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The Perfect Mobility Routine (FULL BODY FIX!)

The Perfect Mobility Routine (FULL BODY FIX!)

by | Jul 6, 2025 | Blog, Exercises, Foam Rolling, Functional Fitness, Pain Relief, Stretches, Workouts

Feel like it would take you hours to address ALL of the little aches and pains you have?

Like your age is just making you creakier and creakier?

This doesn’t have to be the case!

I want to share how you can use the 3-step prehab process to address aches and pains up and down your body and improve your mobility by targeting just 3 main key areas with 9 exercises.

These 9 moves include all 3 parts of the prehab process – foam rolling, stretching and activation – to have you feel like a well oiled machine.

And the best part?

They can be combined into a routine you use almost daily that takes just about 10 minutes!

Before I dive into the moves, I want to explain why the full prehab process is so key so you understand the benefits of combining these 9 moves in this specific order – foam rolling, stretching then activation.

And because this makes for even a perfect full body warm up, I’ve focused the stretches on dynamic stretches (ones with movement) over static stretches (where you just hold) to help make sure you improve your flexibility without any impact to your performance.

But you first want to foam roll to relax overactive or tight muscles. Foam rolling is like a massage and helps release knots and relax muscles so you can better engage weak or under active muscles and properly mobilize joints while stretching muscles.

This first part is key to getting everything to work better together.

Then you stretch to improve muscle flexibility but also joint mobility.

With stretching, you want to focus on the muscle driving the stretch, not just what is stretching. This helps you not only better stretch the muscle but begins the activation process – engaging muscles that are weak or often don’t want to work when they should.

Then with activation, you are continuing to mobilize but also stabilize joints. You’re strengthening weak muscles and almost “waking them up” to help them be primed to work during your workouts and more compound exercises and heavier lifts.

This process addresses all key components to injury prevention – mobility, flexibility AND stability.

And bonus, it not only helps you avoid injury, but helps you see better strength and muscle gains for improved body recomp from your workouts!

So now, let’s dive into the 3 areas you’ll want to target, including your:

  • Shoulder blades
  • Hips
  • Feet and ankles

I focus on these 3 areas because if we address immobility or weakness in those places, you’ll be amazed at how even that knee or elbow pain lessens.

Everything is connected and that often where the pain is, isn’t where the initial problem started!

So let’s start with foam rolling, stretching and activation for your shoulder blades to improve scapular mobility and stability.

#1: Scapular Mobility And Stability

Have you ever had neck, shoulder or upper back aches and pains? Even elbow pain?

Addressing the movement of your shoulder blades may be the key to alleviating these aches and pains.

Too often we only focus on our shoulder mobility and forget how much the shoulders and shoulder blades really work together to power movements.

From pulling exercises to even pressing movements, we need to have proper scapular control if we want to use the correct muscles to power the exercises and prevent overload of smaller muscles like our rotator cuff.

To improve your scapular mobility and control, try including these 3 moves before your upper body workouts. It will help improve your pressing as well as your pulling!

The first move you want to include in that prehab or warm up process is Lat Foam Rolling.

While the lat more indirectly impacts your scapular movement, it can really contribute to that rounded shoulder posture, causing aches and pains.

Not so fun fun fact it can even create issues into your lower body because of its connection to your glutes through the thoracolumbar fascia.

And this muscle can often become tight, leading to us not efficiently engaging our backs.

To roll out your lats, a roller works best. Lie on your side with the roller at the side of your back behind your armpit. Reach your hand overhead with your palm facing up to stretch your lat as you roll.

Hold on any tight spots as you work your way down the side of your back, rocking back more as you go lower on your ribs.

Reach your arm overhead then lower it down in front of your chest as you hold on any tight spots you find.

The second move you want to include is a stretch to open up your chest as well as even mobilize your shoulders and shoulder blades – the Suspension Trainer Snow Angels.

Find yourself hunching forward a ton when sitting?

A tight pec minor contributes to anterior tipping of the shoulder blade while a tight pec major can contribute to that internal shoulder rotation – exactly that bad posture we want to reverse.

That’s why this stretch, especially before any overhead pressing, is key.

To do the snow angels, hold a handle in each hand, facing away from the anchor point and walk out so the suspension trainer is pulling back slightly on your arms as they are straight down by your sides.

Engage your upper back and feel your chest open up and stretch as you swing your arms out straight and open overhead from your sides.

By focusing on engaging your back to drive your chest open, you make sure you actually stretch your pecs instead of just seeking out more range of motion from your shoulders.

Feel your shoulder blades move as you raise your arms overhead and then lower them back down to your sides.

The third move you will want to include is an activation exercise – the Roller Serratus Anterior Extensions.

The serratus anterior is a muscle too often ignored and overlooked but it’s been linked to neck, shoulder and even upper back aches and pains as it is a primary scapular stabilizer.

So this activation move is key to create that strength and stability.

To do the serratus anterior extensions, place a roller under your wrists with your palms facing in toward each other at about eye height against a wall.
Walk your feet back so you’re angled into the wall and resting a bit of your weight against the roller just to be able to push into it as you extend up.

Brace your abs and roll your arms up, thinking about pulling your shoulder blades “out and around” forward on your rib cage as you slide up.

Then slide back down, pulling with your back. You want to focus on feeling around your rib cage as you reach out and your back as you pull back down.

Because everything is connected, you may be surprised by how using these 3 moves can even improve your spinal health and have an impact at your hips and pelvis.

