Body Hacks

Improve Your Body & Life

5 Right Now Solutions for Gaining Weight
Everybody wants to drop mass, I know, but there are a few people who need to pile it on. Either they are trying to break out of their prepubescent bodies or their genetics dictate a slender build. Fitness nerds call them ectomorphs, but really haven’t we had enough name... Read more
3 Easy Reasons You Have Chicken Legs
If you’ve been pouring yourself into your workouts for some time, the worst thing that could happen is going from a Weeble-Wobble shape to Mr. Chicken legs. It’s true, aesthetic goals get boring, but if you have pin legs, you may find your strength is also unbalanced. Your legs... Read more
This Core Workout Will Make You Super-unbreakable
It seems like we go from a few extra pounds picked up over the holidays to swimsuit weather overnight. One minute we’re working on plans to lose what we’ve gained, then we’re fully out of time. Let it be said, developing your core muscles will not make you shredded.... Read more
Say Yes: How To Avoid Common Fitness Excuses
Excuses, excuses. Putting off your fitness routine for the evening, or eating bad things because you feel like it are not necessarily indicators that you’re veering off track but when you consistently make excuses in order to get out of doing things, it could be a sign that something... Read more
4 Reasons Gardening Completes Your Life
If you live someplace cold, like winter and snow cold, then you know the value of chopping wood. It keeps you warm twice. You get fired up chopping that wood (not to mentioned it’s great for your physique) but when you burn it in the fireplace, it warms you... Read more
Don’t Get Too Jacked and Other Spooky Tales
People say a lot of stuff about fitness. Most of it’s not helpful, but some of it’s downright laughable. Sadly, too many of these silly things come from people who profess to be fitness professionals. I guess anyone can hang a hat on that title. Don’t feel bad if... Read more
The Secret Fix for Your Fitness Dedication
In a recent article featured in Wired, they explore the new fitness phenomena of social fitness, calling it cult-like. Maybe. Call it what you will, but there is a growing trend of successful fitness groups which often have nothing to do with fat loss goals, joining gyms or most... Read more
To Find the Right Trainer Employ the Five Cs
Joining a gym with no prior experience but not hiring a trainer is the dumbest thing you can do. That is right next door to buying a car then driving it before you’ve attended driver’s education. No, your buddy who’s in pretty good shape should not be your trainer.... Read more
Seated Bicep Curls are Keeping You Fat
There, I said it; you made me. I really loathe using that word, fat, but I had to get your attention because you won’t stop doing silly things. Please, unless you’re training for Mr. Olympia, stop it. Here’s why… Despite the fact that biceps are the make-a-muscle, muscle, they... Read more
Former Gym Manager Confessions: Cardio Will Never Love You Back
Find me the adult who really looks forward to the cardios, and I’ll show you a man whose joints ache. Even people who claim to like cardio, don’t really like cardio. They like telling you that they like cardio only to intimidate you. They’re lying. What they like is... Read more
15 Killer Exercises That Don’t Require Gym Equipment
It’s not just about being a cheapskate. Joining gyms isn’t everybody’s cup of tea. Not only that, sometimes we are traveling where we don’t have access to a facility. Orrr, maybe you belong to a gym but are looking for ancillary work to add to your normal routine. Before there... Read more
4 Signs You Need to Change Your Workout Right Now
It’s not you, Workout, it’s me. I don’t like YOU… Change is not always welcome, nor is it easy. If it were, then people wouldn’t toil in dead-end jobs, tolerate unhappy relationships or keep showing up to workouts that aren’t resulting in change. Sometimes the obvious answer is the... Read more
Tough Love on Why You Don’t Have a Six Pack Yet
Once upon a time, I had access to data on typical gym goals for new gym members. One of the top three goals was to have a six pack. I think it was number two in the list. It’s great that people set goals. Goals are personal; they should... Read more
3 Ways To Motivate Your Mind To Exercise
Even gym bunnies have their off days, there’s no denying it. Keeping up with a steady schedule of exercise activities can be a punishing affair and from time to time, you might just feel like packing the whole thing in. There’s no judgment. Staying motivated can be a very... Read more
Why Pool Competitors Should Practice in Open Water
There’s a good reason the Telegraph named open water the swimming trend of 2015. Open water pushes swimmers like no other training environment. Obviously, one should train mostly in the environments in which she would be competing. Change up too many elements in your training environment, and you may... Read more
To Move Better Fix These 4 Classic Exercises
The funniest thing ever said by a movie critic was, “I’d only change two things; the first half and the second half.” Funny, but so often true. I often feel similar about the gym. The only thing wrong with how you’re doing the big three Olympic lifts is in... Read more
The 1 Super Important Thing Missing From Your Workouts
From consistency to execution, there are many moving parts to keep a successful, active lifestyle. The arguments for which is the secret ingredient for success vary as much as the approaches. In truth, there is only one virtue upon which every other one is stacked successfully, or unsuccessfully. The... Read more
3 Ab Pointers You Need More Than Crunches
Sorry to report, but you can have six pack abs and still be in terrible condition for lifting. A six pack, as the rectus abdominis is commonly referenced, is the gold standard in physical fitness, just slightly ahead of huge biceps. Both are flawed metrics for true fitness. This is gonna... Read more
The 4 Surprising Ways Weight Lifters Age Better
Like it or not, if we’re lucky, we’ll all age beyond our youth. It’s a privilege not all humans are able to experience. How those years pass by is as much a product of our genetics as it is our lifestyles. Since we cannot control our genetics, we are wise... Read more
4 Rules to Set Better Fitness Goals
Ask any would-be gym goer what are her fitness goals. In order, they will be: tone up, get six-pack abs, and feel better. Most want all three and maybe a unicorn. Of these, only one constitutes a good goal, but even the six-pack abs goal is full of holes. I... Read more