Happy July 4th everyone!  As you’ve noticed – and unless you’re my Mother, you probably haven’t – the summer months have led me to crank out fewer blog posts than I’d prefer. I’ve been traveling, watching Orange is the New Black, and hanging out with my good friend – Channing Tatum. 

I’m just kidding.  I haven’t watched that much OITNB.

Hello there.  My name is Alex and I'd like to share a secret with you: I'm hypermobile.

Surprised? That's because our usual stereotype of guys - especially those that like to lift heavy things - is being so tight and bound up that they'd make the Tin Man seem like a supple leopard.  My hypermobility has made me a bit of an anomaly in that regard, and it's also what made me so good at throwing a baseball.

Wait a second, who am I kidding?  By "good" I really mean, "halfway decent."  After all, I played baseball at Vassar - where half the males of the entire school made up the baseball team.  The other 23 guys wore skinny jeans, rode fixed gear bikes, spoke about bands that didn't exist, and argued the merits of the prison abolition movement while drinking PBR.

True story.

I want to get to the heart of the action this week, as I continue with Part 2 of "7 Rules of Highly Effective Weight Loss."  

Of course, now that I typed "heart of the action" I can't stop singing the Huey Lewis song, "Heart of Rock and Roll."  If you love ol' Huey like me (or just the 80's in general), you're welcome.  If not, I'm sorry I'm not sorry.

Anyway, why am I writing about this topic - as opposed to deadlifts and lolcats, which are the real meat and potatoes of this blog?

I absolutely love the internet.  In fact, that's probably why I spent my first few years out of college working in social media marketing, simply because it was a brilliant way to waste time....but a way to claim I was "working."

(And Dad, I'm sure you're happy to read that previous paragraph after shelling out the money for my expensive, liberal arts education.  But I also learned how to write....so that has to count for something?)

Anyway, as much as I love the internet, it's also the reason most attempts at weight loss tend to end up like the video below - a smooth Michael Jackson dance, turned into an aggressive bathroom(?) wall face plant.

I've made it no secret that strength tends to solve a lot of problems.  Chronic back pain?  Strength tends to help.  Running related pains in your hips and knees?  Strength can help that too.

Forget to put a new cover sheet on your TPS report?  Well, OK, I guess strength won't help you there....but looking like a bad ass won't hurt either.

Anyway, this week I wanted to highlight one of my favorite exercises in building total body strength - the kettlebell overhead press.  And I know you're shocked, but I actually do something other than deadlift all the time (but not much else..)