Yesterday I gave you an overview of my thoughts on diet. Today I am going into more detail about what I eat and what I try to avoid. Plus I've included another of my favorite smoothie recipes! Here is my list of "Al Approved Foods," broken down into three categories: Group 1 - Have as much as you want! Water Veggies Roots Seeds Nuts and Nut Butters Group 2 - Eat, but show some… Continue reading

Rants and Raves

Diet and exercise are probably the two biggest factors in determining your overall wellness. Just like my workout regimen, I aim to keep my diet simple and stick to the fundamentals. To paraphrase from Michael Pollan's book In Defense of Food, my dietary advice is this: eat real food, not processed crap. A simple concept, but one that can be surprisingly difficult to implement in our… Continue reading

Rants and Raves

When I met Betsy last October, it had been a while since she had last worked out. As a former varsity tennis player, however, she was able to jump back in quickly, immediately becoming one of my most committed and consistent clients. During the months that we trained together, Betsy made significant progress in her strength, endurance and agility. When she left NYC for California in… Continue reading

Body Weight Exercises, Client Spotlight

I am a big proponent of working out on the road and my recent visit to San Francisco gave me a great opportunity to practice my parkour moves in a new setting. There's nothing like a new city to help invigorate your workout! San Francisco is a beautiful place with lots of parks and other places to practice vaulting, rail walking and the human

Body Weight Exercises, Inspirational

The urge to climb is one of our most primitive instincts and it need not be ignored. Tapping into your inner Tarzan can also be a great workout! I recently got to go caveman at NYC's famous Central Park for my first all-tree-climbing workout. It proved to be more challenging than I expected - but it was a lot of fun! Not all trees are created equal… Continue reading

Body Weight Exercises

The pull-up is my all time favorite exercise. It's simple, effective and can be varied in an endless amount of ways. Pull-ups work the entire upper body, particularly the lats and other back muscles. The Basics The standard pull-up is performed while hanging from an overhead bar with your hands a bit wider than your shoulders and your palms facing away from you. Keeping your whole body tight… Continue reading

Body Weight Exercises, Pull-ups!

The L-sit is a classic isometric exercise that works your entire body, emphasizing the abdominal muscles. In order to perform an L-sit, you'll need a strong core, strong arms and better than average flexibility in your hamstrings. I recommend learning the L-sit by practicing on parallel bars or push-up bars (although you can practice this move with no equipment). If you have bars, begin by holding yourself upright, like… Continue reading

Body Weight Exercises

I got an email recently from a runner (let's call him Jim) who had just started wearing a heart rate monitor during his training. Jim was concerned because at 56 years of age, his maximal heart rate was "supposed to be" 164 beats per minute (bpm), yet during his threshold run he managed to get his heart rate all the way up to 172 bpm. Was Jim… Continue reading

Rants and Raves, Running

On Wednesday I celebrated the release of my debut fitness book, We're Working Out: A Zen Approach to Everyday Fitness, by signing copies at Nimble Fitness in NYC. The party was a smash success thanks to the support of my friends (both old and new!), family, and clients who came out to celebrate with me and get their books signed. Everyone in attendance had a… Continue reading

Rants and Raves

I know what you might be thinking, "Advanced muscle-ups? Aren't muscle-ups already an advanced exercise?" Yes, the muscle-up is a fairly advanced exercise by itself, but with practice, muscle-ups will eventually become manageable. That's when it's time to raise the bar! Plyo Muscle-ups If you know about plyometrics, it's easy to figure out what a plyo muscle-up might look like. To do this move, keep pushing… Continue reading

Body Weight Exercises, Pull-ups!