Straight Shot Radio: Recent Episodes
Straight Shot Training
A straight forward, no nonsense take on functional fitness, nutrition, and health from Straight Shot Training.
Here's the audio from a Facebook Live Q&A hosted by Coach Bruce and Coach Moe!
They answered questions about how to reduce your intake of sugary drinks, why breakfast is important for fat loss, how to mimic the effects of Ozempic through diet and exercise, and what the best strategies for recovery are.
Follow us on social media to be part of the next live chat!
Coach Bailey and Coach Delaney take over the show in this episode! They hosted a live chat on facebook where they answered questions about overtraining vs. under-recovering, ideal shoes for working out, how to tell if you’re lifting heavy enough, and tons more as we had a LOT of people join in and comment throughout the live stream. Thanks to everyone who tuned in!
We cover whether or not you can lose fat and tone up certain areas of your body, how to swap proteins in and out of your diet to avoid burnout, how dietary protein contributes to fat loss, and more.
If you’re struggling with knee, low back, or shoulder pain, we’ve got something for you. It’s called Train Away Your Pain written by Straight Shot Coach Bruce Carpenter and it’s packed with insight, information, and workouts to help you get out of pain and get back to training. Click this link for your free eBook: https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/sl/aHtbO3m/TrainAwayYourPain
We're back! This episode is an audio version of a Facebook live by Coach Jonny and Coach Bruce where they talk about how to beat sweets cravings, fact vs fiction on preworkout supplements, and strategies to train around injuries using techniques found in Coach Bruce's new eBook. You can download this eBook FREE via the link below!:
"Train Away Your Pain"
Could resting and icing your injury actually PROLONG your symptoms???
Doctor Matt Silver from Alpha Project Phyzio joins me to talk about the new school style of physical therapy, why resting and icing an injury ISN’T the best way to heal it, and how you can learn from him at his upcoming workshop at Straight Shot Training on Saturday, January 8th at 9am.
Dr. Matt is also the host of the Health and Fitness Frederick podcast if you’d like to check his show out as well!
This week on the show we’ve got holiday nutrition, keto vs. macro tracking, multiple workouts a day, the pump after working out, and training for power.
Thanks to everyone from Instagram for submitting their questions!
Whether it's the holidays, a vacation, an injury, or a nasty stomach bug that causes you to lose 5lb in 2 days...things don't always go as planned. But it's how we get back to things and stay consistent where we can that allows us to make progress over a longer timeline.
I share a recent personal experience in this episode plus give you details on an upcoming knee pain workshop AND unveil the 28 Day Free Coaching Challenge that launches in January!
Coach John and I answer a question we’ve gotten from a lot of people when they see how we eat and train:
“How do you choose to do difficult things?”
Is it a personality trait? A series of decisions? A product of our training itself? Find out in under 20min with this episode!
December is this strange middle ground between thanksgiving and the end of the year when your schedule is different, your sleeping is off, your eating is all over the place with parties and traveling, and - oh yeah let’s try to find a time to workout in the middle of all of that too.
In this episode, I want to help you find a way to stay a little more on track throughout December with your diet and workouts AND give you some ideas on how to set yourself up better to take on your 2022 fitness goals (that you can absolutely start on now!)
We’re going to let you know what to expect during your first personal training session! We’ll also give you some tips on how you can be prepared for your session AND how to make the most of your recovery afterwards.
Much like a Thanksgiving meal plate, we weave together some random topics into a gravy-smothered 38min of fitness knowledge in this week's episode.
Coach Delaney joined me to go over training protocols when you're sick, how your limb length affects your lifts, and what our top picks for protein bars are. We finish with our takes on what Thanksgiving foods are overrated and which are underrated (with some controversial answers I'm sure...).
We have been putting together a nutritional ebook for our awesome clients! This resource will have a grocery shopping guide, recipes for breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, and shakes, an audio crash course in macronutrients and meal prepping, a recovery checklist, AND tips for eating out at restaurants without your diet going off the rails!
Now, ideally, you want to make the majority of your food at home so you know exactly what you’re eating and how much of it you’re eating. That being said, we know eating out with your family and friends is fun and sometimes it’s necessary to eat out on the road with your busy schedule. So in this short episode, I give you some quick tips to make eating out healthier!
Note: Don’t stress too much about sticking to all of these tips (especially if it's a big occasion). Allowing yourself the freedom to have “unhealthy” foods in large amounts every now and then will not impact the big picture and will actually help you keep a more well-rounded diet overall!
With the days getting shorter, darker, and colder, seasonal depression, mood changes, changes in sleeping habits, or even just a lack of motivation or desire to get to the gym can make sticking to your training routine difficult if not impossible.
In this episode, the Straight Shot Coaches give their recommendations for modifying your training, diet, and recovery to help you do your best to get through what many people find the hardest time of the year to stay healthy both physically and mentally
This episode was so terrifying of an endeavor to approach alone, that I enlisted the help of Straight Shot Coaches Delaney and John, as we walked through the haunted graveyard that is the world of health and fitness trends.
From high fructose corn syrup to rounded back deadlifts, we dug into some of the scariest topics we could bear to get through. Listeners beware, this is an episode that may shock and disturb you…like a brownie you just found out is made with kale.
Grab your trick or treat bucket and get ready to fill it with fitness knowledge treats with this spooky…and laughter-filled episode from some of your Straight Shot Coaches in our first episode recorded in our new studio!
It doesn’t matter how old you are, it’s never too late to start moving better, get stronger, and live a healthy and active life.
In this episode, I share why “starting late” isn’t as uncommon as you think, and how continuing to train with a strength and conditioning program over the course of your life is completely realistic if you approach it correctly.
Whether you’re 19 or 91, there’s something in this episode for you!
I've mopped a LOT of gym floors in my career as a coach, but two instances stick out to me as very special and defining moments in my life.
In this episode, you'll hear both stories bookending a brief timeline of my journey with Straight Shot Training with a whole lot of gratitude to the people that have made it all happen.
If you're new to Straight Shot Radio, this episode is a GREAT place to start!
The Korean dystopian masterpiece "Squid Game" is set to be the most-watched show in Netflix's history, and has sparked a flood of memes, parodies, and discussions all over the internet.
The other day I was thinking about how one of the games in the show reminds me a lot of working towards a fitness goal. And it’s probably NOT one of the games you’d suspect if you’ve seen the show.
In this episode, I share 5 tips from the contestants in Squid Game that may help you lose weight, gain muscle, get stronger, and improve your overall fitness.
As a personal trainer, I try to get my clients to make most of the food they eat. However I know people are going to eat out occasionally, and sometimes, it’s going to be at a fast-food restaurant.
It may surprise you, but if you’re going to eat fast food, I’d honestly recommend Taco Bell. I know that may sound odd to you, but if you listen to this entire episode, I’m positive I’m going to tell you some things you didn’t know about Taco Bell and MAYBE even change your mind if you think that there’s no way you can eat healthy food there.
Missy Schaaphok, a registered dietician on staff at Taco Bell contributed a TON to this episode where we give you an inside look at the 15-year journey Taco Bell has been on to make their food healthier for everyone no matter what their dietary preferences are.
Links from the show:
www.straightshottraining.com
www.tacobell.com/nutrition
www.tacobell.com/food-for-all-journey
www.instagram.com/missfoodierd
Whether it's a work trip or a vacation, consider this episode as your guide to staying on track with your fitness, while still relaxing and enjoying yourself, and allowing your body to get some rest and recovery.
It's a tough balance, but the tips I share in this episode should help you find a happy medium between being too strict and going completely of the rails on your next getaway.
I cover nutrition, hydration, sleep, workouts, and more in this strategy-packed episode.
Losing weight is one of the top reasons people start working out, but it's only one of the MANY benefits to your physical and psychological health that you get from regular exercise.
