Do you take time to recover? One of the biggest mistakes people make in the pursuit of improved fitness or fitness goals is going too hard on days they shouldn’t be. In fact, without recovering properly, you could stall your progress — or worse, reverse it.

Heart health is something many of us don’t think about until we’re “old”, if we ever think of it at all! Truth is, 1 in every 4 deaths in the US is related to heart disease and is the leading case of death in men AND women… that is super scary! Clearly this means we NEED to be thinking about heart health.

Because your heart is a muscle, it gets stronger with exercise. Measuring your heart rate is a good way to gauge the effectiveness of your workout because as you strengthen your body through exercise, you also strengthen your heart. From yoga to HIIT classes, heart rate based training offers many benefits, and is the most effective way to reach fitness goals.

Foam rolling is crucial to preventing injuries and unnecessary soreness after a workout. It works through the fascia and scar tissue that gets built up from wear and tear on the muscles (which happens when you work out) and leaves smooth, pliable muscles that can be worked again without the risk of injury from too much scar tissue.

You’ve heard it before, and you know it’s true: Getting old is no cakewalk! We’re trying to keep our heart and our organs healthy, thinking about protecting our skin, making sure we’re eating clean and then, oh yeah, what’s up with this new “soft” body I didn’t have back in my 30s and 40s?! Yes, it’s true: unfortunately, muscle is harder to build and maintain as we age.

This is the age old question everyone asks me, and one of the most common questions asked to any fitness professional is “how do I lose the fat around my (fill in the blank)?”. The short answer to this question is probably not what you want hear: you cannot spot reduce.

Yoga and Pilates. You can find studios and gyms offering these classes in just about any city in the county… So is this just a trendy workout fad or are these really worth the hype? Truth is, both forms of exercise are just as amazing as they seem! Both yoga and pilates are great for strength and flexibility.

The lifelong debate of whether or not you need cardio will always exist among gym goers and exercisers… Unless you are familiar with the physiology and science of it all, you assume cardio is necessary, when you go to the gym and the cardio equipment is ALWAYS full.

Many people attack certain exercise moves wither before they’ve had proper training or before they have the strength in the right places to perform the moves properly and safely. Social media and Youtube, as well as your app store, are great places for at-home workouts, but for someone who is not experienced in exercise or someone’s starting out, these can be dangerous, as there is no one with you to correct form and keep you in a safe position.

Believe it or not, we can learn a little something from the NFL this year… back in November, many NFL players came out saying that Thursday night football should be illegal. Why? They made claims that players just don’t have enough time to recover… 4 days (from Sunday night football) just isn’t enough time for the beating their bodies take during that 4 hour game.