Straight Shot Radio

I've said before that the "no days off/you won't outwork me" mentality is hurting a lot of athletes, but I've noticed a concerning trend in the opposite direction recently. "Self care" posts are everywhere encouraging people to relax on their diets, training programs, sleep schedule, and overall effort level in their fitness regime. Here's the problem...self care includes being uncomfortable somet...

"Toning Up" is a very common fitness goal, but my clients are always surprised when I tell them what they need to do to achieve their expressed result. In this episode I quickly break down the two possible methods you'll need to choose from in order to "tone up."

Many gyms around the country are opening back up, but is it worth it for you personally to go back? In this episode, I go over the pros and cons of your return to the gym and give my honest opinion on the responsibility of the both the fitness professional and gym goer amid the current pandemic.  

I know you didn't ask for a 3 month sabbatical from the gym, but consider this...you probably needed it.  Rest and recovery is the most undervalued portion of your training and hopefully you've seen over the past few months how restorative rest can be for you.  With gyms opening back up all over the country, I wanted to use this episode to highlight the benefits of rest and recovery and teach you...

How has it been working towards your gym goals while at home? If you feel like you've been spinning your wheels just trying to hold on to your fitness level while doing what you can at your house, you need to listen to this episode! I explain how you can not only maintain what you've worked for in the gym, but how to actually INCREASE your fitness level and work towards your goals while continuing...

Whether you are still working with your personal trainer virtually, following an online program, for making up your own workouts, one thing is true...you can't NOT have a program! Winging isn't just ineffective, it could get you hurt if you aren't careful. In this episode I go through some different scenarios of how to keep up with whatever your program was or is now until we get back into the gym...

Struggling to find the motivation to work out? Don't worry, you're in the same boat as a LOT of people missing their gym, workout partners, routines, and coaches. However just because it's typical to not feel super motivated to workout at home, that doesn't mean you shouldn't work on fixing it. In this episode I offer some strategies to help you find both internal and external motivators to help y...

Are you snacking all day? Not knowing what to eat for your meals? Struggling to avoid all of the quarantine snacks in your house? You are not alone. I put together my top four most frequently noticed issues people are having with food while at home and offer my possible solutions to each in this episode.

Let's be honest...it's not likely that gyms will be open soon, so we need a plan to transition to home workouts. Arguing, lamenting, and complaining aren't going to do anything. We need to get tactical. Over the next 6 episodes I am going to guide you through how to maintain what you've worked for in the gym and how to actually continue to get fitter at home. In this first episode of the series, w...

In the age of "fitsporational" posts I see a lot of "what's your excuse?" captions and taglines. While the poster's intentions are probably good, the phrase most likely doesn't have the effect they want it to. In this episode I go through the 3 categories of excuses (and each one's validity), and how we need to take a more practical, grounded approach to gym motivation.

Recovery is the difference between you spinning your wheels and making progress in the gym. A lot of people think about the amount of recovery they need during the week between workout sessions, but not enough value is placed in taking entire recovery WEEKS (aka deload weeks) throughout the year. Once I can convince someone that they need to deload in the first place, they typically make one of th...

Whether it was studying clinical nutrition as part of my degree, spending over a decade training people of all fitness backgrounds, testing out various diets myself, or constantly reading studies and observing empirical evidence, I've come to the following conclusion: most diets have redeeming qualities. So take the good parts from each (ex. eating mostly whole foods with plenty of produce), and d...

This is something that has bugged me forever: People lifting with their shoes untied. I know it's a bit of an odd rant, but when you hear the story I share about a lifter I once questioned about his untied shoes, you'll hopefully see why it's problematic...And why it goes way beyond your shoes being untied.

When it comes to health and fitness, it's no big secret that you get better results when you take it seriously. But in order to receive a favorable return on investment, the investment (mentally, physically, and financially) often needs to be big enough for you want to actually commit to it. As someone who wants to help as many people as I can, I have often struggled with the transactional side of...

Work capacity is the total amount of work you can perform, recover from, and adapt positively to. Over the next six weeks, the Straight Shot athletes will be working on increasing their work capacity through a variety of different training methods. In this episode, I go over how my approach to increasing work capacity is different than other approaches, and how this style of training can increase...

Is social media helping or hurting people get fitter? It's become popular for coaches in my industry to blame social media for the spread of misinformation, but is this REALLY anything new? In this episode, I share my thoughts on the current state of reason and truth in the fitness space in the age of social media.

I know, it's a weird request, but listen to this episode of the podcast and you'll hear why a different approach to caloric management may be more effective for you than the trendy studios and fitness gadget companies would like you to think. This method will also help you address all of the other things you should be working on in the gym besides just losing weight (if that's your goal).

Are you training? Or just exercising? Learn the difference in this episode and how training with structure and purpose can keep you from burnout in the gym and actually get you on your way to where you want to be.

You've heard it all before: "running sucks" "cardio is Hardio" "cardio will kill your gains"... but how universally important is cardiorespiratory conditioning for athletes of all types? In this episode, I get into how even just a little cardio will make you a better lifter and how it can improve your recovery to increase your total fitness. 

Here are two scary stories about the times that I missed landing backflips due to not committing to the movement. The concept of doing a backflip probably isn't relevant to you, but I tie it into how the fear of commitment is making your lifts worse (and more dangerous), and how this lesson that I teach in the gym can be applied to your life outside of it.

I've competed as a runner, a Crossfitter, and a Strongman and have noticed a dangerous glorification of pain and acceptance of injuries as "just part of training" for those sports. I lay out in this episode my counter to this trend in hopes that you can feel awesome while still performing well over the course of your life.

My thoughts on a common question and how to get a better answer when asking about how someone got to where they are with their fitness. 

The podcast is back with a new format! In this episode, I discuss why I support New Year's resolutions about health and fitness despite them getting a bad rep. 

What's the difference between a personal trainer, an online personal trainer, and an online training program? You'll find out in this episode along with an inside look at what goes into making programs for clients I never see in person. 

Audrey Hayn is a personal trainer and college student who’s on a quest to help her fellow students get fit and live healthier lives. Between the unhealthy connotations that come along with college life, and the myriad of misinformation out there on social media, there is a definite need for students like Audrey. In this episode we get into her journey to becoming a trainer, how she stays healthy a...