I review an article from NetDoctor UK in this episode with 12 non-weight loss benefits from working out plus give you some updates on our studio, a new Straight Shot Training coach, and the highly anticipated "Taco Bell" episode coming out soon!
This is NOT your typical circuit training workout. These long-duration, low-intensity circuits will help you build your aerobic engine, improve your overall health, optimize your recovery, and manage your body composition. The best part is, they WON’T leave you heaving on the floor and you’ll actually feel better the next day after doing them.
In this episode, I explain how this method works and give your exact instructions on how to design your own aerobic circuits!
KILL NEGATIVITY MAKE ADVANCEMENTS. It’s a fitness and lifestyle brand with a powerful message of overcoming adversity with militant positivity. It’s with this mindset that KNMA founder Kwame Asante hopes to help elicit a positive change in the clients he coaches, the individuals who wear his clothing line, the members of his community, and eventually people across the globe as he grows his brand.
In this episode, you'll learn about how Kwame’s injuries early on in his athletic career lead him down this path of choosing positivity over negativity, and how he’s developed his message into a stylish brand of fitness and apparel along with a hard working media team.
Side note we forgot to mention in the episode: KNMA is also Kwame's initials!
“I don’t have time to workout”
“There’s no way I could get 8 hours of sleep”
“I’m just too busy to eat healthy”
I hear these phrases ALL THE TIME when I'm trying to counsel people on the importance of sleep, nutrition, and exercise. Inevitably, when we actually take a closer look at their day, we find that if we budget time for it, we actually can find more time for them to take care of their body through training and recovery than they thought possible.
It’s just that you have to make it a priority and build it into your day. It’s like my mom always said, “People do what they REALLY want to do.”
In this episode, I walk you through 3 different people’s schedules and show you how to find time to sleep 8 hours, eat healthy meals, and work out. I also share lists of ways to be more efficient with your day and places where you're wasting time that could be spent bettering your health and spending time with your family.
Personal Trainer, Crossfit Coach, and Strongman Competitor John Taylor is back with me for this episode as we give you an intro into one of our favorite training methodologies: The Conjugate Method.
This style of workout programming combines multiple training strategies to help you increase your strength while keeping workouts fresh and fun. Combined with good diet and nutrition practices, the method also allows for optimal recovery. AND the overall strength and conditioning you’ll gain from a conjugate program transfers to everything you do OUTSIDE of the gym too.
Coach Delaney and I are back with another Topic Pile this month and we cover training for different goals, burnout, selecting a workout program, annoying coaching trends on Instagram, a nutrition idea that we DON’T exactly agree on, and some thoughts on the new studio Straight Shot is opening this fall.
Looking to add to your home gym? Or maybe you're a gym owner looking to expand your inventory? Either way, please do NOT waste your money on the types of fitness equipment that I detail in this episode!
It’s finally happening. After 2 years of searching, 4 years of Straight Shot being a company, and 13 years since I first dreamed of opening my own studio, we have found our own space. Located in North Frederick at 8411 Broadband Drive, our future home is a beautiful, brand new building that’s just minutes from route 15, route 26, and downtown Frederick.
In this episode, I'm joined by Straight Shot Co-Owner Chris and Coach Delaney. We answer some of the questions we've already been getting about this new training studio and give you all an early glimpse of the healthy community we're trying to build!
Everything on social media is fake.
OK not EVERYTHING, but A LOT. And coaches are actually making it harder for people to get in shape with the nonsense they're putting out on their channels.
In this episode, I give you some things to watch out for online so you can avoid the hype and do the things it really takes to get fitter and more confident.
Do we really need to take 10,000 steps a day in order to be healthy?
A recent article by the New York Times challenged this idea by bringing to light the origin of the mythical “10K Steps a Day” and compared it to the science from epidemiologists on health and physical activity.
I read through and give my thoughts on the article in this short and info-packed episode!
I have this ongoing note on my phone where I put down ideas, thoughts, questions people have asked me, hypotheticals, funny observations, and controversial things I’ve seen posted around the internet.
For this week’s podcast, I wrote down a few of them on pieces of paper and had Coach Delaney join me as we pulled topics off of a pile and talked for a bit about each one.
We get into swimsuit selfies, training while you’re sick, keto vs. vegan diets, letting your body dictate your training intensity, eating one meal a day, building a time machine to change something about our training history, and more. We had a lot of fun with this one, including laughing at Delaney’s uncontrollable sneezes that were a result of the hot sauce she put on her chicken.
Rebecca and Kyle Conrad are combining their backgrounds in farming, fitness, and grocery industries to usher in a new era for a farm that’s been in Rebecca’s family for 7 generations. Frederick area residents can now go to Reifsnider Farm for fresh local produce and free-range, pasture-fed beef.
With Rebecca’s background being in fitness, and her having a degree and certification in nutrition, one of the things Reifsnider Farm is looking to do is partner with area personal trainers and gyms to help their clients get easier access to affordable, fresh, nutritious food from a farm that values health and wellness. Plus their direct to consumer model will also give people a chance to see where their food is coming from, and have trust in the quality of food they’re eating.
In this episode, I chat with Rebecca and Kyle Conrad about Reifsnider Farm and how they’re putting their passions to work with a fresh approach to this farm that’s been in the family for years.
Imagine a co-working space that was half office space, half private gym, outfitted with top-of-the-line functional fitness equipment.
That’s exactly what Hannah and Jimmy King of Squadstyle Lifestyle have created with SL Studio in Frederick, MD. SL Studio is a revolutionary co-working space that Straight Shot has had the fortunate opportunity to be an early member of.
It's at this studio that I'm able to provide clients with a completely different fitness experience than they'd get at a typical commercial gym.
In this episode, you'll hear how Hannah and Jimmy took this idea from their garage gym to the coolest new spot in Frederick!
So you’re strength training, 2, 3, maybe 4 times a week, but you might be wondering: "Well, what do I do on the other days?"
"Should I rest? Do cardio? Lift more? Am I doing enough? Am I doing too much?"
In this episode, I give you some strategies to help you stay active, balance your work to recovery ratio, and find some things you enjoy doing on the days between your workouts.
"Workout Splits" are how you lay out your training across the week in terms of what areas of the body you train or what movements you do. The most common are full body, upper/lower, push/pull/legs, and body part splits, but there are TONS of variations of these.
In this episode, I detail a hybrid split I developed that personally helped me lose 12lb and maintain my muscle mass while adding 20+lb to some of my lifts.
Wow. What a year.
In this episode, you’ll hear a quick version of how we pivoted our fitness business mid-pandemic to launch the current version of Straight Shot, and some big things in store for us starting this week!
Consider this episode also an open letter of gratitude to each and every person we’ve coached this year and all of you who listen to the show, like, comment, and share our posts, and talk about us to your friends. You all are the reason we were able to do what we did in 2020, and I can’t thank you enough.
So what should you drink before your workout for extra energy, focus, and improved performance? You'll find out in under 11min with this mini-episode!
So how would a coach design a program for Geralt of Rivia, the lead character in The Witcher? Not, “how did Henry Cavill get huge and ripped for his role on the Netlifx show?”...Literally, how would a program be designed for a 13th century, magically enhanced monster-killer with a bad attitude on a quest to fulfill his prophesied destiny?
Obviously, this is a task much too lofty for just one coach, so I enlisted the help of Strongman and Crossfit Coach John Taylor, whose love of The Witcher, homemade fitness equipment, and inventive imagination made for a hilarious conversation.
We tie in a lot of training and coaching techniques throughout the episode that may benefit you in your own program whether you’re just looking to add some variety to your routine, or if you need to battle a giant spider hybrid beast in the middle of a swamp at night armed only with your steel sword…
I share some tips and strategies behind the difference maker in your diet and exercise adherence: Accountability.
