Tag: health

“Can I get rid of my man boobs quickly and naturally?”

Awkward phrase? Sure.

But that’s not gonna get us to shy away from the topic here on Nerd Fitness.

We work on solutions to questions just like this with our Online Coaching Clients: awkward questions and challenging situations that are tough to talk about, but can be helped!

This is what we do, and we’re really good at it.

Today, let’s tackle the “moobs” situation head-on by covering all of the following in this MASSIVE guide:

• What are “man boobs?” (Gynecomastia vs Pseudogynecomastia)
• Can you get rid of “man boobs”?
• Can exercises target chest fat?
• The best workouts for reducing “man boobs” (Strength Training 101).
• The science of fat loss (Proper nutrition and “moobs”).
• What should I be eating to lose “moobs”?
• Does soy cause “man boobs?”
• Do I actually have gynecomastia?
• Can I boost my testosterone naturally to reduce gynecomastia?
• How to start reducing “man boobs” (Step-by-step action plan).

Okie dokie, let’s jump in!

What are “Man Boobs”?

Let’s chat about some medical definitions, because it’ll help us put “man boobs” in some proper context.

• Gynecomastia is defined as the benign growth of the male breast glandular tissue. The National Institute of Health states it’s usually caused by “increased estrogen activity, decreased testosterone activity, or the use of numerous medications.”^[1]
• Pseudogynecomastia is when male breasts are enlarged by fat deposits, due to an increase in body fat which distributes itself on one’s body according to genetics.

Most men who struggle with “man boobs” or “moobs” are in this second category, and the “pseudo” means they don’t really have the condition “gynecomastia.”

There is no hormonal imbalance.

Instead, the body is just storing extra fat in the chest area.

I’ll mostly be talking about shedding body fat and building muscle to lose “moobs,” but I will also talk about gynecomastia and medical conditions later.

Next up!

Can You Get Rid of Man Boobs?

Why do some men store fat in their chest?

We all process and store calories differently in our bodies.

And how our body stores excess calories is a critical concept for our discussion on “man boobs.”  

If you eat more calories than you burn, day after day, month after month, year after year, your body has to do something with all that extra energy.

If we’re sedentary, more often than not, the body will choose to store that energy as fat to be used for later.

Depending on our genetics, our body might choose to store that fat in our butt, gut, thighs, or chest.

Probably a combination of all those things.

And for some of us, a large portion of that body fat deposits itself in our chest area.

And thus, man boobs.

So, in order to start reversing the process, we need to have a two-pronged approach to tackling the “moobs” problem naturally and safely:

Exercise and nutrition.

Specifically, strength training and calorie restriction.

If you are somebody that wants EXACT instruction and a nutritional plan that is designed to help you reduce your man boobs, check out Nerd Fitness Coaching. We’ve helped people just like you do this the right way.

Can Exercises Target Chest Fat?

Fat and muscle are two different ‘systems’ in our body.

Fat sits on top of the muscle, like oil on water.

When we target a specific area for weight loss, like with a Thighmaster, all we’re really doing is exercising the muscle underneath the fat on our thighs.

And don’t get me wrong – this is GREAT (the muscle, not the Thighmaster).

More muscle is a good thing.

And yup, any exercise will result in calories burned – which is crucial when it comes to fat loss.

However, we need to think of the other systems as well:

The fat resting on top.

So, the path to get rid of “man boobs” centers on three points:

1. Eating a caloric deficit (consuming fewer calories than you burn) so that our body has to break down our fat stores (including the fat stored in our chest) for energy. You can calculate how many calories you should eat to start.
2. Strength train so more calories are diverted to rebuilding our muscle mass rather than getting stored as fat.
3. Strength train (again) to build up the muscle under the fat. Muscular pecs with a low body fat percentage look dramatically different than man boobs.

Here’s why: strength training preserves the muscles we have (and can help build pectoral muscles).

Our body also has to rebuild the muscle that breaks down while we exercise, so it uses any extra calories we have to do that rather than storing it as fat!

Think of it kind of like the Sorting Hat from Harry Potter (come on, this is Nerd Fitness after all).

When we strength train, our body will act like The Sorting Hat and divert calories coming into House “Rebuild Muscle” and away from House “Store As Fat.” 

It’s a message we really strike home in our video for Body Recomposition:

For more, check out our guide on “Losing Fat and Gaining Muscle At the Same Time.”

With a strategy of slight caloric restriction combined with enough protein and heavy strength training, we’re decreasing the body fat on top of our muscle, while also building up that same muscle underneath.

This results in tighter skin, with less padding (fat), stretched over firmer muscles.

And boom – confidence-boosting pecs that would make King Leonidas proud!

Said another way, we’ll be coming at “man boobs” from the outside and inside.

The Best Workouts for Reducing “Man Boobs”: strength Training

If we’re currently sedentary, the best form of exercise to help build a confidence-boosting physique would be strength training.

In our opinion, strength is a foundational component of overall health.

We’ll get started in three areas:

1. Build up oour pectoral muscles (chest muscles under your “man boobs.”)
2. Same with broadening our shoulders.
3. We can also improve our posture to make sure we stand tall and proud, puffing our chest out and pulling our shoulder blades back.

In order to accomplish each of these goals, we’re gonna focus on building up strength in our PUSH muscles and our PULL muscles. 

Our first stop will be push-ups, a foundational exercise for developing upper body strength.

We show the correct way to do one right here:

I don’t care if you need to do them from your knees or doing an elevated push-up:

KNEE PUSH-UP

ELEVATED PUSH-UP

We all start somewhere, and the name of the game is progressive overload – getting stronger with each workout!

In addition to the push-up, let’s consider the following as the best 5 Advanced Chest Exercises.

These are the types of exercises we build into the workout programs for our Coaching Clients looking to reduce chest fat and build up muscle in that area:

#1) Bench press (barbell or dumbbell).

If one piece of equipment is visually associated with a fitness gym, it would be a bench press. If you’ve never used one before, check out our guide on using a bench press safely right here.

#2) Incline bench press.

We can also work on an incline bench press to develop a more rounded-pectoral muscle that targets your upper chest.

#3) Overhead presses.

Not only can our pectoral muscles help push forward, they also get worked out when we do an overhead press (though much less so than the bench press variations.)

Varying chest exercises is a good way to help attack all different sides and parts of our chest and build well-rounded pectorals.

Here’s a dumbbell variation if you can’t train with a barbell yet:

#4) Bodyweight Dips (ADVANCED)

Once we start to develop some serious strength, we can start to level up your advanced bodyweight training with bodyweight dips! 

#5) Dumbbell Chest Fly (ADVANCED)

The dumbbell fly is another great exercise that targets the chest.  This is one you want to make sure you do with good form. Lie on a bench like you are about to do a dumbbell bench press (but you’ll want to use MUCH lighter weights to start.) Keep your elbows slightly bent and your chest puffed up. Reach to the sides until you feel a great stretch RIGHT in the chest muscle, and then come back to the starting position.

As we cover in our “how to build your own workout” guide, make sure to do a push exercise in every workout to start building up pectoral muscles. 

Again, start with push-ups.

Start doing them today.

Again, if you can’t do a regular push-up, a knee push-up is totally fine.

Just do them.

After you get cozy with push-ups, move onto the above advanced moves or follow some of the following workouts:

• Beginner Bodyweight Workout
• Beginner Strength Training Workouts
• Beginner Gym Workouts – 6 Levels

I asked the male members of the Nerd Fitness Rebellion about man boobs, and many have reported improving their appearance with these pectoral exercises.

Outside of improving man boobs, strength training will make every other aspect of your life better.

Bringing groceries in from the car, doing that thing that consenting adults do, and defending yourself against ninjas will all be much easier after strength training.

Now, I’d be remiss if I didn’t include two other exercises that can change your life:

#1) Barbell Squats 

#2) Barbell Deadlifts

These two basic barbell movements are the most ‘efficient’ exercises at building strength and burning fat.

They recruit your central nervous system and every muscle, joint, tendon, and bone in our body to get stronger.

In fact, if you could only do 4 exercises for the rest of your life, I would say:

1. Squats
2. Deadlifts
3. Push-ups
4. Pull-ups

Show me somebody who is super strong at those four movements, and I’ll show you somebody who has a great physique.

Seriously, don’t neglect those PULL muscles!

This exercise might seem counterintuitive: why work on your back muscles if we’re trying to build up the muscle in our pecs?

Balance and posture.

By building strength in our PULL muscles, we strengthen and tighten our back muscles. This will naturally cause us to pull our shoulder blades back and down into proper position, and give us a better posture. 

If we ONLY do chest exercises, we’re more likely to get out of balance, which leads to contracted chest muscles, hunched shoulders, and poor posture. 

Here are some options for building up our back muscles and improving our posture:

#1) Dumbbell Rows 

#2) Bodyweight Rows

#3) Pull-ups (here’s how to do proper pull-ups)

And if you can’t do a pull-up yet, here’s a great pull-up progression that will show you how to do assisted pull-ups to build up strength, like so:

Too long didn’t read: get strong, and your life will get better.

Build muscle in the right places, and it can help you reduce “man boob” problems.

Now, if you’re all:

“Steve this sounds awesome. I want to strength train, but damn man. I’m already self-conscious enough about my man boobs.

How the hell do I get enough confidence to go into a gym when I don’t know what I’m doing!”

Great question.

If you want expert guidance, form checks, and a custom build workout (and nutritional guidance) to help you transform your physique, we have a private, 1-on-1 coaching program that spurs nerds into action.

Also, you don’t even NEED a gym to train (it might sketchy thanks to the pandemic). Here’s exactly how to start working out from home. 

Okay, we talked about exercise.

And I mentioned “nutrition” as a MAJOR component when it comes to weight and fat loss.

80-90% of “how to get rid of man boobs” will rest on how we answer the question: “What do I normally eat?”

The science of fat loss (Proper nutrition and “moobs”)

TOUGH LOVE ALERT:

I can almost guarantee that your man boobs are NOT a result of a slow metabolism or genetics (outside of how your body stores excess body fat).

It’s due to the fact that you have been consistently overeating, day in, and day out, for years. 

Once you’re done being mad at me and defensive about this, you’ll realize this is great news!

Why? Because it’s fixable.

You are not broken.

You simply need to change how you deal with food.

To do that, we’re going to focus on sustainable changes.

After all, temporary changes create temporary results.

And we want to get rid of man boobs permanently.

So, in order for us to lose body fat, we need to expend more calories than our body consumes, consistently.

Let’s put some numbers to this: 3,500 calories equals roughly one pound of fat.

So if we do the math here:

• There are seven days in a week.
• If we want to lose one pound of body fat in a week (a worthy, sustainable goal for some), we need to create a caloric deficit of 500 calories a day.
• We can do this by consuming 500 fewer calories, burning 500 more calories, or a combination of the two.

Remember this: a daily 500-calorie deficit compared to how we normally eat to lose a pound a week.

(Note: in our coaching program, we’ve found clients have the most success targeting 0.5%-0.75% of their body weight per week as a fat loss goal. This is fast enough to see consistent results and stay motivated, while not SO restrictive that it’s completely unsustainable.)

What does 500 calories look like?

Here are two examples:

• The number of calories found in a Big Gulp of Mountain Dew.
• An estimate of the calories required to run five miles.

Hopefully, those two dots above made your head explode.

“Steve, you’re saying that in order for me to counteract just sipping on a Mountain Dew while owning noobs in Fortnite, I’d need to run 5 miles?

I haven’t run a mile since gym class. And that was 15 years ago.”

Yup.

Nutrition is 90% of the equation when it comes to weight loss.

NINETY. PERCENT.

Okay, I don’t actually know the exact percentage, but 90% is dramatic enough.

I hope to get you to realize that changing your nutrition is the most important thing you can do to reduce “man boobs.”

Sure, exercise is important.

However, when it comes to creating a caloric deficit, it’s much easier to decrease calories consumed vs. increase “calories burned.”

Put a different way: would you rather pour out that Mountain Dew, or run five miles?

Let’s tie together our discussion on “man boobs” with our philosophy on fitness: we’re eating too much, and our body is choosing to store these calories wherever it sees fit.

Unfortunately in this situation, it’s choosing to store them in our chest area.

We can’t change the past.

But we can change your future…and you won’t even need a wacky scientist.

This is why we’re gonna reverse the trend: eat a caloric deficit, consistently, until we reach our goal. Then learn how to eat AT our caloric needs to sustain it for the long run.

Over time, our body will respond by burning fat from certain areas, in a certain order (again, this is out of our control).

As our body fat percentage drops far enough, it should start to remove the body fat from your pectoral area.

We have two paths forward.

PATH ONE: Count calories. If you’ve never done this before and are interested in trying, we recommend recording every meal and morsel for 3-5 days to start. (We can use a food journal, a calorie-counting app like MyFitnessPal, etc.

It’ll teach you a lot about the food you eat, and yourself. From there, calorie counting can be a viable strategy for SOME to continue to monitor and dial in their caloric intake. For about 25% of our coaching clients, this is the process that works for them.

As for how many calories we SHOULD eat, see our Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) Calculator.

It works, but boy is it challenging.

PATH TWO: follow our “simple plate” approach from our Healthy Eating Guide. Learn portions sizes, and start making slightly better choices. Focus on getting enough protein and veggies and cut back on liquid calories. Over 60% of our coaching clients find this method to be more sustainable and successful for them in the long-run.

I know that overhauling one’s diet is easier said than done.

But it’s time to take a proactive approach to nutrition.

You’re reading this article because man boobs are a real problem for you – educate yourself on what you’re eating and work on cutting back on the calories!

And that’s what we’ll cover in the next section: what foods to eat that will help you reduce your calories without you being miserable.

What should I be eating to lose “moobs”?

The Nerd Fitness philosophy on what constitutes a ‘healthy food’ can be written like this:

“Foods I can eat frequently that give me enough fuel to get through the day AND don’t make me miserable.”.

I lay it all out in our Beginner’s Guide to Healthy Eating, but this generally equates to foods like:

• Protein like poultry, meat, low-fat dairy, and legumes.
• Fruits and vegetables.
• Healthy carbohydrates like rice and quinoa.
• Healthy fats like almonds and olive oil.
• Occasional full-fat cheese and dairy.

These are the types of foods that form the foundation of a well-balanced diet.

Do you know WHY these types of foods help with weight loss?

Because if we stick mostly to this list, we’ll likely create a caloric deficit naturally.

But why tho?

The fine folks at WiseGEEK did an awesome post where they took pictures of what 200 calories of a certain food look like.

200 calories of broccoli gets you enough broccoli to fill up an entire plate:

Or half a Snickers bar:

Yeah. And who eats half a Snickers and says “I’ll save the other half for later?” 

Literally nobody.

If we want to create a caloric deficit consistently, focusing on foods that give you a ton of bang-for-your-buck from a nutrients vs calories standpoint is the answer.

Of course, I know a Snickers bar is way more delicious than broccoli – it was designed in a lab by scientists to be AMAZING!

And I’m not gonna tell you to never eat a Snickers ever again either.

Instead, we need to start being proactive about our food choices. If we’re gonna eat a Snickers, we better damn well be planning for that by reducing our calorie intake elsewhere.

And if the scale isn’t budging, and our man boobs aren’t getting smaller – we’re still eating too much!

Should we do the Mediterranean diet? Keto? Vegan?

Paleo?

Maybe!

They all follow the same premise: by changing the foods we eat, we’re more likely than not to eat a caloric deficit. Certain people respond better to certain diets than others.

I personally follow a mental model diet, summarized here:

1. Minimize and plan for processed food – they’re designed for us to overeat them. Take a look again at that Snickers bar. Do you really think you’d only eat half of one to stick to 200 calories? Of course not.
2. Eat veggies. Vegetables are nutrient-dense and light on calories. Because of all the fiber, they are also tough to overeat. Imagine eating all that broccoli. Are you going for seconds? Probably not. So eat your veggies to help keep you full. Here’s how to make vegetables taste good.
3. Avoid liquid calories. Cut back dramatically on soda, juices, smoothies, and any beverage with calories. Even most coffee orders (with sugar, cream, etc.) have a ton of hidden calories. Stick to water, and unsweetened tea or black coffee. Here are our thoughts on diet soda.
4. Prioritize protein. Our body uses protein as the building block of muscle rebuilding. Outside of repairing our body, protein will also work to keep us full and satiated: 400 calories of chicken will leave us wayyy more full than 400 calories worth of Gatorade.^[3] If you prioritize protein on your plate, you’ll be doing a lot of the heavy lifting on proper nutrition. Some great sources of protein include chicken, eggs, beef, pork, fish, nuts, legumes, quinoa, and most dairy products. Check out our Guide to Protein to measure how much protein you need every day.

These four points will help you on your journey to create a caloric deficit.

I know this is much easier said than done. After all, everybody knows they should eat more vegetables, and yet 70% of the country is overweight.

Clearly, there’s more happening here than just “I need willpower and I need to try harder!”

If you’re struggling with portion control and challenges, jump fully into the NF community.

We cover human behavior and psychology to help you:

• Improve your environment.
• Fix your habit-building.
• Surround yourself with people that make you better (including our free private community).

We’ve helped thousands of people like you here at NF, and we really focus on nutrition.

As we said, it’s 90% of the battle!

It’s why we created our 10-level nutritional system. Each level gets a bit more challenging and healthier, but you can progress at your own speed to make your changes stick!

I’ll send you the 10-Level Guide when you sign up for our newsletter here.

Does Soy Cause Man Boobs?

You don’t have to search far on the internet for the advice “avoid soy because it causes man boobs.”

It’s repeated so much, it’s assumed to be fact.

Is it?

The definition of gynecomastia (medical condition of man boobs) mentions “increased estrogen activity” as a major cause.

So when people say stay clear of soy, they’re worried about its impact on hormones like testosterone and estrogen.

Why the concern?

It comes down to a compound found in soy called “isoflavones.” Isoflavones are a type of phytoestrogen, which acts a little like estrogen, the central female hormone.

“Phyto” is derived from Greek and means “plant.” “Estrogen” is estrogen. So phytoestrogen more or less means plant-derived estrogen.

The fear of isoflavone rests with our bodies using this plant-like estrogen as actual estrogen. A report from Frontiers in Neuroendocrinology found that this is potentially possible.^[4]

I should now note, we are about to wade into a controversial subject.

We’ll be careful and rely on good old-fashioned science and studies for guidance.

However, sometimes science can point us in a couple of different and contradictory directions. When this happens, it’s important to acknowledge the uncertainty.

Compounds in soy may act like estrogen in the body. Does this apply to men though? And do they cause “man boobs?”

