Articles

Straight answers on staying strong, steady, and mobile, from a clinician who has spent 25 years helping people move better.

A Full Day of Holiday Shopping Doesn't Have to Wreck Your Body
If you still have a list of people to shop for and not many days left to do it, you already know how the day goes. Hours on your feet. Long lines.
Barefoot, Minimalist, or Cushioned? What Actually Matters for Runners
Every few years the running world finds a new thing to argue about, and for a long stretch the loudest argument was about your feet.
Get Back to Golf Without Your Body Cutting the Round Short
The first warm, sunny stretch of the year hits and the course calls.
How to Shovel Snow Without Wrecking Your Back
The first real snow of the season is beautiful for about an hour, right up until you are standing at the end of the driveway holding a shovel.
How to Stay Motivated When the Exercise Wagon Rolls Off Without You
You know the arc. You finally carve out the time, you string together a good week or two, and your body starts paying you back. More energy. Sleeping better.
Ice or Heat? A Simpler Way to Decide
You tweak something. A shoulder, a knee, your low back. And you stand there at the freezer wondering: is this an ice situation or a heat situation?
Long Trips Are Hard on a Body. Here's How to Move Through Them.
Think about the last long trip you took. The cross-country flight, the road trip that turned into eight hours behind the wheel.
Set Up Your Desk So It Stops Working Against You
Add it up sometime. Forty hours a week, fifty-some weeks a year, year after year, folded into a chair.
Six Fitness Myths That Are Quietly Holding You Back
You have heard the rules your whole life. Push through the pain. Stretch before you move. Lifting will bulk you up.
Steady on Your Feet: The Skill You Stopped Practicing
Do you walk to get around? If the answer is yes, then balance is quietly running in the background of everything you do.
Stop Fighting the Body You Were Built With (and Start Working It)
Every year it is the same resolution. Get in shape. You start strong in January, the gym is packed, and by March it is back to the regulars while everyone else…
Stop Waiting for Something to Break Before You Pay Attention to Your Body
"Get well soon." You have said it a hundred times, signed it on a card, meant it warmly. It is what we tell someone after the thing has already gone wrong.
That Soreness Two Days After a Workout Is Doing More Than You Think
You know the feeling. You finally get back to it, maybe the first real workout in a while, and you feel fine that night.
The Bike Fits the Frame. Does It Fit You?
You spend good money getting the bike right. The frame size, the saddle, the gearing, maybe a fitting at the shop.
The Decline You Blame on Age Is Mostly Disuse
Somewhere in your forties or fifties, you start noticing it. The stairs ask a little more than they used to. Getting up off the floor is a project.
The Difference Between 'Hard' and 'Hurt' (and Why It Matters Mid-Workout)
"No pain, no gain." You have heard it your whole life, probably said it once or twice yourself.
The Knot in Your Neck Has a Backstory
Reach up and press into the top of your shoulder, right where it meets your neck. Feel that ropey, tender lump that makes you wince a little?
The Most Underrated Thing You Can Do for Your Body Is Already Free
Somewhere along the way, walking got demoted. It does not feel like exercise, so it is easy to dismiss as not counting, the thing you do to get to the real…
The Move That Tweaks More Backs Than Heavy Lifting
Most people brace for the heavy lift. The couch, the loaded box, the bag of mulch. They plant their feet, take a breath, and respect it.
The Muscle Most People Never Learned to Use
Here is a strange thing about the human body. One of the largest, most powerful muscles you own is one that most people have never really learned to switch on.
The One Thing Your Mom Was Right About
If you spend your day at a desk or in the car, your body has probably been sending you signals. A stiff neck by mid-afternoon.
The Six Things 'Getting in Shape' Actually Means
Ask ten people what it means to be "in shape" and you will get ten different answers. One pictures a runner with endless wind.
Two Habits That Take the Pressure Off Your Back
If your low back tightens up when you stand after a long sit, or barks at you when you lift a grocery bag the wrong way, you are in very good company.
Warm-Up vs. Stretch: They Are Not the Same Thing, and the Order Matters
Here is a quick one. When was the last time you actually stretched?
What Stress Is Doing to Your Body (and Five Ways to Interrupt It)
Wouldn't it be nice if the week ran the other way around? Five-day weekends, two days of work.
What That Backpack Is Quietly Doing to a Growing Body
Pick up your kid's backpack on a school morning sometime. Really pick it up.
What the Bottom of Your Shoes Is Trying to Tell You
When was the last time you bought new shoes? Not the last time you wanted to, the last time you actually replaced the pair you wear almost every day.
When Your Wrists Start Complaining About Your Keyboard
You spend hours a day with your hands in nearly the same position.
Why That Heel Pain Is Worst With Your First Steps in the Morning
You never appreciate your feet until one of them starts hurting. Most aches you can rest.
Why the Same Spot Aches Every Time You Grip, Swing, or Reach
You grip a club and swing it a few hundred times. You wring out a mop, twist a screwdriver, blow-dry hair for a living, throw a ball, type all day.
Why the Spot That Hurts Is Rarely Where the Problem Started
You have probably had this happen. Something starts bothering you, you finally deal with it, it quiets down for a while, and then weeks or months later it is…
Why Your Shins Start Barking When You Get Back Into Running
You finally lace up and get back into running after a long break. The first few outings feel great.
Why Your Shoulder Started Complaining, and What It Is Really Telling You
Think about everything you ask your shoulders to do in a day.
Yoga Isn't What You Think It Is (and It Might Be Exactly What Your Body Needs)
Say the word yoga and a few pictures probably come to mind. Someone folded into a pretzel. Incense and chanting.