Trust me, this is not an introspective pep talk. These are real, practical things you can start doing today to help you accomplish your fitness goals by setting up accountability checks in your diet, sleep, and workouts.
If you're a coach, I've got a lot for you all in this one too, but heads up, I'm a lot harder on you all than everyone else...
Challenges in your life are inevitable, it’s how you choose to handle them that makes the difference between them being something that breaks you down and something that builds you up
Coach Ryan Morse, C.S.C.S, has faced countless challenges in his athletic, coaching, and entrepreneurial careers. The way he chooses to take on each trial is the motto of his gym, Crucible Performance, and that motto is “Cherish the Challenge.” Not “tolerate the challenge,” not “hurry up and get through the challenge,” CHERISH it. Drive headfirst into the difficult things both in and out of the gym that will make you a better person physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.
In this interview, we hear how Ryan went from a baseball-playing art student to one of the top personal trainers in our area with an award-winning gym that empowers every athlete who enters.
I’m joined by Straight Shot Co-Owner Chris Lewis and Coach Delaney Bodnar as we tackle some of the questions we received from you all on social media. We cover whether or not you need to return to a gym, plant vs. animal protein in your diet, how to get stronger with chinups, more sleep vs. early morning workouts, and the correct steps to becoming a personal trainer.
Brad and Naomi Leeman wanted to combine their love of fitness with their desire to have more family time. So they created the SwingSesh: a combination home gym and playground setup.
Brad serves as a Test Pilot in the US Marine Corps and Naomi is an urban design consultant. They came up with the idea for the SwingSesh, designed and engineered it, found a manufacturer, and now have their product available for other busy parents looking to stay active along with their kids.
In this interview, we chat about how parents can model good relationships with exercise to their children and how they took their product from a dream to production.
So you've been counting your calories and trying to make sure you're in a caloric deficit, but your weight loss has stopped...or worse...you're losing muscle mass. How do you continue to lose weight and make sure it's body fat and not muscle that you're losing?
In this episode, I give you 7 ways to kickstart your weight loss and make sure you’re losing fat instead of muscle. These methods may not be the first things you think of, but they will keep your metabolism revving throughout the day, and still allow you to crush your goals in the gym while dropping weight.
This week on the show we’ve got Straight Shot Coach Megan Foland. Like most personal trainers in 2020, she had a pretty wild year, except Megan also had a baby in 2020, worked as a respiratory therapist, helped with the opening of our sister company, Kinetix Physiotherapy & Performance, and started coaching for us here at Straight Shot.
We get into all of that in our chat plus we discuss her experience as an Ironman Triathlete, share tips from her nutrition blog, and get a glimpse of how busy parents can juggle family, work, nutrition, and training, AND recovery.
Motivation is overrated.
Sooner or later, no matter how motivated you are to start something, that motivation will fade. And when the motivation to eat healthily, work out, and recover well isn’t there, what do you REALLY need to stick with it?
It’s Dedication.
In this episode, I share some practical strategies to help you get dedicated to accomplishing your health and fitness goals by properly structuring your training, nutrition, and recovery.
Continuing with our series on coaches who embraced the challenges of 2020, we have Jess Racz, C.S.C.S. from JR Performance.
Even before the lockdown hit, she was paving her own path, being a female strength and conditioning coach in a male-dominated industry. I first met Jess when she was in high school, working out at a gym that I worked at. We’ve kept in touch over the years and it’s been amazing to see her growth as a coach. But what she accomplished last year is on a whole other level.
Jess started her own performance coaching business and opened a physical location in the middle of the shutdown and has grown JR Performance to be a hot spot for young athletes to come and build both strength and self-confidence with her unique approach.
In this episode, Jess shares her experience from last year and all of the struggles and challenges she’s had to face along the way to becoming the coach and mentor that she is today.
Ever wonder why you keep injuring yourself while working out, EVEN if you weren’t using bad form? Well, there are a TON of other reasons why you may have injured yourself and keep injuring yourself. In this episode, I go through a list of possible reasons behind these bumps in the road with your training, and how making these changes in your workouts can have you training more consistently since you aren’t constantly dealing with nagging injuries.
Note: Completely forgot to add SLEEP to this list! How could I forget that?! If you don't sleep 7-8+ hours a night, you're going to run into issues with recovery, and risk getting hurt!
The Straight Shot coaches share our own worst gym moments along with a bunch of your submissions from social media.
Look, embarrassing stuff in the gym happens, so we use this episode to laugh it all off together and encourage you to keep coming back and bettering yourself each workout.
You'll hear about falling asleep in a yoga class, pooping under a bush, odd bodily sounds on heavy lifts, throwing up on a Goodwill donation box, lots of trips, falls, and funny fails, and other stories we could barely read we were laughing so hard.
One of our funniest episodes to date...don't skip this one!
If you're looking to balance your many fitness goals, DUP is a method of organizing your workouts throughout the week to accomplish just that.
Personally, I used the DUP program I lay out in this episode to hit PR's on all of my lifts while still staying mobile and athletic AND drop 20 pounds over the course of 15 weeks.
In addition to sharing my own experimentation with this training style, I lay out a sample program you can use to start training this way as soon as you're finished listening to the episode!
To drink, or not to drink?
If you're a listener of this show, you know we're all about moderation. But what exactly are all those tasty beverages doing to your ability to achieve your fitness goals?
In this episode, I lay out what alcohol does to your ability to lose weight, get stronger, run farther, and recover faster, and how a little moderation can make a huge difference in your fitness.
Teaming up with Chris has allowed me to take what was once a side project of mine, and turn it into a full-time job where I can help more people, have an awesome team of coaches, and build the company up to what it is now while planning for what we want it to be in the future.
I wanted to have Chris on so you all could get to know him and his backstory, hear how we met and figured out how to combine our skills, and so we could share with you what we hope to accomplish with our team and our athletes.
What is poor sleep doing to your health? Is your lack of sleep affecting your workout performance? Is it sabotaging your weight loss? Could you be losing muscle mass and gaining body fat even though you’re eating correctly and training hard during your workouts? In this episode, I explain just how sleep deprivation is negatively affecting your health, and give you some ideas on how to improve your sleep to change how you feel, perform, and manage your weight.
Fitness and Nutrition coach Mary Teunis started her athletic career as a competitive gymnast at age 5. After a car accident ended her career in the sport in her late teens, she found Crossfit and within a year was competing at a high level on a Crossfit Team. During this time she became increasingly interested in the nutritional side of health and fitness and went to school to study the subject so she could help people create sustainable, healthy relationships with food and exercise.
Mary’s positivity and energy are on full display on her social media accounts where she shares practical tips and tricks to help people fuel their bodies, move well in their workouts, and recover just as intentionally as they train.
In this episode, she shares her mindset behind her coaching approach, we bust some nutrition myths, and give you tactical advice to help you start eating better as soon as you finish the podcast!
www.maryteunisnutrition.com
https://www.instagram.com/mteunis/
https://www.facebook.com/Mary-Teunis-307617799861863
One of the hottest new fitness trends is the recent blending of bodybuilding and functional fitness methods.
Variations of this system are being used by functional fitness enthusiasts who have aesthetic goals along with wanting to feel good, move well, and be fit enough to enjoy their active lives.
In this episode, I detail how I believe this trend came about, explain what comprises these programs, highlight what’s good and what’s overhyped, and provide some practical takeaways of how to structure your workouts to blend aesthetics and overall fitness.
It's the 100th Episode of Straight Shot Radio!!! I wanted to mark the occasion by having some of the Straight Shot Crew join me to take on a BUNCH of questions you all submitted on social media. SST Co-Owner Chris and Coach Delaney joined me via Zoom and we had a great time sharing our thoughts on a wide range of topics. We discuss at-home exercises, "jump-starting" weight loss, returning to workouts, workout playlists, equipment hacks, heel pain, cramping, and pre and post-workout meals...with some funny stories thrown in there regarding Delaney's epic Frosty protein shake, how Chris used Phil Collins to torture me once, and the time I learned the hard way why you need to properly anchor a resistance band. Check this EPIC episode out!