A 2005 study out of The Journal of Nutrition did find a relationship between soy intake and hormone levels in men.^[5] However, they concluded these to be “minor.”

In 2010, Fertility and Sterility tackled the question on whether soy had “feminizing effects on men.”

They found it didn’t.^[6]

Their report stated:

Neither isoflavone supplements nor isoflavone-rich soy affect total or free testosterone levels.

The journal concluded:

There is essentially no evidence from the nine identified clinical studies that isoflavone exposure affects circulating estrogen levels in men.

Case closed?

Probably, but I’d be remiss not to mention the following:

There is one documented case published in Endocrine Practice, where a man may have given himself gynecomastia by drinking three quarts of soy milk a day.^[7]

His gynecomastia went away when he stopped. Granted, this is anecdotal evidence, which is far from proof.

However, it is interesting and worth noting to round out this discussion. And as mentioned earlier, the ability for phytoestrogen to act as actual estrogen does seem possible…

“Steve, Just tell me: Should I ditch soy to ditch my man boobs?”

Well, as with anything, quantity and context matters. Virginia Miller, an estrogen researcher at the Mayo Clinic, told a Vice journalist:^[8]

The amount of phytoestrogens in various soy products varies by process method.

Dr. Miller didn’t think it was too problematic to eat soy, specifically mentioning that:

Eating tofu is probably OK.

Interestingly, Miller suggested that BPA found in plastic is more harmful to our endocrine (hormone) system than eating or drinking soy.^[9]

Confusing stuff.

In general, the consensus seems to be that as long as you don’t binge soy products, the amount of phytoestrogens found in a normal diet is fine.

If you have the actual condition of gynecomastia, soy is unlikely to be the root cause.

As more and more research is being done on this subject, this answer could change.

My opinion: this is a tiny piece of the puzzle…

…not the whole picture.

If we’re overeating food every day, worrying about the soy we consume is missing the forest for the trees.

That’d be like…putting on a long sleeve shirt instead of a t-shirt for added protection, before driving 50 miles an hour into a brick wall.

Instead, maybe focus on wearing a seat belt, or better yet – not driving into the wall in the first place!

I swear that analogy made sense in my head before I typed it out.

Anyways – back to real specifics.

Here is the Nerd Fitness philosophy on soy: focus on total calories consumed and get that dialed in for consistent caloric deficit.

Only THEN, as our body fat starts to decrease, and we’re analyzing how our body responds to any and ALL types of food, see how our body responds to removing soy from our diet.

Want to have an expert guide you on this process? A fitness partner to help guide you on nutrition, including eliminating and then re-introducing certain foods? You can by checking out Nerd Fitness Coaching.

Do I actually have gynecomastia?

The only way to really know if you have gynecomastia is to go to a doctor.

They’ll be able to tell you (often with an ultrasound) if it’s a glandular breast enlargement or just fatty tissue.

They might also do some blood tests to check testosterone levels and female sex hormones like estrogen.

If you have an imbalance, gynecomastia could be a side effect. They’ll know for sure and can prescribe a treatment.

Also, they can verify that something very serious isn’t going on. In very rare cases, male breast enlargement can be a sign of cancer. Yes, men can get breast cancer.^[10]

It should be noted: obesity itself is tied to increasing the development of real gynecomastia.

Excessive fat stimulates the body’s production of estrogen, spurring the growth of actual breast tissue.^[11]

Said another way:

Pseudogynecomastia can turn into actual gynecomastia.

If you are diagnosed with gynecomastia, it’ll be between you and your doctor as to the next steps. I’ve seen men take one of three paths, as I’ve read anecdotes from our private support community for Nerd Fitness:

1. Men who had elective surgery (liposuction in some instances and skin tucks) to remove the fat due to gynecomastia. They are thankful for no longer being self-conscious about their chest areas. This is not an option for everybody for various reasons.
2. Others have worked hard to reduce their man boob size through exercise and nutrition.
3. Some have elected to not treat gynecomastia, or are working to reduce the fat around their pecs through diet and exercise before deciding what to do next.

If you’re concerned with “man boobs,” weight management is the path of action we’d recommend, whether you’re facing either gynecomastia or pseudogynecomastia. 

Reducing your body fat percentage can help keep your hormones in balance.

One important note here. Your unique situation is just that: unique.

I know many men who have treated pseudogynecomastia with diet and exercise, and I know others who are VERY thankful they had surgery to treat the symptom and are much happier as a result.

No judgment here. You do you, brother.

At this point, I bet you have an additional question: “Can hormone balance be affected in the opposite direction? By increasing testosterone?”

Is there a way to boost my testosterone naturally?

If you do suspect you have a hormonal imbalance, speak with your doctor. They can run tests and tell you exactly what is going on, why, and how to treat it.

I will not be digging into medically supervised testosterone therapy (which is above my pay grade, and between you and your doctor), but here’s our guidance on naturally boosting your testosterone levels:

#1) Strength training. I know. A few sections ago I devoted an entire area to strength training.

However, if you are looking for a natural way to boost testosterone, strength training would be a good way to go about it.

One 2017 study found, that although temporary, testosterone levels were shown to: “acutely rise immediately following an acute resistance exercise bout.”^[12]

Because of the short-term increase, consistency is key with resistance training and testosterone levels. That’s likely why “regular exercise” has been linked with increased testosterone overal.l^[13]

#2) Stress. Cortisol is a hormone that is promoted by stress and reduces free testosterone levels (in addition to signaling for your body to store fat).^[14]

The more stressed out we are, the lower our testosterone will be. What’s a cure? Being mindful.

Meditation practices have been shown to help control cortisol levels.^[15] Want to start a mindfulness practice? Scope out our Nerd’s Guide to Mindfulness to get going.

Do you know what else is connected with higher cortisol levels and increased stress? Lack of sleep! If this is you, shut off Netflix and get to bed sooner.

#3) Overtraining. There can be too much of a good thing. Studies have found that both professional basketball and soccer players drop their testosterone levels by the end of a season.^[16]

Which makes sense.

Tons of activity in a short amount of time gives no time to repair and heal. The same phenomenon has been found in ultra-marathoners.^[17][[17]]That study on ultra-marathoners is right here.[[17]. Make sure you get plenty of sleep and schedule rest days.

#4) Eat red meat. Red meat is a great source of the amino acid carnitine, which has been linked to improved fertility.^[18] Plus, it’s a good source of zinc, which has also been shown to help regulate testosterone.^[19]

#5) Your results may vary. My friend Brett over at Art of Manliness did a 90-day experiment in which he doubled his testosterone levels through diet and strength training.

To be honest with you, even if you don’t have low testosterone levels, you should strength train, be mindful, and prioritize rest.

And maybe even eat a little red meat.

And yes, I read that study that says red meat will kill you. I don’t agree with the fear-mongering.^[20]

If you want help with strength training, nutrition, or even starting a mindfulness practice, check out Nerd Fitness Coaching! We help men (and women) level up their lives by providing actionable goals and accountability.

How to Start Reducing Man Boobs

So you have pseudogynecomastia.

And you’re interested in trying to do this the old-fashioned way before going down the route of surgery.

This would be my recommended path to everybody, though remember I’m not a doctor and I would recommend working with your doctor to put a plan in place together.

OUR NON-DOCTOR ADVICE FOR A DUDE TRYING TO GET RID OF MAN BOOBS NATURALLY:

1. Take front and side photos without a shirt on today. This will help give you a frame of reference as you move forward with your changes. Pictures will round out your story.
2. Consider a tape measure and take weekly chest measurements too. Just be consistent with how you take the measurements and look for overall trends! Here’s our Guide on Tracking Fitness Progress.
3. Follow the above nutritional guidance and workout routine for the next month. Remember, I gave you four tips for healthy eating. If you requested our 10-Level Nutrition Guide, it’ll help make those suggestions permanent. Plus, I want you to start doing push-ups (on your knees is a great start). Do it immediately. It’ll help prep you for those Advanced Chest Exercises I talked to you about.
4. If the scale is dropping, and your photos are showing “moob” improvement, keep it up! As I said earlier, consistency is the name of the game here at Nerd Fitness. “Slow and steady” beats “fast and quitting” every time.
5. If you want to talk to a doctor to see if anything can or should be done about it, go for it! Medical advice is generally good advice. Bonus points if you find a doctor who strength-trains and seeks to treat through nutrition and exercise first!

I do want to stress, that many male members of the Nerd Fitness Rebellion have reported improving their “man boobs” through the strategies listed in this article.

We are dealt a certain hand from the genetic lottery: whether we gain muscle quickly or slowly, whether we lose our hair or not, and whether we store fat in our legs or in our chest.

We can get mad about it, or we can play the hand we are dealt.

Until somebody develops robot legs, I’m not growing any taller.

However, let’s not justify our internal excuses, or throw ourselves too big of a pity party.

What we do with our genetic fate, is completely up to us. And we have hundreds of thousands of people in the Nerd Fitness Rebellion who have overcome shitty genetics to transform themselves dramatically.

If you want 1-on-1 help to transform yourself, we got you!

We come in all shapes and sizes: you do you.

The goal of this post is educational. To teach us how our body stores fat, and what can or cannot be done about it.

It’s more than okay to love yourself and also want to improve your physique.

Body positivity and wanting to look better are not mutually exclusive.

We’re all works in progress, and that’s great.

If you want to use this post to spur you to change, like cleaning up your diet or lifting some weights, awesome!

I’m glad Nerd Fitness can help lead you into action:

• Reduce your body fat percentage through nutritional changes (which includes eating a caloric deficit).
• Strength train to increase the amount of muscle you have, increase the “calories burned” portion of the weight-loss equation, and increase your testosterone.
• Work with your doctor if you are reducing your body fat but not seeing any changes in your chest area – you might actually have a medical condition called gynecomastia.

Want help knowing exactly how to progress from here? 

I have MULTIPLE options for you. Pick the path below that best aligns with your goals and timeline:

1) If you want step-by-step guidance on how to lose weight, eat better, and get stronger, check out our killer 1-on-1 coaching program:

2) Join the Rebellion! We need good people like you in our community, the Nerd Fitness Rebellion. 

Sign in the box below and not only will you receive our free weight loss guide, but our step-by-step plan for starting a Strength Training practice:

I know it’s easier said than done to say “f*** the haters,” but seriously, f*** the haters.

Take your shirt off at the beach: you deserve to enjoy the sun and sea like everybody else.

We’re all a work in progress, and I hope this post helps you continue to work on yours!

-Steve

PS: No seriously, f*** the haters:

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All photo sources can be found in this footnote right here ^[21]

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Did you know today is National Respawn Day?

This is definitely true and not a holiday that I just made up.

Okay I did make it up, and it doesn’t matter what day it is – you’ve decided you want to try again, and you’re trying to make the changes actually stick this time.

Luckily, whether this is the first time you’ve had to respawn or the 50th, you’re in the right place.

I’m going to share the same step-by-step strategy we’ve used to help 15,000+ nerds restart their routines in our Coaching Program, and we’re gonna have a tiny bit of fun along the way.

Here’s what we’ll cover:

• Why It’s Okay to Start Again
• Restarting Step 1: Forgive Yourself
• Restarting Step 2: What Went Wrong?
• Restarting Step 3: Change a Variable
• Restarting Step 4: Respawn
• Restarting Step 5: Supercharge Your Results
• Get Back in the Fight (Next Steps)

Why It’s Okay to Start Again

So you already bailed on a goal or habit or routine this year.

Welcome to the club.

It’s called “being human!”

There are 8 billion of us.

Statistically speaking, MOST people have already abandoned the resolutions they’ve set for the year, because that’s just what humans do. ^[1]

We all start with hopes and dreams for what we hope to accomplish, but then we encounter this ugly thing called “reality.” We find out that maybe we picked the wrong goal, or we tried to do too much, or life managed to get in the way.

This is amazing news!

I like to think of life like a giant video game, which means we’ll need to get comforatble with dying, starting over, and restarting! That’s what makes a game actually fun.

As the saying goes, “Success is moving from failure to failure without a loss of enthusiasm.” So, congrats for already finding a strategy that doesn’t work for you right now.

Let’s get to work on fixing that!

First, we must…

STEP 1: FORGIVE YOURSELF

We’re often our own worst critic and our own worst enemy.

When we fail at a task or goal, that voice in our head will very quickly point out all the things we’ve done wrong or how we’ve screwed up.

We might call ourself a nasty name, or berate ourselves for not having enough discipline.

There’s another way to think about this:

• You discovered a strategy or tactic that doesn’t work for you! For example, if you went Keto and bailed, great! That’s a diet that doesn’t work for you. I personally love carbs, so Keto sounds terrible to me too!
• Treat the voice in your head like a roommate. You just both happen to occupy the same brain. Just because our brain thought something doesn’t mean it’s true! I like to think of my thoughts as if they came from Chaz, a weird roommate. He means well but he doesn’t always know what he’s talking about. Also, he has a ferret.

You’re reading this, which means you’re trying to improve your life.

You found a few methods that don’t work for you.

And you’re ready to try again.

This is amazing and should be celebrated.

As NF Coach Matt explains in the video below, “self compassion” is really important when attempting to fulfill New Year’s resolutions:

STEP 2: ASK WHAT WENT WRONG?

So, you conducted an experiment with your goals for this year, and you did not get the results you were expecting.

That’s neither a good nor a bad thing. Like any other experiment, it just… IS. You had a hypothesis (“I am going to stick with THIS diet, and THIS workout plan”), and that turned out to not be true.

Great! That’s information we can use, my scientist friend.

Let’s write down specifically what your experiment entailed. 

What were you trying to do.

• “I was going to run a mile each morning.”
• “I was going to eat strictly Paleo every day.”
• “I was going to transform into a mythical phoenix.”

Look at your list: this is a combination of variables that don’t work for you right now.

IMPORTANT POINT: Learning from the millions of people that have come through Nerd Fitness over the past decade, my guess is that your experiment didn’t work out for one of two reasons:

#1) You built an idealized goal for a romanticized few of life, not reality.

Life is chaos, and we all have a lot going on. When we expect we’re going to have a beautifully organized schedule, and our kids won’t get sick, and work won’t run late…we’re setting ourselves up for failure.

As John Steinbeck said, “Now that you don’t have to be perfect, you can be good.”

We need a plan that fits into the chaos that is life, and is not built for a clear/easy schedule! Those don’t exist.

#2) You tried to change ALL the things:

• Your goal was 1,800 calories a day instead of your normal 3,000.
• You tried to run 7 days a week when you don’t exercise at all now.
• You said you were going to write 5,000 words a day but don’t write normally.

Instead of change all the things completely or don’t change anything, what if we changed a few things, a tiny bit?

We’re never going to get everything done, certainly not all at once. So like a video game, we need to stop trying to fight 10 level-100 dragons at the same time when we’re a wimpy level-1 wizard!

We need to pick ONE target, that’s our level, and then as we level up and get stronger, tackle bigger monsters.

So, let’s try to do less with our next experiment, okay? It’s better to succeed at ONE new habit, than it is to fail at all 10 aspirational habits!

STEP 3: CHANGE A VARIABLE IN YOUR EXPERIMENT

You’re reading this guide, which would lead me to believe you’re interested in trying again to lose weight, build muscle, and/or get in shape.

To avoid getting the same results, we need to change the variables in the experiment to try and get different results.

You know, science!

Remember, any good experiment has accurate measurements for their changing factors! You don’t just put “some uranium” in a nuclear reactor. You know the exact amount.

For your next attempt consider adjusting one of the following variables:

#1) Change the exercise variable: 

Did you actually enjoy the exercise you attempted? If you discovered that you hate running, great! Never do that again. “Exercise sucks,” so I would pick something you actually enjoy.

Did you try to exercise 5 days a week for 60 minutes a day? What if you instead decided to just go for a 5-minute walk every day to build the habit first, and then increased the difficulty?

#2) Try a substitution rather than addition: 

ADDING a brand new exercise routine into a busy schedule can be really challenging. The same might be true with severely restricting your calories, which can be really uncomfortable and make you hangry and angry.

Let’s try this instead: Substitution! Here are three examples:

• Making healthy swaps with our diet: How you eat is 80-90% of the weight-loss equation, and you’re already eating every day. So focus on substituting a vegetable for fries once a week, or swapping sparkling water for soda. You can also keep a food journal and change up your breakfast twice a week.
• Temptation bundling: combine an exercise/activity you want to do with an activity we already love: Listening to a great audiobook, but only when we’re out for a walk or on the treadmill, or joining a friend on a bike ride (to a winery or pub!).
• Do ONE activity mindfully every day: meditation is amazing for developing the skill of being present and cultivating awareness, but it might be tough for us to set aside 20 minutes to sit alone with our thoughts. So why not practice being mindful during something you’re already doing! Practice mindfulness while brushing your teeth or washing the dishes in the sink. No extra time required, all of the benefits!

#3) Adjust your “win scenario”:

I get it. You were able to train in your home gym for the first few weeks of this year, going for at least an hour.

But THEN…work got busy. And you only had 30 minutes, which wasn’t enough time to get through your workout. So why not set the win scenario at “30 minutes,” or “15 minutes,” or just “1 exercise”? Lower the bar!

This is not an on-off switch. It’s a dial that we can turn UP or turn DOWN based on how busy our life is that day:

Let’s imagine we’re on a 10-year journey, and we’re trying out all sorts of tactics, strategies, and pace of change to see what works best for us.

Doing our workout today is not nearly as important as building a routine of working out that fits into your life for the next decade.

We can stop asking, “Do I have time for my workout” and instead ask “What workout do I have time for?”

Remember that it all counts. There’s nothing that says “a workout must be 60-minutes in a gym.”

Example: if you roll out your yoga mat for 1 set of 1 exercise, it counts as a win. Doesn’t matter if did a full hour workout or just a 5 minute set of push-ups.

It all counts.

We can turn the dial all the way down, we just don’t want to turn it off.

STEP 4: RESPAWN and try again

When you play a challenging video game, you’re going to die. A lot. (I died literally thousands when playing Hollow Knight, one of my favorite games in recent memory).

What happens after you die in a game?

You respawn, and try again!

You’ve learned a new tactic or pattern. You have a new technique. You’ve uncovered a secret. You also have all the knowledge of every past attempt. You’ve also just gotten better. So you try, again.

And again.

And again.

And then you succeed, and that works for a while. Until it stops working. And then you change your tactics again and keep going.

There’s no shame in failing when it comes to our health. Life is one giant experiment, we’re all disasters, and we’re all trying our best!

