The Best 5 Minute Warm Up and 14 Other Running Tips

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The Best 5 Minute Warm Up and 14 Other Running Tips

If you follow me on Facebook or IG you know I caught the running bug this year. I finished my first half marathon in under two hours and managed to log 13-20 mile runs four weeks in a row without injury. This is a huge change for me. Before this year I’d never managed to get more than 5 miles without pain. I credit my improvement to working on my ankle mobility, having my gait analyzed and spending just five minutes prepping my body to run with this simple, effective warm up routine. Check it out along with 14 of my other best running tips.

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Four Advanced Moves for Building a Strong, Balanced Back

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Four Advanced Moves for Building a Strong, Balanced Back

Everyone loves a good chest workout, including yours truly, but you shouldn’t neglect your “posterior chain”. Ignoring back day can deteriorate your posture, lead to injuries and wreak havoc on your athletic performance. If your back program is in need of some inspiration, consider these programming tips and four advanced moves for adding functional strength and symmetry to your upper, mid and lower back. Oh, and they’ll help you look great in a tank top too.

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Roll Your Feet for Improved Mobility and Performance

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Roll Your Feet for Improved Mobility and Performance

Too many people overlook the all important foot when warming up for cardio or lifting. Dysfunction in the feet leads to pain, injury, poor performance up the chain and a bevy of other nasty stuff. Simply rolling your feet for ~90s/day stimulates proprioceptors that send important information to the brain, fixes many common form issues and keeps the fascia, intrinsic muscles and joints of the feet mobile and healthy.

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Q: Can You Really Hit Your Ideal Protein Goal? A: Yes! Here's How.

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Q: Can You Really Hit Your Ideal Protein Goal? A: Yes! Here's How.

Many of my nutrition and training clients find success in flexible dieting. If their goal is fat loss, the most important thing is to maintain a modest calorie deficit over time. But if maintaining or building lean muscle is also a goal, we have to make sure they are hitting their protein target. Sometimes this means aiming for ~175-200g protein in a day on a ~2,400kcal diet which can seem impossible at first. So here is a sample day for how that can be achieved that won't leave you starving and will likely leave you feeling full and satisfied. 

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Want to Grow Your Pecs? Try This Chest Workout.

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Want to Grow Your Pecs? Try This Chest Workout.

In this video Marcia Robles and I demonstrate six movements that use a variety of modalities (dumbbells, cables, barbells), angles and rep ranges to maximize muscle growth in the chest. If you're looking to grow your pecs, give this program a look.

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Tired of the treadmill? Sick of the Elliptical? Try Rowing.

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Tired of the treadmill? Sick of the Elliptical? Try Rowing.

Tired of the treadmill? Sick of the Elliptical? Try Rowing. If you haven’t gotten the memo yet, you need to be doing cardio. After cleaning up your diet and getting sufficient sleep it is one of the most important things you should be doing to stay healthy and fit. But I get it. You’re busy. So what form of cardio will give you the biggest bang for your buck? When done properly rowing is a metabolic, total body workout that strengthens a lot of areas the average desk-bound folks needs to work on. But without proper form you may find your lower back, hips and neck hurting. Check out rowing tips and videos from my latest Law.com Fit Counselor column. 

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30+ Playlists to Fuel Your Workouts

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30+ Playlists to Fuel Your Workouts

My Body Challenge students are always asking me for my playlists. So I've made them all public on my Spotify profile. There you'll find more than 30 Body Challenge playlists and I'll continue to add new ones each week. If you have a favorite song you'd like hear in class, please send it along! I love getting music ideas from my peeps.

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Ditch the Crap: Try These Healthy and Tasty Snacks

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Ditch the Crap: Try These Healthy and Tasty Snacks

When the mid-morning, mid-afternoon or late night munchies hit, be ready. Don't fall prey to office vending machines, desktop candy bowls or those left over cookies from a client meeting. Get your booty to Trader Joe's and make sure you have some of these healthier (and still super tasty) options on hand at work and home to tide you over. Presented here in somewhat random order. Enjoy!

