General Fitness Companycast
By Jerry Washington
General Fitness CompanycastAug 09, 2018
#11-61 Bad Stretching
There's good stretching and bad stretching. Most people unknowingly are doing more harm than good with their stretching routine. If you want to learn how to stretch in a way that will actually lengthen your muscle fibers without injuring your joints or weakening your muscles, then this is the episode for you.
#11-60 Doing Something New
Today, I wanted to talk about the joy of doing something new. I'm currently finishing the first part of the fire academy and I'm enjoying the refreshing sense of perspective and new thinking that it has brought into other aspects of my life. This episode will be a very helpful perspective if you feel like you're sort of stuck in a a rut.
#11-59 Essentials of Running (Look for Your Own Applause)
Today, I wanted to talk a little more about stoicism so I talked about the ultimate stoic exercise...running! I talk about how I train my clients to be runners even though a minority of them are actual runners. In this episode, you'll find the essentials of running, or the 3 elements I think we all need to be better runners. From knee drive, to recoil, I talk about all of what you need to be a better runner.
#11-58 Fearless
Today I want to talk about a stoic belief that has carried me in my life. It's not an original thought, however it's something that I think can be very inspiring to those that are facing or will face challenges in their lives. It's important to remember that we're all a little fearful of something, but it's how we respond to that fear that's important.
#11-57 Sleep and the HPA Axis
Today we have our last segment with Megan talking about our hormones and nervous system. Today, we talked sleep and how sleep deprived many of us actually are. Some may not realize it, but we're going to be talking about how to tell if you've been getting enough sleep and how you can help yourself regulate your nervous system through sleep.
#11-56 The Other Side of Comfort
We all reach a time in our lives when we feel like we're stuck. We feel that something or someone is preventing us from moving forward. Well, I'm here to tell you that it's likely your fault that your stuck. And if that's the case (it very likely is) then you can also get yourself unstuck. Let's talk about how to be "unstuckable" in this episode.
#11-55 Make Time For Patience
Today, I'm going to talk of an allegory about getting what you want in life and how it sometimes can seemingly fall into your lap...with a little work of course. This is a special story that some may already be familiar with, but I'm going to give you my take. Buckle up for this palindrome episode.
#11-54 A Jog...Should You Go For One?
When it comes to running, you can separate it into three different movements. There's jogging, running, and sprinting. Today we're going to talk about the benefits and mechanics of running.
#11-53 Why Running Doesn't Make You a Better Runner
A client asked me today how much running do they need to be a better runner and I answered, "technically none," to their dismay. Today we're going to address that question and likely continue it on our next episode as we talk about a more specific form of running. Sprinting.
#11-52 Clipper Guards
In this episode, I tell an anecdote about how we sometimes do something that's inefficient and sometimes ineffective because that's "just the way we do it." If this is you, I encourage you to explore your options. The time you spend, will be much less than the time you waste in doing whatever it is you're doing the wrong way. In other words, keep an open mind.
#11-51 Regulating the HPA Axis
In this episode, I talk to Megan Dupree about what external factors regulate or dysregulate our hormones. She had some very interesting insights about caffeine and marijuana and how our body reacts to it. If you're looking to regulate your nervous system because you are eating too much sugar or not getting enough sleep, this is the episode for you.
#11-50 3 Exercises You Can Do to Fix Your Posture
Today, we're talking posture and all it indicates for your body. Did you know that everyone has some degree of scoliosis? It's the level of curvature, if it gets to be to high of a degree, then you tend to have issues. Today, we're going to learn a few exercises that will help you strengthen and stabilize your spine.
#11-49 Stop Stretching
Today we're going to talk about the difference between passive and active stretching. More people need to know what they are doing because stretching incorrectly is leading to an increase in back surgeries among younger adults.
#11-48 Hydration & Weight Loss
Back in the 80's there was a diet called the "water diet." It was a diet where they would give you water and vitamins and you would lose weight. People would say it was because it kept you satiated so you didn't want to eat, but there is a little more to it than that.
Today, I'm going to investigate this water diet and we're going to find out what the fattest animal on the planet can teach us about weight loss.
#11-47 The Long Road Ahead
In this episode, I talked about the struggles of plateauing in your performance. Performance can be more than just the gym. However, how you do some thing is usually how you do everything. So we're going to talk about using some strategies that I use for my clients as well as my own business to help with success.
#11-46 Don't Do the Splits
Today, I wanted us to think about this phenomenon that we've been seeing in the fitness field lately related to mobility training. You see a lot of people mistaking mobility training for skill work, but more importantly, you have people (mostly influencers) teaching people how to create mobility through instability. That's a big no-no!