Here’s Joe, who made dozens of attempts to get fit until he changed the right variable and got results:

We have hundreds of stories of normal people who kept failing, but kept reading and trying, and then finally – something clicked.

And that next attempt is the one that changed their life’s path.

This next attempt might be the one that works for you too!

Keep trying differently, keep failing differently.

You can do this!

STEP 5: SUPERCHARGE YOUR RESULTS

I know hacking your experiments to get better data isn’t exactly “scientifically smart” or “morally responsible,” but I’m the one writing this guide and we’re all friends here, right?

Once you start your new experiment, here’s how you can stack the deck in your favor:

#1) Write everything down. Write down your workouts. Write down what you eat. Treat it like a science experiment, and you’re collecting data! Plan ahead. Be PRO-active (“I will do Strength Training Workout A at 4pm and tonight I’ll have roasted chicken and bacon-wrapped asparagus) instead of RE-active (“What should I do for exercise right now?” and “Ah, what’s for dinner? Oooh, Burger King!”)

For more strategies here, check out our guide Tracking Your Fitness Progress.

#2) Recruit allies to your team. Don’t go this alone, as you’re more likely to succeed based on the people you spend time with and hang around. So recruit allies. Start spending more time with healthy people that empower you (even virtually), rather than unhealthy people that enable you and drag you down. Join a running group online. Find a lifting “accountabilibuddy,” or someone you can check in with.

We have a free Nerd Fitness Facebook group with thousands of people ready and willing to support you!

#3) Hire a professional. There are two types of coaches worth the investment:

• An in-person trainer if you are looking to supercharge your form on specific exercises like Olympic lifts, squats, deadlifts, etc. An in-person trainer can be good for people that need the accountability of somebody they’ve paid to meet them in the gym. Here’s how to find a good trainer!
• An online coach that represents mobile, worldwide accountability. I’ve had a coach for years and it’s changed my life. Knowing that I have a workout and nutrition strategy to follow each day is game-changing.

As Coach Matt explains below, sometimes “outsourcing” help can be a real game-changer when trying to get in shape (or back in shape):

GET BACK IN THE FIGHT

An old mandrill named Rafiki once taught me: “Yes, the past can hurt. But you can either run from it, or learn from it.”

Okay maybe he taught that to Simba in The Lion King, but I too learned the same lesson:

TO RECAP:

#1) Forgive yourself. You wouldn’t talk to somebody else the way you talk to yourself. So have some freaking compassion! You’re trying.

#2) Identify what experiment you JUST tried. Write down what you believe went wrong over the past few weeks. Congrats – you found a strategy that doesn’t work.

#3) Pick a new path, try a different variable. A good scientist meticulously tracks their data and writes down their hypothesis. I would change one of the following:

• Exercise: do less – focus on building the routine and doing it consistently. Here’s how to exercise in a way that doesn’t feel like exercise.
• Nutrition: change less. If you couldn’t stick with a diet for 3 weeks, it was too restrictive. Try a different path. For help, check out our Guide to Healthy Eating. It’s designed to build on one small tiny improvement over time.
• Win scenario: don’t let “perfect” be the enemy of “good.”

#4) Then try again.

For #5 (“Supercharge your results”), I have two perfect ways to help you respawn today:

Consider our Online Coaching program, and I also send out a free newsletter twice a week to help you stay motivated and entertained.

It’s the best newsletter in the galaxy, I promise you.

For the Rebellion!

-Steve

PS: If you want more tips and tricks on how to stick to your goals this year, check out 5 Hacks to Effortlessly Build Healthy Habits in 2024.

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Photo Citation: Oh My Goodness! Shut Me Down, The Iron Giant, “Hello, old friend. Is he ready for me?”, Happy Halloween!!, At the blacksmith’s (Part 2), Medieval Blacksmith

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“Damn you Netflix, how did I just watch 10 episodes of Stranger Things, I have stuff to do!”

We’ve all been there. There are the things we know we SHOULD do, the things we NEED to do, and the things that we WANT to do.

More often than not, the WANT wins out over the NEED and SHOULD.

It’s like trying to win a tug-of-war against a tractor pulling in the opposite direction. It’s why we struggle to get to the gym after a long day of work. It’s why we opt for Taco Bell instead of taking the time to cook a healthy meal.

Today, we’re going to give you a quick life hack that can help you start leveling up your life and actually get things done that need to get done!

What is Temptation Bundling?

I bet you’ve said the following: “Before I can watch TV, I need to exercise.” And yet, TV ends up winning over exercise almost all the time, especially if it’s after a long miserable day at work.

So, instead of “if I do this, then I get this” What if we combined the two into one epic activity?

That idea is called “temptation bundling,” a term coined by Wharton Professor Katy Milkman: ultimately, you combine something that needs to be done with something you want to do.

She describes the idea in a paper entitled: “Holding The Hunger Games Hostage at the Gym: An Evaluation of Temptation Bundling.” ^[1] The goal is to get us to do things we need to do by combining them with things we want to do, removing the “either/or” temptation and getting us to ACTUALLY do stuff:

Participants were randomly assigned to a full treatment condition with gym-only access to tempting audio novels, an intermediate treatment involving encouragement to restrict audiobook enjoyment to the gym, or a control condition.

Initially, full and intermediate treatment participants visited the gym 51% and 29% more frequently.

Long story short: the people in the study who were told they could listen to addictive audio books only while working out visited the gym 51% more frequently than those who were just told they should exercise more.

Here’s some Nerd Fitness examples:

In love with the show Arrow? I am, and I want Stephen Amell to be my best friend.  Don’t say, “I can only watch Arrow after exercising.” Change your phrasing, and try this instead: “I can only watch Arrow WHILE exercising.” Bring your iPad or Laptop to the gym, and only watch particular shows while you are on a treadmill, walking, or using the elliptical.

Addicted to Clash of Clans on your phone? Only allow yourself to work on your clan while at the gym, in between sets of deadlifts. Same goes for looking at TikTok or Instagram: only while resting in between squats!

Maybe you can only listen to Serial or The Rewatchables while walking, doing a particular work task, or even completing a chore at home like cleaning or laundry. An hour episode while walking could result in you racking up 3+ miles on your walk to Mordor!

Afraid to try cooking a new healthy meal? You can ONLY listen to a podcast or music in your house while you are cooking. BLAST it at top volume while having fun making a mess trying to cook.

Now, although this study teaches us that bundling a healthy life-improvement activity with one you enjoy can help you make a change, the boost can oftentimes be temporary.

The study went on to say that the “allure” of the audiobook + gym combo wore off after a few months, thus furthering the suggestion that the best chance for long term success is to truly “enjoy the journey.”

Long story short: this can a great strategy to get started, and a great way to identify types of exercise or strategies that work for you, long term results might require leveled up strategies!

But that’s fine – we’re going to be using it to build long term habits.

Try the temptation bundle challenge

If you can implement it properly, temptation bundling can both increase your time spent doing a healthy activity while also helping you limit the unhealthy one.

Now, you might be saying, “Steve, doesn’t this make the fun activity less enjoyable and the exercise/health portion less efficient?” 

Possibly, but that’s not the point! Sure, I would love it if you went to the gym, completed a kickass workout, ate a healthy meal, and then got 8 hours of sleep.

However, this isn’t Imagination Land, and I know the best workout plan is the one you actually complete. This is infinitely better than the perfect workout plan that makes you say “meh, I’ll start tomorrow.”

So what do we do? We use temptation bundling to get us started, and then use drive to keep us going. When we build interest ih the activity itself, we shift our focus from “I’m enduring this workout” to “I can’t wait to see how much better I am this week.” The change can become permanent.

Your turn: what’s one activity that you love to do, and one that you know you should do more of? And how are you going to implement this strategy TODAY to your daily routine? Here are some other rapid fire examples:

• Are you studying or getting some work done? Get your favorite snack or beverage only when you are doing it.
• Try walking outside (or a cardio machine) – that’s now the only time you’re allowed to listen to your favorite podcast/audiobook.
• Try pairing chores like ironing, doing laundry, or cleaning dishes while watching your favorite tv shows or a new movie you’ve been waiting for.

Your turn!

What’s one temptation bundle you are going to combine and start TODAY?

-Steve

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Photo sources: Visiting Friends, A good Sunday to you, Rain doesn’t stop a photographer

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One of the biggest questions we get from everyone is “How do I work my legs at home?”

After all, challenging the legs with barbells, dumbbells, and machines at the gym is easy. We can just continue to add weight to our exercises until our legs look like tree trunks. But if we want to build strength but we’re unable to get to the gym, don’t have a gym membership, or are traveling – then what do we do?

Enter the NERD FITNESS LEG DAY WORKOUT.

Our 20-minute routine can be scaled for someone just getting started (beginner), or someone looking to get their legs blasted (advanced).

Here’s what we’ll cover today:

• The 20-minute Nerd Fitness Leg Day Workout (with infographic)
• The 6 best leg exercises for building muscle at home
• What’s a good leg day warm-up?
• 3 ways to challenge your legs without using weights
• How to use weights at home for leg day (including household objects)
• What exactly is leg day?
• 5 reasons to never skip leg day
• Can you get strong legs just by walking?
• How to prevent muscle soreness after leg day.
• What workout to do AFTER leg day? (5 ideas for active recovery)
• What’s the best day for leg day? (When to schedule leg day)

Let’s hop to it!

Jumping would also be a great leg workout!

The 20-minute Nerd Fitness Leg Day Workout

To get started with our Leg Day Workout, warm up with 1-2 minutes of leg swings and marching in place. 

Continue the warm-up with 1-2 sets of the first exercise at an easier variation (or less weight/reps) then move on to your work sets. For the remaining exercises, perform 1-2 additional warm-up sets at the start, if needed. (A bit more on the warm-up later!)

Alternate between Workout A and Workout B on non-consecutive days to properly recover. Meaning, give yourself a “rest day” before doing a leg workout again.

If you’re new to dedicated leg days (or just getting back into things), then choose the lower end of the prescribed sets and reps, while picking easier variations. If you’re a seasoned pro, then start increasing the number of sets or reps you do each workout, while pushing for harder and harder variations. 

Rest 1-2 minutes between sets (or longer, if needed).

Now, let’s give you some specifics.

Home Leg Day Workout A

Phase 1

Warm up for a few minutes.

Phase 2

Do 2 or 4 sets of the following:

• Squat Variation: 5-8 reps
• Deadlift Variation: 8-12 reps

Phase 3

Do 2 or 3 sets of the following:

• Lunge Variation: 5-8 per side
• Calf Raise Variation: 8-12 reps

Home Leg Day Workout B

Phase 1

Warm up for a few minutes.

Phase 2 

Do 2 or 4 sets of the following:

• Deadlift Variation: 8-12 reps
• Squat Variation: 5-8 reps

Phase 3 

Do 2 or 3 sets of the following:

• Step-up Variation: 5-8/side
• Shin Raise Variation: 8-12 reps

There are a lot of variations you can choose from for these exercises, so let’s break these down for you.

Real quick, before we do, I’d like to highlight that crafting effective routines, much like the one above, is a significant aspect of NF Coaching. Our team of coaches understands the hustle, so we tailor quick workouts that optimize available resources—be it equipment, time, or energy.

And that’s not all! A coach can also help with your nutrition and stress management, two vital components of the fitness adventure.

In fact, there’s a whole lot more to explore. If you’re intrigued, take a closer look at our online one-on-one program here:

Need a custom workout? Our team can build it!

The 6 Best Leg Day Exercises for Home

Let’s go over some categories of leg day exercises that you can do at home, plus some variations you can choose to get started with.

#1) Squat Variations:

No leg workout would be complete without the squat. 

It uses all the muscles of the lower body in a very natural pattern – ever see a baby squat?

However, as we age and adopt unnatural sitting postures, our squat form tends to suffer. 

So let’s work to get back to basics, baby! 

Squat variations to choose from:

1) Assisted Squats 

Working up to an unassisted squat in your workout, or just need a good option for your warm-up? Enter the assisted squat! Hold onto anything safe and stable (a countertop, a chair, the wall) to put some of the work off your legs and into your arms.

2) Bodyweight Squat

In the video above, we cover five common mistakes folks often make when performing a squat.

Give it a watch so you don’t make them too!

3) Pause Squat

Is the regular squat feeling too easy? Pause for a couple of seconds at the bottom. This will work the muscles a bit more as well as help improve your mobility for the exercise.

4) Goblet Squat

Have you become a master of the bodyweight squat? Then add some weight to it! Hold a weight with two hands in front of your chest, like a big goblet that you don’t want to spill. This means keeping the chest and weight up!

If you don’t have a dumbbell, then this is the perfect time to hold a suitcase or backpack up for improvised weight as we describe here.

5) Banded Squat

Weighted squats are great, until you have to travel! For a much lighter, but still powerful option, hold a band in your hands and stand on it. If your band is a continuous loop, you can also stand on it and drape the band over the front of your shoulders while crossing and lifting the arms up.

6) Jumping Squat

No weights? No bands? No problem! Add some explosion to the movement and jump off the ground for each rep. You don’t have to jump sky high, or honestly even leave the ground. Even just a slight weight reduction should prove more challenging than a regular bodyweight squat.

7) One-Legged Squat (do 5-8 per side)

Ready for the ultimate challenge? Build up enough strength to do a squat with just one leg!

This is an amazing variation when you find yourself with no gym and no equipment. Just like the regular bodyweight squat, you can work this assisted first by holding onto a chair or doorframe. 

We cover a lot of the finer points in our YouTube video – getting your first one-legged squat:

For more detailed points on how to squat properly in general, check out The Nerd’s Guide to the Perfect Squat. 

 

#2) Deadlift Variations

Why deadlifts?

Well, not only will a deadlift challenge our legs. But really, it’s an EVERYTHING exercise, as we engage every muscle in our body throughout the movement:

• Posterior chain and legs? They’re the powerhouse, working like a lever to hoist that weight up.
• Back and core? Engaged throughout the movement as we keep our whole body tight and steady.
• Shoulders and traps? They’re working hard to keep the weight secure as we lift.

So any solid leg day workout should aim to include deadlifts in it.

Deadlift variations to choose from:

1) Bodyweight Deadlift (Good Morning)

While we’re not “lifting” anything in this variation, it’s still the same movement of hinging at the hips and leaning forward. You can keep your hands in front of you holding imaginary weights, or placed up behind your head for an exercise that is often called the “good morning”.

2) Weighted Deadlift

We can pick up dumbbells, kettlebells, or barbells. At home, we might be picking up luggage, backpacks, or sandbags. In any of these examples, the form remains the same! Push your hips back and lean forward, like you did for the good morning.

Once you’ve leaned forward a bit, then bend your knees slightly to be able to reach your weight. Grab strong and stand up tall. Put the weight back down by reversing the process. Hips back, lean forward, and bend the knees slightly.

3) Banded Deadlift

No weights? Again, no problems. You can stand on a band and work the deadlift.

If you have a close-looped band, another option is to loop the band around one foot, then under the second foot, and then back around the first foot. This will give you a cat’s cradle of bands between your feet where you can grab one to four bands to deadlift for a variety of difficulties.

Check the gif for further explanation:

4) Kettlebell or Dumbbell Swing

Just as we added some speed and explosion to the squats, we can do the same thing to the deadlift movement too. This is called ‘the swing’ and can be done with a dumbbell, kettlebell, or even a compact backpack.

The biggest focus is to make sure the power is coming from your hips and they pop open, and not from your arms lifting the weight.

5) One-Legged Deadlift (do 8-12 per side)

As with the squat, if we don’t have bands or equipment, then one of the best go-to’s is to perform the exercise on one leg. This puts more work on that single leg, as well as makes it more challenging for our balance as we go through the reps.

6) Weighted One-Legged-Deadlift

Have some weights to use, but a two-legged deadlift is too easy – then do it on one leg! Take your time, and continue to focus on pushing those hips back at the start of the exercise.

For more here, check out The Nerd’s Guide to Deadlifting. 

#3) Lunge Variations

When done correctly, lunges target the quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, and calves, enhancing lower body strength and stability. Additionally, because they are iso-lateral (your feet aren’t in line with each other), lunges help stress the lower body in a different way that can help reduce imbalances from left to right.

When you add it all up: lunges are perfect for leg day!

Lunge variations to choose from:

1) Assisted Lunges

Just like with the assisted squats, for assisted lunges, we can hold onto something stable like a countertop, chair, or wall. The idea again is to put some of the work into your arms and off your legs, as well as provide more stability.

2) Split Squats

The split squat is another great variation to work on the way to a regular bodyweight lunge. While it looks very similar to a lunge, the biggest difference is that we’ll set our feet once, and then keep them in place and we move up and down. By keeping the feet stationary, the exercise can be a bit easier to balance.

3) Bodyweight Lunges

The lunge puts stress on the legs greater than just a bodyweight squat, while also challenging our balance. Step out far enough to be able to sink down so that your back knee comes close to the ground (it can lightly touch, but don’t slam it down).

If stepping forward feels a little achy for the knee, you can work on stepping backward into position (aka the reverse lunge).

4) Pause Lunges

If the regular lunge is feeling strong, then add a pause! We’ll pause at the bottom of each rep for a couple of seconds before returning to standing. Get as low as you can, while still keeping the back knee off the ground.

5) Lateral Lunges

Lateral lunges are a deceptively challenging lunge variation. While many of our movements in the gym have us moving forward and backward (the sagittal plane, for you anatomy nerds). The lateral lunge has us moving sideways (the frontal plane), so it may feel new and unfamiliar.

Take your time, use an assist if needed, and look to sink down as low on your leading leg as you would in a squat. The other leg can remain straight, with the foot on the ground.

6) Weighted Lunges

Are all of these lunges too easy so far? Then add some weight! You can hold weight up at your chest, like the goblet squat, or in your hands. If you have some weight in a backpack, you can even wear it to make the exercise more difficult.

7) Jumping Split Squats

When you’re working out, but don’t have any extra weight to add to your lunges, this dynamic variation will get the job done. Get set just like a regular split squat – stepping out with one foot and sinking down. But now, instead of just split squatting up and down with the feet in place, you want to explode off the ground and switch feet in mid-air.

For more here, check out The Nerd’s Guide to the Perfect Lunge. 

 

#4) Calf Raises

No surprise here that calf raises target our calf muscles…it’s right in the name.

But the exercise also promotes foot and ankle strength, contributing to overall body balance. That makes it a great exercise for leg day.

Calf Raise variations to choose from:

1) Seated Calf Raises

If this is your first time doing dedicated calf work, I’d highly suggest starting with seated calf raises. The extra focused work on this muscle can make them sore very easily, so this a good option to dip your toes in.

