Things seem to be getting a bit out of hand out here in the fitness and exercise world. I know it’s always been the case where folks are post some wild exercises that should be done by those very advanced in their exercise history, and some not at all. Still let’s look at the basics again. If you’re reading this, it’s likely you are very familiar with the fact that I don’t do very much wild and crazy stuff with about 99% of the people that walk through the doors on Cypress Street.

Most of the good stuff comes from the base group of exercises; squat, hinge, single leg work, press, pulls, core and carry. Below are 10 of my go to that fit most people’s needs.

Deadlift- I’m not putting 1 particular variation here because, as you probably know if you’re reading this, not a fan of jamming in a square block to a round hole. Kettlebell, trap bar, barbell, all good for me.
 
Squat- For the same reason above, I don’t put a particular variation on someone that’s not appropriate for them so it’s all open. Goblet, back, front, rack, zercher, it’s all in play.
 
Pushups- For me, folks that can bang out pushups off the floor tend to be in just a bit better health than those that don’t, so I work in whatever variation fits and try to get everyone pressing off the floor.
 
Inverted Rows- Another solid body weight movement that most people can do to some degree. If you can do pushups off the floor, you can do some very horizontal inverted rows. With that comes a healthy upper back and some healthy shoulders.
 
Kettlebell Swings- A great movement that can be used for many purposes. Can be down as your power exercise, conditioning and much in between. Also, the more people that can properly perform hinging exercises like deadlifts and swings, the less bad backs we have in the world.
 
Farmer Carry- Speaking of healthy shoulder, simply carrying heavy stuff improves shoulder health rather effectively. With heavy carries, you will also be challenging your core in ways you did not think of outside of the traditional movements.
 
(RFE or Bulgarian) Split Squat- I put the first part in parentheses only because most people are not quite ready for that part of the variation right away. Ultimately, if someone can perform the RFE/Bulgarian version of the split squat, that’s going to be a staple. Yes, these suckers also feel like pure evil most of the time.
 
Single Leg RDLs- Usually these will require some nuance, either some balance assistance or starting with a kickstand/b-stance version, but still great for helping that single leg balance issue many have.
 
Dead Bugs- I don’t do a TON of direct core training for my programming, but there are a few that I find easy to do, but effective. The Dead Bugs (get over it Ross) are in just about everyone’s program that I work with at some point or another with few exception.
 
Pallof Press- While planks and side planks are great, so many people struggle to get in to proper positions to make them effective. Pallof press can be adjusted according to the person and still works well for that anti-rotation purpose, getting the lateral portions of those core muscles.
 
If you pick up any one of my clients programs, it’s likely you will find most of these still in there or having been in there at one point or another. I hope everyone feels well armed with solid knowledge after this post and you can all go forward knowing how to best program for yourself when you go in to the gym to train. Thanks for your time everyone and have a great rest of your week!

In the realm of health and fitness, much like the rest of life, there are trade offs to be made. What trade offs you are willing to make will be entirely up to you and how you want to live your life. Here are the some of things you may have to give up or ideas you have to give up at the least, depending on what you want. Some of these might be hard truths you'll have to live with, but I hope you see it as more of a learning chance.

A flat stomach or six pack? Alright, alcohol is out, and social gatherings will be a bit tougher for you, heck even going out to eat can be difficult depending on where. Even with all that, if genetics are not on your side, it'll be for not.
Flip side, don’t like eating vegetables and proteins? That’s fine, be prepared to feel sluggish and your body is going to deficient in many essentials that you need to live a healthy life.

Skip the gym? No problem, do that too often though and things will start to creak and ache. Not to mention you'll probably start to feel not great.
Flip side, go hard 7 days a week? Great, you'll also start to break and feel like trash from burnout.

What you do in the gym also has these trad offs.
Don’t want to do your cardio or conditioning? You might be able to lift a ton of weight (relatively) but enjoy losing your breath at the top of every sets of stairs you need to climb and I’m not talking about the Spanish steps either.
Flip side, just want to run, but not lift? Those injuries are likely to pile up without some weight training to compliment it at the least. No, running or biking will not make your legs significantly stronger, it's not resistance training, it's cardio.

As you can see, everything has a balance and a tradeoff. Sure you can do all of the things I mentioned above, but you'll definitely be giving something up, don't kid yourself. Me personally? I do the minimal conditioning I need, lift weights, rest when I need to and try to eat all of my necessary vegetables, that's where I find my balance.

I hope today you've learned where you can find yours, or at least have an idea of it. Thanks for reading everyone and as always feel free to hit me up with any questions or feed back, have a good one!

Happy Wednesday folks, today's topic is one I'm sure many have come upon in their workouts, hopefully one of these ideas helps you with your training regime. How much time you have to train is a big part of what you can do in your session for the day. Most of us out here think it’s really nice to just laze about through a session when you have no hard stop. On the contrary, for many, it’s counterproductive to not have a hard stop time. To get your training in more efficiently, I’ve got a few ideas in on how to keep yourself from going on and on for hours on end. Also, this should be helpful to those that tend to live on a tight schedule.

• Have a training plan- Wandering about the gym aimlessly sounds pleasurable to some, but for most of us it just means we hem and haw our way through the workout. Having a plan on what to do and what order to do cuts most of this out.

 

• Set a time- Set a time or a timer for when you want to be done. Even if you have endless hours, this is wise, 40-60 minutes should get you through most of what you have. You’ll be surprised at how much more concentration you give to your workout when you’re under some sort of deadline.

 

• Stick to your rest- All my training programs come with some sort of prescribed or suggested rest for the end of a super set, tri-set or just single movement. If it says 2 minutes to rest, keep your eyes on the clock, don’t fall into the social media black hole and get back to work when the time hits that magic number.
  

• Get done what you can- When you get near the end of that allotted time we talked about above and you’re not quite done, that’s OK. Get done what you can and if that’s all you’ll ever have for time to get that workout done on a regular basis, you’ll make adjustments to the workout. If you have more time you can allot, then just give yourself that tiny bit of extra time to get those last few things.
  

 

• Honorable mention, consider going light- When you lift really heavy shit, it takes a bit of time to set up and warm up, not to mention the rest you need in order to recover properly. When you’re under the gun for time, might need to go lighter for that workout. It’s still going to have a positive training outcome for you and you won’t be forced to use up loads of time for a single lift or movement.
  

With these tips and tricks, you should find yourself getting your training in with more frequency and even doing more of your program than you thought you had time for. As always, should you have questions, comments or just generic feedback, please feel free to write back to me, have a good rest of the week friends!