Myofascial release is a way of manipulating and restoring movement to tissues that surround your muscles called fascia. Active Release Technique (ART) is arguably the most advanced and effective form of myofascial release ever created.

Myofascial release is very effective at restoring lost range of motion in your joints. It also decreases pain by breaking up scar tissue and adhesions that cause pain, swelling, and inflamation. Myofascial release can also be used to improve the function of your nerves, that when irritated cause numbness, tingling, and radiating pain.

Active Release Technique is a well thought out and packaged form of myofascial release. It requires a mastery of anatomy, rigerous study, and the ability to pass a proficiency test in order to be certified.

ART can be used to treat a variety of conditions including: plantar fasciitis, shin splints, iliotibial (IT) band syndrome, piriformis syndrome, sciatica, low back pain, thoracic outlet syndrome, tension headaches, neck pain, rotator cuff strains and tears, tenis elbow, golfer’s elbow, carpal tunel, ulnar tunel, wrist pain, and hand pain. Due to the well thought out treatment and rigorous study with ART, its practicioners are concistently some of the best myofasial release practicioners there are.

If you expereince pain or limited range of motion Active Release Technique could help you. This skill ART helps posture, injury prevention, and injury management ….you will have a winning combination to guide to recovery!

I remember how frustrating getting my first pull-up was. There were times just spent looking up at the bar and wondering why I simply wasn't moving.

The best way I found to finally get my chin over the bar was a combination of similar but easier movements, combined with variations which took away a lot of my bodyweight.

Let's break each of those exercises down:

Australian Pull-Up

This is a horizontal row which gets you used to pulling your bodyweight. With your feet on the floor you can easily adjust the assistance you give yourself. The more horizontal you are and the further away your feet are from your hands, the harder it is.

The horizontal position should make it a bit easier for you to engage your lats. Try to keep your body straight and not bend at the hip as you pull.

Negative Pull-Up

This uses the full range of motion of the pull-up, but in reverse! It's no secret that the eccentric (negative) part of any movement builds a lot of strength, and pull-ups are no different. Learning to control that entire range on the way down will carry over to when you're going back up.

If you jump up and immediately start to fall, build yourself up to a comfortable 10-second hold with your chin over the bar (the "top" of the rep) before you start doing the negative.

Low-Bar Pull-Up

Like the Australian pull-up, you can adjust how much of your bodyweight you remove by assisting yourself with the feet. Ideally you want to be on the tiptoes or the backs of your toes rather than the ball of your foot, encouraging you to use as little assistance as possible.

This is where your technique starts to come into play and you need to focus on engaging your lats for the pull, not using the biceps which is a common beginner mistake. Think about pressing into the bar from your lats or "bending the bar." Play around until you can feel your lats working.

Banded Pull-Up

These often get a bad rap because when the band is at full extension it will give you the most assistance. This means you get the most help at the bottom of the rep which reduces the need for you to learn how to initiate the pull with your lats.

However, they're great for volume. You just need to be disciplined. Be hard on yourself and only use a band which will allow your 5 reps to be doable, but not easy. Even if you start to only get 3 or 4 reps on your last set, it's better to push yourself here than simply be bouncing up and down on a band – that will get you nowhere.

Eventually you want to be doing these with a very thin band. Once you're getting close, attempt a rep or two without a band. You might just surprise yourself.

The program is simple and organizes the movements into two quick sessions that you can easily fit into your gym schedule:

Session 1

• Australian Pull-Up: 3x10

• Negative Pull-Up: 5x3

Session 2

• Low-Bar Pull-Up: 5x5

• Banded Pull-Up: 5x5

Adjust the assistance of each exercise to reduce your bodyweight so that you can complete all the reps.

Your aim over time isn't necessarily to increase the reps or sets that you do, but instead to improve the movement itself and slowly adding in more of your own weight. For example, you'd aim to get more horizontal on the Australian pull-up, go slower on your negative, use less assistance from your feet on the low-bar pull-up, and use a thinner band on your banded pull-up.

Consistency is key. Bodyweight training can be tedious, but the rewards are very satisfying. Pull-ups teach you how to properly engage your lats and give you a ton of shoulder stability for any overhead movements.

Meal Frequency Confusion!

Here's a question I recently received:

"Some diet experts say that having six small meals a day is outdated. Many recommend three (or fewer) meals instead. But what if I feel uncomfortably stuffed when trying to cram all my calories into three meals? Is there any harm in continuing to eat smaller, more frequent meals if I'm not gaining fat from it?"

I understand your frustration. This industry seems to constantly be stuck in a never-ending cycle of black and white advice. One minute something is in vogue and the next it's not. I will tell you definitely and without hesitation that eating small frequent meals is NOT outdated and is a fantastic strategy for many people.