So what is it like to return to exercising after having COVID?
Strength and Conditioning Coach Kevin Barry found out first hand what it’s like after contracting COVID-19 in late 2020.
During his illness and recovery, Kevin was extremely good with documentation and using both biometric and performance markers as indicators in his progress as he began slowly building his fitness back up.
In this episode, Kevin joins me and brings all of his findings PLUS lots of detailed tips on how you can get back into training after being sick OR after taking extended time off from training for ANY reason.
Let's make 2021 the year you resolve your aches and pains!
Dr. Garrett Foland from Kinetix Physiotherapy and Performance joins me this episode to explain the anatomy and biomechanics behind impingement, what causes it, what the symptoms are, how he treats it as a physical therapist, what exercises you can do to avoid it, AND what NOT to do if you have it so you can get on the road to resolving your hip and shoulder pain that comes from impingement.
It’s estimated that over half of US adults will make a New Year’s Resolution this year. While these resolutions include self-improvement, money, family, love, and career goals, topping the list by far are health-based resolutions.
In this episode, I give you some specific ideas of manageable, health-based resolutions, some tips to get you started off correctly, and some perspective on how to maintain your efforts throughout the year.
After listening, check out www.straightshottraining.com to get the new year started with a coach that'll help you stick with your resolution!
Let's talk about all that workout sweat!
Specifically, what sweat is, where it comes from, why we do it, and why it’s actually healthy.
Along the way, we’ll dispel some common myths about sweating and give you some practical tips for rehydrating and replenishing your body after a sweat-filled workout.
Starting out as a very young coach, I was much more opinionated and sometimes easily influenced when it came to my stances on certain exercise science hot-topics than I am now. After spending over a third of my life in the same career, I have ZERO problem admitting when I was wrong before, and I am completely comfortable with changing my mind when presented with new or better, scientifically-backed information.
So here you go, a podcast episode PACKED with things I was wrong about or have changed my mind on, or am comfortable admitting we just don't have the answer to!
Let me be honest with you...being a personal trainer and fitness business owner in 2020 has been extremely difficult. But I'm not unique. This has been a hard year for you and everyone we both know too.
But rather than complain about everything that's gone down in 2020, I choose to be grateful for the things that have happened this year, as each of them was put there for a reason.
I pull back the curtain in this episode to give you an inside look at what it's been like to be in the fitness industry this year, and share the 10 things that I'm thankful for that wouldn't have been possible if "2020" hadn't happened.
In the last episode of Straight Shot Radio, I said that we might be looking at another round of gym shutdowns. This may mean you need to train at home during the winter, which could mean you need to train outside or in your garage. Even if gyms DON’T close, you may prefer to train at home, or maybe you just prefer running or lifting outside! Whatever it is, with temperatures dropping, you need to start planning NOW for how you’re going to stay on track with your workouts this winter. In this week's podcast, I give my 6 keys to successfully training outside during the colder months, including a toe-to-head winter gear checklist!
How prepared are you for the second wave of gym shutdowns?
Gyms in Europe have been shut down for weeks, and gyms in the US are now being forced to close as well over concerns of Coronavirus as we enter cold and flu season on top of it.
In this episode, I give you my breakdown of what you need for equipment, what kind of home workouts you can focus on, and how to build a stock of non-perishable HEALTHY foods so you can stay home and stay safe if need be.
*Other episodes referenced in this episode that'll get you ready for when "the chalk hits the Airbike fan":
Ep. 47: Building Your Own Home Gym
Ep. 71: Workout Out At Home pt. 1: Equipment
Ep. 72: Nutrition Troubleshooting
Ep. 74: What’s Your Training Plan?
Inversion tables, broken bodies, goal setting, beards and performance, a pretty solid "would you rather," and more of your questions answered in this episode!
Have a question you'd like covered in a future episode? Just leave a comment below!
It's storytime! Here's a short tale of the time when I ate the same exact meal 2-4 times a day EVERY DAY for 10 weeks when I was gaining muscle for Strongman.
Sure, it's not something everyone should do, BUT I learned 5 important lessons from eating like this that I think could help you find consistency in your diet so you can accomplish your fitness goals.
The Straight Shot group of coaches is growing, and I’d like you all to get to know my coaches! This episode's guest is Coach Delaney Bodnar. Just this week she made the leap and is now working solely for us here at Straight Shot and I couldn’t be happier to introduce (or reintroduce) you all to this talented Coach.
We get into her history with competitive weightlifting, her journey from student to personal trainer, some triumphs and struggles she’s experienced, and how breaking up fights at Wendy's prepared her for being a trainer in 2020...
Interested in joining the Straight Shot Email Club to get the exclusive content I mention in this episode? Just CLICK HERE!
Do the people you follow inspire you or frustrate you?
Are you trying to copy what someone else is doing in an attempt to achieve the same results?
Have you ever thought to yourself that all of that comparing MIGHT not be helping you get fitter - or happier?
Success in your health, fitness, and happiness is just as individual as the paths that get you there. In this episode, I walk you through nutrition, training, recovery, body composition, and performance, and how no two athletes' requirements and results will ever be exactly alike.
When consulting clients on making a big change in their fitness program, many times they'll be hesitant, stating that they "don't want to lose what they worked for" by trying something new.
Trust me, it's not that easy. I get where you're coming from though, and I hope with this episode you can see that the fitness adaptations that you work for are NOT as easily lost as you think. Especially if you're on the right training program!
Coaches and athletes all over social media have been on a tirade recently, criticizing people's warm up methods. While there are better and worse warm ups for your activity and goals in the gym, a lot of this talk in absolutes is just clickbait.
I put aside the hyperbole and give you a clear breakdown of what types of warm ups are best for you and your goals, and why someone else's exercise preferences shouldn't bother you so much...
If you approach every workout with the goal of getting the best time, most rounds, most weight lifted, or most "points," you're going to end up training in ways that are actually counterproductive to your fitness goals.
In this episode, I outline 5 progressive training methods, and how training for them requires you to get out of competition mode, and train smarter.
Heart rate based training has been around for a long time, but in recent years it has exploded with boutique studios creating an addicting workout experience for competitive fitness enthusiasts. But is it all it’s cracked up to be?
In this episode I break down the science behind heart rate based training, how it’s been used in the past vs. how it’s being used now, and the pros and cons of this hot new fitness trend.
You may have been in a group training session where the instructor led the class in a deck of cards workout or maybe they made up some other game to make the workout a little more fun.
Eric Mathura has taken this concept to the next level though, as he’s actually made a board game out of a game he’s developed over his years as a personal trainer and group instructor. Board Gains, the fitness board game, has gone from a concept on a whiteboard at Eric’s gym, to a complete board game set with everything you need to have a great workout AND a good time, even if you don’t have any training experience.
Eric joins me this week to tell us how the idea for Board Gains came about, how the game works, and how you and your friends and family can enjoy the game at home!
www.boardgains.com
From knee pain and immobile hips to tight neck muscles causing headaches, the repercussions of all of the sitting during quarantine are still being felt by people around the world. In this episode, physical therapist Dr. Garrett Foland is back with me to talk about the 5 most common issues people are coming to see us with after quarantine, and how you can use movement to resolve those issues.
Recently I visited Straight Shot’s sister company, Kinetix Physiotherapy and Performance, as we have been working together to reach more people who want to move well and feel great. The physical therapy side of Kinetix is headed up by Dr. Garrett Foland. Dr. Foland started out as a personal trainer, but realized that he wanted to further his education to provide care through movement to people injured or experiencing pain. This movement based approach to physical therapy is right up my alley so I wanted to have Dr. Foland on to talk about how he got into physical therapy, how they do things differently at Kinetix, and what you all should look for when trying to find a physical therapist who can help you feel and perform your absolute best.
