When I was younger I used to train with my brother. And we would follow a typical bodybuilding split. What I mean by that is that our training days were divided up based on body parts and certain exercises.In other words our workouts might have looked something like this:Day 1 - legs, arms and absDay 2 - glutes, chest and absDay 3 - back, shoulders and absA few things should jump up at you right away. First of all, what does 'legs' mean? Is this quads, hamstrings or calves? Or all three?Apparently abs were really important with bodybuilding and they never require a rest day. And getting huge, or swole as the kids now like to say, was priority numero uno. No one did cardio.A warm-up involved a few light sets under the bar before starting in with the first sets of bench press. There was zero stretching or mobility work. And although we did abs it was mostly to target the rectus abdominis, or six pack. We didn't know or care about the core at all.We took rest days when the gym was closed. Otherwise it was simply rotating through this three day rotation looking to add load to the bar at every workout.Although we now know this to be terrible programming it's surprising what hard work over time will achieve. When Jon went to depot for the RCMP I believe he put some lifting records in the weight-room.But we could have gotten even better results. And a study from a few years ago might have given some clues as to how often we could train certain movements and muscles.What the researchers did was look at muscle damage to the arms and legs after training. They wanted to know if there was a difference in recovery between smaller (arm) and...

Often times when we think about our reasons for training they can be pretty obvious such as a weight loss goal. This is an obvious goal because it's the number one goal of people who have gym memberships. Heck, it's probably even the number one goal of even the ones who don't have gym memberships.And it makes sense to drop a few extra pounds. It takes stress off weight bearing joints. It allows us to move more easily and without feeling totally spent after performing daily tasks like walking up a flight of stairs.There are improvements to our blood chemistry and overall physiology. Our sleep improves and so does our mood. The truth is we can find many reasons to invest our health by taking some time for training and proper nutrition.But what I find really interesting is that all of these reasons are lower in the grand scheme of things.Consider Maslow's Hierchy of Needs.The diagram represents a variety of human needs from more basic ones at the bottom. In other words as basic requirements we need to breathe, eat, drink water, sleep and carry on basic physiological human needs.But as we progress we must satisfy higher levels of needs related to feeling safe, being loved, having esteem and eventually realizing self-actualization.So how does this relate one's fat loss goal? What does my fitness training have to do with these needs?Let's look at each of these in detail.Physiological - Getting started on a training program involves better nutrtional choices. We drink more water. We sleep better. And as a result our physiological needs are satisfied.Safety - With our training our primary goal is to reduce the incidence of injury. We want to strengthen your immune system to keep you from catching the various colds and flus that get passed around. You...

Today was a great morning. Why? Because when I was at the gym for a couple of sessions the gym was hopping.And I don't mean the cardio side of the gym which is normally busy but the weight room side. This brings a smile to my face as it makes me feel the message is starting to get out there to the masses that intense resistance-based workouts is the way to go for weight loss, sports performance or general fitness. Period.While part of the crowd had to do with it being a Monday morning in January it was still encouraging to see a shift in training approaches taking place.So what about the rest of the people there? Why are there still so many cardio kings & queens? Well part of it is mis-information and believing that cardio will yield the best return on their investment. But part of it has to do with intimidation. Or not knowing what load to use.You see many people would rather go to the gym and feel productive by walking/running on the treadmill than to venture over to the weight room side and feel lost.So how can you feel confident and safe when selecting your weights for your training session? Here are 4 rules.Rule #1 On Selecting the Correct Weight - Consider the muscles doing the workIf the first thing you can answer is what part of the body you will be working or what movements you will be performing you will do a better job at choosing the correct weight. For examplen if you were performing a squatting exercise you will be able to handle a heavier load than an exercise for the triceps. Duh, right?You'd be surprised though to see the number of people that use the same dumbbell to squat with and then go straight into a...