In any profession, I think it'sfair to say that only about 10% are truly great at their jobs. While it's probably pretty tough to spot them, you can usually tellpretty quickly which of your coworkers "get it" and which ones are merelypunching the clock.

The same is true in personal training and thefitness industry.  Yet, the mistakes that some of the not-so-greattrainers make are often remembered much more than the successes of others. For instance, most of my clients have worked with personal trainersbefore, and several of them have horror stories about how they were hurt froman improper exercise, or now have a convoluted notion about what it actuallytakes to "get in shape."

One question I tend to hear somewhat regularly is that if you're looking to lose weight, should you cut back on your fruit intake?

While you can probably guess my answer from the title above, it's important to clarify that this question is based on the notion that all sugar is handled by the body in the same way.  If that were true, wouldn't eating a strawberry be the same as a gummy bear?

This past Christmasbreak, I spent a ton of time watching my niece and nephew.  And besidesreveling in their infinite cuteness, trying to decipher their words, andavoiding diaper changes, I learned a lot about how they move.  I know, itmay sound odd, but there’s a heck of a lot we can learn from watching toddlersplay around. 

Before I move on, I urge you to keep an open mind. Also, let’s collectively take a second to put down all the dumbbells,kettlebells, and, for the love of all things holy, please swear to me thatyou’ll never again touch a bosu ball.

It's been an incredible last few weeks for both Lindsay and I, and we are both finally settling back into our normal routines.  I've been quiet on the blog recently, as during the past two weeks I've been squeezing in a full week of work into about 4 days.  Suffice to say, I napped on Sunday.  Hard.

Anyway, as I've grown busier I've also started receiving many more emails, several from clients that would like advice or want to reschedule.  Here's one such email I received a few weeks ago:

 "Hey Alex, my piriformis has really been bothering me for the past week.  I think the best thing to do is rest for a few weeks and come back when I'm ready." 

Sorry, try again. 

Today, I'm fighting a common thought that's prevailed in society: avoiding animal foods will automatically make you a healthier person.

We may all know some vegans, vegetarians, and others (pescetarians?) that are on a plant-based diet.  To clarify, I'm not doubting all the political and environmental reasons that some people choose to eat a more plant based diet, because as Bobby Brown once famously said, "that's their prerogative."  Instead, what I'm after is proving that the idea of solely cutting out animal products from your diet is not necessarily going to make you healthier in the long run.