But if you do have lower back, hip or knee pain, or have struggles with tight hips in general and hamstring strains, you’ll also want to address these 3 prehab moves to improve your hip mobility and stability next.

#2: Hip Mobility And Stability

Many of us have heard we’re spending too much time seated leading to hip flexor tightness. And this hip flexor tightness can create compensations and imbalances that lead to our lower back hurting during deadlifts or our knees hurting during lunging.

It’s why we want to use these 3 moves to relax those hip flexors, mobilize our hips and spine and even activate our glutes so they’re working properly when they should be.

This starts with relaxing a hip flexor and quad muscle, the rectus femoris, that can perpetuate lower back, hip and knee pain.

It is the only quad muscle that impacts joint movement at both the knee and the hip.

To roll out your Rectus Femoris, you can use a roller or ball. The smaller and harder the trigger point tool, the more it will dig in.

Find the middle of your thigh about half way down and lie over the foam roller or ball. As you hold, flex and relax your thigh to help the muscle relax and release.

You can move up higher or lower on the front middle of your thigh to find any tight spots and hold.

The second move to include is one that addresses not only your hips but also your spine. It’s a stretch that really has that far reaching impact and great when your short on time – the World’s Greatest Stretch.

This dynamic stretch will warm your body up and prepare everything to work, working on thoracic rotation while stretching your glutes, hip flexors, adductors and hamstrings.

To do this stretch, start in a high plank position with your hands then step one foot up and outside the hand on the same side. Squeeze your back glute to stretch that hip flexor.

Drop your elbow on that side down to the ground near the instep of your foot. Do not worry if you can’t touch the ground. Focus on not rocking out on your foot just to touch to make sure you’re really stretching your glute and adductor.

Reach that arm up toward the ceiling, opening your chest up toward that front leg and the ceiling. Focus on your back opening your chest up as you rotate.

Place your hand back down then drop your back knee to the ground to sit back on your heel, straightening your front leg out. Feel a stretch down your hamstring as you hinge, leaning over that front leg while pushing your butt back.

Then repeat the movement.

With this stretch, and all of the others I mention, focus on what is driving the stretch, not just on the muscle stretching.

This focus on what you feel working is also key as you do glute activation moves like exercise number 3 – the Side Lying Wall Lateral Raise.

You can do this move with bodyweight or progress it with a band.

Lie on your side a few inches from the wall with your back to the wall.

Lift your top leg up a few inches off your bottom leg and turn that top toe slightly down toward the ground. Drive your heel back into the wall behind you.

Slide your heel up the wall lifting your leg, feeling your glute working to push back and lift.

And last but not least, you want to address your feet and ankles. They are your foundation. Instability or immobility there can lead to changes in your movements up your entire body.

#3: Feet And Ankle Mobility And Stability

Far too many of us have also had ankle or foot aches and pains that we simply rested then went right back to what we were doing, never addressing the underlying culprit. This may be why we now have knee, hip or even lower back problems.

So taking care of our foundation is key with these prehab moves.

And one often overlooked muscle group of our lower leg are the peroneals, which is why peroneal foam rolling is so key!

Peroneal tightness can lead to what looks like a leg length discrepancy or even a weight shift during squatting. This muscle has a far reaching impact so it can’t be ignored in our prehab.

To roll it, place a ball on the ground and relax your lower leg onto the ball, pressing the outside of your lower leg down into the ball and hold as you even circle your foot.

You want to focus on the side of the meaty part of your calf, holding as you push down and tense and relax the muscle with the foot movement.

The second move to include, the Ankle Mobility And Groin Stretch, improves both the mobility of your ankles but also your hips, activating your glutes and stretching your adductors.

It is a great stretch if you’re struggling with knee pain or find you can’t squat down low.

To do this stretch, set up half kneeling and open your front knee out to the side so your foot and leg is perpendicular to your back kneeling leg.

Bring that front foot back so it is turned out but in line with your back knee and move that foot out so your knee is behind your ankle. Engage your glute then shift your weight, rocking that knee forward over the ball of your foot without your heel coming up.

Don’t lean forward as you rock forward or back. Adjust how far out that foot is from your back knee, shifting it closer for more of a focus on ankle mobility or further out to stretch your groin more.

Then the third activation move will help you strengthen through the range of motion while addressing the too often ignored soleus calf muscle.

By using a plate weight for the Seated Plate Weight Calf Raises, you are working this muscle through an extended range of motion.

The seated position helps you target the soleus over the gastrocnemius which we so often focus on with our calf raises.

Strengthening this muscle improves our gait mechanics which can help us walk and run more efficiently without pain!

To do Seated Plate Weight Calf Raises, sit on a bench with the plate weight on the ground in front of you and the balls of your feet on the edge of it.
Your heels should be on the ground aligned about under your knees so you feel a slight stretch in your calves.

Drive through the balls of your feet and toes to lift your heels up off the ground.

Pause at the top to feel your calves then make sure to lower all the way back down to use the increased range of motion.

Combine all 9 of these moves for a quick full body prehab routine.

Setting a timer for 30 seconds per move or per side and completing all foam rolling then stretching then activation can make for an amazing mobility series or warm up.

For this quick prehab routine written out, check the video descriptions.