2) Standing Calf Raises (Floor)

If seated calf raises are feeling strong, then stand up to add a bit of weight to the movement. Press your toes through the ground and get up as high as you can. Hold onto a wall, chair, or countertop to assist with your balance, but look to keep most of the weight still in the legs.

3) Standing Calf Raises (Step)

Adding a step to your standing calf raises allows you to drop your heels lower and increase the range of motion. This also increases the likelihood that it’ll be a little tough to walk normally the next day!

Get a good stretch at the bottom, and then really extend up to the top.

4) One-Leg Calf Raises (Floor)

Once two-legged calf raises are no problem, then it’s easy to increase the intensity by working one leg at a time. As before, we can start on the ground to get more weight into the movement while working in a smaller range of motion.

5) One-Leg Calf Raises (Step)

Ready to turn those calves into cows? Then let’s get up on the step and work the one-legged calf raise. All the previous cues still apply – look to drop your heel below the step and get a good stretch before pushing through and really extending at the top.

If this continues to feel easy, then your free hand can hold a weight to increase the intensity further.

 

#5) Step-Up Variation

 

Step-ups, a versatile leg exercise, amp up strength in crucial muscle groups—quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, and adductors.

Moreover, being a unilateral leg exercise (since we’re doing one leg at a time), step-ups play a vital role in balancing strength between both sides. This can help us improve imbalances. As we strive to create a killer leg day routine (which is the plan), step-ups definitely deserve a spot in the spotlight.

Step-up variations to choose from:

1) Assisted Step-Ups

As with the previous assisted variations, use something stable to help you step up onto the object. You may step onto a stepstool, a step or two on a flight of stairs, or any stable box. 

The higher the object, the harder the step-up, but looking for a height that puts your front thigh about horizontal is a good average to work towards.

 

2) Bodyweight Step-Ups

When the legs feel strong enough, then remove any assist and step up strong. Look to keep the chest up as you stand up tall at the top. Alternate back and forth with which leg you step with, to give the legs an equal amount of work.

3) Weighted Step-Ups

As we continue to get stronger with the step-ups, then adding weight is the next natural progression. As with the lunges, you can hold weight up at your chest, like the goblet squat, or in your hands. If you have some weight in a backpack, you can even wear it to make the exercise more difficult.

4) Bulgarian Split Squats

While the Bulgarian Split Squat looks like a lunge, we’ll keep it in the Step-Up Variations as A) we should be putting more emphasis on the front leg than both legs and B) you’ll likely be performing this exercise with the same set-up as your step-ups – on a flight of stairs or with a box.

Step out in front of whatever object you’re using, and then place the top of your foot up on the object. If this is too uncomfortable, then you can place a towel or other similar padding to help.

Sink down until your front thigh gets horizontal, and then stand back up. If you feel too “cramped” when trying to descend, then step a little further away from the object.

 

#6) Shin Raises

Shin raises are great. They make the front shin muscle, called the tibialis anterior, stronger. This muscle helps protect your knees by reducing the force on them when you run or jump. They are also fantastic if you’ve ever suffered from shin splints. So, shin raises are like a shield for your knees during active stuff!

They are also much less frequently worked, so take your time and don’t get frustrated if they feel challenged!

Shin raise variations to choose from:

1) Shin Raise – Feet Close to Wall

The first and relatively easiest variation is to perform shin raises with your feet closer to the wall and your back leaning up against the wall. Feet should be naturally hip-width apart, and then lift your feet as high as you are able to go. Again, take your time and go for quality reps.

2) Shin Raise – Feet Far from Wall

As the shin raise gets easier, you can increase the range of motion and difficulty by moving your feet farther from the wall. Continue with the same cues – putting your feet hip-width apart, and lifting your feet as high as you can go.

3) Shin Raise – Heels on Edge of a Step

Some people prefer standing on the edge of a step and lowering their feet down, as opposed to moving their feet out away from the wall, to make the shin raise more difficult.

Care should be taken here to set up a safe position. Look to pick a very low step where your toes can touch the ground lightly at the bottom. This will help minimize the risk of slipping off the front. Your heels should be firmly on the step, and then reach back to the wall for balance.  

What’s a Good Leg Day Warm-Up?

Warming up before tackling leg day is crucial because it’ll help you move better and feel stronger through your workout.

As your body temperature rises during a warm-up, blood flow to muscles increases. This enhances oxygen delivery and nutrient supply, optimizing muscle function. 

Additionally, warm-ups promote the release of synovial fluid – this is a thick liquid between your joints that reduces friction. This helps the exercises feel more effortless.

So, in a nutshell, warming up is like priming your engine before pushing the pedal.

Here’s a warm-up you can do to prepare for leg day:

#1) Leg Swings for 20-30 seconds per side

The objective for this movement is to lightly move the hip joint through a big range of motion. Only swing as high as you feel comfortable, and keep the body in a strong upright posture.

#2) Marching in Place for 30-60 seconds

You can march in place or march straight ahead. The marching should increase our heart rate a bit, but not be strenuous. The objective here is to introduce some movement in the knee joint and continue to warm the whole body up.

#3) One to Two Sets of an Easier Variation of Your First Chosen Exercise

These are not part of the prescribed sets that are in the workout. These are additional sets! Adding in a few warm-up sets is one of the best things to do to specifically prepare the body for the exercise.

So if you’re first exercise is a bodyweight squat:

Start off with an assisted squat:

 

Or if you’re doing a goblet squat, then start off with a lighter weight (or a bodyweight squat).

Adjust the movement for these warm-up sets so that they feel good and you feel more prepared for the tougher sets ahead.

#4) Include Additional Warm-up Sets, as Necessary, as You Continue Through Your Workout

After the first exercise, you may feel good enough to step right into the main sets of your next exercises. If you don’t feel ready, then continue performing 1-2 easier sets as a warm-up for any additional exercise.

If you’re going to be lifting heavy weights, or just challenging yourself in general, it’s still a good idea to do warm-up sets before you get to the main event.

So if you plan on doing a kettlebell deadlift:

Deadlifts at a lighter weight, or a bodyweight good morning would help.

Listen to your body as you go, and don’t be afraid to add a warm-up set or two before every new exercise.

For more on this subject, check out How to Warm Up Before a Workout.

3 Ways to Challenge Your Legs Without Using Weights

If you’re at home, you might have some weights around for your leg day workout.

Great!

But if you’re away from home, like at an Airbnb, you might not.

Don’t fret.

Here are three ways to challenge your legs without weights:

1. Pause variation: this will make the movement tougher as we pause for a couple of seconds at a certain point in the exercise, usually at the bottom where the muscles are doing the most work.
2. Banded version: this will make the movement tougher as we use bands to add resistance to the exercise. There are different exercise bands you can purchase, but we tend to like the thicker, closed-loop bands. They are much easier to pack for a road trip than a set of weights. You can learn more about resistance bands here. 
3. Dynamic version: this will make the movement tougher as we add some speed to the exercise. This generally involves a jumping variation of a regular exercise, such as jumping squats or jumping split squats.

Now, sometimes we need to make exercises EASIER.

This is generally done by performing an assisted variation. 

With an assisted variation, we make the movement easier and generally involve holding onto something solid nearby – whether that’s a countertop, chair, or wall.

Assisted variations are also handy (hehe) for doing warm-ups. See above.

Now, obviously, a simple way to make an exercise tougher is to add some weight to it. Let’s talk about that next.

How to Use Weights at Home for Leg Day (Including Household Objects)

Adding any weight to an exercise will naturally make the movement tougher, as we have to move our bodyweight and this additional weight. You might have a small collection of weights and dumbbells at home that you can use, but we can also grab anything safe and stable for additional weight. We’ll go over a few ideas below and it’s something we bring up in this video:

As highlighted by Coach Matt in the video above, various household items can be repurposed for your home gym!

Picture yourself as a fitness MacGyver, but instead of building a helicopter with a crazy straw, a can of hairspray, and some bubble gum…

You’re crafting a home gym!

Consider these alternative fitness equipment ideas using everyday items:

#1) Household Containers (Milk, Laundry)

If it has a handle and can hold water, it can serve as a makeshift free weight.

Another idea is to use an empty laundry detergent bottle, refilled with water. To make it lighter, adjust the water level.

Want it even heavier? Use sand instead.

#2) Buckets

What’s designed to hold water and be lifted and carried?

A bucket!

With a bucket and your legs, you can perform a Romanian deadlift:

 

 

Like a jug, fill it with enough water (or sand) to match your strength. Take your time if you’re using water, as it’ll be likely to slosh out otherwise!

 

#3) Luggage and Backpacks

Your luggage might just be sitting in a closet right now. Or you might have a ton of extra bags or backpacks lying around.

So why not turn these into weights? Fill them with anything that can add a bit of heft.

Need some ideas? How about:

• Books
• Canned goods
• Laundry!

Take a stroll around your house; you’ll find plenty to add to make things challenging. (Just remember to keep it safe!)

Now that you have heavy luggage, deadlifts are a great option. You may find it a bit more challenging to lift than a traditional dumbbell or barbell too!

 

Most exercises with a sandbag can be replicated with a suitcase filled with weight too. You could even just dive into the deep end and make a few sandbags yourself.

And finally, a heavy backpack is great to wear for weighted squats, lunges, or step-ups.

 

What Exactly Is Leg Day?

So what is this “leg day”, and why does everyone always seem to be skipping it?

Leg day isn’t any more complex than dedicating an entire workout to the lower body. This allows you to focus much more time and attention on it, than if you were working your leg exercises during a total body routine. (Like something we outline here.)

Leg day also tends to be really, really HARD. Not only because we’re recruiting the biggest muscles of the body to move around the most amount of weight, but the rest of the body usually also has to work and stabilize everything in the process.

Lots more working than just the legs here!

Now there’s nothing right or wrong about having a dedicated leg day. This may or may not work with your current goals and situation.

But whether you have an entire dedicated leg workout, or work total body with each session, training your legs is a must.

That’s because…

5 Reasons to Never Skip Leg Day

You may wondered:

“Are training legs really that important? I mean, I walk a lot.

Isn’t that good enough?”

My answer: no. Now go do some squats!

Kidding (but seriously do some squats).

Here are the benefits of doing leg day:

1. Build a Beastly Base: Your legs are the powerhouse of your body, literally. Strong legs = better balance, improved athleticism, and a boost in everyday activities like climbing stairs or carrying groceries like a champ. Think of them as the foundation of your fitness empire!
2. Calorie Crushing: Leg workouts engage multiple muscle groups, making them calorie-burning machines. Squats, lunges, deadlifts – they all send your metabolism into overdrive, helping you sculpt a leaner, fitter you. Plus, the extra muscle mass you build burns more calories even at rest, meaning more calories burned while playing video games.^[1] 
3. Total Body Gains: Forget the myth of isolated muscle groups. Leg workouts trigger a hormonal cascade throughout the whole body that benefits the rest of your muscles, leading to gains in upper body strength as well. Biceps? Triceps? They’ll be thanking you for those squats!
4. Brain Booster: Exercise isn’t just about the body, it’s a friend to the brain too. Leg workouts increase blood flow to your head, delivering oxygen and nutrients that boost cognitive function and memory. So, next time you need to ace that presentation or remember where you parked the car (again), hit the gym and give your legs some love.^[2] 
5. Pain Prevention Powerhouse: Strong leg muscles are your body’s shock absorbers, protecting your joints and spine from injuries. So embrace the leg day life – your future self will thank you for it!^[3] 

Now, to answer your question: 

Can You Get Strong Legs Just by Walking?

While a brisk walk (or a run) is a fantastic way to stay active, improve your cardiovascular health, and boost your mood, it’s not quite the muscle-building superhero you might be hoping for. Think of it like a gentle tap on the shoulder compared to the full-on boot camp of squats and lunges. Challenging strength exercises, like the ones you see in this article, have a host of benefits you won’t get walking and running.

First off, they take the joints through a much bigger range of motion. The amount of movement in the knees and hips during a squat is significantly more than a walk. It’s important to move our joints through these ranges of motion, so we can continue moving them well for years to come!

Next, this bigger range of motion means we’re building strength in the muscles much more effectively than with a walk or a run. More strength will serve us well in anything we do – from sports to life.

Lastly, this strength-building also puts enough stress on the body to build (or maintain) muscle and bone. The same can’t be said for walking and running. Maintaining muscle and bone is vital as we age (and also pretty darn important when we’re younger too!).

So, while walking is excellent for the heart and a great foundation for a healthy lifestyle, don’t underestimate the power of adding some targeted strength training to unlock those hidden gains. Trust me, your legs will thank you for it!

Oh, and if you are interested in walking more (a great idea in general), here’s The Hobbit’sNerd’s Guide to Walking.

How to Prevent Muscle Soreness From Leg Day

First things first, let’s manage expectations. 

Soreness is a natural consequence of challenging your muscles – especially if you’re coming back from a long break or trying something new. It’s like your body throwing a tiny temper tantrum because you dared to ask it to get outside its comfort zone.

So maybe reframe this as your muscles whispering, “Hey, we just leveled up!”

Now, that doesn’t mean we gotta roll around in agony the day after. We can outsmart the soreness a bit with some clever strategies.

Step 1) Pre-Workout Prep

• Warm up like nobody’s watching: Get your blood pumping with some easy movements like leg swings or marching. Think of it as waking up your muscles before they get thrown into the gladiator arena. We covered a warm-up at the top of this article (found here), but we also have a complete guide that covers different warm-up routines. 
• Hydrate!: Water is your post-workout soreness BFF. Hydrating properly can lessen discomfort and safeguard your joints and muscles. It works by maintaining the flexibility of the cartilage, kind of like giving them a regular dose of TLC. Fill up before, during, and after your leg day adventure. Think of it as internal lubrication for those tired warriors.

Step 2) During Your Workout

• Form is your fortress: Don’t ego-lift, my friend. Use proper form to target the right muscles and avoid injury. If you find an exercise too challenging, then adjust to another variation. We’re trying to slowly build a castle here, and proper form is how we make sure all the rocks go in the right places.
• Progressive overload, not extreme overload: Push yourself, but listen to your body. Don’t go from “I never work out” to “squat champion” in a day. Your muscles need time to adapt and build strength. Increasing the amount of work you do too drastically is a surefire way to have some debilitating soreness from your workout.
• Variety is the spice of leg life: Different exercises target different muscle fibers within your legs. Squats primarily engage quads, while lunges hit hamstrings and glutes more prominently. By mixing things up, you ensure all muscle groups get challenged, and one area isn’t beaten up relentlessly (and incredibly sore the next day). Working different exercises also leads to more balanced and overall leg development.

Now, Step 3 is going to get us into “active recovery.” Basically, what to do AFTER your leg day workout.

But let’s dive into a new section for that.

What Workout to Do AFTER Leg Day? (5 Ideas)

To recover from an intense leg day workout, there are a few things we can do. Some of these things can be done right after our workout, while others can be prioritized the next day.

Here are some ideas:

#1) Cool Down

Avoid the post-workout slump with a gentle cooldown. Light activity like walking or jogging helps pump blood through your working muscles, preventing them from feeling like overinflated balloons. This can reduce lactic acid buildup, a major contributor to muscle soreness.

#2) Foam Rolling

Foam rolling is your secret weapon for releasing tension and improving blood flow in those tired legs, especially in your quads, hamstrings, and glutes. Think of it as giving your muscles a mini massage after a workout. Studies show that foam rolling can help increase blood flow to the treated area, potentially aiding in faster recovery and reducing muscle soreness.^[4] 

Remember, it’s not a battle – listen to your body and apply gentle pressure. We’re trying to relax the muscles a bit, not beat them down into submission.

Here’s a routine you can run through if you have a roller handy:

For more, check out our guide How to Use a Foam Roller (Step by Step). 

#3) Re-Fuel!

Soon after your workout, replenish your energy stores with a delicious blend of protein and carbs. 

Think of meals like:

• Protein smoothie with banana
• Greek yogurt with berries and granola
• Whole-wheat wrap with turkey and avocado 

Studies show that consuming protein and carbs soon after a workout optimizes muscle recovery and growth.^[5] 

#4) Motion is Lotion!

This is a favorite saying we have around here. It means to move around nice and easy, anyway that you can! This might mean a light walk, or a yoga session, or even a set or two of yesterday’s exercises at an easy level. Look to get the joints and muscles through as big a range of motion as you can.

This is often the exact opposite of what many people do the day after leg day – which is to sit around for days and wait for the soreness to subside. You’ll feel much better and be able to tackle your next workout a lot sooner if you remember to keep moving around!

#5) Sleep

Don’t underestimate the power of sleep! Aim for 7-8 hours of quality shut-eye to allow your muscles to repair and rebuild. As we cover in our Guide to a Goodnight’s Rest, sleep is like magic for your body – it’s when the real growth and progress happen. 

For more tips on activities to do after your leg day workout, check out The Nerd’s Guide to Active Recovery.

What’s the Best Day for Leg Day? (When to Schedule Leg Day)

When it comes to scheduling your leg day, there’s no one-size-fits-all solution. It’s all about finding what works best for your schedule.

With that being said, here are some things to consider when scheduling Leg Day:

1. When you have the most time. Working legs is tough and takes time to warm up and go heavy in your sets, as compared to the upper body. While we still recommend getting in your leg workouts even if you have a busy schedule, IF you have a choice then look to line up your leg day with the day of the week that gives you the most available time.
2. Post rest day for a fresh attack. To maximize muscle engagement, potentially schedule your leg day workout after a rest day. That way you’re feeling recovered and ready to put in the hard work.
3. Avoid pulling exercises the day before. Often when someone is doing a dedicated leg day, they’ll work their upper body on the other days of the week. With these upper body workouts, it’s also common for people to break up the exercises into pushing and pulling workouts. Because we often have to grab and hold weights or bands for our leg day workouts, it’s better to avoid scheduling leg day the day after your pulling workouts.  The grip will be tired and it may affect what you can lift.

So there you have it, my friend! The leg day gauntlet has been laid, but how you choose to conquer it is entirely yours. 

You may find a dedicated leg day to work best for you – allowing you to really focus on each exercise and push really hard. Or you may find that a total body workout – hitting legs and upper body in the same session – works much better for your schedule and your goals. There are no right and wrong answers here.

Remember, the Nerd Fitness Rebellion isn’t about rigid rules, it’s about experimenting, finding what lights your training fire, and making progress toward your goals while having fun.

And if you’re looking for even more help in building your workout, don’t forget to check out our guide on crafting the perfect personalized workout plan: How to Build a Workout Routine. 