Articles

A Full Day of Holiday Shopping Doesn't Have to Wreck Your Body

Barefoot, Minimalist, or Cushioned? What Actually Matters for Runners

Get Back to Golf Without Your Body Cutting the Round Short

How to Shovel Snow Without Wrecking Your Back

How to Stay Motivated When the Exercise Wagon Rolls Off Without You

Ice or Heat? A Simpler Way to Decide

Long Trips Are Hard on a Body. Here's How to Move Through Them.

Set Up Your Desk So It Stops Working Against You

Six Fitness Myths That Are Quietly Holding You Back

Steady on Your Feet: The Skill You Stopped Practicing

Stop Fighting the Body You Were Built With (and Start Working It)

Stop Waiting for Something to Break Before You Pay Attention to Your Body

That Soreness Two Days After a Workout Is Doing More Than You Think

The Bike Fits the Frame. Does It Fit You?

The Decline You Blame on Age Is Mostly Disuse

The Difference Between 'Hard' and 'Hurt' (and Why It Matters Mid-Workout)

The Knot in Your Neck Has a Backstory

The Most Underrated Thing You Can Do for Your Body Is Already Free

The Move That Tweaks More Backs Than Heavy Lifting

The Muscle Most People Never Learned to Use

The One Thing Your Mom Was Right About

The Six Things 'Getting in Shape' Actually Means

Two Habits That Take the Pressure Off Your Back

Warm-Up vs. Stretch: They Are Not the Same Thing, and the Order Matters

What Stress Is Doing to Your Body (and Five Ways to Interrupt It)

What That Backpack Is Quietly Doing to a Growing Body

What the Bottom of Your Shoes Is Trying to Tell You

When Your Wrists Start Complaining About Your Keyboard

Why That Heel Pain Is Worst With Your First Steps in the Morning

Why the Same Spot Aches Every Time You Grip, Swing, or Reach

Why the Spot That Hurts Is Rarely Where the Problem Started

Why Your Shins Start Barking When You Get Back Into Running

Why Your Shoulder Started Complaining, and What It Is Really Telling You

Yoga Isn't What You Think It Is (and It Might Be Exactly What Your Body Needs)