“Fitness” does not describe a single thing. It is a collection of attributes. Understanding these attributes will help you train more effectively and reach whatever fitness goal you set for yourself. Strength Strength is more than large muscles. ...
Fitness
11 Questions & A Cup of Coffee: Three-Time CrossFit Champion Mat Fraser
Mat Fraser is a simple man. He likes shooting guns, drinking coffee, and working out. Well, “working out” may be a bit of an understatement: he’s been the fittest man on earth for three years running and is a heavy favorite to make it four years at ...
You Don’t Know Squat: Single-Leg Variants
Now that you know how to squat correctly, let's up the ante. These three single-leg squat movements can correct muscular imbalances and shore up strength deficiencies. By forcing a single side of your body to move weight through full ranges of ...
You Don’t Know Squat: Three Variations on Basic Squats
Squats should be simple — even toddlers can get deep into a squat. The reality is that technically squats can be incredibly complex. What seems like a simple movement requires a number of joints, tendons, ligaments, and muscles to operate in concert ...
Meet the Afghan Muscle Man Taking the World By Storm
Afghan bodybuilder Raqib Farooqi looks like a real-world incarnation of Aquaman, and he’s taking the internet by storm. Farooqi lives in the western province of Ghor in Afghanistan, and videos of his workouts have gone viral thanks to his extreme ...
Why Running Still Matters
Love it or hate it, covering ground quickly on our feet is built into our DNA. Running matters — it's the very essence of the human body in motion. It’s a wildly popular sport among enthusiasts, yet many people don’t find much enjoyment in slamming ...
Inside the Fitness Cult of Gym Jones
On the south side of Bloomington, Illinois, in a warehouse next to an empty golf cart dealership, a small tribe of men and women prep to suffer. Over the sink in the restroom where I’m hiding hangs a 1st Ranger Battalion flag. ...
How to Work In A Workout During the Holidays
The holiday season is officially upon us, and you know what that means: food, drinks, traveling, and a wealth of reasons to not exercise. It’s easy to reach for that extra piece of pie and that eighth glass of wine because “it’s the holidays.” It’s ...
FRA Holiday Gift Guide: Fitness
Get a start on your New Year’s resolution by stacking cutting-edge fitness gear under the Christmas tree, with some hints from this Free Range American holiday gift guide. More of us are training at home these days, so we’ve put together a list of ...
Lift Dirty: How to Program for Results
This is part 3 in our Lift Dirty series. Part 1 is on what building materials and construction equipment make the best workout gear, and part 2 explains how to set up a dirty home gym. In gyms throughout the world, you will find hundreds of ...
Lift Dirty: How To Set Up a Construction Equipment Gym
This is part 2 in our Lift Dirty series, which focuses on setting up an exercise space. Part 1 discussed what building materials and construction equipment makes the best workout gear. Dirty gym equipment is heavy and awkward and usually makes a ...
Lift Dirty: How to Use Construction Equipment to Gain Serious Strength
Everything you need to get big is sitting in your garage. Lift dirty by repurposing these common building materials for huge strength gains, even if you don’t have everything on the list. Most of this material can be purchased for relatively little ...
How to Squat Like an Old-Timey Strongman
Nineteenth-century strongman Arthur Saxon was famous for backlifting 4,337 pounds. If that isn’t strength, then I’m not sure what is. What makes a move like that so hard to consider today is the leverage required to move that much weight and the lack ...
Simple Food, Simple Training: The Fitness Secrets of South Asia’s Wrestlers
It’s a sweltering Friday afternoon in pre-COVID-19 Dubai, and two of the emirate’s many laborers — Mohammed and Iqbal, both from Pakistan — are ready to fight. Wearing little more than a speedo-like loincloth, the two fighters glare at each other ...
Coronapocalypse: 10 Ways to Survive Working From Home
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread, more and more U.S. employees are being volun-told to stay home. For some, that means no work — and no paycheck. For others, that means clocking their hours at the homestead. But “social distancing” from ...