But a little goes a long way when done consistently! Consider using this routine even 3-4 times a week! It takes under 10 minutes!
—-

Prehab Routine:

FOAM ROLLING:
30 seconds per side Lat Foam Rolling
30 seconds per side Rectus Femoris Foam Rolling
30 seconds per side Peroneal Foam Rolling

STRETCHING:
30 seconds Suspension Trainer Snow Angels
30 seconds per side Ankle Mobility And Groin Stretch
30 seconds per side World’s Greatest Stretch

ACTIVATION:
30 seconds Roller Serratus Anterior Extensions
30 seconds Seated Plate Weight Calf Raises
30 seconds per side Side Lying Wall Lateral Raise

For mobility work included with EVERY workout, check out my Dynamic Strength program:

–> LEARN MORE

Lose Fat + Keep Muscle (5 Training Tips That WORK)

Lose Fat + Keep Muscle (5 Training Tips That WORK)

by | Jun 29, 2025 | Blog, Exercises, Workouts

To look your leanest, you want to lose fat while not losing muscle.

Heck if you can even gain a bit of muscle in the fat loss process, even better.

And while this is hard to do, and diet is 100% key, too often the way we design our workouts actually sabotages our fat loss results.

We turn to cardio over strength, favoring the calorie burn.

And that deficit we create from doing more cardio while eating less can yield some fast immediate scale changes.

It is also what leads to us ultimately hitting a plateau, even feeling like we look softer and deciding all the hard work isn’t worth it as we become burned out and restricted and hungry.

Then the scale rebounds and we gain even more fat as the habits we were trying to implement just weren’t sustainable and our body adapts to the amount of cardio we were doing because we couldn’t keep trying to add on more to progress it.

That’s why I wanted to share 5 tips to help you accelerate your fat loss results while preserving your lean muscle mass to help yourself avoid metabolic adaptations and see lasting recomp.

And that starts with prioritizing strength work over cardio.

But then it isn’t enough to just focus on strength work, you want to be strategic and intentional which is why these 5 tips can help.

Because how you design your strength workouts when in a fat loss phase is different than during a muscle building phase.

While at both times you want your workouts focused on maintaining and building muscle, your fueling and therefore energy levels may be different making different training techniques even more beneficial.

It’s why my first tip is especially key to help you push that progression while in a calorie deficit…

#1: Use Rest-Pause Training Technique

To build muscle, you need to challenge yourself to progress and push in each workout. But sometimes we can’t just do a harder variation or more reps or more weight of an exercise.

Especially when we are in a calorie deficit, we can feel a bit depleted and like we aren’t as strong.

That’s where this rest-pause technique can help. It can help us use heavier weights or do a few more reps by implementing a short rest period or PAUSE in a single set.

Basically, where you feel like you’d have to stop, pause for 15-30 seconds and then complete more reps with the same weight and move.

You can then end up moving more weight in your workout while maintaining heavier loads and more advanced exercise variations for more volume.

An example of this could be a lunge. If you can only do 8 reps with the weights you’re using, and you’ve even been stuck at this amount for a bit, you may do your 8 reps. Pause for the 15-30 seconds.

Then do 2-4 more based on what you can do before fully resting.

This way you get out 12 reps with a weight and lunge variation you could only really do 8 reps with.

It helps you push that progression when stuck and even focus on maintaining quality reps instead of getting sloppy just to try to do more.

Then next don’t only focus on progressing moves through adding weight or reps. But also Vary Your Exercise Range Of Motion.

Increasing the range of motion you’re working through can help you improve your mobility and strength.

It can help you even load a muscle under more stretch to see better muscle gains faster.

But you don’t have to just increase the range of motion to load a muscle under stretch or drive growth.

Sometimes you also want to shrink the range of motion and do partial reps or pulses.

This can keep the muscle under tension for longer and even keep you just working the muscle while under stretch.

An example of this may be something like pulse RDLS.

With this move you’re keeping the hamstrings stretched and working in a smaller range of motion.

Combining this even later in a workout after a full range of motion RDL may be just what you need to really work your hamstrings to fatigue.

On the flip side of this, you may do a full range of motion or even extended range of motion abduction exercise to then include pulses at the end range of motion after.

Combining different ranges of motion can help you really fully work muscles while creating progression without just adding loads.

So don’t fear increasing the range of motion but also including partial reps at times strategically to isolate muscles further!

And not only do you want to play around with exercise range of motion, but you may want to adjust exercise order.

Often we think just compound moves to more isolated moves over the course of our workouts.

But sometimes by putting those isolation moves first, we can pre-fatigue an area to actually max out with lighter loads on those compound moves.

This can be key during a fat loss phase when we are a bit more energy depleted.

It’s why tip #3 is to include Pre-Fatigue Moves.

Try putting that leg extension exercise BEFORE your front lunges or squats.

You may be surprised by how much more you feel those quads working then in the compound move and by how heavy a lighter weight than usual feels.

This can really help you especially if you feel slightly stuck at a weight where you can’t do more BUT the weight isn’t fully maxing you out unless you keep adding more reps.

It can be key if you don’t feel those stubborn areas fully getting worked the way you need.

That little bit of fatigue helps you work a muscle closer to failure with the compound lift.

It can be that little gasoline on the fire to accelerate those muscle gains!

So for especially stubborn muscle groups you really want to target and grow, consider at times a little isolation work first in your workout to really feel those areas already working before you go into those compound lifts.

Just be conscious when you do the pre-fatigue work you don’t then compensate in the lift.

This may mean starting a bit lighter than you think with the compound exercise because the areas are already tired going in!

With all of these techniques, it is about maxing what you’re doing. We don’t just want to keep adding more.

While volume is key, too often we just add more to our training, which becomes slightly wasted work as we are too tired by the end of the session to be as intentional and maximize every rep.

So instead of just trying to add in more moves for an area to a single session or do more rounds, consider less work per session but more training frequency for especially stubborn muscle groups over the week.

