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How to accept and deal with hunger

Let me be the first to admit I’ve always struggled with hunger.

I rarely get a growling stomach like most people. Instead, I get very edgy, irritable, and short tempered. I like to think I’m a pretty laid back person, but watch out if I’m hungry. On more than one occasion, I’ve done or said something I regretted because I wasn’t thinking straight and didn’t realize it until after I’d eaten.

Over the years, I learned to attack my hunger as soon as it appeared to avoid these undesirable side effects.

I’d snack and overeat all day long because I was more comfortable with being overfull than feeling even the slightest hint of hunger.

I also spent a lot of time feeling sorry for myself. Why did I always get so hungry? Why did hunger seem to affect me more than other people? If only I didn’t feel so hungry or if it wasn’t so uncomfortable, then I’d be able to finally lose weight.

I’ll never forget my first experience working with my long-time coach Bryan Krahn years ago. I complained to Bryan because I was feeling pretty hungry during the day in between meals. He was pleased and told me that feeling the hunger was a good sign!

Although hunger was still uncomfortable for me, I began to see it in a different light. I begrudgingly made friends with my hunger because I realized it was indicating that I was heading in the right direction with my fat loss goals.

Hunger is not an emergency.

Here’s the thing: some hunger is not a bad thing. If you’re trying to lose weight, it’s an inevitable and necessary part of your journey.

When I stopped my personal pity party and accepted this, I was able to focus my energy in a more productive direction, namely learning to get more comfortable with discomfort in the name of my bigger goals.

I realized that my hunger was not an emergency (even through it felt like one) and that I could survive to my next meal without snacking.

Perhaps you’ve heard that you should never feel hungry. There are a lot of misconceptions about hunger and what it means.

Like anything, hunger exists on a continuum. It’s normal to experience some hunger in between meals. In fact, if you’re not hungry at all, you probably shouldn’t eat much (even if it’s supposed to be meal time). This is true for everyone except people who are actively trying to gain weight.

Those who are trying to losing weight will likely experience higher levels of hunger. This hunger may start sooner after meals or be more intense than if you’re eating at maintenance.

However, if you take it too far and chase hunger for its own sake or try to see how little you can eat, then you’re starting to enter the realm of disordered eating.

I am in no way telling you to starve yourself or that the hungrier you feel, the better your results will be. But I do encourage you to get honest with yourself about your relationship with hunger.

These days, I still struggle with the way hunger affects my mood and energy levels. The difference is that I no longer delude myself into thinking I’ll be free of hunger if I want to get and stay lean.

Some tips for reducing and managing hunger

Routine is a very powerful tool to help you manage hunger. If you can eat your meals at the same times, your body will adapt and you may start to experience less random hunger throughout the day.

On a related note, sometimes changing your meal timing can help with hunger. For example, if you aren’t hungry when you wake up but feel extremely hungry later, try fasting in the morning and pushing your regular meals later in the day.

A diet that consists of mostly whole foods will fill you up a lot more than a diet filled with processed foods. Protein, fiber, and healthy fats can be particularly satiating. Solid foods are also more filling than liquid foods like shakes and smoothies.

Read more: How I overcame my dislike of vegetables

Drink plenty of water throughout the day. Aim for half your bodyweight in ounces every day. In a pinch, black coffee or tea can also help dull hunger pangs.

When you do eat, practice eating slowly and mindfully. Chew your food and pay attention to the experience of eating. Don’t wolf down your meals because that often leads to feelings of dissatisfaction and false hunger after meals.

Read more: Make this change to feel less hungry and more satisfied

Practice sitting with hunger when it arises. Set a timer for 20 minutes and do something else before deciding if you want to eat. Hunger comes in waves, and many times you may find you can wait longer to eat.

Start asking yourself if you’re really hungry or just craving something. One mental test I use on myself is to ask if I’m hungry enough to eat a plate of plain chicken and broccoli. If I say no, then I know I’m experiencing a craving.

Have some perspective. It may seem preachy, but it’s helpful to me to remember that choosing to go without food in the name of fat loss is a luxury. Many people in the world – including in my own city and country – are regularly forced to go without food for extended periods of time. This stops me from feeling so sorry for myself.

