Years ago, my brother-in-law made a very true statement that has always stuck with me. He patted his belly bulge and said, “I have a washboard stomach—it just has a load of laundry in it.” Every time I think about that line, it makes me laugh. 🤣 Often when I mention working the core or engaging the stomach muscles in my classes, I get an eye roll. Some of my clients immediately picture an unattainable washboard stomach or imagine hours of painful crunches or they don't believe they have...

Professor Frank Booth,  Ph.D.,  of the biomedical sciences at the University of Missouri-Columbia, coined the term "Sedentary Death Syndrome" (SeDS) to dramatize the reality that "exercising is a matter of life and death."  He uses it to describe 33 chronic diseases that are directly affected by how much—or how little—we move. Thirty-three! Heart disease. Type 2 diabetes. Certain cancers. Osteoporosis. Depression. Dementia. And the baseline intervention? Move your body. Movement Is Medicine...

Today in class, I had the ladies try the Farmer’s Carry exercise. After class, while feeding chickens outside, I realized—this is why we train! If I’d had my phone and it wasn’t so cold, I would have snapped a picture. I walked uphill over ice and snow, carrying heavy buckets. I wasn’t working out. I was living. My body responded because I train for real-life demands. A Farmer’s Carry (sometimes called a Farmer’s Walk) is when you carry heavy weights—usually dumbbells or kettlebells—in both...