This is why tip #4 is to Favor Weekly Frequency.

If you have a stubborn area you want to build muscle in, train it 2-3 times a week.

Don’t do 8 moves on one day, spread out your volume over the week.

This can be key during a fat loss phase as we are in an energy deficit so tend to fatigue more quickly.

That move you’re doing right now at the end of a long upper body day for your shoulders may FEEL like it is getting 100% effort, but your 100% at that time is far less than it would be if you did that move second on another day.

This volume spread out means we can do less on a day so we aren’t just going through the motions on the final rounds to get in more work on a single day.

Think about that 4th exercise you’re doing…you’re way more tired for it than the first exercise.

So instead of doing more on a single day, spread that work out.

Give yourself still days to recover between, but allow yourself to be fresher for those moves by not just stacking more into a single session.

If your shoulders are a stubborn muscle group, include 2-3 shoulder days a week.

Make one the more intensive one, with maybe two other days you even include just a single move for your shoulders over adding those two extra moves onto one day.

It will surprise you by how much more you are actually able to do with certain exercises when you aren’t tired trying to cram them in at the end of a session!

This will also allow you to include more diversity of movement for muscle groups over the week to really hit every aspect and see better muscle gains!

And by increasing training frequency over just doing more for a muscle group in a single session, you can often also be more strategic with tip #5…

Stop Skipping Rest.

Our body only rebuilds when it has time to repair and the fuel to do it.

When in a fat loss phase, your gas tank is already low. You need to allow for proper recovery to optimize how you do use the fuel coming in.

So do not skip days off.

But also don’t skip rest during your workouts.

The rest allows you to optimize each set and really maximize your output on reps.

Because the more fatigued you get over your workout, the more you feel like you’re working hard but not able to push progression in the same way.

And cutting out all rest, while it can make you feel like you worked harder in a session because your heart rate gets up, can also turn your strength workouts into more cardio sessions.

While this may feel good, it can also backfire and hinder the muscle gains you’re working hard for.

It can put you into that viscous cardio weight loss cycle.

So include rest and allow yourself to recover to lift heavier. Even just 1-2 minutes between moves or rounds depending on the workout design can be key.

And don’t forget about even the short rest of rest-pause technique to really push yourself.

But this is also why favoring weekly training frequency can be key.

Doing less for one area on a day and even hitting a few large muscle groups in a session can allow you to get in more rest while continuing to work and be efficient with your time. By cycling what is working, another muscle group can rest as you continue to use your gym time efficiently.

Rest doesn’t have to mean just scrolling on your phone. Heck, even get in some extra steps moving around the gym instead.

But don’t demonize rest if you want to push to build muscle.

Remember, muscle is key to metabolic health and ultimately looking leaner as we lose fat.

For amazing workouts you can do anywhere to build strength, muscle and improve your metabolic health to see fabulous recomp, check out Dynamic Strength!

–> LEARN MORE

“I Don’t Have Time To Workout”

“I Don’t Have Time To Workout”

by | May 11, 2025 | Blog, Exercises, Workouts

“I don’t have enough time.”

Sorry I’m calling BS on this one.

And before your storm off clicking back, hear me out…

What we value, we prioritize.

And what we prioritize, we MAKE time for.

We FIND the time.

Yes, there are finite hours in the day, but we give up some of our endless Instagram scrolling.

Or we find a way to still do SOMETHING.

We stop focusing on an ideal and instead focus on what is truly possible where we are at RIGHT NOW.

Because something is better than nothing and 5 minutes pays off.

That’s why I want to share not only 3 tips to help you get that workout momentum building, MAKING the time, but also 3 tips to help you truly design for the time you have.

Because feeling fabulous and moving well doesn’t have to be a full time job!

So first…how can we make the time in our crazy, busy schedules?

And no, the answer isn’t just sleeping less or cutting out things you love to do even if you know they may be…well…time wasters…

Actually the first way to make time for your training is to combine your workouts with some of those mindless activities you love!

Yup.

Tip #1 is…Don’t sacrifice things you enjoy – CONNECT THEM!

Love scrolling Instagram or TikTok? Love bad reality TV shows? Use those as times to go get in a walk. Or do your mobility work. Listen to a podcast as you workout.

Use your workouts oddly as a time to multitask.

Because so often we feel like to fit in the things we know we “should” do, we need to give up things we just want to do to relax.

But we don’t have to.

By connecting these two things, you’re sacrificing something you want to do, but you’re also making potentially the training you don’t want to do something you want to do…and GET to do.

You may make yourself look forward even more to that time for YOU. And the more you value that time, the more you’ll prioritize the habit!

Tip #2: Use stolen moments. Take movement snack breaks.

Sure maybe a 30, 40 or even hour long session is “ideal.” But if that’s not possible and is mentally stopping you from starting anything, realize you don’t need it.

Use the moments you have.

5 minutes in between meetings, do a couple of stretches and a loop around your office.

Need to get up to get more water? Do 10 bodyweight squats.

Yes, we want progression to our workouts and a clear plan in place as much as possible for the fastest results, but even small actions beat a perfect plan…

Because so often we use not being able to do the ideal as an excuse to do nothing. And no action means no progress.

Not to mention, action creates more momentum and more action.

When you feel positive and good about the habits you are doing, you want to do more of them.

And even 5 minutes throughout the day can add up and add up fast.

Consider even accounting for those stolen moments to have a plan for different lengths so you can create some clear guidelines to help yourself build.

Start even setting an alarm or calendar event to get you in the habit of doing 5 minutes.

