Kettlebell Korner.

This one is for my gentlemen over 40 years old.

I have been a trainer for over 14 years now.

I've done thousands of 1 on 1 training sessions, I've taught thousands of group fitness classes and I've programmed for thousands of people online.

Many of those people in my sessions and classes and doing the programs have been men ages 40 and older.

And in my experience I have seen this demographic do a lot of things very well...but also a lot of things very poorly haha.

I've learned a lot about them. Where they need help, where they are doing great and everything in between.

So over the next couple of weeks in this section of Friday Favorites I am going to give them a little extra attention and share a DO and a DON'T/STOP fitness tip for men over 40!

Let's get started:

DO - Lift weights. I don't think this is any surprise here but I need to keep the reminder in because it is so important to keep it up forever. No matter what is going on in life you need to keep the strength training in the mix for quality of life. Everyone talks about living to 100, but if you want to have a high quality of life and be able to do things like play with your kids then you need strength training. At least 2x a week for the rest of your life, this is non-negotiable.

DON'T - Working out like you are a college athlete again. I mean this with respect, you have too much going on now. Work, life, kids, etc. When you were 19 nothing mattered besides lifting and your sport, so you could go as hard as you wanted for as long as you wanted. Then eat and sleep all day long and be fine, on top of the fact that you were younger and could recover quicker. I'm not saying don't train hard - but revolving your life around 6x a week, 90 minute training sessions probably isn't in the cards anymore and that's ok. There are things that matter more now and you need your physical and mental attention for them.

Pushing Progress.

Kettlebell Progressive Overload.

One of the biggest topics that comes up with kettlebells is how to progressively overload with them.

And this topic comes up a lot with good reason, most people are used to a gym full of every dumbbell and barbell weight they can imagine. When you have access to that, it makes progressive overload very simple and easy...you just add a liiiitle more weight each time.

But that doesn't always work with kettlebells because people usually don't have access to every KB weight and for many reasons they can't get access to more/heavier.

Or they do have a heavier one but it's too big of a jump and they don't know how to build up to it!

Well all of these questions and concerns have been address in one of my recent YouTube videos!

If you want to know how to consistently build muscle, strength and progress with only a few kettlebells then you need to take a look at this video.

Business Nugget.

Let's talk about rest for a second

My entire life has been about the fitness industry, and rest is a no brainer there.

You can only workout so much and so hard before your body shuts down or you start to do some damage. Everyone (except David Goggins) knows this and people talk about the importance of rest from the gym all the time.

But this same concept can be taken to the business side of things as well...and I'll be honest, I'm not good at it yet.

I'm way more likely to take a rest day from the gym than I am from work. I'm also way less likely to feel guilty when I take a rest day from the gym as opposed to work.

But I've been trying...

And this past Monday I was absolutely exhausted (I was on a bachelor party over the weekend). Even a triple shot of espresso didn't make a dent. After 4 personal training sessions I had 3 and a half hours of calls that were on my schedule. I wrapped everything up by 3:45/4pm and....decided to call it a day.

I didn't try and write more emails, or make posts, or film a YouTube video...I shut my laptop, went to the couch and watched The Office.

And it felt great. Physically and mentally.

Muscles need rest days from the gym, and your body will tell you many times when it's needed. Your brain needs rest from work, and if your body is telling you...listen to it.

So this is my little diary entry to you...take some rest, close the laptop a little early once in a while and just chill. Your body needs it, your brain needs it, your family needs it.

The business isn't going anywhere, it can handle 12 hours without you.