I spend a lot of time on this blog preaching about my favorite exercises.  They're usually the exercises I love because they're safe, but also because they tend to give you the most bang for your buck.

Today, I'm flipping the script.

Instead of telling you which exercises you should do, I'm going to tell you which exercises you need to avoid at all costs.  Why?  Because it's all about keeping you on the path to getting stronger, and the five exercises below can actually be quite dangerous to your health.

So what are they?  Well, let's start with a favorite of elementary gym teachers of the 1990's:

My favorite author of all-time is legendary strength coach Dan John.  Now, for those that are not in the strength and conditioning world, it's important to point out that he's much more than two first names.  Besides being a Fullbright Scholar and a professor, Dan John is famous for being able simplify complex subjects to the point where a five year old could understand it. Suffice to say, anytime I read his work, I become a better coach, trainer, and person.​

Currently, I'm reading his newest book, Intervention, and he has a great quote about the value of building overall strength:​

"Absolute strength is the glass.  Everything else is the liquid inside the glass.  The bigger the glass, the more of everything else you can do."​

Onepiece of diet advice that I always seem to be giving out is pretty simple: eatmore protein.​

This past week, one of my clients asked me whythey needed to eat more protein if they weren't focused on buildingmuscle/taking the "swoletastic voyage."  While I explained thathigher protein diets have a ton of other benefits, I realized I had always takenthese facts for granted.

The best way to explain why almost all Americansneed more protein, is to look at the benefits we all receive from"upping" our protein intake.  So, other than trying to"look good nekkid," why else do we eat protein?​

Well, the past few weeks have been an absolute whirlwind.  Besides this past weekend being the 4th of July, I've been jam packed at the gym during a normally slow-ish time.  Oh, AND Lindsay and I moved from Brighton to Somerville on July 1st.  

Suffice to say, it's all been a bit nuts. 

It may come as no surprise that during this hectic time, I've heeded the advice of legendary strength coach Dan John:  When it comes to diet and workouts, is it time to be tough?  Or, just reasonable?

Well, I've been on radio silence for a full week, but it's time to get back to business.  My head is still spinning from all the events that took place in Boston, especially Friday's day long manhunt (my girlfriend, Lindsay, heard the explosions in Watertown from our apartment....true story.)​

​In my efforts to get back to some sense of normalcy, I've been working as much as I possibly can and focusing on the fact that summer (yes, that season filled with warm days) is right around the corner.  Thus, as everyone is now thinking about how they look in their swimsuits, I've been talking to many of my clients about their diets.  After several conversations, I've noticed a trend. In trying to eat "healthy" many people forget one of the key components of a successful diet: how do you look?

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