What Happens to Your Body When You Give Up Alcohol?

What Happens to Your Body When You Give Up Alcohol?

I work with loads of successful, social and often high-stressed professionals who enjoy the occasional (or more than occasional) glass (or two or three or four) of wine (or cocktails) at the end of the day and especially at work events. Sometimes they want to talk about it. Sometimes they don’t. But usually at some point (typically during a plateau) I end up being asked what a reasonable alcohol intake looks like for their fitness and health goals. I don’t tell people what to do. I provide them information and tools and serve as a resource to hold them accountable to what they decide.

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JJFit Video Tutorial: How to Perform a Kettlebell or Dumbbell Swing

JJFit Video Tutorial: How to Perform a Kettlebell or Dumbbell Swing

I love me a good kettlebell swing. It’s a staple for many of my clients and on-demand classes. Swings are great for building total body strength and really hitting those glutes and hamstrings. But it’s a move you definitely need to know what you’re doing to execute safely. Here’s a quick lesson if you need some tips for getting the most out of your swing and protecting your lower back! Don’t have a kettle bell? No worries, a basic dumbbell works great too!

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Rocking and Rolling Is Serious Business

Rocking and Rolling Is Serious Business

In theory, I love this recent NYT article about “adopting a playful attitude toward working out”. It’s a lovely story about an awkward kid who grew up to be a trainer who helps his clients “get silly” in their workouts (piggyback rides, tag, skipping). The premise is so important. Working out doesn’t have to be awful. It can be fun. And the benefits of returning to more “primal” (or what I’d call “functional”) movement patterns are indisputable. So what’s the catch? 

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Should You Exercise When Sick?

Should You Exercise When Sick?

It’s that time of year. Everyone around you is getting sick. Again. Those who were once your family, friends and colleagues are now the enemy. They’ve become evil germ zombies from The Last of Us come to destroy your gains and screw up your perfect rhythm of work and life. Like death and taxes, it happens to us all and despite your best efforts, you may get sick at some point. I am frequently asked whether working out will help or hurt when under the weather. So I’m sharing my go-to references for deciding.

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JJFit in the News: Essential Workouts for Men

JJFit in the News: Essential Workouts for Men

routine for optimal health and fitness. Check out the list here and to learn why I picked resistance training (especially pulling movements) click here. Note, this article is focused on men but the recommendations hold true for most humans regardless of gender.

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Five of My Favorite Fitness Trackers for Optimizing Health, Performance and Diet

Five of My Favorite Fitness Trackers for Optimizing Health, Performance and Diet

There are SO MANY trackers on the market. And the landscape changes all the time. The ones discussed in this post are the ones I have personally used at various stages of my fitness journey and have seen work for many of my clients. If you have something that is already working for you, GREAT! Don’t fix what ain’t broke. But if you are looking for something to aid you along in your wellness journey maybe one or some of these can help.

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15 Goal Ideas to Inspire More Movement and Joy

15 Goal Ideas to Inspire More Movement and Joy

Traditionally a lot of people jump into the holidays with two feet (see what I did there?!) and the best of intentions for crushing big fitness and wellness goals starting in the new year. Trainers like me used to see spikes in new gym memberships and requests for strict meal plans (instead of spikes in Coronavirus variants and virtual training sessions). If you are struggling with motivation and finding a goal that resonates with you, here are 15 some of my peeps are going for in the coming months that will influence their weekly fitness routines.

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Dr. Mark and JJ Discuss and Demo the Latest Uses for BFR Training

Dr. Mark and JJ Discuss and Demo the Latest Uses for BFR Training

I’ve written about BFR (“Blood Flow Restriction”) or “Occlusion” Training on and off since 2017. This modality of resistance training has been clinically proven as a way to effectively and safely “hypertrophy” muscle. So when I was recently visiting my AMAZING physical therapist Dr. Mark Bautista, I was surprised to see patients being treated with BFR cuffs. I asked Dr. Mark about it and I learned about the deluge of recent clinical studies that have broadened the usage of BFR to include injury-specific rehab/prehab, sports performance, endurance, strength as well as traditional hypertrophy.

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Couch Talk with Morgan and JJ: Foot Love

Couch Talk with Morgan and JJ: Foot Love

Your amazing foot is filled with 26 bones, 30 joints and loads and loads of mechanoreceptors which provide critical information to the brain to help it make all sorts of decisions. Unfortunately, our feet can easily get stiff and immobile by stuffing them in ill-fitting shoes, walking around on weird surfaces or just not using them enough. So in this month’s Couch Talk we get up off the couch and show you some yummy and effective foot mobility and strengthening drills to give your feet (and your brain) some love!