I know talking about hunger is not very sexy, but I strongly believe getting more comfortable with hunger is one of the most powerful tools you can use in your efforts to lose weight or maintain your weight.

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Training to Be Harder to Kill

Like many people, my fitness journey began because I wanted to lose weight.

By the time I got serious about this, there was more on the line than just looking a certain way. I was 19 and prediabetic, facing a future of chronic disease if I didn’t make some serious changes.

Long story short, I lost 70lbs in the first year. I fell in love with lifting weights and learned how to cook, buy groceries, and count calories. For the first time since middle school, I fit into smaller sizes and had to buy a completely new wardrobe

My second major goal – which lasted about four years – was to get as strong as possible. I was introduced to the sport of powerlifting and got hooked.

My training was all about putting up big numbers on the back squat, bench press, and barbell deadlift. I even competed in a powerlifting meet back in April 2014 where I set an all-time personal deadlift PR of 330lbs.

I’m now almost ten years into my personal fitness journey. Increasingly, my goals have shifted beyond just building a lean body and lifting heavy things.

I still want to look good and feel strong (who doesn’t?), but I’ve realized that the biggest benefit of lifting weights is how it helps you later on in life.

You have control than you think over how you age.

When most of us think about getting older, we assume that losing strength, mobility, stamina, and power is inevitable.

I know I constantly hear people saying things like “I’m just old” or “I guess this is just part of getting older.”

Here’s the thing: much of the physical decline we perceive as just part of getting older is not set in stone.

The appearance of your body may change, but you can hold on to much of its capacity if you’re stay active and prioritize resistance training.

One of the biggest drivers of age-related decline is loss of muscle mass. This causes your metabolism to slow down along with a host of other negative consequences.

But studies indicate that you can actually maintain much of your muscle mass as long as you keep using it. You don’t need to be a pro bodybuilder either; you just need to engage in some kind of regular resistance training.

Another challenge of getting older is being more susceptible to injury. Too many older people die as a result of slips and falls.

It doesn’t have to be this way – you can dramatically reduce the chances of falls by maintaining some level of balance, speed, and power.

Here are a few things you can do to train for health and longevity: 

Train all the major movement patterns. Everyone should perform some variation of a squat, hinge, upper body push, and upper body pull on a regular basis. If you want to add a few more, I also recommend training gait (walking and carries), crawling, single leg training, and rotation (both resisting and creating it).

Read more: Core training beyond crunches

Pick exercises that work for your body and skill level. Not everyone is cut out to use barbells. And if you’re intimidated by the weight room, there are plenty of other resistance training options that can work. I strongly suggest experimenting to find exercise variations that feel good for you. 

If you want help figuring out which squat and deadlift variations work for you, you can download my free Squat and Deadlift School ebook here.

Don’t do things that hurt. This is related to the point above. You would be surprised how many people push through pain during exercise because they thing it’s just part of the deal. There is always a way to to modify an exercise or train around pain. Your joints will thank you.

Read more: You got hurt. Now what?

Power training is for everyone. Being fast and responsive is what helps you prevent falls and quickly react to other stimuli in the environment. Learning how to jump and land safely is hugely beneficial. If you can’t jump, try incorporating medicine ball throws or just going for power walks from time to time.

Do mobility work every day. The last thing you want is for your minor aches and pains to turn into more serious problems or permanent restrictions. I recommend doing drills to mobilize your hips, upper back, shoulders, and ankles as often as possible.

Read more: How should I warm up?

Work on getting up and down from the floor. Being able to get up and down from the floor by yourself is hugely important for health and safety as we age. If possible, try to get up and down from the floor at least once in every workout. Turkish getups and lunges are especially helpful here.

When in doubt, keep up your cardio fitness. The best thing you can do for your health is to move every day. If all you can do is go for a short walk, make that your goal. This keeps your heart, brain, muscles, and many other systems healthy and happy.

Read more: All about cardio

I still work out to build muscle and get lean. But I also want to stay strong and maintain my independence for as long as possible.

I want to be able to climb stairs, carry my groceries, and take active vacations. I do this work now so that I’m harder to kill if I’m lucky enough to still here in a few decades.

