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Today, let’s talk about running. Running has been glorified in the fitness industry, and to be honest, I think it's over-glorified. I know this is a hot topic, and I don’t mean to offend anyone. I’ll try to meet you runners half-way with this podcast as much as I can. 

Today, I’ll talk about how to incorporate strength into your running routine if you don’t want to give up running, why I prefer walking to running from a mechanical and nervous system standpoint, why running to burn calories isn’t effective, and how running can affect your central nervous system, and potentially delay muscle growth. 

I want to start by saying that I have a certain bias against running. I’m not a huge fan of running. I think there are smarter ways to move your body that are less repetitive, and more beneficial to your cardiovascular system and muscular system. I’ll explain why in this podcast. However, I will say that I totally understand that...

This blog is going to be a bit nerdy. We’re talking about 4 cool nervous system “hacks” that can improve the results of your workouts. 

We implement these things in my classes, which is one of the more unseen or unrealized reasons my classes are so effective. I also hear often from the members that this is the first program they look forward to and enjoy, and they may not know why. I think these are some of the reasons why - because we are using their nervous system to create an environment that doesn’t feel like a threat. When your brain thinks something is a threat, it will avoid it. And we know consistency is super important in your workouts, so we have to train our nervous system that our workouts aren’t a threat to our safety. 

Your nervous system is extremely important in driving results from your workouts because it will dictate how easily you will recover and lay down new muscle. Because of this, we have to work WITH our nervous...

I hear from clients ALL the time that they are frustrated that they can't work their glutes without back, hip, or knee pain. 

Let's look into four crucial principles of training the glutes and my recommendations for which glute exercises might be best for YOUR body. 

Before we start, if you LOVE this kind of thing and want to start teaching fitness, I'm hosting a 200-hour teacher training staring April 3rd where you will learn all this information and more! The info about the training is not on my website, so click here to get signed up for more details. 

1. Range of motion

In general, when you complete an exercise in a joint's full range of motion, the muscle is loaded more, and you receive more benefit. 

The glute max extends your hip. It works when you are standing up from a seated position. In other words, it begins working when you are straightening the hip when it is fully bent.

To load the glute...

I emphasize the importance of biomechanics all the time, but I've never taken the time to define what it means, why it's important, and how to apply it to your exercise. 

Check out my video I created here that teaches biomechanics for fitness instructors.

What is biomechanics?

According to dictionary.com, biomechanics means "the study of the mechanical laws relating to the movement or structure of living organisms." 

Let's break that down a little, because there are a few key terms within that definition. 

Mechanical laws mean the laws of physics (remember Newton's laws from third grade?) that play into movement under different conditions. Each time you lift a weight, certain laws dictate how heavy it feels and how much "stress" will be applied to your system. This is important because it helps to provide a "framework" using mathematics to determine optimal exercise.

A second important term from that definition is the "structure...