If you're looking to clean up your diet AND make some room in your budget for a personal trainer, you've gotta listen to this quick episode!
I present some very conservative dietary swaps and cut backs that'll help you eat better, cut calories, and save money all to help you lose weight and get connected with a trainer who will provide you with custom workouts and one-on-one accountability.
I've said before that the "no days off/you won't outwork me" mentality is hurting a lot of athletes, but I've noticed a concerning trend in the opposite direction recently. "Self care" posts are everywhere encouraging people to relax on their diets, training programs, sleep schedule, and overall effort level in their fitness regime.
Here's the problem...self care includes being uncomfortable sometimes. Growth is self care, and you have to do some "not fun" things in order to progress.
In this episode, I explain how to find balance depending on your goals, and why you need to learn to be comfortable with being uncomfortable.
"Toning Up" is a very common fitness goal, but my clients are always surprised when I tell them what they need to do to achieve their expressed result. In this episode I quickly break down the two possible methods you'll need to choose from in order to "tone up."
Many gyms around the country are opening back up, but is it worth it for you personally to go back? In this episode, I go over the pros and cons of your return to the gym and give my honest opinion on the responsibility of the both the fitness professional and gym goer amid the current pandemic.
I know you didn't ask for a 3 month sabbatical from the gym, but consider this...you probably needed it.
Rest and recovery is the most undervalued portion of your training and hopefully you've seen over the past few months how restorative rest can be for you.
With gyms opening back up all over the country, I wanted to use this episode to highlight the benefits of rest and recovery and teach you how to come back to the gym with more of a balance of training and recovering.
How has it been working towards your gym goals while at home? If you feel like you've been spinning your wheels just trying to hold on to your fitness level while doing what you can at your house, you need to listen to this episode!
I explain how you can not only maintain what you've worked for in the gym, but how to actually INCREASE your fitness level and work towards your goals while continuing to train at home!
Whether you are still working with your personal trainer virtually, following an online program, for making up your own workouts, one thing is true...you can't NOT have a program! Winging isn't just ineffective, it could get you hurt if you aren't careful. In this episode I go through some different scenarios of how to keep up with whatever your program was or is now until we get back into the gym. I also give you tips on how to make your own awesome workouts that follow the Straight Shot programming principles!
Struggling to find the motivation to work out? Don't worry, you're in the same boat as a LOT of people missing their gym, workout partners, routines, and coaches. However just because it's typical to not feel super motivated to workout at home, that doesn't mean you shouldn't work on fixing it. In this episode I offer some strategies to help you find both internal and external motivators to help you get proactive about the consistency of your training at home.
Are you snacking all day? Not knowing what to eat for your meals? Struggling to avoid all of the quarantine snacks in your house? You are not alone. I put together my top four most frequently noticed issues people are having with food while at home and offer my possible solutions to each in this episode.
Let's be honest...it's not likely that gyms will be open soon, so we need a plan to transition to home workouts. Arguing, lamenting, and complaining aren't going to do anything. We need to get tactical.
Over the next 6 episodes I am going to guide you through how to maintain what you've worked for in the gym and how to actually continue to get fitter at home.
In this first episode of the series, we'll get straight to the point of what inexpensive items you need to get started at home, and what things will help you even more if you can afford it. I even cover what you can find in your yard to use for equipment.
In the age of "fitsporational" posts I see a lot of "what's your excuse?" captions and taglines. While the poster's intentions are probably good, the phrase most likely doesn't have the effect they want it to. In this episode I go through the 3 categories of excuses (and each one's validity), and how we need to take a more practical, grounded approach to gym motivation.
Recovery is the difference between you spinning your wheels and making progress in the gym. A lot of people think about the amount of recovery they need during the week between workout sessions, but not enough value is placed in taking entire recovery WEEKS (aka deload weeks) throughout the year. Once I can convince someone that they need to deload in the first place, they typically make one of the mistakes I go over in this episode. Let's get into the the why, the how, and the how NOT to deload!
Whether it was studying clinical nutrition as part of my degree, spending over a decade training people of all fitness backgrounds, testing out various diets myself, or constantly reading studies and observing empirical evidence, I've come to the following conclusion: most diets have redeeming qualities. So take the good parts from each (ex. eating mostly whole foods with plenty of produce), and don't get overly restrictive with whatever your diet is. For some reason though, has become controversial on the internet, when in fact it's the time tested way to live longer, healthier lives.
This is something that has bugged me forever: People lifting with their shoes untied. I know it's a bit of an odd rant, but when you hear the story I share about a lifter I once questioned about his untied shoes, you'll hopefully see why it's problematic...And why it goes way beyond your shoes being untied.
When it comes to health and fitness, it's no big secret that you get better results when you take it seriously. But in order to receive a favorable return on investment, the investment (mentally, physically, and financially) often needs to be big enough for you want to actually commit to it. As someone who wants to help as many people as I can, I have often struggled with the transactional side of personal training and coaching. As you'll hear in this episode though, I've learned that the clients who prioritize their health the most (including financially), get the best results.
Work capacity is the total amount of work you can perform, recover from, and adapt positively to. Over the next six weeks, the Straight Shot athletes will be working on increasing their work capacity through a variety of different training methods. In this episode, I go over how my approach to increasing work capacity is different than other approaches, and how this style of training can increase your strength, endurance, lean muscle mass, and overall fitness level.
Is social media helping or hurting people get fitter? It's become popular for coaches in my industry to blame social media for the spread of misinformation, but is this REALLY anything new? In this episode, I share my thoughts on the current state of reason and truth in the fitness space in the age of social media.
I know, it's a weird request, but listen to this episode of the podcast and you'll hear why a different approach to caloric management may be more effective for you than the trendy studios and fitness gadget companies would like you to think. This method will also help you address all of the other things you should be working on in the gym besides just losing weight (if that's your goal).
Are you training? Or just exercising? Learn the difference in this episode and how training with structure and purpose can keep you from burnout in the gym and actually get you on your way to where you want to be.
You've heard it all before: "running sucks" "cardio is Hardio" "cardio will kill your gains"... but how universally important is cardiorespiratory conditioning for athletes of all types? In this episode, I get into how even just a little cardio will make you a better lifter and how it can improve your recovery to increase your total fitness.
Here are two scary stories about the times that I missed landing backflips due to not committing to the movement. The concept of doing a backflip probably isn't relevant to you, but I tie it into how the fear of commitment is making your lifts worse (and more dangerous), and how this lesson that I teach in the gym can be applied to your life outside of it.
I've competed as a runner, a Crossfitter, and a Strongman and have noticed a dangerous glorification of pain and acceptance of injuries as "just part of training" for those sports. I lay out in this episode my counter to this trend in hopes that you can feel awesome while still performing well over the course of your life.
My thoughts on a common question and how to get a better answer when asking about how someone got to where they are with their fitness.
The podcast is back with a new format! In this episode, I discuss why I support New Year's resolutions about health and fitness despite them getting a bad rep.
What's the difference between a personal trainer, an online personal trainer, and an online training program? You'll find out in this episode along with an inside look at what goes into making programs for clients I never see in person.
Audrey Hayn is a personal trainer and college student who’s on a quest to help her fellow students get fit and live healthier lives. Between the unhealthy connotations that come along with college life, and the myriad of misinformation out there on social media, there is a definite need for students like Audrey. In this episode we get into her journey to becoming a trainer, how she stays healthy at school, and what tips we have for students and any busy people in general on making progress through eating healthy and working out.
Sometimes life throws a wrench into your training routine, and you have to take a couple weeks off from working out. We've talked plenty before about taking deload weeks or taking a week off from training, and how it's actually beneficial to your recovery process if you train hard throughout the year...but what about TWO weeks? In this episode we dive into several studies on extended periods of rest from training, and what happens to your fitness level when you willingly or unwillingly take extra time off from working out.