Because 5 minutes becomes 15 becomes 30 becomes forward momentum that makes you want to prioritize the habit more and more.

And suddenly, you find there is more time than you realized in your day because you’re not faced with the daunting task of setting aside an hour all at once!

Then Tip #3: Focus on frequency first.

We get good at what we consistently do. The more we have that set time daily that we workout at, the easier it is to get in the groove and habit.

This may sound counterintuitive BUT…

It may be better to do 10-15 minutes a day to start over trying to do an hour 3 times a week.

And it’s all because of the groove and habit it gets us into.

With the short daily sessions, you can have a clear pattern you create and a shift in your environment. The repetition daily for a few weeks can build that consistency to create that discipline.

From there, you can adjust maybe two or three sessions to be longer and even shift some of the shorter ones to just be recovery.

But more of less to start may be the key to helping that momentum snowball.

Now that you’ve made the time, you have to design for the time you have so your training sessions are as effective as possible.

Because often we feel like 5-10 minutes can’t pay off. But it can, if used strategically.

Here are 3 tips to maximize those minutes…

Tip #1: Set a timer.

When we don’t have clarity on how long something will take, we may skip it when we have a hard stop time or deadline. By creating timed routines, you know you’ll get everything in.

That clarity creates comfort.

If you have 5 minutes, set a timer for 5 minutes with 3 moves you cycle through during that time. Then you’re done.

If you have a minute, do a minute of foam rolling or stretching even. Heck a minute of burpees will destroy you.

If you have 15 minutes, create a circuit of 5 moves you do for 1 minute each and repeat the series 3 times.

So many ways to use that timer to help you be efficient.

And not only will you know you’ll be able to get in the workout you’ve designed, but having that set timeframe can help you strategically include moves and reps and sets to your advantage.

It can help you pick exercises that will really challenge you. It can help you decide which muscles to work to make the most of every second.

It gives you a focus for the session to optimize it.

Then Tip #2: Use compound moves.

Work more muscle groups in a shorter amount of time to build more muscle while burning more calories.

Compound moves are multi-joint movements that work multiple muscle groups at once. These are more efficient than isolation exercises that work only a single muscle at a time, making them better to help you work your entire body when time is an issue.

You can also move heavier loads with compound moves which can help you build strength and muscle more efficiently.

When designing your workouts focus on exercises like squats, deadlifts, lunges, push ups, pull ups, bench press, rows over bicep curls or leg extensions.

And then cycle the areas worked over your workouts to avoid having to rest so you can get the most work done in the shortest amount of time.

While rest is key to us being able to work at a higher intensity in our training, we can use active rest to our advantage when we’re short on time.

To allow one muscle to rest as another works, make your workouts more full body and alternate moves for different muscle groups.

In your circuit, think squat, push up and row as your 3 moves over squat, lunge, step up.

The second never gives your legs a chance to rest so you’ll see your intensity dip as you even have to modify or lighten loads whereas your legs get rest in the first during push ups and rows.

And Tip #3: Don’t work to failure.

While it is tempting to try to max out the reps on a move each round, this can cause you to actually have to slow down and rest more or modify moves to keep moving.

Instead stop a few reps short of having to rest and move on to the next exercise. This can lead to you being able to push harder for each rep you do and make the work you do more quality.

It can help you even do more reps over the 5 minutes you have over having to pause because you’re tired, slowing you down.

You can also often lift heavier by keeping the reps lower. Over the 5-10 minutes, 5 reps at a time can really add up to more weight lifted than if you went lighter to be able to do 10 reps!

The key is strategically designing for the time we have over focusing on an ideal.

And all of this starts with owning that we can’t change how many hours in the day we have, but we can find ways to shift our priorities to MAKE the time to see the results we want!

For workouts you can do anywhere, and that will fit your crazy busy schedule, check out my Dynamic Strength program:

–> LEARN MORE

Do You Do This During Ab Workouts? 5 Mistakes You Might Be Making

Do You Do This During Ab Workouts? 5 Mistakes You Might Be Making

by | May 4, 2025 | Blog, Core, Exercises, Pain Relief, Workouts

Feel like your ab workouts aren’t paying off? This video’s your missing link.

Because harder moves don’t mean better results.

We can be doing all the “right” exercises—and still not see the payoff.

Why?

Because we’re compensating. Letting our hips or lower back take over instead of our abs doing the work.

And when that happens, we start to blame the moves—even the ones we should be doing.

We write them off because they cause pain. But it’s not the move. It’s how you’re doing it.

So let’s fix that. Let’s stop the aches and pains. Let’s make sure every rep actually builds the strong abs you’re working for.

Here are 5 common ab training mistakes—and how to fix them.

MISTAKE #1: Doing moves you haven’t earned.

Moves need to fit our current fitness level, needs and goals. When we do exercises we haven’t earned, we end up using the incorrect muscles to power the movements.

This is why we can end up feeling our lower back or hip flexors over our abs working during certain core movements.

Too often we then try to put a bandaid on the issue to power through.

Doing a harder move is better, right?

WRONG!

Regress to progress.

Modifying a move doesn’t mean making it easier on yourself – it means allowing yourself to optimize the exercise.

A prime example of this is putting your hands behind your lower back during leg lower exercises.

Placing your hands under your lower back might feel better in the moment, but it’s not teaching you to properly control the exercise and brace your abs.

Instead of putting your hands behind your lower back to cheat and do a move you haven’t earned, learn to properly brace by regressing to the pelvic tilt hold.

Then build back up.

