The minimum effective dose: a 2-minute workout.

What is the minimum effective workout that delivers exercise benefits?

This is an important question; there can be hectic moments in life when you just can’t fit in the routine you originally committed to. Instead of doing nothing, I like to have a fallback for those times: the bare minimum effective dose.

So what is that minimum?…

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Beware of the performance trap.

We typically expect that as we get in better shape, our workouts will feel easier. We’ll feel stronger, we’ll get less winded, and we’ll be able to last longer. We’ve all experienced it, and that’s the way it works…right?

BUT, there’s a mistake–and a trap–in this thinking that I want to point out.

A quick personal story: when I was running track in college, I was a reasonable runner, but I had never been able to swim well.…

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Day 2: Think a little about your goals.

Are the things you want good goals? Will you feel motivated to work to achieve them? Will achieving them actually bring you more happiness and a better life? It’s especially important to think about what you want to be true about your life, and whether the goal you’re setting will actually move you closer to that.…

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Happy New Year!

It’s the first of the year, and I’m finding myself taking stock of where I am and what I want to improve. Perhaps you are, too. I thought I’d share some of my thoughts and maybe hear some of yours.

So I’m calling the first 12 days of January the “12 Days of Fitness,” and I’m planning to write a thought each day that will be brief and helpful.…

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I’ve been wanting to write about this topic for a while, so please let me know what you think.

I’ll start with two myths from an article I just read called 5 Biggest Gluten-free Myths…

“Myth: Gluten-free foods are healthy.” The truth is that foods labeled “gluten free” often contain more sugar and carbohydrate than their gluten-containing counterparts.

“Myth: A gluten-free diet will help you lose weight.…

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Seth is now 9 months old. And I have video of his first foray into fitness coaching…below!

But I also have an insight that came up this week…

I lowered a client’s usual weights by 1/3. She commented right away how light the weights felt. But soon she was working every bit as hard as usual. Afterward, she commented in amazement that it felt just as challenging as always…it just took a bit longer to get there.…

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Today’s LA Marathon has inspired me to explain something that confuses many people I’ve spoken to.

Today’s winner spent over 2 hours laboring to cross the finish line…running 26 miles at a pace of under 5 minutes per mile. It’s an amazing feat.

Also, many not-close-to-world-class-athlete people made it a personal life challenge to complete the marathon. I love stories of people striving to achieve difficult goals…and achieving them.…

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An article in yesterday’s Sunday NYT features a study that dispels the common assumption that doing more activity helps us lose weight.

The common assumption is that people in modern societies are overweight largely because we move around less than people in generations past–and definitely less than in the hunter-gatherer societies from which we evolved.

Researchers tested this assumption by studying actual hunter-gatherers in Northern Tanzania.…

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