If you’re a millennial like me, now is the perfect time to build a sustainable strength training routine. Find activities you enjoy and set meaningful goals so you can challenge yourself and stay engaged.

If you’re a little older, now is still the perfect time to lift weights or move your body in a way that’s appropriate for you.

As long as you’re still living, it’s not too late to get in better shape and reap the benefits of resistance training. If you want some help figuring out what this looks like for you, you can apply for my online training program here.

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You Don’t Need the Gym. But You Do Need This.

Hear me out on this one. 

I truly love the gym. Over the years, I’ve probably spent more time in weight rooms than anywhere else (except for maybe practice rooms back when I was a musician.)

COVID-19 threw me and many of my fellow meatheads off our game. We’d become so reliant on training in a particular way that we thought we’d never be able to maintain our fitness level or our gains without access to lots of weights.

Thankfully, my worries were misplaced. Through writing (and performing) dozens of home workouts over the last two months, I’ve learned that you can keep kicking ass no matter where you are or what you have access to.

Read more: Five ways to get motivated work out at home

That’s because the principles that drive progress – focus, hard work, intensity, open mindedness, and consistency – don’t require anything beyond your body and your brain.

–>You don’t need the gym to get results. But you do still need to stay consistent and check the exercise box as often as possible in ways that you enjoy.

Read more: Not seeing gym results? You’re probably making this mistake.

–>You don’t need heavy weights to maintain or build strength and muscle. But you do still need to train with intensity and push your limits.

Read more: Five ways to make bodyweight training more challenging

–>You don’t need lots of equipment to have a fun and effective workout. But you do need to get creative and make the best use of the tools at your disposal.

Read more: Turn household items into exercise equipment

Is it nice to work out in a gym with heavy weights and cool toys? Absolutely.

Will I be back lifting and helping clients in the gym as soon as it’s safe? You bet.

But that doesn’t mean I’m going to stop training myself or my clients in the meantime.

Accountability, structure, and guidance are three more things we all need even though gyms are closed. Most of us don’t have the time, knowledge, or desire to consistently create effective and engaging workouts for ourselves, especially when gyms are closed and our options seem limited.

I provide this service to my online clients. If you’re looking for a creative, supportive, and experienced trainer to guide you through the process of working out at home, you can apply for my online training program here.

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Four Foods You Should Never Eat

Anyone who’s ever been on the internet has seen clickbait articles sharing foods to avoid. These usually feature arbitrary lists of specific foods supported by cherry-picked “research” and dubious-looking doctors.

During the early days of your fitness journey, you may fall prey to these lists. I know I did. In time, however, most of us learn that very little about food and nutrition is so black and white.

As a general rule, I’m not a fan of restrictive behavior around food.

I don’t believe foods are inherently good or bad; so much depends on the individual person, circumstances, and environment.

However, this doesn’t mean I don’t use food rules with myself or my clients. It’s still up to us to figure out which foods work for us and which do not.

Having a little bit of structure can help us make good choices and not feel so lost in a sea of options. The four categories below can help guide you as you decide which foods to eat and which to skip (at least most of the time).

Foods that don’t agree with you

Although some scoff at the preponderance of food allergies these days, the struggle is real for many people.

I’ve worked with dozens of clients who experience physical distress in response to certain foods. This distress can present as stomach or digestive troubles, acne, joint pain, asthma, or an uptick in allergies. Some people have only mild symptoms, others suffer severe discomfort.

In order to feel their best, these clients need to remove certain foods from their regular meals.

Through a combination of food logging and experimentation, you can identify which foods are making you feel bad and gradually replace them with other things.

If you suspect you may have a food allergy or intolerance, it’s best to consult a nutritionist or doctor who can help guide you through the process of identifying problem foods.

Foods you don’t like

Many people have a lot of outdated ideas about what it means to diet or eat healthy.

If I had to eat nothing but bland baked chicken breast and soggy steamed veggies, I never would have stuck with healthy eating over the long term.

You can improve your eating habits without sacrificing flavor, taste, or diversity.

This is why learning how to cook can be so helpful for those trying to lose weight; not only do you have more control over the calorie content of your meals, you learn what it takes to make delicious food.