Learn to truly engage your abs through that tuck of your pelvis toward your ribs. This will protect your lower back and allow you to use your abs to stabilize, even engage your glutes as well.

When you can control this hold, you can then begin to add back in movement, using a pelvic tilt with march.

Then a double knee tuck before building back to a single leg lower and finally the full double leg lower movement.

By building up the right way, you’ll actually work your abs and be amazed at how much stronger they get.

Don’t let ego in doing a harder move hold you back.

MISTAKE #2: Demonizing spinal flexion moves like crunches and sit ups.

Crunches and sit-ups often get written off and even demonized.

But these bodyweight basics work our abs through spinal flexion. Something that planks or big heavy lifts don’t do.

It’s our abs’ job to power that rounding of our spine so we want to include moves that train it.

The key is using these moves correctly so that we don’t rely just on our hip flexors or end up overusing our lower back.

Spinal flexion is about thinking of the curl or roll up of one vertebrae at a time.

Starting out, you may find crunches are easiest to control as they are a more isolated movement. You’re only having to really focus on your abs powering a smaller range of motion to flex your spine and lift through your shoulder blades.

Really focus on your abs curling your upper back off the ground as you press your lower back down into it.

The crunch can really help you focus on that ab activation and mind-body connection because it is so isolated.

Then you can start to move into sit ups, learning to control the full roll up.

Too often with sit ups we just, well, sit up, letting our feet flop around or using momentum, even swinging or arching back overhead when we lay down.

Instead slow things down and think about rounding forward as you reach toward your toes to roll up. Then slowly lowering one vertebra at a time back down

But don’t avoid training this movement pattern. It may not only be the key to getting the amazing strong and defined abs you want (with your diet dialed in of course) but may even help you avoid back pain in your other lifting exercises!

MISTAKE #3: Not focusing on the correct muscles working.

Often we are including many of the “right” core moves, we’re just trying to mimic what we think is proper form and not performing the full exercise or using the correct muscles to power the full movement.

It goes back to mistake #1…we’re trying to do an exercise we haven’t earned so we cheat.

We do leg lowers where we aren’t bracing our abs properly with the posterior pelvic tilt so we’re only really using our hip flexors to lift and lower.

Or we’re doing hanging ab moves and not actually curling our knees toward our elbows by rounding through our spine, we’re only bending and extending at our hips to tuck our knees up.

If you feel your hip flexors working during these reverse crunch or leg raise movements, your hip flexors are what are getting worked. Not your abs.

This perpetuates aches and pains and makes all of our hard work not pay off the way it should.

And even backfire. Because not only can this lead to hip flexor issues, but tight, overworked hip flexors can perpetuate our lower back pain.

Focus on that true spinal flexion. The posterior pelvic tilt is spinal flexion with that tuck of your pelvis toward your ribs.

That curling of your knees toward your elbows as you hang is spinal flexion.

Focus on that movement and regress to progress if you need so you can.

Try an incline ab variation or even lying reverse crunch with overhead hold. But train the proper movement and recruitment pattern.

Don’t just focus on doing the move, focus on what you feel working!

MISTAKE #4: Training to fatigue over using frequency to your advantage.

Have you ever just thought, “I just need to get through the moves!” then rushed through the exercises while tired knowing you were a bit sloppy?

Quality matters. Yet so often we focus on quantity.

We seek to be sore and tired.

Instead of trying to destroy your abs in a workout and do a ton of reps and sets, lower the volume and train them more frequently over the week.

And have a clear set routine you repeat each week, don’t randomly string things together.

While ab exercises can and should be done for higher reps, like 15-25 per set with generally lighter loads if any weight, you still don’t want to focus on just doing 100s of reps in a day.

Spread out that volume over the week. When you are fresher and less fatigued for the moves, you’ll perform a better quality of work.

You may find you are even able to do more advanced variations for all the reps than you could have had you stacked them all together.

And you put yourself at less risk for getting tired and then calling on other muscles to help you power through the moves.

Think about even just a couple of moves done for 2-3 sets 3-4 times a week even.

MISTAKE #5: Focusing on doing more over intensity.

A 2-minute plank where you’re zoning out? Not helpful.

Yet so often we focus on doing more over not only the quality but also the intensity of each rep.

When you’re doing an exercise, focus on really challenging yourself with the movement. Focus on what you feel working and engaging that muscle fully.

With bodyweight movements like the plank, use that mind-body connection to try to engage your abs, and entire core, harder to create shakeage.

Yes shakeage.

Focus on your back supporting your shoulders, bracing that core as if being punched in the gut with that slight posterior pelvic tilt. Flex your quads and drive back hard through your heels.

Don’t let yourself relax during the movement. Create that tension.

Because holding longer while cheating may make your ego feel good, but it isn’t making those abs work more.

We often end up compensating as well, which is why we feel our hips or back the next day even if we didn’t notice during.

It’s not about the clock — it’s about the tension.

You want to feel like you’re barely surviving a 15 second hold the more advanced you are over having ego in just going longer.

You want to use that more advanced ab move, even if you have to pause to complete all the reps.

Shorten the time. Maximize the effort and intensity.

Stop going through the motions with your workouts or letting ego lead to you trying to do moves you haven’t earned.

Regress to progress, focus on that quality of work and be intentional with every move you do!

This will lead to you building the strong abs you want, you can then reveal through proper nutrition!

For amazing workouts to help you build your leanest, strongest body ever, check out my Dynamic Strength program:

–> Dynamic Strength

How to Lose That LAST 5-10 lbs of Stubborn Fat

How to Lose That LAST 5-10 lbs of Stubborn Fat

by | Apr 20, 2025 | Blog, Diet, Workouts

“I’ve only got 5lbs to lose. That shouldn’t take that long. Maybe a month! It’s so little.”