It’ll help you incorporate your new leg day routine into a complete workout.

Now go forth, nerdy warriors! Conquer leg day, conquer your workouts, and conquer the world, one step, squat, and lunge at a time!

-Coach Jim

PS – This is my favorite leg day meme:

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It’s time to learn how to do a Turkish get-up!

I’m glad you want to learn it, as it’s a great functional exercise that will improve your strength and balance.

However, it’s also a bit of a technical movement, as there are quite a few steps to follow.

But have no fear! You’re in the right place to learn the Turkish get-up.

After all, it’s what we do best here at Nerd Fitness: making complex exercises simple for beginners.

Here’s what we’ll cover today:

• How to do a Turkish get-up (with video tutorial)
• What are the Turkish get-up steps?
• What’s a Turkish get-up workout?
• What are the benefits of the Turkish get-up?
• What muscles are worked with the Turkish get-up?
• Why’s it called the “Turkish get-up”? (Origins of the TGU)
• The Turkish get-up for beginners (when in doubt, start here)
• 8 common mistakes when doing the Turkish get-up

Let’s get after it.

How to Do a Turkish Get-up (With Video Tutorial)

In the video above, Coach Staci walks you through proper technique with the Turkish get-up (TGU).

Staci demonstrates three versions of the TGU:

• With no weight (or a bodyweight TGU)
• With a shoe to help test alignment
• With a dumbbell

But there’s a lot to the move, so we’ll break it down for you.

Before we do, it’s worth pointing out that Staci is a coach here at NF!

Yep, we’re lucky to have her on the team

When she’s not busy making videos on complex exercises, she’s coaching nerds on how to grow strong and level up their nutrition.

Pretty cool, huh?

If you’re interested in learning more, you can learn all about our coaching program right here:

Check out NF Coaching!

What are the Turkish Get-up Steps?

Here’s how to perform the Turkish Get-up, step by step:

#1) Lie on the Floor, Extend Arm, Bend Leg

Begin in a supine position, extending one arm vertically while bending the same-side leg. This is our starting stance.

#1a) If Weighted, Roll onto Your Back and Extend the Arm

For those using additional weight, start on your side and pull the weight close with two arms. Roll onto your back, continuing to keep the weight close, then extend the weight overhead with both arms, taking your time and maintaining control.

#2) Roll up onto the Other Forearm

Maintain eye contact with the hand overhead as you roll from your back up onto your opposite forearm.

#3) Get up onto Your Hand

Continue the movement by getting up onto your hand, and maintaining eye contact with the other hand overhead.

#4) Bridge the Hips and Sweep the Leg Under

Keep your hand on the ground and lift your hips high enough to sweep your leg underneath you. We’re looking to move that leg far enough to make a triangle on the ground with your hand, knee, and foot.

#4a) Ensure a Stable Triangle

Make sure the triangle you’ve created with hand, knee, and foot feels strong before shifting weight and moving onto the next step.

#5) Move into a Kneeling Lunge Position

Lift up your body into a kneeling lunge, with one knee up and the other down. Take your time to maintain your balance.

#6) Stand up (Halfway through the TGU)

Stand up completely. This is the halfway point of the Turkish Get-up.

#7) Step Back to a Kneeling Lunge

Start the descent by stepping back into a kneeling lunge.

#8) Hand Down, Create a Triangle with Foot and Knee

Lower your hand, forming the same stable triangle with your hand, knee, and foot on the ground. 

#9) Keep Hips High, Sweep the Leg Under

Push your hand strong into the ground and keep the hips elevated, as you sweep the leg forward and sit on the ground.

#10) Forearm and Elbow Down on the Ground

Bring your forearm and elbow down to the ground, continuing to maintain eye contact with your hand (or weight) overhead.

#11) Upper Back Down on Ground

Complete the Turkish Get-up by gently lowering your upper back to the ground.

#11a) If Weighted, Lower Weight Down, Roll to Your Side

For those with added weight, lower it down with two hands (if necessary), keeping it close, and then roll it to the side to put it on the ground.

 

What’s a Turkish Get-up Workout?

The Turkish get-up is very versatile and can be worked into your routine in several different ways.

Here are some quick examples of a Turkish Get-up Workout:

• Warm-up: Perform 1-2 easy sets of 2-3 reps each side, alternating sides, with light or no weight. With little rest between sets, it’s quick, effective, and readies your body for more.
• Strength Training: Opt for 2-3 sets of 1-3 reps per side, either same side or alternating, with progressively heavier weight. Rest 1-3 minutes between sets.
• Conditioning: Engage in 2-3 sets of 3-5 reps or more per side, alternating sides, using light to medium weight. Keep it moving to elevate your heart rate (minimal rest).

Let’s break this down a bit.

#1) The Turkish Get-up as a Warm-up

If your aim is to warm up and prepare your body for action, incorporate the Turkish Get-up with 1-2 easy sets. Perform 2-3 reps on each side, alternating between left and right. 

This can be done with a lighter weight or just your bodyweight, focusing on proper form. Even without added weight, ensure you go through all the points of performance, treating it as if there’s resistance. Each repetition may take 15-30 seconds (or more if you’re first learning), offering a thorough warm-up.  If you need a bit more warm-up, then do a few more reps! This will get your entire body ready for more activity.

 

#2) The Turkish Get-up as Strength Training

While it doesn’t look like a traditional exercise, you’ll still build plenty of strength when you start increasing the weight and testing yourself.

Because of the longer time it takes to complete each rep (as opposed to something like a push-up or a squat), you’ll tend to see lower rep ranges worked with this exercise – 1 to 3 reps per side is a good place to start.

You can work the same side (all 1-3 reps done before switching) or alternate reps (one rep left, one rep right, etc). To progress, continue to increase the weight used, as long as you have control. 

If you decide to add more reps, we start to enter the world of conditioning.

 

#3) The Turkish Get-up as Conditioning

If we want to turn the Turkish get-up into a conditioning exercise, then increase the total number of reps, while keeping the rest between sets minimal.

Because the shoulder will fatigue first, it’s best to alternate between sides (although if you’re feeling spicy – then complete all the reps on one side first!). 

We’re also looking for light to medium weight so that we can keep things going safely, while getting the heart rate up.

As with any of these recommendations, if you need to make it tougher then start adding weight and/or reps, or just decrease your rest time!

 

What Are the Benefits of the Turkish Get-Up?

With all of these steps and cues in the Turkish get-up, you might be asking yourself: 

“Why? What’s the point and benefit of learning this? What muscles are even worked?”

You might have heard of the 2012 study that linked the ability to stand up from the ground easily with a longer life. This was attributed in part to the fact that flexibility, strength, and coordination are all important things to maintain as one gets older.

But even if you’re not a senior in their golden years, you can still build up and benefit from more of each of those attributes.

In addition, and this is something very often overlooked in people’s routines, it’s good to move in different directions. 

The sky’s the limit here. 

Too often we head to the gym and move around like we’re on tracks: moving forward or backward, two feet together, both arms pressing or pulling at the same time.

If we never explore different planes of motion and stress the arms and legs independently of one another, then when we’re called to do this outside the gym (cue Morpheus saying “Welcome to the real world”), there can be some troubles.

Now any sort of movement is fantastic – so don’t stress out or second guess yourself – but when you’re looking to level up your workout, then look to work your arms and legs independently of each other.

This might be as simple as a lunge:

Or a one-arm row:

You can also look to move in different directions – this might look like a lunge to the side:

As opposed to always lunging to the front. 

Then, of course, you can also pick up and explore the Turkish get-up. Feel how we’re moving in unfamiliar directions and stressing our muscles in unique ways with the exercise.

Now, to your next question:

 

What muscles do Turkish Get-ups work?

When performing Turkish get-ups, you’ll strengthen muscles like:

• Chest and arm – as we press the weight into the starting position.
• Core – specifically the obliques and abdominals, as you move from the floor to a standing position (and back down). As you move through several positions, your core will be engaged the whole time.
• Shoulder – as we put our other hand on the ground and get the supporting arm vertical.
• Glutes – as we bridge up our hips.
• Quads – as we get into and stand up from a lunge position.
• Grip – as we squeeze the weight hard to control it.

But really, it’s just about every muscle you have.

That’s because the Turkish Get-up is what we call a “total body movement,” meaning it requires every muscle in your body, all working together.

So your shoulders will stabilize the weight above you, all while your glutes and core are engaged. 

On top of that, the Turkish Get-up will also help improve:

• Coordination – following the correct sequence during the Turkish get-up will help your body awareness, also known as “proprioception.” This will help you improve coordination.
• Mobility – getting off and on the ground takes some work. Adding a weight to the equation makes it even more so. This is a perfect recipe to improve mobility.
• Balance – you shift a lot during the Turkish get-up, using one limb and then another. This will require some balance.

Because of this, you’ll often see the Turkish Get-up included in a Functional Fitness Workout (like those found in CrossFit). 

Functional Fitness means training that will carry over to your day-to-day life. With the TGU, it’ll help you remain strong to get off the floor or grab a heavy item from a shelf.

It’s no wonder people have been doing this exercise for well over 100 years (and some legends say over 200 years!)

Speaking of…

Why’s It Called the “Turkish Get-Up”? (Origins of the TGU)

Some believe that ancient wrestlers, in what is now Turkey, invented the get-up to prepare for their intense competitions. 

Additionally, it also demonstrated their immense strength to each other (everyone loves to show off now and then).

To support this theory, it’s also worth noting that the Turkish get-up is traditionally done with kettlebells, which have historical use in the region.

For example, as BJJEE points out, you can find old kettlebells at the Taksim Pera Museum in Istanbul, Turkey:

So that’s probably why it’s called the “Turkish get-up.”

You might also hear the TGU referred to as “The Turkish Stand-up” or “The Kettlebell Stand-up.” Don’t worry, it’s all the same exercise.

 

The Turkish Get-up for Beginners (When in Doubt, Start Here)

Even as we tout all these benefits, we also understand that the Turkish get-up is an intimidating exercise! 

After all:

• There are a lot of steps.
• You’re not sure if you’re doing them correctly.
• You might eventually have a weight balanced over your head!

Never fear! There are a lot of things that a beginner can do to tackle the TGU, build confidence, and have fun with it.

Here are four ways a beginner can get started with the TGU:

#1) Do the Turkish Get-up with no weight (or a Bodyweight TGU)

As we mentioned earlier, a good starting point would be to work the movement with nothing but your own bodyweight. 

There’s enough to think about with your own coordination, before having to worry about controlling another object too!

#2) Split up the Turkish Get-up

Another really good way to ease into the full TGU is to work on parts of it. You can do this anywhere along the line for as many steps as you want, but some of my favorite variations:

Part #1) From the start (lying on the floor), to getting up to your hand, and then back down again.

Part #2) From sitting up on your hand, to bridging your hips up and sweeping the leg under, and then reversing it. 

Part #3) From foot, knee, and hand on the ground, to getting into a reverse lunge position, then standing up, then reversing it all (reverse lunge back down, put your hand down in the triangle)

#3) Do the Turkish Get-up with a Shoe

As Coach Staci showed in the video at the top of this article, a fun variation you can try before adding any weights is standing up and down with a shoe in your hand! 

Specifically, we want to rest the shoe on our open hand, so that if you let your arm drop or drift forward, the shoe might topple out.

#4) Do the Turkish Get-up with a Medicine Ball

If you want a more “fun” variation of that, you can do a TGU with a medicine ball in your hand. Pick a larger one so that you can’t grab and control the ball (unless you have hands like the Hulk!). This will really test your abilities to keep the arm vertical and control every aspect of the motion.

And if you think this is too mean-spirited, just know that in many kettlebell certification courses, they expect you to do this open-handed with a cup of water! Any wavering from a good position will result in an impromptu shower! 

It’s all in good fun though, and will give you a really, really good idea of what steps you need to practice more.

 

8 Common Mistakes When Doing Turkish Get-Ups

Despite the detailed steps, there are a few prevalent mistakes that often crop up. Let’s talk about what we SHOULD do to avoid them.

#1) Keep Your Eye on the Weight!

This is so key that you should write it on the bottom of all your kettlebells. It can be tempting to look around as you play one-person twister with yourself, but keep watching that weight! It is much, much easier to control it when you do. If you do have to bail and drop the weight to the ground, it’s also easier to direct if you’ve been watching it the entire time.

#2) Use Two Arms to Bring the Weight into the Starting Position.

Early on, it’s common to grab the weight with one hand, especially with lighter loads. However, as weights get heavier, this becomes impractical and risks shoulder strain. Practice rolling to your side and using both hands to secure the weight, ensuring a controlled and safe setup.

#3) Try to ROLL SIDEWAYS to Your Forearm and Hand.

As we’re lying on our back with the weight over our chest, it’s incredibly common for people to want to sit forward and up to get into position. Maybe it’s years and years of sit-ups in gym class. While you can get away with this with light or no weight, it quickly becomes impossible with heavier weights.

Instead, think about rolling to your side (the side opposite the weight) to get onto your forearm and then hand. You should press down with the leg that’s bent (the leg that’s the same side as the weight) to help the movement.

#4) Create That Triangle Before Moving Up into the Reverse Lunge.

After we bridge our hips and sweep the leg underneath, it can be tempting to try and rush the next step and try to get upright and stand up. As with all these steps and mistakes, you’ll be able to get away with this with lighter weight, but not heavy.

After you sweep your leg under, pause. Ensure you’re forming a stable triangle with your hand, knee, and foot. This foundational position provides the stability needed as you ascend.

#5) Press the Weight Up and Back as You Stand Up.

This is a cue that might not make sense until you try it and feel it, but the common mistake we’re trying to correct here is when people stand up from the lunge position, and their arm (and weight) shift forward. This often then results in them losing the weight to the front and dropping it.

To counteract this, focus on driving the weight up to the ceiling and back behind your head. This intention will help keep the weight over your own center of gravity so you can stand up triumphantly.

#6) On the Way Down, Roll to Your Elbow, Then the Nearest Shoulder, Then the Farthest Shoulder.

Another cue that may sound puzzling until you’re finishing up a TGU with heavy weight. Common mistake here is to get excited and rush the end. Your hand is on the ground, your hips are on the ground – things are so close you can taste it!

Well, you might be tasting the weight in a moment if you simply fall backwards to your entire upper back. Just as we want to focus on rolling upwards at the start (as opposed to trying to sit forward and up), we want to do the same thing on the way down.

Get down to the elbow, keep the upper body slightly rotated as you lower down to touch one shoulder, THEN let the rest of your upper back and second shoulder roll down and rest on the ground.

Plus, don’t forget…

#7) Engage Your Core Throughout the Turkish Get-up.

Given the technical nature of this exercise, it’s easy to let your core relax. Actively engage your core throughout the entire movement to ensure stability and control.

#8) Move Slow. 

Resist the temptation to rush through the Turkish Get-up; it’s a recipe for injury. Move deliberately and in control throughout the entire sequence. If necessary, opt for a lighter weight—there’s no shame in prioritizing safety.

 

How to Grow Strong (Next Steps)

If you’ve made it this far, then you’re obviously pretty serious about growing strong.

So why not check out our Beginner’s Guide to Strength Training?

It’ll show you exactly how to:

• Build a full-body workout
• Perform all the exercises required
• Eat so you grow muscle (and don’t put on too much fat)

Yep, it’s pretty cool, and many a nerd have used it to start their strength training careers.

Go check it out right here!

Okay, I think that about does it for me.

I’ll see ya later!

-Coach Jim

PS – You may be asking yourself:

How much progress can you make with the Turkish get-up?

Well, they make really heavy kettlebells, so there’s practically no limit here.

For example, here’s me doing a TGU with 106 pounds:

Just move up in bells gradually and consistently, and you’ll be lifting heavy weights before you know if.

###

 

Photo source: ruttanapol/123RF.COM, karmiic/123RF.COM, ©rosinka79/123RF.COM,  Turkish Get Up, malkovkosta/123RF.COM, tonobalaguer/123RF.COM, sergign/123RF.COM

The post How to Do a Turkish Get-up (and Workout Examples) first appeared on Nerd Fitness.

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So you’re interested in nutrition coaching?

Great! It’s a smart move for the right person. 

I’ve seen the power of it firsthand in our Online Coaching Program, with folks making small nutrition adjustments with big results.

But before you go and hire a nutrition coach, read this guide!

You see, in many places “nutritionist” is an unregulated term, so not all nutrition coaches you find will be equally qualified.

So let’s tell you what to look out for and whether you even need a nutrition coach to get started.

Here’s what we’ll cover:

• What does a nutrition coach do?
• How can a nutrition coach help me?
• What’s the difference between a dietitian and a nutritionist?
• What certifications should a nutrition coach have?
• Signs of a good nutrition coach (and signs of a bad one).
• How much does a nutrition coach cost?
• Do we even need a coach? (How to simplify nutrition).
• Is a nutrition coach worth it? 
• Hiring a nutrition coach (Next steps).

Let’s do this thang.

What Does a Nutrition Coach Do?

Nutrition coaches guide people’s dietary habits to improve their health, body composition, or athletic performance.

To do this correctly, a nutrition coach will need to know the science behind:

• How different macronutrients (protein, fat, and carbs) affect the human body.
• Calories, metabolism, and energy balance.
• The vitamins and minerals found in our food.

In a nutshell, a good nutrition coach will know how to properly nourish the human body.

They can probably also tell you a little bit about nuts and their shells!

But being an expert in nutrition science is only half of it. The other half is people.

Yep, a nutrition coach also needs to be an expert on folks like us. Otherwise, it’s hard to help people develop new habits.

Because sure, a chicken salad for dinner could be a smart move.

But how do you make that realistic for someone like Mason, who’s constantly working and studying?

That’s where a coach comes in.

To be done well, nutrition coaching needs to include “behavior change,” which enters the realm of psychology.

So a nutrition coach needs to be an expert on two things:

• Nutrition science
• People

Without the second bullet, you’re just handing out good advice that no one will ever use. 

Before we go on, I will mention that through NF Coaching, we not only work on nutrition. But we also help build sustainable workout programs too! The goal is really to come at fitness from every angle, including exercise, nutrition, and mindset. We’ve learned this is the key to making changes that LAST.

If you’d like to learn more about it, you can scope out our program right here:

Click here to learn how we help folks master nutrition!

Okay, let’s talk a little more about how a nutrition coach can help.

 

How Can a Nutrition Coach Help Me?

There are all sorts of things a nutrition coach can help us with. 

For example, a good nutrition coach will provide:

#1) ACCOUNTABILITY

This is one of the top reasons people hire a coach in the first place. When we survey those who join NF Coaching, it’s often the number one reason folks join the program.