Your meals should taste good and make you feel good. It is possible to have both.

Foods you can’t stop eating

Some people excel with a moderation-based approach to food. If they completely remove trigger foods (like chips, ice cream, peanut butter, pastries, etc.), they feel deprived and are more likely to overeat those foods later. These people do better when they eat small amounts of treats on a regular basis.

Other people, myself included, do better with an abstinence-based approach to trigger foods. If there’s a food you can’t stop eating, it’s easier to stop yourself before you take the first bite.

I’m willing to bet you already know if this is you. You plan to have a small amount of a food, but it only triggers you to want more and more. Before you know it you’ve eaten way more than you intended and you feel physically and mentally gross.

Read more: Five tips to help you stop stress and emotional eating

If this sounds like you, removing these foods from your house or not ordering them can be a helpful first step in your journey to combat stress or binge eating.

By the way, this can change over time. With increased self-awareness, some people will be able to reintroduce certain foods to their diet in moderate amounts.

The important thing is to be honest with yourself about what will help you feel your best.

Foods you don’t want to eat

Have you ever had a well-meaning friend or family member pressure you into eating a certain food?

This is one of the biggest challenges of losing weight or getting in shape, one that’s not talked about nearly enough.

So much of our history, culture, identity, and emotions can be tied up in food.

Other people may feel resentful, confused, left out, or just oblivious when you’re eating in a new and different way. This leads them to consciously or unconsciously pressure you to eat certain foods or eat more than you’d like.

If you don’t want to eat something – for any reason – it’s okay to say no. It’s not always easy to do, but learning to say no can improve both your fitness outcomes and your relationships. 

I hope this gives you some things to consider. Whenever possible, eat foods that taste great, make your brain and body feel good, and support your long-term goals.

Would you like some help figuring out the best nutritional and dietary approach for your unique goals, personality, and lifestyle? Apply for my online training program and I can help.

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Five tips to help you stop stress eating

Even before coronavirus quarantine, stress and emotional eating were the biggest nutritional challenges faced by my clients.

Stress eating is even more widespread now, as everyone tries to navigate an uncertain and upsetting situation while being confined to their homes.

It’s not easy to overcome these challenges, but it is absolutely possible. If you’re tired of feeling trapped in the emotional eating cycle, try using one or more of the tips below.

By slowing down, gaining awareness, experimenting with your actions and environment, and being kind to yourself, you can break free of stress eating.

Get curious and pay attention.

Stress eating happens so fast that it seems to come out of the blue. Before you even know what’s happening, you’re finished with a pint of ice cream or are working on your second sleeve of girl scout cookies. We’ve all been there!

Although it seems automatic, stress eating is always preceded by a cue. Some event, emotion, interaction, or other stimulus triggers you to dive into the familiar cycle. These can be negative cues, like wanting to avoid an unpleasant emotional state, or positive cues, like associating a certain food with happy memories of a place or person.

If you’re not sure what your cues are – and there could be many of them – the fist step is to pay more attention. Take notes after you stress eat. What were you doing before? How did you feel? What were you thinking about? Who were you with? What time of day was it?

It’s helpful to write this stuff down in a journal or on a note on your phone so you can review it and look for patterns. In time, you will start to identify specific cues and build greater awareness around your behavior.

Give yourself other options.

So you’ve identified your stress eating cues – now what?

You need other tasks that you can turn to when a craving strikes. Ideally, these other tasks will help you address the real need you’re trying to solve through food.

Are you feeling anxious or stressed? Try going for a walk, journaling for a few minutes, or sitting quietly and following your breath.

Are you lonely? Call or facetime a friend.

Are you bored? Go for a walk, read a good book, play a game, or start tackling a household chore.

Are you actually hungry? Try reaching for a healthy snack like fresh fruit, veggies, or protein.

I made a list on my phone of all the things I can do instead of stress eating. Create your own list and reference it when you feel the urge to reach for food. Most of the things on your list should be easy to do or you run the risk of ignoring them.

Make it easier/make it harder.