July 1, 2019 marked the 2 year anniversary of the launch of the Straight Shot Training online functional fitness program. In the past year, we've experienced some awesome growth both with athletes on the online program, and in person via personal training. We've also added some cool new stuff to Straight Shot thanks to some incredible collaborating coaches, and we've got a lot more to tell you about that we're planning for this upcoming year.
Thank you so much for being a part of Straight Shot as a listener, athlete, friend, or family member. You all are the best and have made this a most excellent year!
Learn what to eat before working out, how many days a week you should train, and how to plan for success regarding losing fat and gaining muscle (with plenty of West Virginia accent coming through here). All of these answers and thoughts packed into this Q&A episode in response to questions from Instagram (@straightshottraining on IG).
Here are the answers to an Instagram story "ask me anything" I posted recently. We cover how to eat for your goals while traveling, how often to vary your main lifts to keep from plateauing, how to keep from constantly being debilitatingly sore after workouts, and what is the best diet method for cutting body fat. Thank you all for your questions!
It's our 50th episode! It took long enough, right? I briefly explain where the podcast is been the past 5 months and where it's headed as Straight Shot Training continues to grow. Then I get into the things I observed on my most recent mass gaining cycle, and share these tips for anyone looking to gain OR lose weight, as the concepts are universal.
This is part 2 of our two part episode on our first experience training for and competing in a strongman competition. In the first episode, Rebecca Brandon and I discussed our training along with our coach Andrew and gave you a brief overview of the events at the Strongman Competition. In this episode, we get into the specifics of how we each did with the events and reflect on the entire competition experience. Plus we’ll give you some tips on how to enjoy your first competition as a strongman or strongwoman!
Back in the late summer, my friend and Strongman competitor Andrew Presnell got myself and some other trainers thinking about doing a Strongman competition. With the help of our other strongman friend John Taylor, Rebecca Reifsnider, Brandon Littleton, and I signed up for our first Strongman/Strongwoman competition. In this 2-part episode, we sat down in the gym office for a rare break between clients and talked about our experience with training for and competing in a sport that challenged us both mentally and physically as beginners in a new discipline. In part 1, we’ll take you from the time we switched from following my Straight Shot programming to Andrew’s coaching, all the way up to our final moments before the first event started.
If you’re thinking about putting together your own home gym, you’ve found the right episode. Coach John Taylor is an Strongman enthusiast and Crossfit coach, and has one of the more impressive home training setups you’ll see made of equipment that he’s both purchased and built. In this episode, John and I discuss what equipment you need depending on what your goals or sport of choice are, and what pieces we think are must-haves for anyone wanting to workout at home.
Zach Divelbliss was in a car accident several years ago that left him in a coma for 6 weeks. When he came out of it, doctors told his family that he may never walk or talk again. Today Zach trains twice a week with Straight Shot coach Rebecca Reifsnider where he does squats, deadlifts, ladder drills, hurdles, and a whole lot more than walking and talking again. Zach’s recovery hasn’t been easy, and his injuries have affected him greatly both physically and mentally. He still has a long way to go before he can get back to his passion of welding, but with his never-quit attitude, his positive outlook on his triumphs and setbacks, and his ability to laugh through it all, Zach makes progress in and out of the gym every day.
It’s part 2 of our July question and answer show! We start off with how to properly breathe during different types of training and how it could be the secret to unlocking your strength. You'll also hear why doing cardio before weights isn't the best sequence and how to deal with loose skin after losing weight.
Happy 1 Year Anniversary of the start of Straight Shot Training and Straight Shot Radio! This podcast began as a spinoff of a weekly live facebook Q&A I used to do, so it’s only fitting that we do a Q&A show to mark 1 year of episodes! I had so many great questions come in from the great folks in my Kettlebells and Ultimate Conditioning classes at the Frederick Y that I had to split this episode into 2 parts. In this episode, I cover why sleep is important in losing weight, whether or not a FitBit is a reliable fitness tracking gadget, and finish with getting into the basics of hydration. Be sure to listen all the way through for details on a special offer to celebrate our birthday!
This is a short story about one of the most hilarious and random, yet heartwarming and rewarding experiences I’ve ever had as a coach. It's the tale of an elderly Air Force veteran who badly wanted to get back up in the air in his homemade airplane, and how he hired me to help him train for his flight...
This is Part 3 in our three part series on the 3 main macronutrients: protein, fat, and carbohydrates. Along with frosted tips, fanny packs, neon, and high waisted pants, the low carb craze of the 90’s is back! But why are people ditching carbs again? What makes this macronutrient worse than the others?
And on the other side of the aisle, we’ve got the The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics that still advocates ALL people eat a diet high in carbohydrates, regardless of activity level. Should we really be eating THIS many carbs?
In this episode we give you the rundown of exactly what carbs are, what they do, where they fit in your diet, why different people need different amounts, and how to figure out how much is right for you.
Part TWO in our three part series on the 3 main macronutrients: protein, fat, and carbohydrates. Fat seems to ride this rollercoaster of heroism and villainy every other decade. Sometimes it’s is the worst thing you can put into your body and is guaranteed to clog your arteries, and next thing you know it, dietary fat is our best friend and people can’t get enough of it.
In this episode we give you the rundown of exactly what fat is, what it does, where it fits in your diet, why different people need different amounts, and how to figure out how much is right for you. Plus...plenty of fat myth busting and a whole lot of science from coach Rebecca
Part one in a three part series on the 3 main macronutrients: protein, fat, and carbohydrates. Since protein is too often overemphasized or underemphasized in the fitness industry, we wanted to start there. In this episode we give you the rundown of exactly what protein is, what it does, where it fits in your diet, why different people need different amounts, and how to figure out how much is right for you. Plus plenty of protein myth busting!
For this month’s Q&A episode, we’re talking vegetarian sources of protein, how much and what time to take a creatine supplement, losing weight without a gym, recovering and staying competitive as an aging athlete, and the difference between beer and kale. Yes, there is a slight difference, so make sure you stick around ‘til the end!
Functional fitness competitions have become increasingly popular in the past decade. Participants set out to “prove their fitness” by partaking in these competitions that test a broad range of fitness challenges including gymnastics elements, heavy lifts, strongman style events, and sprint workouts. While I at one time competed in both the Crossfit open and in local competitions, over the past 4 years I’ve had mixed feelings about making fitness a sport. There are some things I like about it, some things I don’t, and some things about it that I find downright absurd and dangerous. We’ll get into all of it in this episode; the good, the bad, and the ugly…
As many of you celebrated the Irish culture this past weekend with the festivities of St. Patrick’s Day, I wanted to jump on board and get into the sport and fitness culture of Ireland by interviewing my fellow trainer at the Y and Strength and Conditioning Specialist, Kevin Barry. Kevin came to the US from Ireland to study exercise science and shares his story with us, along with how training athletes and personal training clients is different in the US than Ireland, and what our fitness and health cultures can learn from each other.
Personal training is an alluring career for people passionate about fitness and health, and for very good reasons. It’s rewarding, challenging, always changing, fast paced, competitive, and puts you on the front lines of the battle against many preventable diseases and musculoskeletal dysfunctions. But it’s not as easy as walking into a gym and starting to train people. In fact, I teach courses at a local college just to help prepare potential trainers get a chance to break into the world of training. Whether or not you plan on working in this industry, the information my guest Rebecca Reifsnider and I share with you in this episode will help give you some insight as to what it takes to become a trainer, and how to be a successful one once you’ve gotten into this field.
I took questions from members at the Frederick YMCA and cover how to maintain total fitness while pursuing specific goals, whether or not you should buy organic, when and why to take vitamins and supplements, what to do when you hit a weight loss plateau, whether or not you need protein powder, where you can get your protein from besides chicken breasts, and why a certain gym staple needs to go.