EH! WRONG.

The cold hard truth about getting lean? The closer you get to your goal, the harder the process often gets.

And the slower results happen.

So what do we do when it feels like things aren’t happening fast enough?

We slash our calories lower. We try to train harder and longer. We do more.

But this exact desire to do more is what sabotages us.

Instead, when you have those last few pounds to lose you think shouldn’t take too long to get off?

Double or triple at least the time you’re giving yourself to lose them.

Or even step off the scale altogether if you really want to look lean.

Because while sure, you could lose those 5lbs in a month, heck you could probably deplete water weight and glycogen stores and lose them in a couple of weeks in some cases easily…

True fat loss, especially fat loss to finally see that lean muscle definition you want, is SLOW.

You can’t rush the process.

When you have less to lose, the more you try to implement practices to speed things up often the more you end up sending yourself into burnout, both mental and physical…

…sabotaging your metabolic health…
…losing but not looking leaner…
…And ultimately rebounding right back up to where you started and sometimes even higher only to be frustrated that nothing ever works.

The reality is, these overnight transformations are myths.

Because what we logically know but emotionally forget when looking at them is that we’re only seeing the tip of the iceberg.

We’re only seeing that last little bit of effort and results that was built off of potential years and decades of other training and dieting and lifestyle practices as well as genetics.

I bring this up because honestly…so often we don’t reach our goals not because we need a new tactic.

But because we just need to give results more TIME.

We need to do the hard thing of doubling down on what we’re doing. Doubling down on our commitment to consistency.

Over getting distracted by something new. Doing something more.

That’s what leads to us achieving a goal that is beyond what we’ve achieved before.

Or a goal we haven’t been at for a very very long time.

Years, decades aren’t reversed in weeks or months. We forget sometimes how long we’ve had the weight on.

We forget how many routines and habits we’ve built up.

And our body fights the weight loss process.

This exact fight is what will be used to our advantage when we finally reach the level we want and want to maintain it.

But in trying to lose that last little bit, this desire by our body to maintain balance makes everything slower.

It’s why every time we try to rush the process, we only sabotage ourselves.

That’s why I want to share these quick tips and reminders so that you go back to those basics. So that you stay focused on them and dial them back in when 1% deviations happen.

As unsexy as it is, as much as you want to find a magic pill or something that will make it happen faster…

You’re looking for some ah-ha moment…

The reality is often we need to be reminded more than we need to be taught.

We need to be reminded of those boring basic habits and mindsets we’re letting slide as we try to add on and do more to rush the process.

So reminder #1…manage your expectations.

If you tell yourself it will take triple the time to achieve your goal, you’ll more often be pleasantly surprised when results happen faster.

You’ll be motivated by the “quick” progress.

But if you tell yourself that results should happen tomorrow, when they don’t, you’ll be frustrated that things are happening too slowly and give up.

Our expectations can make or break our success.

And ultimately, you can’t control the rate at which results happen. All you can control is your daily habits!

So control those daily habits with reminder #2…Have a plan and roadmap laid out.

You want to reach your goal most efficiently?

You need a clear plan you follow.

You wouldn’t get in a car to drive to a destination you haven’t been without directions. You’d get lost and frustrated and waste a ton of time.

Heck, you may even turn back at some point and go home.

Yet so often this is how we approach our weight loss goals – with no directions.

We just jump in the car and drive.

Have a clear workout plan and nutritional strategy outlined. This also helps you have focused habits to be consistent with and track what is and isn’t working to adjust.

Reminder #3…Measure progress in multiple ways.

Have you ever thought, “How do I know if the program’s working?”

Success leaves clues.

They just aren’t always directly related to the exact goal outcome we want right away.

When we want to lose those last 5-10lbs, often if we’re focused on making true lifestyle and habit changes, the scale won’t be the first thing to change even.

But you may realize you’re sleeping better from eating better.

Your workouts feel stronger.

You’re improving your pull ups.

You don’t have an energy lull in the afternoon.

Your pants feel a little less snug.

We do get signs we’re doing things that are good for us and our goals. We just have to pause to notice them and not get so focused only on one outcome.

It’s why setting complementary targets or goals to help you track progress and repeat the habits you know you need can be key.

The more ways we measure success, the more ways we are successful.

And the more likely we are to realize that results ARE happening even when we feel like they aren’t!

Reminder #4 – Pride yourself on doing the boring stuff.

Yup. The daily boring habits we repeat are ultimately what add up. Tracking your macros consistently while even repeating some meals.

Waking up at the same time with the alarm that jolts us out of bed to hit the gym.

Because honestly, the two fundamentals to amazing results are doing your strength workouts and dialing in your macros consistently day in and day out.

Too often we don’t celebrate the DOING of these daily habits though.

Instead often we think “Do I really have to do this the rest of my life?”

It’s because we go ON a diet over ADJUSTING our diet.

We never really embrace the value in them.

Instead, we feel obligated to do them.

But you don’t have to do them – you’re choosing to do them.

So on those days you least want to do the habits you “should,” realize you GET to do them and celebrate your strength to keep going, perfecting those boring basics.

Which honestly hits on Reminder #5 – You won’t always want to do what you “should.”

I’ve said it myself…the popular line of “eat whatever you want and see results.”

And I really pushed that for awhile because for me it was a realization that getting results didn’t have to mean forcing myself into someone else’s clean eating mold.