Our environment has a huge influence on our actions. If you’re struggling with stress eating, you can rearrange your kitchen and pantry to make it easier to eat healthy foods and harder to eat junk food. Some ideas:

  • Keep a bowl of fresh fruits out on the counter in plain sight.
  • Keep treat foods packaged and out of sight if possible, such as in a pantry with a closed door.
  • Keep chopped veggies or other healthy snacks in the front of your fridge.
  • If you know you have a hard time resisting certain treat foods, don’t buy them and don’t let others bring them into the house.

Plate it and savor it.

Sometimes, you’re going to indulge in treats. If you’ve followed the steps above and consciously decided you really want to eat something, do your best to enjoy the experience.

Plate your food by removing it from the container, placing however much you plan to eat on a plate or in a bowl, and sitting down at the table to eat it.

Savor your treat by eating slowly and minimizing distractions. You may be surprised at how much more satisfying eating can be when you’re mentally present.

Practice self compassion.

When I was knee-deep in my eating disorder, I lived in a constant state of shame. I felt terrible about myself for the way I was eating, which only made me want to give myself the middle finger and eat more. It was incredibly tough to break free from this vicious cycle.

Many of us think we can motivate ourselves to change by shaming and berating ourselves. In reality, this only feeds the bad habit cycle.

The answer is not to punish or talk down to yourself, but to be kind and gentle. When you overindulge, forgive yourself and try to learn from the experience. Understand that you’re not alone (especially these days) and you’re not broken beyond repair.

The goal of self compassion is not to give yourself an excuse to stress eat, but rather to rid you of toxic feelings of guilt and shame which keep you trapped.

Overeating doesn’t make you a bad person and it doesn’t mean you’ll never achieve your health and fitness goals. It’s just one more obstacle to overcome so you can grow and live your happiest, healthiest life.

If you want more help with this, I’m here for you. Fill out an application for my online coaching program for personal support, accountability, and compassion from a coach who personally knows how hard it is to combat stress eating.

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Five ways to get motivated to work out at home

I love working out in gyms. I’ve always been able to focus more and train with greater intensity in the gym atmosphere.

It’s harder to find motivation to train at home, especially when you’re stuck there all day every day. Your sense of time and space gets blurred when your entire life is happening in one location.

Fortunately, you can overcome these challenges with mental reframing and clear practices around your workouts. Below are my five top tips for finding the motivation to work out in your home.

Change your expectations.

Most of us are not going to be able to replicate our regular gym workouts at home. The sooner you accept this, the better. You’ll have more fun training at home when you aren’t constantly comparing those workouts to ones you used to do at the gym.

Adjust your training goals.

Certain goals – like building lots of strength and muscle – are lot harder to achieve with minimal equipment. Additionally, your priorities may have shifted thanks to quarantine and new concerns about health, safety, or finances.

It’s okay to adjust your training goals to address your current situation. You will likely be more motivated to work out if your reason for exercising is aligned with your values and circumstances.

Here are some ideas on how to pivot:

  • Instead of actively trying to build strength or muscle, train to maintain what you already have.
  • Train with low-moderate intensity to manage stress and anxiety as opposed to doing hardcore HIIT workouts all the time.
  • Focus on stretching and mobility to counteract extra time spent sitting. This will pay big dividends in how you feel even if you can’t get in any longer workouts.
  • If you want to lose weight, now is a good time to improve your eating habits by learning to cook, logging your food, and getting in touch with emotions to battle stress eating. I understand this may not be possible for people under very high stress, such as those who have kids at home.

Create a buffer between your workout and whatever you were doing before.

Give yourself 15-20 minutes to get amped up. Drink some coffee or an energy drink, eat something small, put on some music, and start warming up. Don’t expect to be able to easily shift gears into workout mode immediately after doing another task.

Build a routine and develop rituals around your workouts.

Ritualizing as much as possible about your workout makes it easier to find motivation to be consistent.

Some ideas:

  • Work out at the same time every day and/or on the same days of the week.
  • Create a designated workout space in your home, even if it’s just a few square feet.
  • Use the same pre-workout ritual every day. Have a snack, drink some water, get dressed, etc.
  • Do the same warm up each time you work out.
  • Play a certain type of music to get you in the mood to work out.