In the spirit of Valentine’s Day, NASM CPT John Taylor and I write love letters to our favorite lifts: the Squat, Bench Press, Deadlift, and Strict Press (overhead press). As a coach, I’m a big fan of variance in my programming of exercises. But these 4 movements are the foundation of my programming and show up every week in one form or another in my programming. Of course ALL of the other movements we do are important and are pivotal in creating truly balanced functional athletes, but these 4 lifts are the base for a host of reasons that we get into.
Things also get weird on some of the letters...especially with the musical accompaniments.
You know how your workouts suffer on days when you don’t sleep well, and how it’s much easier it is to recover when you DO sleep well. Electrical muscular stimulation, compression, soft tissue work, cupping, and ice baths might be pieces of the recovery puzzle, but none can compete with sleep as the most beneficial recovery technique, along with nutrition and hydration. This is where sleep hygiene comes in. Sleep hygiene is the habits and practices that are conducive to sleeping well on a regular basis. In this episode , I discuss the best ways to insure a great night of sleep so you can recover from your workouts well, increase your productivity throughout the day, and improve your overall health.
Look around your gym and you’ll see signs that say “rack your weights” or “no cell phones”, but the gym etiquette list is a lot longer and more nuanced than that. For example, when is it ok to ask to share a squat rack with someone? Or when is it appropriate to drop your weights? In this episode I get together with a few of the personal trainers from the Frederick YMCA and we cover a wide range of gym etiquette topics, including the “why” “when” and “how” of grunting, and the importance of being on time for personal training sessions. The crew at the Y is always a blast to be around, and we definitely have fun with this one!
A decade ago, programs like Crossfit were on the fringe and only used by fitness buffs looking for a new challenge away from the typical gym experience. Now Crossfit has over 11,000 affiliates worldwide and hosts an online fitness competition every year that has well over 200,000 participants of ALL fitness levels. High intensity cross training programs combining gymnastics, weightlifting, powerlifting, strongman, and racing sports like running, biking, and swimming are now present in some capacity at just about any mainstream gym you go to. But still there is this stigma attached to these programs that they are dangerous and participants are prone to injury at a higher rate than other forms of exercise or sport. So, is this true? And if it is, how can we make it safer to enjoy programs like this? This episode is loaded with recent studies I want to share with you to get to the bottom of it, along with some exciting news Straight Shot has for Crossfit athletes!
Sugar has a pretty bad reputation. We’ve all heard about how consuming it leads to obesity, it’s physically addictive, it causes type 2 diabetes, and even how eating sugar can increase your risk of cancer. And with the severity of these accusations against a single food, it’s easy to see why sugar is considered a poison by just about everyone in the fitness world. But with all of the hysteria, how many people have looked into the science behind sugar and the studies behind these claims? That’s what I do in this episode. We take a straight forward look at what sugar really is, how your body actually handles it, and what the scientists conducting the latest research say about the claims being made against sugar.
How are those new year’s resolutions holding up after a week? If you’re like most people who make resolutions this time of year, I'm going to be honest with you...only 20% of you will stick with it past February. Being a personal trainer for the past 10 Januarys, I know how this works. People have the best intentions to get in shape, lose weight, get stronger, or start running, but sadly, 80% of these people will quit for one reason or another. Some studies have even found that only 8% of people keep their resolutions. So why is it so hard to accomplish these goals? Well, a lot of it has to do with how you set your goal in the first place. In this episode, I give you some examples of common fitness goals, and how each can be tweaked to be a bit better, and pull it all together to help you create SMART goals for yourself that will greatly increase the likelihood of your success!
If you had to spend every day fighting a genetic disease by doing hours of therapy, regular hospital admissions, taking countless medications and intravenous drugs, and using a feeding tube to maintain a healthy weight, and do all of this just to be able to breathe, you can imagine how hard it would be to see the joy in life. Mary Frey not only goes through all of that to battle her Cystic Fibrosis with a positive attitude, she has also made it her mission to spread laughter and joy alongside her husband in their YouTube vlog, “The Frey Life.” In this episode we get into how exercise is used as a treatment for CF, how Mary came to love yoga and doing handstands in hospital rooms, and how to push out negativity, self doubt, and fear, by choosing joy, courage, and hope.
Socrates said “No man has the right to be an amateur in the matter of physical training. It is a shame for a man to grow old without seeing the beauty and strength of which his body is capable.” Being strong makes you better at just about everything. That’s why even though the Straight Shot Training program balances all aspects of fitness, we consider strength training with excellent technique the foundation of our model. John Taylor has the same approach to fitness, as he trains year round and competes in Strongman competitions. Get a brief intro into the world of Strongman, and how a strong body equals a strong mind, as we get into why strength is king
Did you know that personal trainers are not paid to yell at you? Or just count your reps? Did you know that we don’t get paid to work out and we don’t just eat chicken and broccoli? There are a lot of misconceptions floating around about personal trainers, so I brought in two of my fellow trainers from the Shepherd University Wellness Center to clear up the confusion and give you all the inside scoop on what it’s actually like to coach other people for a living.
Chris was a heavy kid who grew up in a poor family in Indiana. He ignored bullies and people who didn’t believe in him, and became successful in his career as an adult, but was near 300lb and borderline diabetic by his mid 30’s. Chris started training with me and taking my classes, and got serious about his diet to lose 70 pounds! Chris’ brutal honesty and inability to let people’s opinions get to him might make him seem like a bit of a tough cookie, but he explains how it’s helped him stay in his lane and focus on what he needs to do for his health and fitness.
Every wonder where kettlebells came from? Or where dumbbells got their name? Or why the barbell was invented? Well, probably not because that’s not something the average person stays up at night thinking about, but the answers to these questions ARE pretty interesting. In this episode, I give you a brief history and explanation of some of the tools of the strength trade and why each is an important part of a functional fitness program. Along the way you’ll also find out why clowns juggle bowling pins, learn about the Victorian Era health craze, and hear how the invention of the barbell almost tragically died with it’s inventor.
If you visit a physical therapist for an injury, they’ll help you get back to moving pain free with a list of rehab exercises. But what if you aren’t injured? Do you still need to perform movements like rotator cuff exercises? Hip mobility drills? Low back and core stability drills? Well that depends...do you want a healthy rotator cuff? Mobile hips? A stable core that keeps your low back from getting injured? If you answered yes, then you really should consider adding some PREHAB exercises into your warm ups. Being proactive and doing so isn’t just injury prevention insurance, it can also increase your performance! This means bigger lifts, more muscle, faster times, more power and speed, and you get it all while moving with better form and creating solid movement patterns that’ll last. I give you the what, why, and how of prehab in this episode.
Here's your official "diet and workout pass" card from two personal trainers so you can chill out, enjoy your time with your family, and eat some delicious food this Thursday. Rebecca Reifsnider and I give you a fresh take from two fitness professionals as we don't mind you going off your diet and workout plan for a day or two, provided it's not carried on for the next 6 weeks into the new year. We have tons of thoughts, tips, ideas, and strategies for you in this episode along with why I think Rebecca's eating habits should be studied by criminal psychiatrists.
Happy Thanksgiving, everybody!
Creating workout programs is just as much of an art as it is a science. When it comes to being a science, there are some proven systems that we as coaches need to abide by in order to create effective and safe workouts for our clients or athletes. In this episode, I share with you The 7 Principles of Training. These scientifically proven concepts apply to all training programs for better or for worse depending on whether they’re being used correctly or not (that's where the art of coaching comes in). As I go through each, I explain how each of them relates to how I program the workouts in the Straight Shot Training program.