But that sentiment has now gotten distorted and morphed into this belief that there won’t be discomfort in change.

That reaching a goal won’t have some sacrifices or make us do things we don’t want to do.

But the reality is your results are built off of doing the hard thing when you least want to do it.

That’s even what builds strength, confidence and you feeling truly your best when you do achieve your goal.

Because we value what we’ve fought for.

So if you’re resisting these reminders…

If you’re resisting going back to basics and just committing more time to doing what you’ve…well…been doing and following your laid out plan…

STOP.

Don’t do more. That’s your urge to avoid the hard. It seems easier to try to control things by adding. By chasing something new.

Just keep going.

Final reminder…often to lose those last few pounds, you don’t need more tactics…you need more time!

It can be hard to trust the process when it feels like nothing is working and we aren’t making progress. This is why having a coach can be key. It keeps us consistent past the point we want to quit.

To build your leanest, strongest body ever and learn to MAINTAIN your results long-term, check out my 1:1 Coaching…

–> Schedule Your Consultation

Add This To Your Shoulder Workout (AT HOME!)

Add This To Your Shoulder Workout (AT HOME!)

by | Apr 15, 2025 | Blog, Bodyweight, Exercises, Workouts

When training at home or when we travel without access to equipment, it can feel like there are some body parts that are hard to hit and exercises that are hard to replicate.

But we can get in a killer workout no matter what.

That’s why I wanted to share a great replacement exercise for the overhead press if you want to target your shoulders without any weights.

That move is the Pike Push Up.

However, this push up variation is much harder than we realize and you don’t want to…well…drop yourself on your head while doing it.

Please regress to progress and make sure you build up to this deceptively hard yet simple move.

To help you build up I’m going to share some form tips to implement this move correctly but also an amazing modification.

Because with the pike push up you can mimic that vertical press to work not only your shoulders but also your triceps and core!

The key is actually performing this push up variation though as the vertical press!

First, let’s break down the form on the full pike push up.

If you want to get the vertical pressing benefits of this push up variation, you’ve got to make sure you’re actually performing a vertical press.

It is easy to let this move become more of a horizontal push as you fatigue. But the more you start to let yourself drift into more of a traditional push up position, the less you’re going to emphasize your shoulders and triceps and the more your chest is going to begin to work.

You may find your pike push up turns more into a decline variation, which isn’t bad, it’s just not working the same muscles to the same extents!

To do the pike push up, you want to place your feet up on a bench or couch or stair. The higher the platform, the more challenging this move will be.

The platform allows you to shift more weight onto your arms for added resistance.

Walk your hands back so your butt is up in the air and your chest is facing back toward the wall behind you with your arms extended.

You want to try to create as straight a line as possible from your hands up to your butt.

As you begin to lower, you will shift forward just slightly as you lower your head toward the ground at about your fingertips.

Think about the similar movement of the overhead press but in reverse.

When your head is near the ground, that’s like the bar at about your chest.

Then as you extend your arms out to push back up in the pike, that’s like you pressing the bar overhead.

You want to think “vertical press” and push your butt up toward the ceiling.

You just don’t want to end up rocking so forward your hands are at your shoulders or chest. This isn’t that incline bench or decline push up.

You can even lower your head down to lightly touch the ground before pressing back up. Really focus on pushing that ground away with your entire hand.

As you get tired it is easy to not notice you start to push forward off your feet and move into less of that vertical position.

While you ARE pushing off your toes on the bench to load your weight vertically, you want to push your butt up toward the ceiling not rock back and forth.

If you notice as you fatigue your hands creeping out from the platform or your butt sinking, pause and reset or even modify.

This seems simple, but is much harder than it looks.

That’s why you may want to start first off the ground from a more downward dog position, doing the Downward Dog Pike Push Up.

With this variation your feet will be on the ground and you’ll set up almost as if you’re doing the downward dog.

But even off the ground you have room to modify more or less.

The more forward you walk your feet, the more challenging the move will get.

You want to even shift your weight a bit forward onto your hands if possible to make it harder.

You then want to maintain that nice straight line from your hands on the ground up your spine to your butt as you lower your head between your fingertips then press the ground away to extend your arms straight back out.

Just be conscious you don’t rock forward and drop your butt or you’ll end up turning this into more of a regular push up.

You want to focus on those triceps and shoulders and feel like you’re pushing your butt up into the air.

If you film yourself doing this, you want to still see an angled press with your arms in line with your body and spine as you extend out.

Visualizing that barbell or dumbbell press can help!

You can walk your feet closer to your hands and really push up onto your toes before then moving your feet to a low incline to progress.

If you’re struggling to control the more downward dog position though, do not walk your feet in toward your hands yet

Instead even consider putting your hands on an incline like a stair.

By raising your hands up, you reduce the resistance on your upper body, helping you practice that vertical press with a lighter weight.

Regress to progress and focus on the proper movement and feeling your shoulders and triceps working.

There is always a way to match our fitness level and even the equipment we have on hand to get in a great workout based on our needs and goals!

But try one of these pike push up variations, using what you need based on your abilities now.

Just like we change up tools and weights and reps to create progression with the overhead press, you can vary resistance through inclines and foot positions with the pike push up.

You can even change up the tempo you use to perform the pike push up, slowing down just parts of the exercise.

And then you can use it for interval work or different rep and set designs as needed.

When we don’t have access to equipment we can still challenge ourselves and build muscle and strength with fabulous workouts!

Want amazing workouts you can do anywhere?

–> Check Out Dynamic Strength