Have someone else do the hard part for you.

Designing your own workouts takes a lot of time and effort. You can spend hours googling or searching social media for inspiration and still not be sure you’ve put together a workout that’s actually effective. This creates additional stress and can turn into yet another obstacle to working out.

If this sounds like you, I recommend hiring a trainer or coach to help you create a workout program. You can join my Workout From Home Club to receive three done-for-you home workouts delivered directly to your email inbox each week. Of, if you want a more customized experience and the option to do virtual sessions, you can apply for my online training program here.

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How to stay injury-free when training from home

I work with a lot of people who are recovering from injuries or dealing with pain. I love helping these clients figure out how to push themselves safely so they can get stronger, achieve their goals, and reclaim their physical fitness.

In the gym setting, there are a ton of tools I use in this process. I can tweak a movement in countless ways just by using a different implement or changing a client’s position.

Working out at home is a different story. Many of my favorite adjustments and exercises aren’t accessible or even possible. And a lot of the stuff that’s easy to do with no equipment is not a good fit for clients who deal with knee, back, and shoulder problems.

Many of the home workouts floating around the internet right now are geared toward people with zero injuries and no pain. When I see some of the suggested exercises, I wince because I know many people who attempt them are banging up their bodies unnecessarily. Then, when they feel crappy after their workouts, they may give up on home training altogether.

Thankfully, with some creativity and patience, it is possible to adjust home workouts so you can still train without aggravating (or causing) joint pain. This does require you to be a lot more discerning about which exercises you perform and which you modify or skip.

Here are five tips to help you avoid injuries and feel better during your home training.

Do you really need to do those plyometrics?

A lot of home workouts heavily feature plyometric exercises and jumping. People like these because they make them feel like they’re really working hard. And for advanced trainees, they are certainly a good way to up the intensity of a home workout.

If you’re newer to strength training or have a history of joint pain, however, it’s probably best to skip these for now. Instead, focus on building strength, coordination, and balance while staying firmly on the floor.

If you want to build power at home without plyometrics, you can also use isometric holds. Pick a movement and hold the hardest position for time. Try to squeeze every muscle in your body as hard as you can – this constant full-body tension is what drives the nervous system adaptations that make you stronger and more powerful.

Look beyond lunges

Trainees with knee problems may struggle with lunges, another staple in many home workout programs.

If your movement is very limited or you’re in pain, try replacing all single-leg exercises with glute bridge variations. You can also perform hinging and leg curl variations to build supporting strength in your joints.

If you’re only somewhat limited, you can swap lunges for exercises like split squats or step ups. There are countless single leg variations and with some experimentation, you’ll likely be able to find one or two that work for you.

Improve your pushup technique

A third potential injury risk with home training is jacking up your shoulders from too much pressing with poor form. I’ve seen a lot of cringe-worthy pushup videos on social media recently and don’t want you to be one of them.

Make sure you’re doing pushups correctly. This means no shoulder shrugging, keep your elbows within 45 degrees of your sides, use a full range of motion, and maintain proper core position.

If you’re struggling, you may need to elevate your hands on a couch or go down to your knees. It’s better to make things a little easier than to bulldoze ahead with poor technique. Your shoulders will thank you!

Don’t ignore your upper back

When I work with clients at the gym, I want their pulling volume to match or exceed their pushing volume. This is hard to do at home because it’s really tough to train your back without equipment. Combine this with the poor pushup form discussed above and you’re setting yourself up for pain and stiffness.

I strongly recommend purchasing resistance bands to help keep your neck and shoulders happy. You can use bands to perform a number of rowing variations during your home workouts. If you own your home or condo, you can also buy a TRX or rings and mount them somewhere on the wall or ceiling.

At the very least, I recommend performing several sets of band pull aparts throughout the day. This simple exercise pulls you out of your slouched computer posture, opens up the chest, and builds strength in the supporting muscles of your upper back and shoulders. 

Prioritize good movement and mobility

One of the gifts of having life disrupted in such a major way is that many of us have more time to focus on things we were neglecting before. We can’t get after the weights, but we can take the time to do some maintenance on our joints and practice moving with greater ease.

