Author: Brock Armstrong

After doing some undercover investigation into the Orangetheory Fitness gym chain, I received a flurry of email requests from listeners to look into other new gym fads like Pure Barre, Soul Cycle and BODYPUMP. So today, thanks to listeners Susan and Alyssa, I once again don my fake nose and mustache to get to the bottom of BODYPUMP. Back in 2014, Get-Fit Guy Brock Armstrong shared his thoughts on infomercial quick fixes and fitness fads to avoid. The owner and creator of BODYPUMP (and yes, it is supposed to be in all-caps) is Les Mills who provides group fitness and…

Since I was in grade school, Jump Rope for Heart has promoted fitness in schools while also raising money for heart health research and education. But the benefits of jumping rope go far beyond the school ground. A few weeks ago Elizabeth sent me a message on Facebook saying, “Hello! Could you make a recommendation for a jump rope workout? I have one arriving today and don’t know where to start. I’m trying to incorporate higher intensity cardio into my workout. Thanks!” I did, in fact, send Elizabeth a link to a jump rope workout that I really like but I did…

First off, I know. There’s actually an older Get-Fit Guy episode and article on whether you really should self quantify your fitness goals. It mentions the value of sometimes just unplugging and ignoring the dizzying and often enjoyment-minimizing host of calorie- and step-counting apps and wearable fitness trackers. At the same time, I have also been known to wear an Apple Watch and I have used and written about a device called a Whoop that tracks a fair share of self-quantification variables, including sleep, heart rate, distance, speed, heart rate variability, and more. Aside from that, one of the easiest…

A few years ago, a friend of mine took me up on a challenge and raced a Spartan obstacle race wearing a weighted vest. It’s not an exaggeration to say that doing so made an already intense race a million times harder. OK, maybe I’m exaggerating a little, but you get my point. After the race, he said that he “literally felt like he was dragging an entire extra body around the racecourse.” After looking at the data from his wrist-worn activity tracker during a debriefing later that day, we could see that his heart rate shot up, his lungs…

If you’ve lost a lot of weight recently, then you may have noticed that you have a bit of loose skin hanging around. Common areas for extra skin after weight loss include under the arms, under the chin or a pouch around the stomach. But loose skin can appear almost anywhere on the body, especially if you have lost weight rapidly. Before we go on, let’s start with a brief anatomy overview, from the outside in. First you have your skin, a nice protective layer and the largest organ of the integumentary (external layer or covering) system—think of it as…

This article was originally authored by Ben Greenfield. It was significantly updated by Brock Armstrong on March 2, 2020. According to the Harvard Medical School, more than a third of men over age 45 may have reduced levels of testosterone. Many women also show symptoms of testosterone deficiency, especially as they approach menopause. Aside from accepting your fate or popping a pill, there are some workout strategies you can use to help increase this important hormone. What is testosterone? Testosterone is a major sex steroid hormone that plays many roles for both men and women. It helps us increase lean…

A listener named Marcia sent an email asking about weight loss and exercise. This is what she asked: I’ve been doing resistance training and some cardio for a couple of months now and I’ve noticed that I’ve been gaining weight, mainly around my belly. Do you have any way to explain this? Why yes, Marcia, I do have a few different ways to explain what kind of things might cause you to gain weight even if you’re exercising. And of course, I won’t leave you hanging. I will also tell you what you can do to avoid this issue. Exercise…

A while ago, a listener named Jock wrote in and asked: You know those pecs that go all the way up to the neck and look like two giant squares with nipples? How do I get those? This is an interesting way of describing defined chest muscles, but it’s also not all that inaccurate, when I think about it. The muscles in the pectoral region do form a square (or rectangle) on either side of your sternum if you combine all four of them equally. The four muscles that we call our “pecs” include: Pectoralis major The pectoralis major is…

If you are one of those unlucky people who has “thrown their back out,” you know that sinking feeling that comes after picking something up the wrong way, getting bumped the wrong way during a sporting event, or reaching into a deep drawer or up onto a high shelf and suddenly feeling a twinge of pain surging through the muscles around your lower spine. To avoid injury, it is crucial to have proper strength in the lower back. If you take a look at an anatomy chart, you will see that there is a large and complex group of muscles…