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Busy Schedule? Just Add Water (and Veggies and Protein)

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Busy Schedule? Just Add Water (and Veggies and Protein)

Most of us don’t realize how poor our diets really are. And the hard truth is that even if you are finding time to exercise, you can’t exercise away a poor diet. Check out these clean eating tips from my latest Law.com Fit Counselor column. 

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Podcast: Is Your Law Firm Making You Flabby? Now Hear This.

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Podcast: Is Your Law Firm Making You Flabby? Now Hear This.

Carving out the time to stay fit is tough for lots of lawyers who spend long workdays sitting on their duffs. In this Legal Speak episode, we talk with Jonathan Jordan, a fitness trainer at Equinox in San Francisco and corporate wellness consultant. Jordan, also a Law.com columnist, works with a number of busy lawyers who want to combat the effects of their high-stress, but sedentary jobs. As he explains, even small changes in daily routines can make a difference. And when that happens, lawyers—and their firms—reap the benefits.

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What's in your gym bag?

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What's in your gym bag?

People generally hit the gym to look and feel better, whether it’s seeing gains while lifting weights, reaching a goal on the treadmill or even making a new friend after a class. But before you pop in your earbuds and work up a good sweat, you should consider what’s in your gym bag. Check out tips from me and other fitness pros in this article from Community Health Magazine. 

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Fast and Delicious Fish in a Pouch

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Fast and Delicious Fish in a Pouch

While "Fish in a Pouch" may not sound delicious, this quick, clean and tasty dish is one of my favorites. Taking less than 10 minutes to prep and 30 minutes to cook this all in one meal is perfect to make for one person or a big dinner party and requires almost no clean up. You can use any starches, veggies and fish you like including cod, halibut or salmon and you can also toss in shrimp or scallops.  

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JJFit/DEXAFIT 8 Week Body Comp Challenge

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JJFit/DEXAFIT 8 Week Body Comp Challenge

My good friend and fellow fitness professional @MichaelBonella is offering JJFit.com readers a great deal on DXA scans booked in July. As I've blogged about, the information these tests provide helps me build the most effective exercise and nutrition programs for my clients. Check out the details in this flyer and book your appointment with him via email at Michael.Bonella@dexafit.com. 

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Brides, Body Image and Building a Strong Fitness Foundation

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Brides, Body Image and Building a Strong Fitness Foundation

I recently started working with a young, successful and fierce bride-to-be who has infinitely impressed and charmed me. It's easy for clients to succumb to pressure (from themselves, the media, family, etc) to look "perfect" on the big day. Sometimes the quest for the ideal body can lead to negative self talk, unhealthy behaviors and mental and physical stress. What impresses me about Erica is her primary desire to BE healthy and happy. In this post she shares her journey and perspective with us on body image, building a strong fitness foundation and setting expectations.

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And the Category is... June Pride Playlists

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And the Category is... June Pride Playlists

It's June and that means Pride season in San Francisco. I'm super proud to be marching this year with the Equinox contingency and to get in the mood I put together this Spotify Pride Playlist we'll be rocking in my Body Challenge class this month. And my AMAZING student and pal Jake Eidson created this AMAZING Body Challenge Pride Playlist too. Best. Pride. Present. Ever. 

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What I Learned from a RUNANATOMY Assessment

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What I Learned from a RUNANATOMY Assessment

If you follow me on social media you've likely caught on that I'm running the SF Half Marathon in July with #teamunicorn. But I wanted to be smart about this. I realized there could be some dangers to running 20-30+ miles per week over many months. So before I really amped up my training, I worked with the awesome Dr. Justin Jellin, DPT, ART to have my running gate, muscle output and form professionally analyzed in a RUNATOMY assessment. I interviewed Dr. Jellin for JJ Fit 24/7 so you can learn more about RUNATOMY and decide whether you could benefit from a similar experience.

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