4 Ways to Beat the Daily Grind and Crush Your Workout
It’s 0600, and you’ve had a long week at work. Your body is sore, you are low on energy, and the idea of driving into PT or completing a WOD makes you want to punch something. You have a banger of a workout to get done this morning, but you need to ...
How to Increase Strength and Break Through Plateaus With Cluster Sets
Plateaus are common in strength training. Nearly anyone who has ever lifted a barbell has reached a place where progress eluded them. This happens because people tend to stick to what they are comfortable with, which can lead to stagnation in the ...
How to Improve Your Deadlift One Rep Max
Deadlifts are a versatile exercise that translate directly to our lives outside of the gym. Every day, we’re lifting, bending, and reaching for things. Deadlifts strengthen all the muscle groups used in those daily activities. But as with any aspect ...
Recovery is Just as Important as Working Out — Here’s Why
A general assumption is that in order to lose weight, gain muscle, or get in better physical shape, you have to work more and work harder. While it’s true that the body must be put under stress in varying degrees for muscles to grow, what is ...
What is Physical Mobility, and Why is it Important?
Some people are avid gym-goers, and others can't wait to hit the trail or the slopes every weekend. Many people commute every day during the week and work in offices or labor-intensive work fields. No matter where you fall in that mix, those ...
The Fitness Regimen That Will Prepare You for Elk Hunting
There’s no doubt that hunting elk in the Rocky Mountain West is a physical activity. If you don’t live in a state like Colorado, where the average elevation is 6,800 feet above sea level, then you are already going into the season at a disadvantage. ...
True Grit: How the Vikings’ Anthony Harris Made it in the NFL
The job of an athlete is often romanticized. What the general public sees on television is only a glimmer of reality. Everyone can probably agree that athletes conquer many physical barriers to reach their goals, but it is almost impossible to grasp ...
The Deadlift Will Give You The Most Bang For Your Buck — If You Do It Right
Deadlifts are a power movement. This simple yet satisfying act involves loading a bar with heavy plates, chalking up your palms, and pulling it off the ground from a dead stop. It’s the essence of strength: you pick it up and then put it down. No ...
11 Questions & A Cup of Coffee: UFC Fighter Ryan Bader
You know those guys who don’t look very intimidating but could actually kick your ass if it came down to it? That’s not Ryan Bader. At 6-foot-2 and 230 pounds without a visible ounce of fat, he not only looks intimidating, but he can also definitely ...
Which Supplements Do You Actually Need to Get Fit?
Millions of Americans make New Year’s resolutions each year — and most have already given up on them by the time February rolls around. Almost half of these resolutions are related to getting fit. The desire — and, frankly, need — to improve ...
How to Work in a Workout During the Holidays
The holiday season is officially upon us, and you know what that means: food, drinks, traveling, and a wealth of reasons to not exercise. It’s easy to reach for that extra piece of pie and that eighth glass of wine because “it’s the holidays.” It’s ...
Is Social Media Affecting Your Performance in the Gym?
What’s the first thing that nearly half of the world does before getting out of bed? Check their phone. More specifically, check social media. We spend nearly four hours a day on our phones, and half of that time is spent on social media. Our ...
How Modern Sleep Habits Are Impacting Your Health
Gonna live while I’m alive. I’ll sleep when I’m dead.” If your friends are anything like mine, they’ve applied Bon Jovi's infamous words on more than a few nights out in an effort to get you to stay longer. How many times have you succumbed to this ...
You Can Have the Perfect Home Gym for $100
Results don’t come from fancy equipment, they come from consistent hard work and implementing specific demands for your body to overcome. The most readily available (and cost-effective) piece of resistance equipment at your disposal is your body. ...
Training for a Triathlon Using the TF Black Method
Programing is equal parts science and art. There is no single program that will work the same for every person. However, when we take into consideration general human physiology, pertinent systems such as neurological, endocrine, and muscular, we can ...
