes! Here's How.

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Q: Can You Really Hit Your Ideal Protein Goal? A: Yes! Here's How.

Many of my nutrition and training clients find success in flexible dieting. If their goal is fat loss, the most important thing is to maintain a modest calorie deficit over time. But if maintaining or building lean muscle is also a goal, we have to make sure they are hitting their protein target. Sometimes this means aiming for ~175-200g protein in a day on a ~2,400kcal diet which can seem impossible at first. So here is a sample day for how that can be achieved that won't leave you starving and will likely leave you feeling full and satisfied. 

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Want to Grow Your Pecs? Try This Chest Workout.

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Want to Grow Your Pecs? Try This Chest Workout.

In this video Marcia Robles and I demonstrate six movements that use a variety of modalities (dumbbells, cables, barbells), angles and rep ranges to maximize muscle growth in the chest. If you're looking to grow your pecs, give this program a look.

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Tired of the treadmill? Sick of the Elliptical? Try Rowing.

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Tired of the treadmill? Sick of the Elliptical? Try Rowing.

Tired of the treadmill? Sick of the Elliptical? Try Rowing. If you haven’t gotten the memo yet, you need to be doing cardio. After cleaning up your diet and getting sufficient sleep it is one of the most important things you should be doing to stay healthy and fit. But I get it. You’re busy. So what form of cardio will give you the biggest bang for your buck? When done properly rowing is a metabolic, total body workout that strengthens a lot of areas the average desk-bound folks needs to work on. But without proper form you may find your lower back, hips and neck hurting. Check out rowing tips and videos from my latest Law.com Fit Counselor column. 

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Ditch the Crap: Try These Healthy and Tasty Snacks

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Ditch the Crap: Try These Healthy and Tasty Snacks

When the mid-morning, mid-afternoon or late night munchies hit, be ready. Don't fall prey to office vending machines, desktop candy bowls or those left over cookies from a client meeting. Get your booty to Trader Joe's and make sure you have some of these healthier (and still super tasty) options on hand at work and home to tide you over. Presented here in somewhat random order. Enjoy!

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Podcast: Is Your Law Firm Making You Flabby? Now Hear This.

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Podcast: Is Your Law Firm Making You Flabby? Now Hear This.

Carving out the time to stay fit is tough for lots of lawyers who spend long workdays sitting on their duffs. In this Legal Speak episode, we talk with Jonathan Jordan, a fitness trainer at Equinox in San Francisco and corporate wellness consultant. Jordan, also a Law.com columnist, works with a number of busy lawyers who want to combat the effects of their high-stress, but sedentary jobs. As he explains, even small changes in daily routines can make a difference. And when that happens, lawyers—and their firms—reap the benefits.

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JJFit/DEXAFIT 8 Week Body Comp Challenge

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JJFit/DEXAFIT 8 Week Body Comp Challenge

My good friend and fellow fitness professional @MichaelBonella is offering JJFit.com readers a great deal on DXA scans booked in July. As I've blogged about, the information these tests provide helps me build the most effective exercise and nutrition programs for my clients. Check out the details in this flyer and book your appointment with him via email at Michael.Bonella@dexafit.com. 

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Brides, Body Image and Building a Strong Fitness Foundation

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Brides, Body Image and Building a Strong Fitness Foundation

I recently started working with a young, successful and fierce bride-to-be who has infinitely impressed and charmed me. It's easy for clients to succumb to pressure (from themselves, the media, family, etc) to look "perfect" on the big day. Sometimes the quest for the ideal body can lead to negative self talk, unhealthy behaviors and mental and physical stress. What impresses me about Erica is her primary desire to BE healthy and happy. In this post she shares her journey and perspective with us on body image, building a strong fitness foundation and setting expectations.

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Five of the Most Effective Methods for Reducing Body Fat

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Five of the Most Effective Methods for Reducing Body Fat

I get so tired of gimmicky, unsafe and ineffective products promoting unrealistic promises of trim waistlines and washboard ads. While fat loss is generally a function of "calories in, calories out" there are some helpful cardio and nutritional methods for helping stimulate fat loss. These five methods have helped many of my clients over the years get lean and more healthy safely and with minimal kicking and screaming.