Being a radio DJ isn’t exactly the healthiest, most active job. You spend hours a day on air in a booth, and then more time sitting at a desk editing audio and writing scripts. Combine that with restaurants donating food constantly for reviews and the ease and convenience of fast food while working long hours, and you can see how someone like this episode's guest can end up living a sedentary lifestyle and struggling with obesity. Pat Mendonca is a radio DJ and just a few years ago weighed 266lbs. After making small changes which turned into bigger changes in both his diet and his exercise, Pat has lost 80lbs and has run in several half marathons, 10 milers, and 5Ks. After getting his own health under control, this November Pat is paying it forward by highlighting men’s health issues on his radio show and his podcast (The Interesting People Podcast). Pat's energy, positivity, and sense of humor shine in this encouraging and informative interview.
Denise Hanton was faced with the seriousness of obesity when she witnessed family members suffering from the effects of diabetes and dying from heart attacks. Knowing that she had to make a lifestyle change to save her own life, Denise sought the help of a dietician and made the commitment to lose weight and get healthy. 2 years later, she’s lost 200lbs and continues to improve her health by eating correctly and exercising throughout the week.
Grab a donut and catch up with Delaney and Brandon now that they've been training for me for a couple of months! We get into how they're enjoying their new jobs as personal trainers after their internship and I answer some questions along with them that I've received recently. We get into foot placement on squats, strategies to get your first pullup, and how to become a personal trainer. We finish with a quick talk about some health and fitness topics that we feel are over and underrated, with some thoughts that may surprise you...All of this with the help of some glazed donuts from Maple Donuts because health and fitness is all about balance!
When we talk about functional fitness, we typically mean we’re training movements, not muscles. We’re trying to do things in the gym that mimic things in everyday life outside of it. My goal as a coach for my athletes is to have them moving well and feeling great whether their sport is on a field, in an office, on a construction site, in a classroom, at home, or anywhere else. Bodybuilding takes a different approach to fitness, where the athletes are trying to maximize muscle size and definition, acheive body symmetry, and reduce bodyfat to ultra low levels for competitions. While many sports have their dangers and drawbacks, for some reason the functional fitness world has ALWAYS been at odds with the bodybuilding world. This is where my guest and I hope to serve as ambassadors to find some common ground between the two. In this episode I sit down with my college roommate Ricky Williams to talk about the similar methods that our practices have and what functional fitness athletes and coaches can learn from bodybuilders.
In today’s fitness world the lines are often blurred between genuine advice, and gimmicky advertising. That’s why one of the goals of this show is to provide a clear, no nonsense approach to fitness and health. In this episode, I'll answer a few questions that have been posed to me recently regarding rapid weight loss and it's effect on strength, the benefits of stand up desks, and the safety and efficacy of testosterone boosting supplements.
For me, warming up correctly has always just felt right. But the more I study various warm up methods and the science behind them, the more convinced I am of the importance of priming the body for exercise. Not only does mobility work help you move in better positions to keep you safe during exercise, it can actually improve your performance. In today’s episode, I want to share with you why I feel this specific warm up strategy is such an integral part of a training program, and how you can implement these tactics into your own workouts to have you moving well, and feeling great!
Every wanted to teach yourself a new skill, movement, or trick? Here is the method I've used to teach myself backflips, presses to handstand, ring movements, and other gymnastics elements as well as Olympic lifting, juggling, slacklining, and as of this past week, skimboarding. I won’t call myself an expert at any of these movements, and the bruises and scrapes on my legs from the skimboard confirm this, but I love the process of learning new skills. While everyone learns differently, and each skill has it’s own unique set of challenges, this model has helped me as an athlete AND as a coach who teaches others how to move for a living. So hopefully you’ll find some helpful tips along the way and can apply it to learn something cool!
Aristotle said, “Patience is bitter, but it’s fruit is sweet.” We all know being patient is difficult, especially since in today’s society, since it’s not that often that we have to wait for something. When it comes to health and fitness though, there aren't any shortcuts; At least not ones that create any lasting change or actual results. ACSM Personal Trainer and Coach Coach Rebecca Reifsnider (see Ep. 2 for her story) joins me for a conversation about the importance of practicing patience and why consistency over time is paramount to your success.
If you’re like most gym goers, you’re probably not working out in silence. If you’re ever forgotten your headphones and have had to workout without any music, you know how much it helps and how much you miss it when it’s not there. But have you ever wondered why working out with music is so much better than exercising without it?
I break down a study in this episode that examined music’s effect on exercise performance and offer some thoughts as to why it’s such a potent component of your routine. I also share what goes into designing playlists for my group training sessions, and explain why my own workouts have very different playlists depending on what I’m doing.
Have a favorite artist, album, or song you like to workout to? Comment below so I can check it out!
Flexibility decreases as you age, but you can do something to combat it! I get into detail on this topic along with answering another question regarding flexibility and knee pain, and go into my defense of the proper use of isolation movements in our 2nd Q&A show.
I lay out many of the flexibility and mobility strategies out there and how to use each to keep mobile, get the most out of your workouts, and resolve injuries that come from tight muscles. Some are better than others, so hopefully this will help you figure out which one’s best for you!
I also get into the hot button topic of isolation movements. They get a lot of hate in the functional fitness world, but I think they’re largely misunderstood and underutilized. I explain when and why to use certain single-joint exercises in your program to make you a better, safer mover.
Jim was born with a severe vision impairment, but has never let anyone else tell him what he can’t do. He has run over 20 marathons and half marathons and is an active cyclist. At almost 55 years old, Jim decided to switch careers to pursue his passion of helping others and now works as a personal trainer. He truely lives out the “no excuses” mantra on a daily basis and is living proof that if you want something in life, you have to put in the work to make it happen. Jim shares his story with us in this episode, filled with motivation, humor, and honesty.
After suffering a minor low back injury last year (beware of trampoline parks and losses of midline stability!), I developed a protocol to systematically eliminate pain and tightness, correct faulty movement patterns, and return to usual activities in the gym. I go over the entire protocol in detail for you all in this episode. Optimizing recovery from any injury is crucial, so whether it's a low back issue or any other body part, you may find some helpful tips with this one!
Meet my inspiring summer interns, Delaney and Brandon! We sit around a box of donuts (shoutout to flexible dieting and moderation!) to discuss how they got to where they are and what excites them about being trainers before I give them some advice to hopefully help them reach their full potential as coaches. Their instagram handles are @_delooney_tunes and @blittle82.
What is Direct Primary Care and how can movement shape the future of the medical field? Dr. Ken Rictor, a Direct Primary Care physician at Scotland Family Medicine and Straight Shot Training subscriber joins me to to discuss these topics and along the way shares an ER story that you have to hear to believe.
Here is a speech I gave to the varsity boys soccer team from Martinsburg High School. I explain to them why giving 100% effort in everything you do is so important and I share with the team a story from my childhood soccer days that has shaped who I am today.
Bikini body workouts, detox tea, intermittent fasting, butter in your coffee...Instagram is a wild place with some wild health and fitness claims. I sort through the facts and fiction behind a few of them along with certified Personal Trainers Anna Hornstein and Natalie Rhoades.
Don't know where to start when it comes to prepping your meals for the week? We've got you covered. We scratch the surface of the key to managing your weight in this episode packed with tips and tricks for making meal prepping easy.
Why is it ok to squat below parallel? Why is it ok for your knees to pass your toes at the bottom? What is the rotator cuff's job and how to you strengthen it? These questions and more covered in our first Q&A episode.
She's gone from being prediabetic and overweight as a child, to becoming a collegiate basketball player, and now a certified Health Coach and Personal Trainer. Rebecca Reifsnider is highly motivated and an exceptionally hard worker. In this episode she stops by to tell her story that has molded her into an excellent coach to everyone she works with.
With the prevalence of musculoskeletal injuries in the U.S. due to inactivity, poor posture, and faulty exercise and sport mechanics, I wanted to create a balanced functional fitness program to address these issues. Here's some more info on why I created Straight Shot and what the program entails.