Feeling down? Tired? Is anxiety getting the best of you? It happens to the best of us. The question is: How do you deal with it? It’s easy to adapt bad habits when it comes to dealing with stress or emotional events — like eating our emotions, napping the days away or taking out our fowl moods on those around us. I’m as guilty as the next person and as satisfying as that can seem in the moment, it’s simply a quick fix. Luckily, there are many alternatives to dealing with these everyday issues, some of which may actually lessen the occurrence of anxiety, help you deal with stress in a more positive and productive way, and produce...

“Dedication is what the lazy call obsessed.” 
  
Crazy. Obsessed. Over-the-top. Unsocial. Party pooper. These are all names that I’ve been called over the years. Does this bother me? Nope. I decided to compete in my first fitness competition 5 years ago. I knew it would be difficult and that I would have to make sacrifices along the way. What I didn’t realize was that my journey to the stage would forever change the kinds of commitments that I make today, my understanding of what sacrifice really is and the value of never giving up. Have you ever made a commitment to something that you later regretted? Maybe you didn’t...

Do you train hard? How would you answer that question? If you said “no” or “I’m not sure,” then you definitely need to keep reading. Even if you answered “yes”, keep reading because you may learn something valuable. Training hard can be described in different ways by different sorts of people. To some it means training to failure and beyond on every set. To others it may mean working out until they are completely exhausted and left writhing on the floor in a pool of sweat. However, when I say “train hard”, I’m talking about performing compound exercises (think squats, deadlifts, push-ups, etc), using challenging...

 You’ve been there; I know you have. You wake up one day, so utterly exhausted that you can’t bear the thought of heading to the gym. I don’t mean you feel lazy or lack motivation. I’m talking about that morning you feel so drained that you can’t think, function, move, never mind consider pushing or pulling around heavy weights. You may be in the midst of training hard for a competition or have had trouble sleeping. It could be any number of life factors, mental or physical stressors that compound until one day your body just says STOP! I know you’ve been there. What do you do? This is the type of day that traditionally fell...