That’s because knowing what to do is one thing. Doing it is quite another.

When we’re accountable to someone else, whether it’s a coach or even a friend who’s on a similar mission, we’re more likely to follow through.

Heck, it’s one of the reasons Rebel Leader Steve has a strength coach, despite running a fitness company.

Here’s what Steve says about it:

I know when my coach asks me about my workout, I don’t want to let him down. So I just do the workout.

The same accountability can happen with nutrition.

For example, if we make a plan for meal prep on Sunday afternoon, we’re more likely to do it if we know our coach will ask about it on Monday.

Accountability can often be the missing piece for starting long-lasting change. 

#2) A PERSONALIZED APPROACH

It’s really easy to go online and find a bunch of free recipes for healthy meals.

For example, here are 26 such recipes.

While these recipes can be a great starting point, they often won’t help with individual challenges:

• What if we don’t have any time to cook?
• What if we have to deal with food allergies?
• What if we want to eat the same dinner as our family?

That’s where the help of a coach can be a game-changer.

They can offer specific recommendations around our unique challenges (and we all have unique challenges). Plus, they can check in with us to make sure their solutions are working.

If those solutions aren’t working for us – nbd. They’ll brainstorm new strategies we can implement.

This personalized solution can be very helpful if we haven’t had much success with a “right out of the box” approach.

#3) EXPERTISE

I mentioned earlier that a nutrition coach needs to be an expert on human nutrition.

This is helpful, so we don’t have to worry about:

• Is Keto the best strategy for weight loss?
• Why have so many people had success with Paleo?
• How does OMAD fit into this?

While it’s good to be curious about different diets, a nutrition coach can help separate fact from fiction when it comes to healthy eating. 

Otherwise, we might get tricked into following some terrible “crash diet” or some social media “fad diet.”

#4) GUIDANCE AROUND “HOW TO EAT”

Most people approach proper nutrition around “what to eat.” Just as important, however, can be “how to eat.”

For example, a nutrition coach can help us develop skills around:

• Eating mindfully and slowly. Our bodies take a while to recognize it’s full. That’s why slowing down and concentrating on our meals can help with portion control. Some skills that might help include using a meal timer, putting the fork down between bites, and eating without the TV or our phone (i.e., no distractions). 
• Recognizing hunger and fullness cues. Sometimes, we eat just to eat. Maybe we’re more bored than hungry. Maybe we’re stressed and find ourselves emotionally eating. To help fight this, we can keep a “Hunger and Fullness Journal.” With our journal, we rate our hunger from 1 to 10 before eating anything. If it’s less than 6 or 7, maybe we pause for 30 minutes or so and check back in later. It’s the same idea for our fullness. We’ll pause during the meal so we can ask “How hungry am I still?” If our hunger has subsided, maybe we save the rest of our food for later. The goal is to get to know our body’s hunger signals again.
• Creating a schedule for meals. Most people do best with eating on some type of routine. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner at roughly the same time. Our body will pick up on this and naturally get hungry at the times we normally eat. 

In our Online Coaching Program, we’ll often assign missions to work on a “how to eat” skill for the week:

• “This week, how about we put down our fork between bites?”
• “What if our next mission is to eat without the TV on?”
• “How do you feel about having dinner at the same time this week?”

These missions are discussed and built between the coach and client, so we can custom-make the best plan for you! After a few months of this, it can be surprising just how different our eating habits look.

#5) TOOLS FOR BUILDING HEALTHY HABITS

One of our head coaches is fond of saying “The secret to our program is we build long-term healthy habits together.”

Sure, it’s great if someone can work out 2x a week and eat healthy lunches every day for a month.

But it’s even BETTER if they can do it for the foreseeable future.

The difference between the two? 

Making them long-term habits.

A habit is something we do all the time, without much thought. Like bruising our teeth in the morning or showering at night.

We want our healthy eating behaviors to join this mix.

If a year from now, we’re still practicing the actions our nutrition coach recommended, then we’ll call that a major win.

Hiring a nutrition coach can absolutely be worth the investment if we continue our healthy habits after our time together is over. 

Next, let’s talk about what separates a dietitian from a nutritionist. 

 

What Is the Difference Between a Dietitian and a Nutritionist?

The big difference between a “dietitian” and a “nutritionist” is the formal education required and the regulations that govern the use of the title. 

While they both have their time and place, it’s important to understand the difference between the two:

• Dietitians treat disease through nutrition and will often work within hospitals. For example, they might prescribe a diet to a patient with diabetes to help manage blood sugar levels. They’ll likely hold the title of Registered Dietitian (RD).
• Nutritionists work with the general population to develop healthy eating behavior, often to meet a client’s personal goal. You might hear them referred to as a “Nutrition Coach.”

Throughout most of the world, the title of “dietitian” is regulated by a governing body, like the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics in the United States.^[1]

While some states and countries do regulate the title of “nutritionist,” the requirements are often far less rigorous. 

Here’s another way to think of it: all “Dietitians” can likely call themselves “Nutritionists” but not all “Nutritionists” can call themselves “Dietitians.”

To become a dietitian in the US you need to:

• Earn an accredited bachelor’s or master’s degree
• Complete an internship
• Pass the Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR) exam
• Obtain the appropriate state license
• Maintain said state license

What does it take to become a nutritionist?

Well, depending on where you live, it could be nothing.

Yep, you could print a business card with “nutritionist” on it and get to work.

Now, obviously, there’s a big difference between calling yourself a nutritionist and actually helping people.

Yeah…

However, that doesn’t mean a nutrition coach can’t be beneficial. 

Since the barrier to entry is lower, it’s often more affordable to hire a nutritionist or nutrition coach.

Plus, a nutrition coach will often work alongside a dietitian, helping to facilitate their prescription.

Much the same way an orthopedist might work with a physical therapist.

Next, let’s chat about some certifications we can look out for if we want to hunt down a well-trained nutrition coach. 

 

What Certifications Should a Nutrition Coach Have?

There are quite a few certification programs out there for nutrition.

Some are great!

Some are…not so great.

Let’s chat about some of the legit ones.

Here are some certifications to look for if we’re going to hire a nutrition coach:

#1) PRECISION NUTRITION CERTIFICATION LEVEL 1 (PN1)

One of the most well-respected certifications for nutrition comes from Precision Nutrition. 

In fact, when we hire coaches, it’s one of the qualifications we look out for!

PN states there’s “no best diet for everyone” and instead believes coaches should help their clients find the individualized nutrition plan that works best for them.

They’re one of the best in the business, and their curriculum has had a big impact on Nerd Fitness Coaching. 

#2) INTERNATIONAL SPORTS SCIENCES ASSOCIATION’S (ISSA) NUTRITIONIST CERTIFICATION

ISSA is an education company that does certifications for personal training and strength coaching.

They also offer a Nutrition Certification that is pretty well done. 

#3) THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SPORTS MEDICINE (NASM) NUTRITION CERTIFICATION

NASM is another name well-respected in the fitness industry. 

While they mainly certify personal trainers, they also offer a comprehensive nutrition certification.

Now, these three companies aren’t the only organizations that do good work with nutrition certifications. But this can start to give us an idea of things to look out for when seeking out a nutrition coach.

 

Signs of a Good Nutrition Coach (and Signs of a Bad One)

Not all nutrition coaches will be created equal:

• A good coach will work with us to develop a healthier relationship with food, focusing on habits that will help us reach our goals.
• A bad coach will just tell us to eat more broccoli (thanks Coach, super helpful).

Outside of the credentials we discussed in the last section, here are some other signs to look out for:

#1) They ask us a lot of questions

A good nutrition coach will want to learn about us before they recommend anything.

They’ll ask us questions like:

• What are your goals?
• What’s been your previous experience with weight loss or gain?
• How do you normally eat today?
• What’s your schedule like?
• What other priorities do you have?

Without this information, it’s very difficult to help someone.

If a nutrition coach doesn’t ask us a bunch of questions, that’s a huge giant red flag.

#2) They’ll work with us to create an action plan

The name of the game here is “long-lasting change.”

To do that, habits need to be created TOGETHER.

If our coach just tells us what to do, without any input from us, it might fall flat.

For example:

• If a coach tells us to batch cook on Sunday, but we don’t know how to work an oven, this won’t fly (here’s how to cook some easy meals btw).
• Let’s say we want to eat dinner with our family. Well, our coach’s advice to eat the same thing over and over might cause our kids to revolt (“Chicken AGAIN…gag”).

If a coach creates a plan that never addresses what we can do or what we want to do, it’s destined to fail.

#3) They’ll monitor our progress

Any halfway-decent coach is going to check in frequently for a status update.

As they say, that which gets measured gets managed, so a good nutrition coach will gather data on things like:

• Body Measurements. How much we weigh, waist circumference, etc.
• Strength. If we’re trying to grow strong, our coach might check to see if we’re increasing in weight with our resistance training. 
• Lab test results. Maybe we have some health metrics, like cholesterol levels, we’re trying to change.
• Compliance. Let’s say we have a goal of eating a vegetable with every dinner. Are we actually doing it?
• Confidence. Our confidence levels can often be a good indicator of how we’re doing in a program.

If a nutrition coach doesn’t check in on how you’re doing, consider that another big red flag!

#4) They’ll base their recommendations on outcomes

A good nutrition coach is like a scientist.

Their recommendations are almost like experiments. They’ll ask themselves questions like:

• Did my clients perform their assigned tasks?
• Is it helping them with their goals?
• Are they enjoying themselves?

Like any good scientist, they won’t judge the outcome. 

If under certain conditions an experiment catches fire…well…we now know what will set the experiment ablaze.

“Day 9…still catching fire.”

So a good nutrition coach will constantly reflect on what our feedback means:

• Scenario – “After working on it all week, my client still doesn’t have enough time to make breakfast.” 
• Possible Solution – “Perhaps we should propose making a protein smoothie the night before?”
• Scenario – “Despite the changes we’ve made, my client hasn’t been losing weight.” 
• Possible Solution – “Maybe it’s time for a food journal, so we can both see how many calories they’re eating?”
• Scenario – “My client easily obtained protein with every meal last week.”
• Possible Solution – “Maybe we should scale this up, and include a vegetable with every meal now too?”

That’s why a good nutrition coach is constantly changing their action plan, based on the outcomes they see and record.

#5) They know when to refer out

There are some things a nutrition coach can’t help us with.

That would be any kind of medical intervention. 

If we need someone to “prescribe” a diet to treat any kind of disease (Crohn’s, Hashimoto’s, etc.), we’ll need an actual Registered Dietitian or other medical professionals to do so.

While a nutrition coach can help with the implementation of that treatment (“Here are some ways to get more iron in your diet”), the actual treatment needs to come from someone properly qualified.

Plus, a good nutrition coach will understand this. They’ll recognize their own lane and know when it’s time to refer out (and might even have some recommendations if you don’t know who to talk to).

 

How Much Does a Nutrition Coach Cost?

The cost of a nutritionist is really going to be variable.

But you can expect to pay $50 to $150 for a one-hour session with a nutrition coach.^[2] 

Note: Insurance will generally not cover a nutrition coach or nutritionist unless they are a registered dietitian.

This leads to another question…

How much does a registered dietitian cost?

Again, it’s variable, but you can expect to pay somewhere between $100 to $200 for a one-hour session with a dietitian.^[3]

This might be covered by insurance, but usually only when there’s a diagnosis that requires nutrition counseling. 

If the cost of a nutritionist seems too high, it might be worth considering…

 

Do We Even Need a Nutrition Coach? (or How to Simplify Nutrition)

Before we go out and hire a nutrition coach, it might be worth asking ourselves a couple of questions: 

Am I making this harder than it needs to be?

Could I benefit from making nutrition super simple?

As Coach Staci explains in the video above, overcomplicating nutrition could look like this:

• Weighing all our food.
• Calculating the correct macronutrient split.
• Daily fasts.

Now, there’s a time and place for all this. But there’s also a time and place to ignore it.

Coach Staci has had clients absolutely convinced they had to weigh their food to lose weight. 

They’ll start out good, weighing everything they eat. This generally only lasts for a week or so, because they quickly grow annoyed at the overwhelming amount of work involved! 

So they quit. 

Instead of this, maybe we start off smaller and simpler.

To improve nutrition, try these three things:

1. Have a glass of water with every meal.
2. Have a lean source of protein at every meal.
3. Have a vegetable with every meal.

That’s it! Let’s just do those three things.

Don’t worry about Keto, Paleo, or Plant-Based. 

Just make sure to drink enough water, get plenty of protein, and eat lots of veggies.

Then we can worry about all sorts of complicated nutrition stuff.

 

Is a Nutrition Coach Worth It?

Ultimately, the question of whether or not a nutrition coach is worth it will come down to a few things:

• Our goals
• What we need help with
• What kind of coach is available to us

If it can be done on our own, great!

I’ve seen all sorts of Rebels grab a map and make their way to Mordor.

But, I’ve also seen lots of Rebels who’ve benefited from their very own Gandalf.

Someone who knows the way, and has helped people achieve similar goals. 

A good nutrition coach can 100% be this…if we find the right one.

Remember, “nutritionist” isn’t always a regulated term, so do a little research before jumping in.

Here’s something else to consider: some personal trainers ALSO offer nutrition coaching.

Many coaches are combining traditional personal training services like programming workouts alongside nutrition counseling, since the two can often be dependent on one another.

That’s more or less the basis of NF Coaching. Our coaches customize exercise routines, plus help our clients build healthy habits around nutritious eating (done all online).

We’ve found that lasting success often combines BOTH diet and exercise, so we don’t ignore either.

Plus, it’s often a better value to bundle both services together.

If you’re interested in seeing if one of our coaches can help you adjust your nutrition ( while also growing stronger), you can see if we’re a good fit for each other right here:

See how a Nerd Fitness Coach can help you develop healthy eating habits.

 

How to Hire a Nutrition Coach (Next Steps)

So you’ve decided you want to hire a nutrition coach?

Sweet!

Here’s what to do:

• Determine goals. We don’t want to start this process blindly. Figure out some goals and write them down. Any good coach is going to ask us about them right away.
• Formulate the scope. Do we need a medical professional for a prescribed way of eating? Or can a more generalized approach work? Do we want to meet someone in person or online?
• Compare qualifications. Anyone can throw the word “nutrition coach” on their resume. So look at their qualifications. Are they certified? Do they have a track record for helping people? Don’t hire the first nutrition coach found. Do some research!
• Determine what “success” looks like. How will we know if we’re on the right track? Is it eating more vegetables? Losing 10 pounds? Ask what a successful result will look like.
• Get started. Write out some goals, do your research, and then act! Hiring a nutrition coach isn’t like getting married – we can always leave our coach after a month or two. Don’t let the search for the “perfect coach” prevent us from getting started.

That should help with hiring a nutrition coach.

Alright, I want to hear from you now:

Are you considering hiring a nutrition coach?

What behaviors do you need help with?

Any tips for hiring a good coach I’m missing?

Let me know in the comments!

-Paul Aguilar

PS: Make sure you check out The Nerd’s Guide to Healthy Eating for tips on how to make small tips on how to improve your nutrition. 

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Photo source: In 2015, the first woman coach was hired by a Major League Baseball team., ©Ekaterina Minaeva/123RF.COM, Four Bricks Tall, Not All Heroes Wear Capes, Mr. Bundit Chailaipanich/123RF.COM, ©rosinka79/123RF.COM, ©Lightfieldstudios/123RF.COM, bicycle 

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Want to get strong but hate the gym?

No problem!

With today’s Advanced Bodyweight Routine, you can burn fat, build muscle, and get a great workout in! All with no gym membership required!

It’s the kind of workout we build through our online coaching program. If you’re in a hurry, sign up for our free weekly newsletter and we’ll send you PDFs of our “Work Out at Home” guides!

Download our Free Home Workout Guides!

If you’re ready, click the sections below to get right into the action:

• Advanced Bodyweight Workout Video
• 21 Best Advanced Bodyweight Exercises
• How to scale your bodyweight workout
• What’s next after the Advanced Bodyweight Workout?

Alright, let’s do this thang.

The Advanced Bodyweight Workout

This is the Advanced Bodyweight Workout (Do 3 Circuits):

• 10 One-Legged Squats – each side
• 20 Bodyweight Squats
• 20 Walking Lunges (10 each leg)
• 20 Jump Step-Ups (10 each leg)
• 10 Pull-Ups (or inverted bodyweight rows using your kitchen table)
• 10 Dips – Bar Stools
• 10 Chin-Ups (or inverted bodyweight rows with an underhand grip)
• 10 Push-Ups
• 30 Second Plank

See our section below on advanced bodyweight exercises to see how to do each of these movements!

I do use a door-frame pull-up bar in the video, but you can do table bodyweight rows (see the video below) if you can’t do a pull-up yet or if you don’t have a pull-up bar!

Another option is to do dowel rows, as we outline in The 5 Best Pull-up Alternatives:

Lastly: this workout will have you sweating like a pig and leave you sore all over the next day.

If you’re just moving beyond the Beginner Bodyweight Workout for the first time, this workout might seem ridiculously difficult, which is fine.

The goal will be to go through as many circuits as you can without breaking form.

“WHAT IS A ‘CIRCUIT’?”

As Coach Lauren describes in the video above, in a circuit routine you’ll do each exercise in succession without a break in between (if you’re able).

• Once you’ve finished all exercises in the circuit, do it again.
• If you’re still able after the 2nd run-through, go for a 3rd.
• Because all of these exercises come one after another, you’re bound to get tired – that’s okay! 

Our goal is to give you a full-body workout that leaves you panting.

“HOW LONG SHOULD A BODYWEIGHT WORKOUT LAST?”

Go at your own pace, but the above 3 circuits and your warm-up and cool-down will take you about 25-30 minutes.

And speaking of warming up and cooling down…

Before you start, do a WARM-UP: 

Don’t forget to warm up. You can run in place, jump rope, do a few push-ups, pedal on a stationary bike, jog up and down your stairs, etc. Since we are doing advanced movements here, the warm-up becomes even more critical. 

Also, if you want to stretch and cool down after your workout, here’s a routine you can run through:

If you are following this bodyweight workout plan because you’re trying to get in great shape without needing a gym, download our free guide: Strength Training 101: Everything You Need to Know. It’ll provide an exact plan to follow for growing strong.

The 21 Best Advanced Bodyweight Exercises

Let’s go through each movement in the Advanced Bodyweight Workout Circuit, so we can ensure you’re doing each move correctly!