Part of the reason you're getting the message to avoid small frequent meals is a newfound appreciation for less-frequent eating. We now have plenty of substantial research telling us that there are many different eating regimes that work and have benefits.

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A quick perusal of the last several years of research will reveal that one meal a day (OMAD) style of eating can work great for some. Different time restricted feeding schedules such as the 16/8 approach – which involves fasting for 16 hours a day by avoiding breakfast – can deliver great results.

A more recent study showed skipping dinner may be superior to skipping breakfast. Varied fasting regimes, like the 5-2 plan, where you eat normal during the weekdays and then consume little to no food on the weekends, can be beneficial.

All of these studies have created excitement. New information typically generates a novelty bias for a bit. It's common to overemphasize the new and underappreciate the old, but it doesn't make a whole lot of sense since new things haven't been tested by time. Usually, the tried and true is better than the fresh and new.

I address all of this to hopefully help allay your concerns and clear some confusion. The current consensus in the nutrition research is still that calories matter most. Sure, we now know hormonal influence are working with calories to impact things like hunger, mood, cravings, and energy, but in the end we must attend to the calorie levels of the individual diets we choose.

Calories Are King, But....

There are two things required for sustained fat loss:

1. A calorie deficit

2. Metabolic hormonal balance

The calories drive the weight loss. The hormones push that weight loss towards fat loss and sustainability. You need both. Quality and quantity are equally important. It's impossible to separate the two!

The question of eating frequency comes down to the the individual. We're all different. We're unique in our genetics, psychology, and personal preferences. We should honor that. What all that research above says is, there's more than one way to skin the calorie and hormone cat. Ultimately, it's about finding what works for you.

Try telling the bodybuilding world from 1960 to 2000 that small frequent meals weren't ideal. You'd be laughed at and mocked. The small frequent meal approach works fantastically well, but it's not the only way. Some people do better with different eating frequencies.

My advice? Keep doing exactly what you're doing so long as that regime keeps these things in check: sleep, hunger, mood, energy, cravings (SHMEC), and so long as you're attaining or maintaining your desired body composition. Why would you change?

Your Metabolism is Adaptive

Remember, the metabolism is an adaptive system. You want to keep it flexible and healthy. You can do that by keeping it guessing and changing up your eating frequency at times.

So, you may benefit even more if, from time to time, you experiment with less frequent eating. It's the same for those less frequent eaters. They're far better off deviating occasionally to a more frequent eating pattern.

In the end, you should always return to what works best for you. Remember, research is a tool for averages not individuals. The research can get you in the ballpark, but you'll need to tweak and adjust to get it just right for you.

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Well, there's a much better path to success whether you're a new lifter or not. The way in which you organize your weekly training is commonly known as a split. A good training split allows you to train all your muscle groups an optimal number of times per week (2-4 times is just about right for most), spreading the weekly workload into the number of workouts that works best for your needs and goals.

Although many variants are possible, and all are preferable to simply winging it, the three most commonly-used splits are:

1 – The Bro-Split

Most popular among bodybuilders, the bro-split involves devoting each workout to 1-2 muscle groups, such as:

Monday: Back

• Tuesday: Chest

• Wednesday: Legs

• Thursday: Shoulders/Calves

• Friday: Biceps/Triceps

Pros

• If you're already huge and strong, your muscles will take between 4-6 days to recover from training. Therefore, training each muscle group once a week is likely ideal.

• You get to train 5 days a week, which many lifters enjoy.

• Many lifters enjoy the idea of dedicating an entire workout to a specific muscle/muscle group.

Cons

The bro split has lots of benefits! Problem is, those benefits are usually offset by a very pesky drawback:

• If you're not huge and super-strong, your muscles will take between 1-3 days to recover from training. Therefore training each muscle group once a week is probably not frequent enough, and you'll lose ground between sessions.

2 – The Upper/Lower Split

Most commonly, this involves 4 workouts a week with each session dedicated to upper and lower-body training in alternating succession, like this:

• Monday: Upper Body

• Tuesday: Lower Body

• Thursday: Upper Body

• Friday: Lower Body

Pros

• For most lifters, training each muscle group twice a week is much more effective than only once.

• Many lifters enjoy the ability to give focused attention to a specific body region for an entire workout.

Cons

• Twice a week may still be less than optimal, especially for average to smaller guys who aren't yet in the 1200 club (300 bench, 400 squat, 500 deadlift).

