Posts in Performance
5 Reasons Ectomorphs Struggle To Build Muscle

One of the most common reasons athletes, Crossfitters and "skinny guys" come to see me in clinic is to add more lean muscle mass to their frame. They'll often complain that “no matter how much I eat, I just can’t gain any weight!” Naturally taller and leaner body types who find it easy to stay slim often struggle with adding more size. There are number of factors that can make it more difficult for you to add 10-15 lb. of additional muscle so you can raise your performance in the gym or on the playing field (or just look good naked).  

Let’s take a closer look at five common roadblocks that prevent you from gaining lean muscle.

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Can You Bank Sleep? (To Improve Future Performance)

Today, we just don’t enough sleep. Our modern high-tech society seems to be wreaking havoc on our sleep time (and quality), and ultimately health and performance. The average America adult gets only six and a half hours of sleep per night and alarmingly 33% of the population gets less than 6 hours of sleep per night. One of the most common question I get from clients to offset their sleep debt is “can I just sleep more on the weekends?” It’s an interesting question, but unfortunately the current research suggests no… you need to be consistent with your sleep to reap the health and performance benefits.

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HIIT Sprints in Midlife: The Minimum-Effective Dose

As you get older, it’s more difficult to maintain lean muscle mass. Muscle is not only a crucial factor in physical performance but also a key marker of healthy ageing.(1) After the age of 50 muscular power starts to decline, more rapidly than strength qualities, making it an important factor to focus on during training. Power isn’t just for dynamic sports efforts, your fast-twitch muscles are essential for “catching yourself” as you fall and hip fractures are significant risk factor in older populations. The good news is maintaining muscular power predicts a reduction in future falls, so not only is focusing on power qualities during exercise important for performance, but overall health as well.

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3 Ways Camping Can Reboot Your Circadian Rhythms

Sleep problems seem to be the “new normal” these days. Most of the clients I see in clinical practice complain of difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep regularly throughout the week. Sleep quality isn’t the only problem. The average person gets a mere 6.5 hours of sleep per night (a far cry from the 8 hours our grandparents slept two generations ago) and over 33% of the population get less than 6 hours per night. New research shows lack of sleep is also a major factor contributing to blood sugar, insulin imbalances and chronic disease (not to mention poor athletic performance), so rebooting your sleep and recovery are critical. It seems late nights watching iPads, working on your laptop, or scrolling social media is dramatically changing our modern sleep patterns.

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What Is The Minimum-Effective Dose For Hypertrophy?

When you’re young or have lots of time on your hands, it’s easy to carve out 5-10 hours a week to hit the gym. Getting all your lifts in when you train 5-6 days per week makes achieving your hypertrophy goals quite straight forward. However, as you get older or your time becomes more limited, or if you’re simply looking for the most efficient hypertrophy program possible, the real question is… “how little time can you spend in the gym and still maximize your gains?”

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Vitamin D & Endurance Sport Performance

Vitamin D has been gaining significant momentum recently in the research for its ability to influence over 1,000 different genes in the body and subsequently some important performance parameters. Failing to get sufficient vitamin D regularly can negatively impact many endurance parameters, including maximal aerobic capacity (VO2 max), susceptibility to colds and flu, inflammation, recovery, and stress fractures.

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