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Schedule Your JJFit RunFit Assessment Before Training for Your Next Event

Schedule Your JJFit RunFit Assessment Before Training for Your Next Event

Whether you’re a veteran runner with several events under your belt or you’re considering your first 10k, half marathon or full marathon a comprehensive gate and mobility assessment might be a wise investment. I’ve prepared and trained dozens of clients for a variety of events from their first 5k to a Spartan and even an Iron Man and ultra marathon. If you’d like to improve your performance, manage existing injuries, reduce pain and prevent future injuries a run assessment can help.

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Looking for a Killer Shoulder Program?

Looking for a Killer Shoulder Program?

I've been working a lot this year, thanks to the incomparable Marcia Robles, on shoulders. Shoulders are like the Regina George of joints: they're fabulous but they're evil. Meaning they are (or should be) one of our most mobile joints, but due to modern living and desk culture many folks suffer from lack of proper shoulder mobility/stability, impingement and other dysfunctions which make it hard or impossible to strength train. But with the proper warm up and mobility drills, and the clearance of your physical therapist if you have one, this program is a great one for getting those striations popping and to stimulate hypertrophy (muscle growth).

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JJFit Challenge May 2022 for Planned Parenthood

JJFit Challenge May 2022 for Planned Parenthood

A huge thank you to my JJFit On-Demand subscribers who have continued to stream my recorded workouts over the past few months since we retired my live weekly Zoom class. I was in such a grumpy mood today and decided to get off my duff and do this class and I'm so happy that I did! Any donations to this class or any class from my library in the month of May will be given 100% to Planned Parenthood.

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Try This Killer Bicep Bootcamp to Make Those Gunz Grow

Try This Killer Bicep Bootcamp to Make Those Gunz Grow

Looking to get a great bicep pump and stimulate hypertrophy (muscle growth) of your gunz? My good friend Marcia Robles, the Maestro of Arm Programming, created this kick ass series of bicep exercises pre-pandemic and I’m bringing it back to my own routine to prep for tank top season (well, it’s always tank top season n my world, but you know what I mean)l

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The Best Way to Get Great at Pull Ups

The Best Way to Get Great at Pull Ups

I was trying to come up with a clever Brittney Spears inspired headline like “Wanna strong pull up body? Better jump, b*tch!” but I’ll keep this professional (ish). Here’s the bottom line, if you want to safely and effectively build upper body strength to do solid bodyweight pull ups, try these “jumping” or “eccentric” pull ups where you start from the top and slowly lower yourself down. Note, if you’ve never done these before you will likely be very sore the next day.

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"What’s It Like Working Virtually with JJ?"

"What’s It Like Working Virtually with JJ?"

This is why I do what I do. I'm super proud of my virtual training clients like Dan, Chris, Alycia, Kimberly and Michael. Together we've overcome a lot of challenges to develop customized effective, safe and challenging wellness programs that evolve based on their needs and includes 1/1 virtual personal training, virtual group fitness and nutrition coaching. Seeing my clients thrive all over the country gets me jumping out of bed each morning. Well... that and coffee.

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Bay Area FitFam "Gather" for a Virtual 10k March 14

Bay Area FitFam "Gather" for a Virtual 10k March 14

I've really missed training for and experiencing races during the pandemic. And some of my clients and friends have expressed similar feelings. So we're banding together in true 2021 form and planning a VIRTUAL 10K on Sunday, March 14 (eight weeks away in case you want to do a formal eight week training program). Will provide more info as we get closer but for now, comment on the IG thread if you want in and you’ll be included on the list!

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JJFit in the News: POPSUGAR: 9 Dumbbell Moves to Get Chiseled

JJFit in the News: POPSUGAR: 9 Dumbbell Moves to Get Chiseled

When the editors of POPSUGAR asked me to pick my favorite dumbbell exercise “to get chiseled muscles” I didn’t hesitate. The goblet squat is my go-to and while it’s considered a “legs” exercise it’s really a total body strength move. Learn more about how to goblet squat with perfect form and 8 other dumbbell exercises by watching the slideshow.

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In the News: Understanding Weight Loss vs. Fat Loss

In the News: Understanding Weight Loss vs. Fat Loss

If you’re looking to trim down, figuring out the secret sauce for saving muscle while losing fat can feel pretty overwhelming. For the best science-based, medically reviewed advice from me and other leading experts give this Greatist article a look and let me know if you have any questions.

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In the News: How to Build a Strong Back & Arms in the Gym or at Home

In the News: How to Build a Strong Back & Arms in the Gym or at Home

Check out my latest NewsUpNow.org segment for my five go-to moves for building a strong back and arms. Whether you want to improve your posture or build/tone your muscles these moves are the foundations.. All you need are two dumbbells and a resistance band to get started.

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