Besides listening to Nickleback, I'd venture to say the push-up is one of the most hated activities by both men and women.  I say that, of course, not as a dig at Chad Kroeger and his recent divorce from Avril Lavigne (which will undoubtedly give Avril fodder for at least 2 more albums)....but to state the obvious: Nickelback ruins Thanksgivings.  Sorry, but it's true.

Oh, and push-ups are pretty tough too.

Anyway, the push-up is not only a test of upper body strength, it's a measure of *total* body strength.  And, while I've written about this subject before, I realized that I left a few things to be desired.  

Plus, I now have a few additional readers than simply my immediate family.  (You're the best, Mom!!)

I'm a pretty big nerd.  I know, that's not a shocker to many of you (or....all of you) as my references to academic studies, jokes about the Prowler and the coefficient of friction, as well as my insatiable hunger for great 80's music have blown up my spot.

All that's to say that while I may dream of picking up 500 pounds, if you prick me, I'll still bleed from the barbell all the way back to my iPad filled with textbooks.

It comes as no surprise then that whenever I hear about an interesting, nerd-tastic study riddled with regression slopes and standard deviations, my ears perk up a lil' bit.  Such was the case a few days ago, when I came across this running related study that had an interesting message for anyone looking to lose weight by running - almost all of the runners in the study gained weight as they aged, regardless of their weekly mileage.  In fact, even if someone averaged 40 miles a week, they still packed on the pounds as the years went on.

You know the only way some runners actually lost weight?  That's right, more running....and they had to run at least twice or three times as many weekly miles as they had previously recorded.

There are a few things I'm not too fond of: astrology, personality tests, bicyclists that fail to abide by traffic laws, and "light" squats.  The reasons, of course, are that bicyclists can hurt themselves or others when they're not careful, heavy squats are time off purgatory (Catholic humor high five!), and astrology and personality tests can be somewhat arrogant.  After all, aren't we all different people?  For instance, I like to think that I'm a one-of-a-kind delicate, deadlifting snowflake. (That's gotta be some type of oxymoron).

However, I was pleasantly surprised when I took the Myers-Briggs personality test a few weeks ago.  Not only did reading the description of INTJ's really make sense to me, but I was shocked at how much I matched the description.  I learned that not only would I rather lift heavy things than talk about my feelings (and really, who wouldn't!?), but the following sentence really clicked with me: "INTJs know what they know, and perhaps still more importantly, they know what they don't know."

Where all of this extraneous blabber comes into play is in the field of nutrition. I don't know much about nutrition, but I do know how to help someone make better choices and overhaul their diet.  So, this week I wanted to lump together two thoughts I've been kicking around recently - the recent debate of carbs vs. fat, and why the term Superfood is really super rubbish.

Hi there.  My name is Alex, and I'm a strengthaholic.

As I've written on this blog about 306 times by now, strength is what matters.  It's the ultimate equalizer, and not just because I'm terrible at conditioning (I'd rather drop a 45 pound plate on my foot than go for a 5 mile run).  It's because I have yet to meet someone who hasn't had better movement, felt better overall, or needed extra help moving apartments (a nod to all of you on a September 1st lease in the Boston area) once they were stronger.

Yet, how do you quantify strength?  The inner meatheads will use the powerlifting "big 3" of back squatting, bench pressing, and deadlifting with good reason - those three movements are tested at powerlifting meets, and dedicating time and effort to them will make you super strong.

....but what if I told you, that unless you're a powerlifter, it's silly (and sometimes downright stupid) to use those exercises and metrics?

For better or worse (and for the introvert in me, the worse), Summer has a way of forcing you to meet new people.  With weddings, parties, BBQs, etc. I always tend to find myself describing what I do for a living....and receiving some pretty interesting questions.  Among them:

1. "I'm so out of shape, can you not look at what I'm eating!?"
2. "I want to get stronger, but will I get too big?"
3. "Is Bachelor in Paradise really that good?"
4. "What are some of your good motivational tips for clients?"

Now, my answers usually go something like this:

1. No, I don't care what you're eating. Knock yourself out!  Seriously!
2. Let's cross that "too big" bridge when we get there....worry about getting strong and picking up heavy things.
3. Make no mistake, Bachelor in Paradise is complete trash on TV.  But, if you want to turn off your brain for a couple hours and make sarcastic remarks while drinking a beer....it's perrrrfect.
4. My motivational tip is pretty simple: I have none.