Here are some ideas:

 Even if you do nothing else during this quarantine, doing some easy bodyweight drills and stretching for a few minutes per day can do wonders for your physical and mental health.

If you’d like some help putting together home workouts, join my WFH Club. I’m emailing three done-for-you workouts to members every week. Learn more and join us here.

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Turn household items into exercise equipment

Although there are tons of ways to exercise using nothing but your body weight, adding weight expands what’s possible and can make your workouts more fun and effective.

Unfortunately, if you don’t already have some extra equipment at home you may be without it for some time. Dumbbells and kettlebells are selling out nearly as fast as toilet paper. Even if you are able to order equipment online, you’ll probably have to wait longer than usual for it to arrive.

Read more: 6 cheap things you need to build a great home gym

In the meantime, you can convert common household objects into exercise equipment so you can add additional resistance to staple bodyweight movements.

However, I don’t recommend using just anything. I’ve seen a lot of ridiculous-looking and ineffective exercises floating around the internet lately. Only a few things are really worth your time. You want to choose an item that is heavy enough to provide real resistance, and also to use that item for appropriate exercises.

Backpack

You can fill a backpack with heavy items like cans or textbooks to create a sort of makeshift sandbag. A long backpack like the one I’m using in these videos works best. If you’re holding the bag in your hands, try to actively pull the bag apart sideways throughout the entire rep. This helps engage your back muscles and core and can increase the difficulty of the exercise 

You can also hold the bag in the pits of your elbows (the zercher position) to load squats and single leg movements. As a third option, wear the backpack so it acts as a weighted vest for pushups or pullups. 

Towels

If you have hardwood floors, you can use towels as makeshift sliders to help you add resistance to lots of exercises. My favorite towel exercise is the leg curl, which allows you to hammer your hamstrings and glutes (some of the hardest areas to hit without any equipment.) 

Bucket

Fill a large bucket with heavy items for a homemade weight that functions a little bit like a kettlebell. You’ll only be able to use this for certain exercises where you’re holding a weight beneath you in your hand, such as single arm carries or the contralateral single leg deadlifts shown here. 

Pillow

I’ve been experimenting with using a pillow instead of a medicine ball for upper body power exercises. This won’t work with fancy down pillows, but it seems to work well with old, bulky pillows. Use your best judgement with these and don’t piss off your downstairs neighbors! 

Laundry detergent or gallon jugs

Got a moderate-weight item with a handle? Use it for arm and shoulder exercises. You may need to experiment with different weight and rep schemes to find what works best for your current ability levels.  

 Hopefully these suggestions give you some ideas for effective ways to load exercises at home. Remember that you can get a lot out of an exercise without ever adding weight, so there’s no need to try to squat your dog or do ten thousand shoulder raises with a soup can.

Would you like to get three done-for-you home workouts sent to your email each week? Sign up for my WFH Club here.

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Have a snack…

…a movement snack, that is.

Unless you are essential personnel, you are spending a lot more time at home these days. This probably means more time sitting and working in unusual places like your couch or (in my case) on the bed in your spare bedroom.

Most of you sit at your regular offices. However, you likely have a real desk and an appropriate chair. Perhaps you’re lucky enough to have a standing or sit-stand desk. 

If you work in a big city like Chicago, you also probably walk a lot as part of your daily routine. You walk to and from the train, when you go out for lunch, and when you hit the gym after work. All of this movement adds up and helps your body and brain operate at higher capacities.

Working from home is another matter entirely. Many people actually work more hours – and therefore sit more – when they’re wfh.

Even if you do get up to do things, you are limited by your space. It takes me 10 seconds to walk from one end of my apartment to the other. Contrast that with my gym, where I have to go up and down a flight of stairs every time I want to use the restroom.

Being stuck at home means we are all moving less and sitting more. This is a recipe for feeling sore, achey, cranky, and sluggish during a time when we are already operating at high stress levels. If you’re feeling pain or soreness in unusual areas, I can almost guarantee it’s coming from the way you’re sitting and working.

One way to counteract all this sitting is to be proactive and schedule movement breaks (I call them movement snacks) in your day. You may not realize it, but after a long period of sitting and working your body and brain are going to be hungry for movement.