3 – The Whole Body Split

People who use this split usually train 3 days a week. Each workout addresses both lower and upper-body muscle groups, although not with the same exercises each workout. Example:

Monday

• Front Squat

• Incline Dumbbell Press

• Back Extension

• T Bar Row

• Barbell Curl

• Pushdown

Wednesday

• Leg Press

• Dip

• RDL

• Pull-Up

• Standing Calf Raise

• Sit-Up

Friday

• Lunge

• Military Press

• Seated Leg Curl

• Dumbbell Row

• Hammer Curl

• French Press

Pros

• With the whole-body split, each muscle group gets trained not once, not twice, but three times per week. As mentioned, this is likely ideal (or close to ideal) for most lifters.

• If you perform your exercises circuit-style, whole-body sessions provide a superior cardiovascular benefit.

• Training three times weekly helps to ensure complete recovery since you'll have four off days per week.

• For busy lifters with limited time, training three days a week may be more practical than higher frequencies.

Cons

• While whole-body workouts allow for higher training frequencies, the total amount of focused work per muscle group is somewhat limited compared to bro splits and upper/lower splits.

• Some folks simply enjoy the gym, and feel deprived if they only go three times per week. Now some of my harder-core colleagues are already thinking, "Do what you need, not what you like!" But as an experienced coach, I've learned the value of accommodating people's individual preferences for motivation and compliance.

The Hybrid Split

There is a way to capitalize on the benefits and minimize the downsides of the latter two splits outlined above. I call it the "hybrid" split, and it might be as close to perfection as you're ever going to find.

The hybrid split incorporates both whole-body days as well as upper and lower days into a 4-day training week. Here's how it looks:

Monday: Whole-Body

1. Front Squat

2. Incline Dumbbell Press

3. Loaded Back Extension

4. Weighted Pull-Up

5. Hammer Curl

6. Lying Tricep Extension

Wednesday: Whole-Body

1. Leg Press

2. Dip

3. Romanian Deadlift

4. T Bar Row

5. Barbell Curl

6. Pushdown

Friday: Lower-Body

1. Back Squat

2. Hip Thrust

3. Split Squat

4. Seated Leg Curl

Saturday: Upper-Body

1. Weighted Push-Up

2. Chin-Up

3. Military Press

4. Low Cable Curl

When you first test-drive this split, you'll notice several benefits right off the bat.

• You'll train four days a week. While this isn't ideal for everyone, if you find three workouts too few and five too many, the hybrid split will feel just right.

• You'll constantly switch between whole-body, lower-body, and upper-body sessions. Lots of variety to keep things interesting.

• You'll enjoy the ability to train "globally" twice a week while also benefiting from those super-focused lower and upper-body sessions that upper-lower splits provide.

Tips & Troubleshooting

• The Friday session can be either lower or upper body. Whichever you choose, do the opposite region on Saturday.

• Select exercises and rep-brackets based on training goal. For strength, prioritize lower reps on the exercise(s) you want to get stronger. For hypertrophy, opt for higher (8-12) reps on movements that are well-suited for muscle development (compound exercises that allow you to move relatively large loads over relatively large ranges of motion should be prioritized).

• Distribute your total weekly number of sets per muscle over the four training sessions in whatever way that best facilitates the total volume you intend to accomplish. This often translates to (relatively) more sets done on Friday and Saturday, and slightly less on Monday and Wednesday. So taking chest just as an example, you might do 3-4 working sets on Monday and Wednesday, and 5-6 sets on Saturday.

• Even if you love the hybrid split, I wouldn't necessarily use it exclusively, ad infinitum. Regular alteration of training variables (including split design) helps to stave off adaptive resistance, so if and when training is feeling flat, switch to whole-body, upper-lower, or even bro-splits periodically.

• If you're intrigued by the hybrid split but doubt that you can recover from four weekly sessions, remember that you can modify volume accordingly by limiting the number of sets you perform each workout.
  

The Blame Game

The world is getting fatter and everybody's an expert on why. Here's a list of what people blame:

• Diets: Too restrictive, conflicting information

• The fitness industry: Conflicting info, intimidating, too much overt sexiness

• Sugar: Addictive

• McDonald's: Makes us fat

• Gyms: Intimidating

• Spouses: Tempt us with junk food

• Children: Make us buy junk food

• Parents: Allowed us to overeat junk food as kids

• Jobs: Cause stress, make us sit

• Magazines: Use Photoshop and good-looking people

Do these things play a role in obesity? Indirectly, maybe. But the buck stops with you and your response to them.

The Ability to Take Responsibility

Is it really any wonder the world is becoming fatter? We're also becoming less capable of taking responsibility. It's a virtue that's going out of style. This sucks because the better you get at taking responsibility, the more likely you are to look for opportunity to fix your circumstances instead of becoming a victim of them. And if you haven't noticed, cry-baby victimhood is today's hottest trend.