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JJ's Body Challenge Workout and Playlists

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JJ's Body Challenge Workout and Playlists

I've had the privilege of instructing my Body Challenge strength class at Equinox Pine Street for over a year. We started with Tuesdays at 6a and when folks asked for more we added Thursdays at 6a. Over time my crew of morning ninjas has grown and my core students have gotten stronger, improved their posture and become more athletic. They've learned how to safely perform all the main lifts (squats, deadlifts, lunges, pulls and presses) and how to create stability in their cores. When my students travel they tell me they really miss my class and their community. So now you can take a little piece of Pine Street with you on the road. Just toss an ankle band in your carry on and you'll be good to go!

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Worried About Calluses? Here's What You Need to Know.

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Worried About Calluses? Here's What You Need to Know.

Hardbody? Heck yes! Calluses that inevitably result from lifting weights in an attempt to become said hardbody? That’s a nope. But alas, hard pads of skin and lifting weights tend to go hand in callused hand, with calluses most often appearing at the base of the fingers. There are, however, a few simple tricks to prevent and remove calluses (and all those other pesky skin ailments) caused by hitting the gym. Checkout tips from me and dermatologist Rajani Katta in this article from Ian Lecklitner from the DSC blog. 

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You Exercise and Eat Right. Now, About Those Sleep Habits

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You Exercise and Eat Right. Now, About Those Sleep Habits

As a personal trainer and a wellness consultant I work with a lot of folks struggling to balance the stresses of life. Those who carve out time to exercise and eat healthy often sacrifice sleep to get it all done.Only 2.5% of the population has a sleep need less than six hours per night. The average person needs 7-8 hours of QUALITY sleep. Making sleep a priority can be challenging, but it is equally as important to our well-being as nutrition and exercise. These 11 tips have helped my clients improve their sleep behaviors making them healthier humans and better professionals.

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A Typical Day in the Life of an Equinox T3+ Trainer

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A Typical Day in the Life of an Equinox T3+ Trainer

I was asked by my recruiting team to chart out a typical day in my life so new trainers or those considering a career in personal training can get a glimpse of what to expect. I've been lucky over the years to expand my work to also include group fitness, massage therapy, corporate wellness, blogging and mentoring. I should note, this a real, typical day in "this" Equinox Tier 3+ Trainer's life. I don't speak for Equinox or other trainers. Just me. And yes, I change my clothes A LOT during the course of day depending on what I'm doing. Ok, here we go.  

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Don't Skip These Key Warm Ups (They Only Take About 5 Minutes)

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Don't Skip These Key Warm Ups (They Only Take About 5 Minutes)

If you're one of those people who struggles to find time to workout, much less time to warm up properly, I can relate. One of the biggest complaints I hear from clients, especially those who have gone through physical therapy to recover from an injury, is that their list of warm up exercises would take them 30-45+ minutes to finish and they just don't have the time to get them all done. So they skip their warm up alltogether even though they know it will likely lead to more pain and injury. So, if you are short on time and can only muster a few minutes to warm up before your run, bike ride or any other form of cardio, here are the most important things NOT to skip. 

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Kinesiology Taping for Pain, Posture and Performance

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Kinesiology Taping for Pain, Posture and Performance

I recently spent an entire weekend geeking out over fascia, feet and movement with the amazing Dr. Courtney Conley. It was awesome to be in a room with dozens of physical therapists, chiropractors, emergency responders and massage therapists all focused on helping our clients reduce pain and improve their movement. I left the weekend not only with two FMT certifications for assessing clients and applying kinesiology tape, but with a renewed passion and fascination for how the brain and body are connected and how we can improve that connection through physical stimulus like kinesiology tape. 

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"Me Pretty" Mac & Cheese

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"Me Pretty" Mac & Cheese

Many of my favorite healthy and tasty recipes are inspired by my clients. I love it when they take our nutrition coaching ideas into the kitchen and dream up new, fun ways to eat clean. This one is a winner from my rock star client Geoff. In addition to having the best animated Elmo gifs he also has the best reinvention of this classic comfort food that I call "Me Pretty" Mac & Cheese.  

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