1) BODYWEIGHT SQUAT

If you want even more instruction, here’s how to do a proper bodyweight squat:

2) ASSISTED ONE LEGGED SQUAT

3) ONE-LEGGED SQUAT (PISTOL SQUAT)

Here’s our video How to Master the One-Legged Squat:

4) WALKING LUNGE

5) JUMP STEP-UPS

6) ASSISTED PULL-UPS (WITH BAND)

A resistance band is a great tool to help build strength for proper pull-ups. It’s part of our arsenal for getting your first pull-up.

You can get different types of exercise bands with different levels of strength, or a variety pack for easy progression.

Put your foot in the exercise band and pull yourself up.

Here’s a video on How to Tie the Resistance Band for Your Pull-up:

7) NEGATIVE PULL-UPS

If you don’t have a resistance band, you can do negative pull-ups instead. Jump and hold yourself above the bar, and then slowly, under control, lower yourself to the ‘starting position’ of a pull-up. Then repeat!

This is a great way to build up enough strength to eventually get your first pull-up.

8) PULL-UP

We have a full guide on proper pull-up form so you can hone your technique.

9) CHIN-UPS

Much like a pull-up, but with your palms facing toward you.

Here’s a video going over the proper pull-up and chin-up form:

If you can’t do pull-ups or chin-ups, you have another option…

10) INVERTED BODYWEIGHT ROW (OVERHAND)

An inverted bodyweight row can be a great “pull” exercise if you can’t do a pull-up yet, or if you don’t have a proper pull-up bar nearby. Because a good sturdy table can be used for inverted rows:

11) INVERTED BODYWEIGHT ROW (UNDERHAND)

12) ASSISTED BODYWEIGHT DIPS

With a resistance band, you can start performing assisted dips. A great exercise while you build up strength for normal dips.

13) BODYWEIGHT DIPS

14) KNEE PUSH-UP

15) ELEVATED PUSH-UP

16) REGULAR PUSH-UP

We have a whole article on how to do a proper push-up, but we also cover it extensively in this 5-minute video:

17) DECLINE PUSH-UPS

18) KNEE PLANK

19) PLANK

20) SIDE PLANK

21) JUMPING JACKS

If you are looking for even MORE bodyweight exercises you can use in your workouts, make sure to check out our mega-resource:

 “The 42 Best Bodyweight Exercises You Can Do Anywhere.“

How to Scale Your Bodyweight Routine

As I said earlier, this whole routine is scalable based on your ability. For example, here is a sample routine for somebody who has conquered the Beginner Bodyweight Workout but can’t do the full routine above:

• 10 Bodyweight Squats
• 10 Walking Lunges
• 15 Jump Ups
• 3 Assisted Pull-Ups (or 6 inverted bodyweight rows – overhand grip on table)
• 8 Dips (or 10 decline push-ups if these are too tough)
• 3 Assisted Chin-Ups (or 6 inverted bodyweight rows – underhand grip on table)
• 10 Push-Ups
• 30 Second Plank
• 30 Jumping Jacks

“WHAT IF THE ADVANCED BODYWEIGHT WORKOUT IS TOO EASY FOR ME?”

Hm, well then, can you do 4 circuits instead of 3? Or have you tried a circuit that would make you worthy of a Spartan?

Whatever your fitness level, find a way to push yourself a little harder, get better, be faster, and grow stronger. 

We cover this extensively in our guide, Tracking Your Fitness Progress.

Keep track of:

• Your exact routine
• How long it took you
• Which exercises wore you out
• Exactly how many reps you did

Then make sure you do more next time!

“HOW OFTEN SHOULD I DO THE ADVANCED BODYWEIGHT WORKOUT?”

Do this routine 2-3 times a week, but never on consecutive days. It’s a message we really strike home in our guide, “How Often Should I Work Out?”

You don’t build muscle when you’re exercising, you build muscle when you’re resting, so try not to do a strength training routine (of the same muscle groups) two days in a row.

I like to follow a training pattern of:

• Strength training on one day (like this workout).
• 20 minutes of interval training on the next day.
• Back to strength training.
• Back to interval training or rest!

Alternatively, pick one of these fun exercises to do on your off days instead!

If you’re still uneasy about this advanced workout, start with our Beginner Bodyweight Workout instead. You can download a worksheet to get started when you sign up for our free weekly newsletter:

After the Advanced Bodyweight Workout: Next Steps!

This should help you get started with a really powerful bodyweight training routine. But we hear frequently that people want MORE instruction, MORE guidance, and MORE workouts.

If that’s you, we have MULTIPLE options to take the next step. Pick the option below that best aligns with your goals and timeline:

1) If you want step-by-step guidance, a custom bodyweight training program that levels up as you get stronger, and a coach to keep you accountable, check out our killer 1-on-1 coaching program:

Our coaching program changes lives. Learn how!

2) If you want a daily prompt for doing workouts at home, check out NF Journey. Our fun habit-building app helps you exercise more frequently, eat healthier, and level up your life (literally).

Try your free trial right here:

3) Enlist in the Rebellion! We need good people like you in our community, the Nerd Fitness Rebellion. 

Sign up in the box below to enlist and get our guide, Strength Training 101: Everything You Need to Know. It’ll help you start incorporating these advanced bodyweight moves into your training.

4) Level Up Your Workout! If you’re looking for more workout routines to follow, I got you covered:

• How to Get Started with Gymnastic Rings: learn to train with gymnastic rings so you can eventually do epic moves like a Muscle-up!
• How to Do Your First Handstand: now we’re talking! Learn the different progressions that will eventually have you getting your first freestanding handstand! 
• Beginner Strength Training Workouts: start with bodyweight training and work up to barbell training!
• 15 Circuit Training Routines: if you enjoyed today’s advanced circuit, I’ve got many others for you to try out!
• 6 Levels of Gym Workouts: never wonder what to do in the gym again! Follow these 6 levels of workouts to go from Newbie to Gym Hero!

I’d love to hear how this workout was for you.

Leave a comment below with your results or any questions you have on advanced bodyweight training and how else we can help. 

For the Rebellion!

-Steve

PS: Where do you go after you’ve crushed the Advanced Bodyweight Workout? Well, have you ever heard of the PLP Progression? There’s really no limit on how challenging that can get.

Good luck!

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All photo sources can be found right here: ^[1]

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Do you find your grip a limiting factor in the gym (I see you chin-ups and deadlifts)?

Or in everyday life (looking at you, pickle jars)?

If so, don’t worry! We’ve got a handle on this (pun 100% intended).

As the lead trainer of our 1-on-1 Online Coaching Program, I’m going to outline a number of helpful, handy (sigh) stretches and exercises to help eliminate pain and build you some powerful, useful hands and a strong grip.

• The importance of grip strength (and basic “grips”).
• Grip strength exercises to do in the gym (VIDEO).
• How to improve grip strength at the office.
• How to improve grip strength at home.

Now, it goes without saying that the hands and forearms are anatomically complicated areas.

I am also not your mother, or your doctor. If anything in the article below causes pain, or your pain is not alleviated by these stretches – call in the pros!

See a physical therapist or sports massage practitioner.

Why Grip Strength And WRist Mobility Is So Important: Basic Holds.

We use our hands for EVERYTHING. 

Whether it’s everyday tasks like carrying groceries, opening jars, and lifting suitcases, or gym-related activities like chin-ups, rows, and deadlifts.

Of course, you probably also type at your computer for hours – with resulting aches and pains at the end of the workday.

Guess what?

Stretching out the hands and building up a strong grip can help in all of those areas.

A strong grip has even been correlated to lower mortality rates – and you can also imagine the usefulness of a stronger grip for aging individuals if they happen to slip.

Our point is that it’s always better to have a stronger grip!

This is a favorite area of expertise for me. I’ve worked my grip for years and years, and have even won some grip competitions:

In fact, I’m currently typing this one-handed while squeezing coal into diamonds with my other hand.

Not really, but I promise my grip strength is above average.

SO WHERE TO START?

The hands are complex, and training them can seem just as complicated.

We’ll simplify matters a bit and you can categorize the grip exercises into the following general types:

#1) CRUSH

This is what you probably think of when you think of a “strong grip”. This is the whole hand closing in around something. A strong handshake. None of that dead-fish handshake stuff!

#2) PINCH

Think of making an alligator mouth with your hands, and chomping down. In this grip, there tends to be a lot more work/stress on the thumb. This is important to work, as the thumb is a vital part of a strong grip!

#3) SUPPORT

This is similar to crush, but rather than the ability to close, this type of grip tests the ability to hold.

#4) EXTENSION

Every action has an opposite reaction, right? This type of grip work is all about strengthening the opposing muscles. We were built to grab and hold onto things, so these muscles will not be as strong.

#5) WRISTWORK

Taken from torokhtiy.

Wrist movement and wrist stability are the focus here. In order to be able to transfer energy from the body through the hands (for opening those pickle jars) we need to make sure every link in the chain is strong.

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER

When putting together a grip routine of your own, it’s a good idea to cycle through these different types of grips over the course of the week, in order to work different muscles and different angles.

If you have to pick just a few, I’d put my money on stretches, crushing, and extension to get your hands strong and keep them healthy!

Before we go further, I want to mention that if you’re improving your grip as part of a strength training practice, you’ve come to the right place!

We have a free guide Strength Training 101: Everything You Need to Know, that will walk you through every aspect of building muscle and growing stronger.

Want in?

Grab it for free when you join the Rebellion (that’s us!) below:

How to Improve Your Grip Strength and Mobility Quickly.

Here are the best exercises you can do to strengthen your grip quickly:

1. Dumbbell head grab: Put a dumbbell on its end and pick it up by the head. Could anything replicate a pickle jar more? Be careful with this exercise if the dumbbell is too big, as the thumb can easily be strained if it’s stretched too far. Hold for time (~30 seconds) or go for heavier weight.
2. Farmer’s walks: Grab a pair of heavy dumbbells (heavy for you) and walk around! Don’t have space to walk? Just stand there! 30 seconds minimum!
3. Plate curls: A wrist strengthener that works the biceps too! Anything past 25 lbs becomes insanely hard. ~10 repetitions. Watch the face!!
4. Plate pinches: If you’ve got a pair of smooth metal plates, you can sandwich them together with the smooth side out. You can also use thick bumper plates. Pick them up with one or two hands and hold for time (~30 seconds) or go for heavier weight. World class grip athletes can pick up a pair of 45 lb plates with one hand!
5. Barbell finger rolls: How to work the crushing grip without grippers. You can use an empty bar or load up some weight. Get the bar to your fingertips, then squeeze and crush! ~10 repetitions.
6. Towel chin-ups: Regular chin-ups too easy? Throw a pair of gym towels over the bar and challenge that grip. A great exercise to prepare for rope climbing!

Next, let’s talk about some stretches and exercises to perform at the gym.

#1) STRETCHES AT THE GYM

The only addition I have to your stretching routine that can be done at the gym is banded wrist stretches. The addition of the band can help open up your wrist joint a bit more. The band should be pulling in the opposite direction of the stretch (fingers face one way, band pulls the other way).

10-15 repetitions.

#2) EXERCISES AT THE GYM

While we recommend picking up some grippers as specialized grip equipment, there are TONS of options to work the grip at the gym with existing equipment! This is certainly not an exhaustive list, but should give you plenty of ideas.

The one warning I give for any of these exercises is WATCH YOUR TOES. The grip can give out fast and unexpectedly, so we don’t want to crush any little piggies!

This list is certainly not exhaustive, but it’ll get you started!

Other Easy-Grip Exercises to Integrate:

• Bar hang: Simply hanging from the bar or gymnastic rings will build up your grip strength! If you can’t hang freely, put your feet on the ground for an assist. Couldn’t be simpler! Work up to one minute or more!
• Wrist curls/Reverse wrist curls: What many may think of when they think of “grip strength” exercises. Not bad for some wrist strength. ~10 repetitions. Pictured – Left: Wrist curls, Right: Reverse wrist curls.

• Barbell levering: We’re getting into crazy town with this one. An unbelievable wrist exercise that is not for the beginner. Grab the bar with one hand, off-center, and lift it to parallel. You can lift to the front and the back. I would also recommend using a 15 lb/5 kg bar, or one of those lighter “bodypump” bars for this. The leverage is crazy! This can also be done at a faster pace with PVC pipe.

Things can get really crazy when you start combining exercises…Plate pinch farmer’s walks with bumper plates, anyone?

…and speaking of NF Coaching, if you’re worried that your grip strength is holding back your training, we can help!

Our certified coaches can do an assessment, design a program to increase your grip and overall strength, and provide support and accountability. It’s kind of like having a coach in your pocket (not literally – via an app).

Plus, our coaching app lets you record and send a video of your movement directly to your coach, so you can take comfort knowing you’re training correctly:

A Nerd Fitness Coach can help you grow strong! Learn more here.

How To Improve Grip Strength and Mobility At The Office.

Alright, you’re ready to jump into grip strength training!

I’ve outlined a number of stretches and exercises for you to do, no matter where you are and what equipment you have. Skim over and see what you can add to your daily mix or gym training!

#1) STRETCHES AT YOUR DESK

You might be reading this while sitting at your computer right now.

We put a LOT of stress on our hands and wrists over the course of a day, so take the time to take care of these hard workers!

Below is a quick and dirty stretch routine, just three moves. This is good for a warm-up or just for overall hand health. We spend a lot of the day at our computer with our elbows bent and our hands in a pronated position (palms turned down), therefore stretches with our elbows extended and hands supinated (palms turned up) is a good idea.

The stretches from the video:

• Fingers back, palms on desk: You can stretch straight backwards, or rock gently left to right. 10-15 repetitions.
• Finger back, palms lifted off desk: You can lift the palms and get a bit more stretch through the fingers and first knuckle. Again, stretch straight backwards, or rock gently left to right. 10-15 repetitions.
• Fists together, back of hands on desk: Make two fists, with the thumbs on the outside of your fingers. Bend your elbows and put the knuckles together like two cogs in a machine. Bend your elbows and put the back of your hands fully on the desk. Keep your fists together (this will be tough) and fists tightly closed (this will also be tough) as you bend and flex your elbows. 10-15 repetitions.

Give it a shot, I bet your hands feel noticeably different (and better) afterward.

If you have additional time, the first two stretches can also be done with your fingers forward!

You can also stretch the thumbs out on the desk. Moving into and out of the stretch shown below. You may be surprised how good this feels if you’ve never done it before. Again, 10-15 repetitions.

A final stretch, if you have the time between updating Excel and checking Facebook for the 100th time (I kid, I kid), is stretching your wrists in the direction of your thumb.

If you think about how your hands are often oriented on your keyboard, you’ll see that they are often bent toward your pinky.

So let’s stretch them in the opposite way! Make like you’re about to karate chop someone with one hand. With the other hand, grab the chopping hand and pull it sideways in the direction of your thumb.

Going gently into and out of this stretch for 10-15 repetitions. It may not feel as intense as the previous stretches, but it will still help.

This is certainly not an exhaustive list of hand and wrist stretches, but it should give you plenty to work with!

#2) EXERCISES AT YOUR DESK

Do you know there’s already an excellent piece of grip-strengthening equipment present in many offices? What is that?

The rubber band!

Snag one off that rubber band ball in your desk and do these simple rubber band extensions:

If one band gets too easy, put two or more on! This is a super easy exercise to do while you’re on a phone call or that conference call (that you’re not paying attention to anyway) that gets the blood moving through the hands and helps balance out your vice-grip-like hands.

Another grip exercise that can easily be done at your desk is closing grippers. Now, this does require an investment (~$20/gripper), but you’ll find that these grippers last FOREVER (I still use some grippers that are over a decade and a half old!)

I would personally recommend Ironmind’s “Captains of Crush” grippers.

They are built to last and be strong.

Consider the following when making your gripper purchase:

• If you are just starting out with your grip, I would look at the Guide and/or the Sport (60lb and 80lb respectively).
• If you have a bit of strength, the Sport and/or the Trainer is the way to go (80lb and 100lb).

If you can close the Guide, you’ve got a pretty solid grip. If you can close the Sport, you have way above-average grip strength, in my experience.

A fun bonus with these grippers at your desk is that EVERYONE who sees them will try and pick them up and close them. Great way to start a conversation with your coworkers!

You may be thinking, “Eh, I’ve already got a gripper I bought from the store”. I’ll tell you that the strength in that gripper is probably minuscule compared to Ironmind’s. Time to upgrade!

You may also be thinking, “Eh, I’ve got a tennis ball/stress ball that I can keep by my desk and crush”. Both of those might be better than nothing, but not by much. The grippers will allow smoother movement and quantifiable progress. Did I mention they’re just $20 a pop?

“Jim, I can’t wait. I want to work my grip NOW.” Ok, ok, grab the biggest, heaviest book in the office you have. Grab it in that pinch grip position (fingers on one side, thumb on the other). This may be easy, if so, then “walk the book” in your hand by moving your fingers up and down the spine while you hold it in mid-air. Do this for several trips. Tough!

How to Improve Your Grip Strength and Wrist Mobility At Home.

If you work out at home, there are still a few things you can do.

• Bar hang: A home chin-up bar is one of the most useful pieces of equipment to have. Just like the gym version, you can put your feet on the ground to assist. Work up to one minute!

• Grocery bag farmer’s walks: What’s better than taking only one trip to bring your groceries inside? Absolutely nothing. You can use those tough, reusable bags and load them up with anything. Stand in place or walk around the neighborhood.

• Sledgehammer/Barbell/heavy bar levering: As with the barbell levering at the gym, this is a tough exercise and should be approached slowly. Grab closer to the sledgehammer head to make it easy, farther to make it tough.

Get Started With Rings And Handstands, Level Up Your Grip!

No (wo)man is an island, and no exercise exists in complete isolation. These grip exercises are a blast, but we hope you can also use them to help strengthen a deadlift, or work toward your first chin-up.

There are also various bodyweight exercises that will help strengthen your upper body AND build your grip strength at the same time.

#1) THE FALSE GRIP HANG

For example, here is a video from our rings course in Nerd Fitness Prime on doing a false-grip hang – and then doing scapular retractions. This is a killer grip strength exercise:

The false grip is an incredibly challenging grip variation that one must learn to build up to a muscle-up (a pull-up that transitions into a dip). Just like before, you can put your feet on the ground to assist this exercise.

#2) CROW POSE

Here’s a video of an exercise that builds up grip and wrist strength, pulled from Nerd Fitness Prime (which contains a course on doing handstands):

A staple of yoga classes everywhere, though we’ll be focusing on it for a different reason than a yogi might. We’re using this exercise as a foundational exercise to build up into the handstand. You won’t believe how much grip strength is involved in the crow pose until you are digging your fingers into the ground!