You can create a movement snack using any combination of movements. I generally pick three or four stretches, bodyweight movements, and drills that hit as many joints as possible. Shoulders, backs, hips, and necks tend to get particularly tight after too much sitting.

Here are four options I’ve been using a lot:

Walkout + pushup + 3 point lunge each side + walk back, repeat 3-5 times 

 5 standing head nods + 5 wall slides + 2 standing hip CARs each side 

 5 cat cows + 5 hip rockers + 3 squat to stand w/ rotation 

 3 bodyweight squats + 2 shoulder CARs on each side

After any movement snack, walk around your home for 1-2 minutes before sitting down and resuming work or Netflix.

For best results, I suggest having a movement snack every hour on the hour. You can set a recurring alarm on your phone or computer to remind you that it’s time for a break.

If every hour seems like too much, or if that will seriously disrupt your work flow, do every 90 minutes or 2 hours. The important thing is to make a conscious effort to get up and move on a regular basis.

Building movement snacks into your wfh routine is one small thing you can do to feel better right now. If you want more help designing home workouts, join my WFH club. I’m sending members three done-for-you home workouts three times every week. Learn more and join us here.

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Five ways to make bodyweight training more challenging

Greetings from coronavirus quarantine! We are certainly living in crazy times. The gym I work at was closed in mid-March. I’ve spent the last few weeks modifying programs and adjusting coaching plans for my all in-person and online clients who find themselves without a gym. My own training has also been completely upended since I’ll also be gym-less for the foreseeable future.

In this time of uncertainty and chaos, I hope you will make time for movement as long as you are able. I know exercise may no longer be a priority for you with everything going on, but it is one small thing you can do to maintain a sense of normalcy and take care of your physical and mental health.

If you want to upgrade your home gym with some small equipment, check out this article I wrote sharing my favorite recommendations.

Even without these purchases, however, you can still work out at home with no equipment beyond your own bodyweight. The trick is staying engaged when basic exercises become too easy.

Here are some of my favorite strategies to make bodyweight training more challenging, effective, and fun.

Slow down

If a bodyweight exercise is too easy, slow down the lowering portion to 3-8 seconds. For example, when performing a squat you would sit back and down to a slow count of 3-8 seconds.

You can also slow down the entire movement. To use my squat example again, you could lower yourself to a slow count of 3-8sec and also stand up to a slow count of 3-8 seconds. This can be deceptively difficult.

Add a pause

Pauses are traditionally added in the middle of a movement like the bottom of a pushup, squat, or lunge. However, you can add pauses to any portion of a lift. Try adding multiple pauses or very long pauses if you want an extra challenge.

Elevator reps

You can add segments of a movement to each rep to make it more challenging. One of my favorite techniques to intensify bodyweight movements is using 1.5 reps. A 1.5 rep pushup looks like this: start at the top, go all the way down, push halfway up, go all the way down again, then come all the way up. That’s one rep.


If you really want to challenge yourself, you can add even more partial reps with things like ratchet squats. For these, go all the way down, ¼ way up, all the way down, half way up, all the way down, ¾ way up, all the way down, all the way up. That’s one rep.

Practice harder movements

If you’re already relatively strong and don’t have many joint problems, you can use this time to build toward more challenging movements. Learning to do exercises like pistol squats and handstand pushups – or even just being able to knock out a set of 10 perfect pushups – will provide ample challenge without any extra weight.

Density

Instead of just doing straight sets of every exercise, you can use density workouts to get more done in the same amount (or less time).

There are many ways to increase the density of your workouts. Here are two methods I like:

  • Density blocks: Pick 2-3 exercises and do as many rounds as possible in a certain amount of time, such as 10-15 minutes.
  • Every minute on the minute: Run a stopwatch and perform a set number of reps every time you hit a new minute.

Don’t let the fact that your gym is closed stop you from staying active this spring. With a little creativity, you can still have fun and effective workouts in the comfort of your own home with zero equipment.

Would you like me to take the stress and guesswork out of home training? Join my Workout from Home Club to receive three done-for-you workouts delivered to your inbox each week. Learn more and join us here.