Best Way to Warm-Up Before Exercise

Best Way to Warm-Up Before Exercise

Over the past 20-30 years, fitness and sports training programs have evolved in a way that yield exceptional human performance results. You may remember in the 70-80’s, a 4.5 second 40m sprint was unheard of. 300lb football players were non-existent. Now, there are 300lb football players who can run the 40m sprint in 4.6 seconds. The average weight of big players in football is 300+ lbs.

You cannot argue with results! Sports science and training is producing some of the biggest, fastest, and strongest people in human history. Continue reading →

5 Tips for Balancing Remote Work and Full-Time Parenting

5 Tips for Balancing Remote Work and Full-Time Parenting

Many parents are currently navigating an entirely new normal: Working from home while taking care of their kids full-time. As school picks back up and many kids remain at home for remote learning, figuring out how to balance their schedule and a full-time job sometimes feels totally unmanageable.

Most parents have had experience working remotely in one-off, unplanned situations. However, working at home day in and day out for the foreseeable future while also caring for (and in some cases, teaching) kids at home proves to be a major struggle without careful planning where needed and flexibility when possible. Continue reading →

3 Tips for Better Rowing Technique

3 Tips for Better Rowing Technique

There’s nothing we love more than getting a juicy question in our social media DMs or blog comments. Like this one: “I’ve been rowing for a while and I know I’ve developed some bad habits that I need to shake. Help!”

Does that one resonate with you? If it does and you’re feeling a little “meh” about your rowing stroke, know that you’re in good company!

We all feel this way sometimes, or even a lot of the time. Congratulations, you’re a rower!

Just like in golf, get a bunch of rowers around a table and the conversation will make its way to technique.

From novice to Olympian, it’s “I’m not getting my hands away fast enough at the finish,” “I want to connect better at the catch,” etc. etc. [Actual statements heard from the mouths of super-seasoned veterans.]

That’s awesome, you may be saying, but what do I actually DO?? Continue reading →

Enhance Your Workouts with Pyramid Training

Enhance Your Workouts with Pyramid Training

I didn’t create the Pyramid workout method. I learned it in the ’80s at the Naval Academy when working to improve my own PT scores and have been using it, altering it and developing new routines ever since.

Below is a recent question I received…

Stew, I like your pyramid workout and have used it to help me with my Army fitness tests in the past. What other uses do you have for them? Have you ever considered mixing them with other exercises, military-style events, new combat fitness test events, and cardio workouts? Just wondering what you think and how you would break up each set? Continue reading →

Indoor Rowing Workouts to Get You Back on Track

Indoor Rowing Workouts to Get You Back on Track

We’ve all been there… You’re going along fine with your rowing machine workouts. Showing up for them according to your plan, feeling like you could conquer the world when you’re done. Nothing’s going to stop you now!

And then life gets in the way.

You get sick, you go on vacation, you get an injury that requires you to lay off for a while. One day you wake up and you realize, “I’ve gotten way off track.” Days or weeks have gone by without a real workout happening.

Now what?

First off, stop and take a deep breath. Getting off track with your workouts is totally normal. It doesn’t make you bad, wrong, or any kind of a failure. It makes you human. Continue reading →

5 Signs You Need to See a Therapist

5 Signs You Need to See a Therapist

COVID, recession, unemployment, protests, and an upcoming election — 2020 has set out to stress out even the most stable minded among us. Even those full of optimism cannot help but become depressed or anxious during one or more of these circumstances and need help beyond what a trusted friend or loved one can provide.

So many of us right now may be asking ourselves — “Am I in need of a therapist?” How can we tell when it is time to find a professional to help us process the things we are going through? To walk us through some of the signs we should be observing, we have Dr. Sanam Hafeez, who is an NYC-based licensed clinical psychologist with a faculty appointment at the prestigious Columbia University Teacher’s College. Dr. Hafeez is also the founder and Clinical Director of Comprehensive Consultation Psychological Services. Continue reading →

5 Hydration Tips While You’re At Home

5 Hydration Tips While You're At Home

Proper hydration is one of the key components to living a healthy lifestyle. When stuck at home during isolation, it can be easy to let this slip. With the current quarantine in place many are being forced to switch to at home workouts affecting their usual routine. A break in the routine can cause a rift in what were normally good habits. Now more than ever it is imperative to maintain a healthy lifestyle to limit any potential health risks. Continue reading →

Best At-Home Exercises for Sciatica or Lower Back Problems

Best At-Home Exercises for Sciatica or Lower Back Problems

Working from home has changed our workspace and workstations. The result is more than likely a rise in musculoskeletal pain, more specifically lower back and sciatic pains. The limited access to physical therapists and doctors can compound to leave you feeling helpless. But don’t worry, with just a few minutes and the following exercises, we can help limit that pain and possibly kiss it good bye! Continue reading →

3 Life-Changing Morning Routines

3 Life-Changing Morning Routines

Now, more than ever, we need to cultivate a healthy body for strong immunity, a positive mindset to cope with uncertainty, and a peaceful soul to trust that we are going to be okay.

Working from home has become the norm. For many, it’s no work at all. Either way, we are spending more time at home with family, taking longer walks with our pets (a good thing for them and us!) and trying to fill the days with activities for the kids. Our schedules have been derailed, to say the least. We went from a structured schedule with a set time to wake up, start our day, walk the dog, and send the kids to school, to chaos in the world and at home—a change that practically happened overnight. If you’re feeling stressed, you’re not alone. Lack of structure and routine can be unsettling and feel like helter-skelter. Long days at home can also mean snacking throughout the day, eating at times when you may not feel hungry and random times to prepare and eat meals. Continue reading →

5 Yoga Moves to Help Alleviate Stress

5 Yoga Moves to Help Alleviate Stress

Yoga coach Gwen Lawrence, author of Body Sculpting with Yoga and Teaching Power Yoga for Sports, shows us five yoga poses designed to keep sane in the toughest of situations.

To enable you to keep your life, your anxiety, and workouts on track, she focuses on ways to alleviate your stress and stay life ready with yoga. This uncertain time of social distancing and self-isolation can cause loneliness, anxiety and stress levels to skyrocket which can plague you and make it even more challenging. How long will this situation last? Will my loved ones stay healthy? Even stepping up to home-school your children without proper training puts the mind and body at risk. Continue reading →