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In this two-part series I’m teaching you two simple strategies that can help you eat healthier without completely changing your diet. The second strategy I like to call “Sneaky Swaps.” This can be done a variety of different ways but the basic premise is that you swap one thing...

In this two-part series I’m going to be teaching you two simple strategies that can help you eat healthier without completely changing your diet. Healthful foods do amazing things in our bodies – like lowering cholesterol, blood pressure and cancer risk, to name a few. So,...

#1 – The Deadlift The very worst offender, #1 on my list, is a deadlift. A deadlift is a tricky exercise – many people do them completely wrong and this is usually because they’ve never really been taught how to do them right and/or they’re trying to lift too much weight....

#2 – Lunges & Squats The second worst mistake is allowing force to transfer through the knees during lunges and squats. The reason this is so high on my list is because your knees are so important to spare! Arthritis is the most common chronic disease in the United...

#3 – Deltoid Fly The third worst mistake occurs during a deltoid or “delt” fly which works the shoulder muscles. All too often I see people in the gym swinging the arms to bring the weights up, going beyond shoulder height. The idea is to lift the most weight, right? Wrong....

#4 – Bicep Curls Mistake #4 is actually two mistakes, both commonly occurring during bicep curls. When doing bicep curls I often see people “swinging” the weights up, using their hips to gain momentum. Another mistake is allowing the elbows to migrate backward, in other...

#5 – The Bench Press Mistake #5 is arching your back under bench presses. When this occurs you are making the exercise easier, hurting your spine, and likely not engaging the right muscles. While doing a bench press, or any weightlifting exercise for that matter, you should...

Weightlifting & Firefighting Firefighting requires a lot of strength and muscular endurance. So, for good reason, many firefighters lift weights to maintain their physical stamina to perform their jobs. But doing weightlifting exercises properly takes more knowledge than many...

Sleep is a serious issue for firefighters. Not only does the chronic sleep deprivation make you feel awful mentally and physically, it also shaves years off your life. So it’s essential that you get good sleep when you can, instead of struggling to fall asleep and/or tossing and...

We all know it can be challenging to eat healthy in the firehouse. Shift meals are notoriously high calorie and big in proportions — and there’s the challenge of trying to eat in between calls. When I talk about eating “healthy” there’s really two parts: 1) eating foods...