It's confession time: my name is Alex, and I'm a bit of a nerd.  Now, I doubt you often find people who brag about that, but being able to lift heavier things than most of the population has a way of making you comfortable with admitting certain details about yourself.

So, what's responsible for my nerdom?  Well, it's actually my new found love of books, which is something I wouldn't have touched about 2 years ago.  I really can't read enough, and my "Wish List" on Amazon always tends to stay above the 15-20 book threshold.

One book I recently finished is The One Minute Manager, where they state that 20% of your efforts are responsible for 80% of your results.  I'd like to argue that nowhere is this more true than in the gym.   The deadlifts, squats, pushes and pulls that make up your program are your 20%....everything else is just gravy.

A few days ago, I had a client ask me how they can "sort through the noise" when it comes to diet and health.  Specifically, one day you'll hear that eggs are great for you.  The next?  Eggs are as bad for you as cigarettes (lolwut?)

I thought it was a terrific question, and definitely one I take for granted when I'm working on improving a client's diet.  As such, a blog post was born!

Diet is unique as everyone has their own relationship with food.  Everyone eats, and our relationship with food is usually a mix of health, sustenance, pleasure, and regret (which was me following my most recent trip to a local BBQ joint).  Most of us intuitively know that apples are better the twinkies, and salads are better than sloppy joes.  However, when we're constantly bombarded by information all day ("nuts are good for you....wait, no, now they're bad for you!") it gets harder and harder to go with your natural instincts.

Therefore, whenever someone wants to know how they can improve their diet, I usually fall back on the following three principles.  They may seem simple, but they will help you cut through the bogus health headlines that come out every week:

1. I'm not quite sure when exactly the Northeast became South Beach, but it's been offensively hot here recently.  In fact, it's been so hot that my air conditioner contributed to a blown fuse in my new apartment this morning....true story.

2.  A few people have asked how my pursuit of the 400 deadlift has been progressing.  I'm happy to say that after learning a few techniques in my deadlift, I may only be about a month away and I couldn't be more excited.  The day I pull 400, I'm going to make it rain....sushi, that is.

3. I usually speak about losing weight, but today I wanted to talk about something a little different: gaining weight.  Now, if you'll indulge me, I want to talk about the progress of one of my clients, who we'll call Craig.

Going back to February, Craig came to us weighing 140 pounds.  Oh, and he's 6'1''.   To say he was "thin," would probably be as big of an understatement as saying Tom Brady is "good" at football.

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

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

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

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

Today, I'm flipping the script.

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

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