Disclaimer: I am not a doctor, nutritionist, dietician, or nutrition professional of any kind. I am just sharing my experiences and insights working with a wide variety of people whose over-arching goal is to be healthier, stronger, and/or more fit. That is the perspective and experience I am pulling from. Any nutrition concerns you have should be discussed with a professional. As a trainer, I am often asked, "What should I be eating?" or some variation. The truth is, I canno

First of all, apologies for this rambling post. As you will see, I have reasons for being a little less tight and focused this week, but I had some thoughts I wanted to share. Yesterday and today, I am convalescing. I love the word "convalesce," makes me feel like a fine lady of the Victorian era, and that is more fun than the idea of "bed-rotting." But it amounts to the same thing. I have to lay around, focus energy on healing, and try not to pop any stitches. I had a minor

When I tell you that there is an activity you can do every day that will give you pleasure, increased mobility, faster recovery from injury or exercise, and a better relationship with your body, I probably sound like a snake-oil salesman. I wrote recently about recovery strategies, and one of them was fascial release, otherwise known as massage, foam rolling, Theragun. Stretching falls under fascial release as well, when done very slowly. What is fascial release exactly? Well

Everyone needs a rest day, but this doesn't have to mean derailing your goals or breaking your streak of moving your body every day. A rest day is about letting your body recover from the exercise you did during the other days of the week, and I would recommend always having one true rest day in your week. This doesn't mean you can't move your body, though! It just means not undertaking any activity that will compromise recovery. However, there are many activities that promot

Training can feel very serious. The discourse online is generally how to get the most from your workouts, how to reach your goals, how to get from A to B the fastest way possible, and I'll be the first to admit that I contribute to this. I don't want to waste time! If you have tight, time-constrained goals, maybe talking about fun feels a little cruel. You can't afford fun! You have to squeeze in your workouts, your dietary tracking, your recovery! And maybe you're right. If

People often come to me with issues, injuries, or just plain aches-and-pains that they are hoping exercise will improve. One of my great secret weapons is unilateral training. What does that mean? Unilateral training refers to exercises where you train one side of the body at a time (like single-leg lunges or one-arm dumbbell presses). Whether you are training for everyday functional fitness, athletic performance, or general strength, incorporating unilateral work can elevate

This might strike some as over-sharing, or just another person sharing their mental health struggles, but today I will take that risk. In the age of AI, personal stories are the only way I can show you I am a human. Not every moment can be fun and fireworks. Sometimes you just have to trudge through the dull stuff to get to what you want. At 30 years old, I was diagnosed with ADHD, and after getting therapy and medication, doing some workbooks and CBT, I unlocked the ability

I work with people in their homes often, so I wanted to take some time to put together a list for useful things to have in a home gym that would get you through almost any workout with creativity. If you had the equipment listed below, I could easily design a full body work out or program to help you reach most goals. I know not everyone has the space, money, or desire to go for a full-blown home gym, so I have arranged these in two tiers. The Entry tier is for beginners and

Last week I wrote about preventing injuries. This week, I would like to touch on what you should do when an injury happens. I am not a doctor, and I generally recommend that be your first step if you have an active injury. I am also not a physical therapist. I cannot prescribe specific movements to help treat your issue and address the deeper causes of your injury. However, once you are through the acute period of an injury, I do have some advice on how to move past it and ge

One of the main reasons people seek out a personal trainer is to prevent injuries. This is valid, and one of the main reasons I love helping people workout. Having someone plan workouts with your particular history of injuries, bodily proportions, and comfort in mind should be more accessible, and then having someone watch while you perform those workouts to keep an eye on how your body is moving, and whether certain movements are going to increase your risk for injuring a jo

So you have a fitness goal, but you struggle to build the habit. Here are my top tips that work for me, as well as my clients. Make it non-negotiable The way to do this depends on your own personal life and systems, but here are some examples that work for myself and others I have worked with. Put it on the calendar, digital, paper, whatever you use. If you have a work calendar, block it off. Be specific and realistic. Make sure to factor in changing, showering, commute. Putt

Starting your workout without a proper warm-up and activation routine can limit your performance and increase the risk of injury. Many people rush into their exercise sessions eager to get results, but skipping these crucial steps often leads to muscle strains, joint pain, or simply underwhelming progress. Understanding why warm-ups and activations matter can transform your fitness journey and help you unlock your full potential. Why Warm-Ups Matter Warm-ups prepare your body

There is always a lot of discourse in fitness circles about "pushing through" when you don't feel like working out, and I want to be the first to raise my timid hand to say that this is not always what I do when I am just not feeling like working out. I developed a different approach over the years that has really helped me build up consistency, and I want to share a little of that today in hopes that it will help some of you. When is it right to just put the weights down? Di

You may not think of fitness as an art. A science, perhaps, or just a thing on your to-do list. A passion project for some, for others a thing to be avoided. I try to think of all endeavors where humans put their time, energy, creativity, and problem-solving into play as a form of art. After all, is not a beautifully designed, functional website as much a piece of art as a sculpture? Is fashion not just the art of getting dressed? Paintings were made as a way to decorate home

This subject is near and dear to my heart currently, as I am making a big career transition. From November 2025 until May 2026, I took a step back into full time work. It was in many ways wonderful, but mostly, it increased the stress load in my life from a manageable 5-6 out of 10 to a nail-biting 9. It was a role with a lot of human resource management (As in I was managing humans, AND answering to a lot more human resources concerns of a larger business organization), majo

Planning your workout will depend entirely on your goals, and if you haven't established those goals, or really thought about why you...

Welcome, or welcome back! Today I want to talk a little about cardio. What does it mean? How do you do it? How much do you really need?...

I know you are busy. You have so little time, and life takes it all up. But you still want to make your physical health a priority, and...

The number one reason I see people failing to meet their goals is a staple, and one that has been on my mind a lot lately, as it is...

Starting a gym habit can be simple for some. Not many, but they exist. For others (like myself, and probably you), it can be tough to...