A Strong Grip Is Always Helpful!

It’s been said, “There’s never been a strong man (or woman) with weak hands.”

We’d have to agree wholeheartedly. There is never going to be a point in life where you say “Boy, my grip was too strong!”.

You might have some questions about how to mix these exercises in with your normal routine, or how you can use these things to improve your lifts safely and without injury. Or maybe all of the above just overwhelmed the heck out of you and you’re trying to make sense of it all.

If that sounds like you, you’re in the right place.

I’m the lead trainer of the 1-on-1 NF Coaching Program, where we help busy, normal people like yourself build muscle, lose weight, and level up their lives!.

You can learn more about our coaching program by clicking on the image below and scheduling a call with us to see if we’re a good fit!

You have a pair of incredibly useful tools at arm’s length, might as well make the most of them!

We hope you now have a handle on things (have to bring it back full circle). Go out and get a grip!

Leave any questions you have on grip strength or wrist mobility below in the comments.

-Jim

PS: What should you do after you improve your grip and wrist strength? Get started on doing muscle-ups and downward dogs, which you can learn all from our new app!

Try it for free right here:

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Photo Source: Reece & Emma Meins Chalky bar grip

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I know plenty of people who hate exercise but WANT to find a way to like it.

And that’s what today’s post is all about:

Exercising in a way where life doesn’t suck AND helps you reach your goals.

Luckily, this is exactly what we do for a living!

• “Exercise” sucks! Do this instead:
• 40 ways to exercise without realizing it.
• Next steps, and my personal challenge to you:

I know what it’s like to hate exercise, and ALSO want to lose weight and see results. Ugh.

We’ve built an entire company and community around helping people overcome these obstacles – our Online Coaching Program helps people find exercises they love, and also how to make the right nutritional choices.

We are all on a unique journey and we’d love to help you with yours!

Exercise doesn’t have to suck. Let our coaches help you level up your life!

ExercIse Sucks. Do This Instead.

“But Steve, I don’t like to exercise!”

While some are like Odie and love to run around all day, others are like Garfield and feel like they must be allergic to exercise.

I hear this every day, and I’m not surprised.

After all, I think “exercise” sucks too.

This is why we’re gonna focus on exercise that doesn’t feel like exercise!

After all, nutrition is like 90% of the equation. 

Exercise is merely a supporting actor, which is why we don’t ever NEED to spend time doing exercise we hate.

We’ve already talked extensively on Nerd Fitness on how to eat nutritiously, so I won’t hash that out here.

So let’s talk about exercise.

Sure, it would be great if we all strength trained 5 days a week and got super strong, but the reality is most of us don’t have that time – or the desire – to hit the gym.

And more importantly – the best exercise program is the one you actually do!

Thus today we’re going to focus on TWO key elements of getting more exercise in our lives:

#1) FIDGETING:

Did you know ‘fidgeting’ (aka “small micromovements”) can account for up to 350 additional calories burned per day?

Per the New York Times:

Overweight people have a tendency to sit, while lean ones have trouble holding still and spend two hours more a day on their feet, pacing around and fidgeting, researchers are reporting in findings published today.

The difference translates into about 350 calories a day…

350 extra calories burned per day ain’t no joke!

As we cover in our “How many calories should I eat every day?” guide, burning an extra 350 calories per day can result in sustainable weight loss and maintenance over time for many.

Not only that, but when you factor in inertia (an object at rest tends to stay at rest, and an object in motion tends to stay in motion), it paints a pretty interesting picture:

We spend our lives trying to be more “efficient.” What if the key to weight loss is to be LESS efficient?

From standing up more frequently to parking FARTHER away from the grocery store, every additional step or movement counts. Today’s guide shares TONS of ways to get yourself used to moving more frequently.

I’m actually air drumming and shuffling my feet as we speak!

#2) FUN EXERCISE:

Who cares what the optimal workout is?

Unless you have a very specific physique you’re trying to build, ANY exercise is good exercise.

From dancing to yoga to climbing to roughhousing with your kids, it all counts.

This brings me to today’s point:

Exercise is a bonus. Exercise helps your heart get stronger, can help build muscle, usually gets you outside the house and absorbing vitamin D, and brings you a litany of other health benefits. Also, any additional calories burned is a bonus!

Exercise can help us make fewer unhealthy food choices. Instead of “I earned this” you can start telling yourself: “If I’m going to exercise regularly, I might as well make it worth it by eating right too.”

Daily exercise is a constant reminder that we are leveling up our lives – that we should continue to make other good choices or we’re practically wasting our time.

This is the type of stuff we focus on – with personalized instruction, with each of our online coaching clients.

Some clients are learning Olympic lifting, while others are simply focusing on taking the stairs more and tracking their food.

We are all on a unique journey and we’d love to help you with yours!

Our coaching program makes getting healthy fun. Seriously! Learn how we can help you on your journey:

40 Ways to Exercise Without Exercising

#1) Hiking, especially with friends – Strap on a pair of shoes, get out of the comfy confines of your hobbit-hole, and go explore the world around you!

Make sure you follow our Beginner Hiking Guide on how to find a hiking spot near you, what shoes to wear, what to bring with you, and more.

#2) Walking – No time to hike? Go for a simple walk. Even a 15-minute brisk walk is enough time to get close to a mile walked, which gets you one step closer to Mordor.

Do you have a 30-minute meeting at work? Have a walking meeting instead. Steve Jobs was known for doing this.

You should know Tim, a member of our Nerd Fitness community who lost 50 pounds – while injured – just by fixing his nutrition and going for long walks every day!

I’m proud that Tim used the philosophies laid out in our online courses under Nerd Fitness Prime to get his results!

#3) LARP – Live Action Role Playing. Might seem silly to those on the outside, but to those playing, it’s an amazing adventure that reminds us how awesome our imaginations are.

Also, depending on the game, you could be wearing a heavy costume, swinging heavy weaponry, and running for your life!

#4) Rock Climbing – I love rock climbing. It’s one of the best arm/back/forearm workouts in existence, you get to feel like a badass when you reach the top of the wall, and all climbing routes are graded so you can level up the challenge as you get stronger/fitter/better.

It’s a fit nerd’s dream!

#5) Geocaching – If rock climbing is a fit nerd’s dream, then geocaching is an adventure nerd’s dream brought to life. Become a real-life treasure-hunter (Lara Croft? Nathan Drake? You decide!), and get a great workout in while you’re at it.

Or, if you’re truly nerdy, you can do some Digital Geocaching with Pokemon Go or Harry Potter: Wizards Unite.

#6) Dancing – Ever tried serious swing dancing? You’ll be sweating within ten minutes. How about hip-hop? Drenched in sweat, and sore as hell the next day.

Zumba? Tango? Flamenco? You’d be surprised at what you can sign up for and what will elevate your heart rate.

#7) Roughhousing with your kids. I don’t have kids, but when I do, you can bet your ass I’ll be the dad out rolling around in the backyard with them. Don’t forget what it’s like to be a kid – it keeps you young.

I really enjoyed this article from Art of Manliness on the importance of roughhousing!

#8) Climbing on stuff – A few years back, I attended a great conference, Midoricon, and I was walking through the woods with NF Rebel Joe (No, not THAT Joe).

It was awesome to see this guy, having lost 100 pounds since finding Nerd Fitness, explore the woods like it was no problem: climbing on stumps, balancing on fallen trees, climbing trees, and more. 

We work with LOTS of Coaching Clients to get them outdoors and help build them “fun climbing programs” that burn tons of calories but don’t really feel like exercise.

Let us build a fun “playout” program that helps you get stronger and lose weight without needing a gym! Learn more:

#9) Martial arts – Be honest. You watched The Matrix, you heard Neo go “I know Kung Fu” and you wanted to be able to one day say the same thing.

Whether it’s Kung Fu, Muay Thai, Tae Kwon Do, Karate, or Capoeira (breakdance fighting, seriously), there’s a martial art out there that will make you feel like a badass.

And might help you defeat your archenemy. 

#10 Consider a standing desk – Although we all know that correlation does not prove causation, it’s no surprise that there’s a strong correlation between sitting all day and an unhealthy lifestyle.

Why not fix your posture, strengthen your legs, get more “fidget time” in, and spend the day being more productive with a standing desk? I have THIS desk and it allows me to switch between sitting and standing.

If you don’t want to stand all day, make sure you read up on our guide, “how to survive sitting all day in an office.”

#11) Have an active meeting – Hat tip to Charlie Hoehn on this one. If somebody wants to meet up with you for coffee, suggest something active: throwing a baseball, tossing a frisbee, going for a hike – anything that gets you up and moving.

I say yes to pretty much anybody that invites me to play golf. Wink wink.

#12) You know… that thing that consenting adults do?

Yeah. Do that.

Self-explanatory.

Moving on…

#13) Clean! – Ugh, nobody likes to clean the house/apartment. It’s not my favorite thing to do. So I instead make a game out of it.

I see how much I can accomplish with a single song blasting at max volume, while probably also dancing. I also CRUSH podcasts while doing the dishes.

Of course, after getting through one song, I figure “Welp, I’ve already started, might as well keep going.”

#14) Try handstands – This is a fun activity that builds up some serious arm and core strength and will leave you sweating bullets after even a few minutes.

So go find a park, go do handstands, cartwheels, somersaults, and whatever else makes you feel young again.

Here’s our guide on How to Do Handstands.

#15) Parkour – Our Beginner’s Guide to Parkour is one of the most popular on Nerd Fitness. I don’t care how old you are, there’s no reason you can’t get started with rolling around in your yard and vaulting over picnic tables and bike racks.

Or, you can do it in your office:

#16) Playout – Is Parkour too serious for you? Try a playout! Spiderman was on to something – climbing walls, swinging from skyscrapers, and popping flips around the bad guys.

You might not be able to swing between buildings, but you can definitely visit a playground in your area and get creative!

#17) Adult gymnastics – In the same vein as parkour, gymnastics will help you build some of the BEST real-world strength you can get with any type of exercise, and it’s all done in a playful way without a single weight being picked up.

Swing from rings, somersault, flip onto pads, and more.

There are gyms all over the country.

#18) Yoga – Build flexibility and strength, plus learn to freaking relax.

There are a million kinds of Yoga, including awesome stuff like Acro-Yoga, baby goat Yoga (not kidding), and Yoga with beer.

Sign up for a few different kinds and see which one lines up the best with what you’re looking for.

#19) Play video games that make you active – Beat Saber. DDR (Dance Dance Revolution) counts too. Just Move. Anything that gets you off your ass and moving!

Oh, what’s that? You’re playing a normal game like Grand Theft Auto V? Make a rule that you can only play while standing up, or that you have to do 10 push-ups every time you die.

That’s what I do to keep myself from spending twelve hours on the couch in marathon gaming sessions!

#20) Play on a playground – Go down the slide, swing across the monkey bars, climb the rope all, balance on the balance beam.

Create an obstacle course for yourself and see how quickly you can get through it.

You can even work out on a playground too:

#21) Play a musical instrument – Did you know playing musical instruments can burn a boatload of calories too?

I imagine this is doubly true if you’re dancing around like Taylor Davies playing the violin.

#22) Join a Rec League – New in town? Want to be active and meet people? Join a co-ed kickball, softball, or tennis league.

You get to exercise AND it’s a great way to meet new people through exercise!

#23) Bike to work – I know there are a lot of Rebels in our community who dropped a bunch of weight by making one change: they biked to work, or biked to their friend’s house, or started biking generally.

You get from Point A to Point B, you save money on gas, and you get a workout.

Plus, you can do it with friends!

Here’s our Guide to Biking if you want some help getting started. 

#24) Play a childhood game – What games did you play as a child? Capture the flag? Kick the can? Simple tag?

Get a few friends together and give it a try – it will be the most fun you’ve had in a while!

#25) Park at the far end of the parking lot – Every step counts.

Every tiny decision that is slightly different than the “OLD you” counts.

IT ALL COUNTS when it comes to burning more calories than you consume every day.

Getting in shape doesn’t have to be miserable. Learn more:

#26) Take the stairs. It’s only two flights! And we are designed to move. You can do this.

Sure, you’ll get winded the first handful of times. But it eventually becomes routine.

And it all counts! Make a game out of it.

#27) Crush audiobooks while “exercising.” This is called ‘temptation bundling.‘ Pair something you love with an activity you’re trying to do more of.

But I bet if you could only listen to Harry Potter (for the 600th time) while walking on a treadmill, you’d be more likely to get to the gym.

#28) Build stuff. Whether you’re building a fort with your kid in the backyard, or trying to figure out why you have 5 extra screws in that IKEA dresser you’re putting together, building stuff involves lots of moving and bending and picking up and maneuvering.

Warning: you’ll swear no less than 100 times building furniture. Earmuffs! 

#29) Sit in a squat, or pike position on the floor while watching TV. No, not leaning against the couch. Sitting up actively engaging your core!

You can also do some sort of stretch or movement like these bodyweight exercises during commercials (or in the 15 seconds between Netflix episodes!)

#30) Impromptu dance parties. Kids or no kids, I find that great Disney songs are fantastic for bringing out your inner child.

Blast the tunes, dance around the house, and be absurd. WHO CARES! As a wise woman once said…”Let it gooooooo.”

#31) Go for a walk while on the phone. What if you just decided you had to stand for all of your phone calls?

For starters, I know many people who do phone interviews while standing because it makes them more alert and a better guest.

Next: you’re gonna get so many steps in while on the phone without realizing it!

#32) Having an impromptu picnic. Instead of sitting and gorging yourself at the dining room table, why not eat on the floor?

Grab a blanket or a towel, eat in your living room or head out into the backyard, and make it a picnic!

You’ll need to adjust your posture and seating style constantly.

#33) Sit in a squat. We cover this in our “How to Squat” guide, but sitting in a deep squat – often for long timeframes – is built into us as a species! We’ve just become soft from sitting in chairs all day long.

I try to accumulate 15 minutes of “squat time” each day – sitting in a squat while reading a chapter in a book, or journaling, or answering an email with my laptop on the ground.

Here I am sitting in a squat while reading Level Up Your Life (available online and in bookstores nationwide!)

#34) The “Pull-up bar Tax”. Get yourself a door-frame pull-up bar. Put it on a door that you have to cross through regularly.

And every time you go through, you have to do either 1 pull-up, 1 negative pull-up, or 10 seconds of hanging from the bar.

Can’t do a pull-up yet? Learn how to get your first pull-up or chin-up.

#35) Lasers around the house. Set up colored string pulled tightly across your kid’s rooms or in certain hallways, and you have to go over and under the lasers each time you traverse the hallway.

Don’t touch the lasers!

#36) Climb a tree. Your level of safety and ability on this will be dependent on your experience here, but I remember climbing trees like a monkey as a kid and loving every minute of it.

Even if it’s just hanging from a tree branch or trying to scramble up to a low branch, it can be a great way to “exercise.”

#37) The floor is lava. This is both great for exercising around your apartment, for a fun date night or night with the kids, and for playing True American. Though one is slightly more healthy than the other.

#38) Casual Parkour. From avoiding cracks on the sidewalk to balancing on curbs, or jumping from tile to tile, or hopping up onto a bench and then back down, it all counts!

Just get yourself to move differently than you would have otherwise! We are currently working with a woman who has lost 100-pounds through our Coaching Program, and her exercise is all “fun parkour in the woods behind the house!”

Let us build a weight loss program for you that’s ACTUALLY fun! Learn more:

#39) Literally fidget more! Yes, from tapping your toes to music and twitching your legs to the beat of the music. Getting up and sitting back down. Doing laps around your office.

You don’t need to get a standing desk or treadmill desk, but there’s a definite correlation between those that can’t sit still and body composition.^[1]

#40) Your kid is a backpack! From piggyback rides to playing horsey, staying active with your kids is really powerful in instilling a love of fitness in them.

If you’re a badass mom like Brownwyn – a success story from Nerd Fitness Prime, you can even do pull-ups while your kid holds on!

Here are more tips on how to work out as a whole family.

Challenge yourself to Have fun: Next Steps!

If you are looking for more guidance beyond the 40 Fun Exercise Suggestions above, we have three options to continue your journey:

1) Join our epic Online Coaching Program! We create personalized programs for each customer based on their lifestyle, goals, and personality. From parkour in the park to just walking more with your children, or even “becoming a badass powerlifter,” we cater each experience to each person.

Learn how we make exercise fun and actually get results in our Online Coaching Program:

2) If you’re looking for a bunch of fun ways to exercise, check out NF Journey. Our fun habit-building app helps you move more frequently, eat healthier, and level up your life (literally).

We assign fun missions daily to get you to exercise in a way that doesn’t feel like exercise…because it’ll feel like a side quest instead.

Try your free trial (no credit card needed) right here:

3) Enlist in The Rebellion (it’s free)! Sign up for our biweekly newsletter and join the Nerd Fitness Rebellion!

I’ll send you tons of free guides and bonuses to help you get started on your journey today.

Sign up below:

No matter which path you pick above, I want you to commit to trying something new, or doing something different, at some point in the next week:

• Say yes before you can say no. Stop saying “I don’t have time” and realize you do. Stop saying “I can’t afford it” and find a way to make it a priority. Do all of this before you can talk yourself out of it. The best way to do that?
• Commit in advance. Put down a deposit and make an investment in yourself. I pre-paid 6 weeks of swing dance lessons. Having already paid for it, I knew I’d be just throwing my money away if I didn’t attend.
• Go with a friend. I went to my swing classes alone, which forced me to further develop my social skills, but if you happen to be TOO afraid to attend a class, get a friend to drag you there.
• Expect to suck. If you are learning a new skill, expect to suck at it. You’ll get better as long as you remember to…
• Have fun. Remember, we could get hit by a bus tomorrow. Every day above ground is a blessing, so enjoy it!
• When in doubt, move more.

That one thing you always wanted to try but have been putting off?

Today’s a good day to get started. Just take that FIRST step.

Google classes in your city. Find a site that focuses on beginners, and read about it. If there’s a place to pre-pay or make a deposit, do it.

And then go.

Use 20 seconds of courage if you have to.

What’s the one new thing you’re going to try this month?

-Steve

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photo credit: Reiterlied 02/52 – Confidence, JD Hancock Garfield, treadmill fall, Denes Paragi © 123RF.com, It’s Always Autumn: Lazer Hallway, lzflzf © 123RF.com

The post 40 Fun Ways to Exercise (Without Realizing It) first appeared on Nerd Fitness.

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