This is how mental weakness turns into physical weakness. Weak people are quick to point the finger at outside sources instead of finding opportunities to overcome their personal challenges.

Granted, the things they blame can be legitimate challenges. There are physiological and psychological factors that make fat loss and muscle gain seem impossible. But NOBODY gets a free pass. That means fit people often have just as many (or more) personal disadvantages to fight against as fat people.

The Truth About Fit People

Everybody who's in shape fights for it in some way. It's not given to us. We all have personal disadvantages and challenges to overcome. So unless you're among the very few genetically gifted and environmentally blessed, you can't get lean without a struggle. You can't build muscle without a struggle. And you certainly won't maintain either without struggling in some way.

On top of that, your struggles will change yearly, monthly, sometimes even daily. So once you overcome your initial challenges, you'll be faced with more. And they happen everywhere: under the barbell, at school, in the doctor's office, in the kitchen or the car, anywhere! Getting in shape isn't a thing that happens exclusively at the gym. It's what you do constantly with every choice you make.

Your Body, Your Business

Most people haven't been bitten by the fitness bug. They're not into lifting, nor do they go to the store thinking about macronutrients, ingredients, or overall nutritional value. That's fine.

They're into what they're into. And they're often extremely smart people, which means that if they want to get stronger and leaner, they'll find ways. They can hire trainers, read books, do a bit of research, cook for themselves instead of eating out, imbibe a little less, sleep a little more, and plug into groups of people with similar challenges.

Same with you. If you're overweight, don't let anyone tell you that you don't have a choice, or that you got this way and it was totally out of your control. Why? Because if you think like that, then you probably won't ever feel competent enough to take control, at least not long-term.

If you don't care about strengthening your body or improving your health, that's your business. You will prioritize what's important to you. Just don't say the fitness industry failed you, or that diet books, food manufacturers, or your family is to blame for the repercussions you're facing now. It's your body and YOUR business, remember?

Sycophants Aren't Helping

A sycophant is someone who tells people exactly what they want to hear. Ass-kisser is a synonym.

So let's say YOU are fit. Maybe you're even in the business as a personal trainer, expert, or a variation of inspirational-millennial-life-coach. Yet you tell fat people it's not their fault, they have no choice, and they should embrace the bodies they have now – no matter how unhealthy or out of shape they are. That's bullshit and you know it.

You know that people who are out of shape could be making the best choices within their circumstances, no matter how unfortunate those circumstances are. And you know that "body acceptance" is a sham because their lives would be much easier if their frail frames and feeble joints weren't hauling around extra weight.

You know they'd feel better about themselves, have more energy, move more freely, take fewer meds, sleep better, get out more, have fewer doctors' appointments, deal with less pain, have better sex, and (ironically) enjoy their food a lot more than they do now.

There's a way to be both compassionate and honest. But by playing the sycophant you're encouraging people to be the victims rather than the masters of their circumstances. And I hope that people who are out of shape make the choices that prove you wrong. Because you see, if they can CHOOSE to get in better shape today, then they could've CHOSEN better behaviors in the first place that would have kept them from getting where they are now. There is a choice.

Your patronizing pity is more insulting than the brutal honesty of someone who says, "You're fat and here's what you can do about it."

I hope your clients flip the mental switch and take responsibility. I hope they embrace the struggle because that's how you overcome challenges. This requisite struggle is what most people avoid, but it means something new is happening. It means they're now fighting personal disadvantages, the way we all do when we make the choice to get in shape.

The First Step In Change

The longer you've let yourself go, the harder it'll be to create habits that'll make you leaner and stronger. And you won't ever change unless you see challenges as what they are: beatable. The good news is, the more punches you throw, the better you get at it.

Accusing other people for causing your circumstances only postpones the good stuff you could be enjoying. So personal responsibility is nonnegotiable. It's the first step.

Then expect temptation and plan how you're going to beat it. Temptation is inescapable and everyone faces it. If you're still blaming your spouse for sabotaging you with tempting food, don't count on changing. We're all tempted by about the same shit; your challenges aren't special. And even if you're injured or ill, there's still a way to choose the best options within your given set of circumstances.

Can't get support at home? Find it elsewhere, then be a role model for your family. It'll be a struggle, but it's supposed to be. Everyone experiences that. If you're not struggling, then you're probably not making progress. The struggle is what keeps you from getting weaker, fatter, less mobile, and more incompetent as the owner of your body.

The blame-game won't make you any fitter or healthier. It's not working for the rest of the world, so don't expect it to work for you. The question is, are you going to fight your challenges or let them own you? The choice is yours. It always has been. It always will be.