This post was sponsored by Amazon as part of an Influencer Activation for Influence Central and all opinions expressed in my post are my own. Let's face it: the 5 week span between Thanksgiving and New Years can be chaotic. Between holiday parties, school functions, and visits with family, it can feel like every minute of every day is occupied. Inclement weather and holiday hours for everything Continue reading →
Epsom Salt Baths for Post Run Soreness: Does It Really Work?
For as much time as I spend defending this sport against all of the "running is bad for your knees" naysayers, I will be the first to admit that running can, and often does, hurt. Running long distances, especially when you are new to them, can leave you hobbling around for a few hours post run, desperately seeking some sort of relief from the discomfort. The plethora of information about how Continue reading →
6 Simple Post Run Stretches
There are a number of quips and short stories that truly stand out in my mind from my time in college as an exercise science student, beyond of course, the "important" knowledge that all of my clients hope I've retained (rest assured, I have). One of those stories came from a biomechanics teacher, who told us he had once witnessed a physical altercation at an exercise science convention. That's Continue reading →
Total Body Enhancement at Planet Fitness: 2 Month Follow Up
Imagine this: a machine that touts fat loss. Cellulite reduction. Wrinkle removal. And all you have to do is stand still. Sound too good to be true? Nearly two months ago I wrote a post about the Total Body Enhancement machine at Planet Fitness. I won't lie, the post kind of started out as a joke, but as I dug deeper into researching the idea behind red light therapy, a somewhat legitimate post Continue reading →
Your First Day at the Gym: Four Fitness Truths
As a certified exercise physiologist, the month of January means I've spent endless hours at the gym meeting with, counseling, and guiding new or returning fitness seekers (or "New Years Resolutionists", if you will) through their first day at the gym. This marks my 10th year working in fitness facilities. Over those ten years I've met a lot of people with a wide variety of reasons for wanting Continue reading →
SMART Goal Setting for Runners
For runners, setting new goals can be wildly exciting...or awfully intimidating. We all want to set huge goals in hopes of one day achieving them. But constantly setting big goals, only to seemingly always fall short, can put a huge damper on your motivation and self esteem as an athlete. Now personally, I think everyone should have that crazy "shoot for the moon", outlandish running goal at Continue reading →
Thirty Two Training Posts.
I think the very first time the idea of finishing a 100 mile foot race crossed my mind was sometime in 2015. Geoff and I had signed up for the inaugural Infinitus 48 hour race hosted by our friends at the Endurance Society, equal parts "FOMO" and equal parts on a whim. I foolishly thought "100 miles in 48 hours? That's nothing" assuming that such a long time frame to finish would compensate Continue reading →
For Life.
This thought will be brief, but I felt compelled to share none the less, especially with the barrage of resolutions surrounding health and fitness about to be made by people everywhere. Lately I've had countless friends, clients, and gym members admit to me, almost sheepishly, that they've "fallen off" the proverbial fitness wagon. For a multitude of reason, likely none of them exactly the Continue reading →
Calming the Chaos: How Mindfulness Contributes to Wellness
My life is chaos. It's certainly no secret, and it's absolutely not a complaint either, but from the time I wake up until the time I go to bed, I spin around like a semi-controlled tornado (hence the blog title, Relentless Forward COMMOTION). An article here, teaching a group exercise class there, chauffeuring kids to and from school, a group run, laundry, personal training clients, a Continue reading →
My 4 Step Plan to Not Training Like an Asshole.
I think, short of some sort of accident that causes an acute injury, our bodies rarely just spontaneously fail. Injuries, especially from stress or overuse, don't just happen like the flick of a light switch. It's always a much longer drawn out process. One that begins far before we are consciously aware that there might even be a problem to begin with. Guess what? My body is Continue reading →
Specificity vs. Variety (or, “Why my Hips Hate CrossFit”)
I'm a total science nerd. I actually feel my blood pressure rise when debating with people why the soreness they feel 24-48 hours after a long run or workout is caused by lactic acid build up. I probably go way too far in depth when explaining to a new female client that she doesn't need to fear weight training and will not by any means "bulk". And I'll be the first to sit here and defend Continue reading →