Hopefully, in this episode, the takeaway for you would be to understand what you're doing when you're stretching. This understanding will help you to develop a mobility routine that will help you improve your range of motion without sacrificing joint stability.
#11-45 Building Muscle with a TRX
Did you know that there are two ways to build muscle? Today's episode is a short one about building muscle mass. Most people think that you can't build muscle mass with straps, especially since most of the training videos are of high intensity core workouts. But today, I'm going to tell you how you can double your results with less effort.
#11-44 Make Your Life Easier
Today, I'd like to tell a little story about my evolution as an athlete and as a trainer. In this episode, I talk about how I went from World Champion powerlifter to mobility aficionado in less than a decade. I changed my philosophy for many reasons, one of them being that I wanted to move without pain for the rest of my life. This episode will help give you some of the tools necessary to do that as well.
Check out the YouTube page for more mobility and TRX videos.
#11-43 Genetic Lottery
In today's episode, I took what we've been talking about over the past couple of episodes and broke it down further to talk about you as an individual. Everyone is different, so they should absolutely be paying attention to what makes them different.
#11-42 Natural Movement
Today, I wanted to expand on what I was talking about in the last episode on rotations. It seems that there was confusion as to what I meant by your body needing to rotate and control that rotation. I'm going to break it down as best I can so that you can design a better workout that is based on intelligent movement that helps you move better.
#11-41 Rotations
Today, I'm talking to all the runners out there that want to be faster. You need to be more mobile and you're not going to be able to do that through stretching. I'm going to talk about the body's natural way of moving especially as it pertains to running and I'll talk about a simple way you can train yourself to be a better runner without having to even take one step on the track or the trail...or wherever you train. Listen closely because I'm about to dispel a few beliefs you may have about flexibility.
#11-40 Freedom
In today's episode I went a little more esoteric and talked about freedom in your life through authenticity. However, I brought it back to fitness with a little talk about freedom of movement and how many people are thinking about mobility in a way that makes their joints unhappy. This was a spin off from an email I sent to my email list. If you'd like to be a part of that, you can sign up at General Fitness Company.
#11-39 Why Working Out Doesn't Work
I wanted to make a correction to a previous episode. I had misspoken about the amount of protein an average person should have. I accidentally converted the pounds to kilograms and back to pounds when I read my notes.
To make up for it, this episode is an ultimate myth buster about exercise and how so many people (especially in my industry) have been preaching something that is ultimately harmful for the average person.
#11-38 Put Down That Midday Coffee
Today we have a special episode with Megan Dupree. She's an expert in diagnosing and treating Nervous System disfunction. This is a clip from a conversation we had about the stress response and what coffee does to it. We'll be seeing more clips from this episode and if you'd like to episode in its entirety, check out our YouTube page next week.
#11-37 Rest
In today's episode, I'm talking about rest. Not sleep so much, but rest. I'll be talking sleep more in depth later on in an interview I did with a very knowledgeable associate. Today, however, I want to talk about rest and how to do it during times when you feel overwhelmed.
#11-36 Gaining Money and Losing Weight
This last weekend I had an interesting conversation with my accountant. He was telling me a few things and he had some financial advice that I think would also be helpful as health & fitness advice.
#11-35 High School Workouts
The way we used to workout doesn't work any more, yet people still hold on to it like a toddler to their favorite toy. It doesn't work anymore, yet people still cling to it. Listen, this isn't an episode poo pooing other methodologies of training. This episode is going to teach you why people train the way they do and how I learned to create successful training programs for each unique individual.
#11-34 How To Get a Summer Body
One of my clients asked me how much cardio they have to do to get the body they want for the summer. I responded with, you'll have to do cardio from now until June without stopping. I joke, but it's sorta true because cardio is the worst way to burn fat. Let's find out the best way in this episode.
#11-33 How To Protect Your Back
Double number on the episode felt special this time around so I put together a two for one episode. The intro to this one covers many of the topics that I wanted to discuss in the second half about posture, however, I was locked into teaching people how to do a specific exercise so I didn't get down to it. In the intro, I talk about something very important to posture and it's intra-abdominal pressure. Listen closely to the first half because it certain has some invaluable gems that I usually reserve for the folks on my app.
#11-32 Stretching
I've talked about this what feels like too many times, but today I found someone that I know on social media stretching in an interesting way and when I talked to them about it, it made me think of a different approach to this stretching discussion.
#11-31 The Truth About Posture
We all know that posture is healthy for you. Or is it? You see all those gadgets that remind you to have good posture. Phone and smart watch alerts reminding you to sit up straight. Chest straps that you wear to keep your shoulders back. What does good posture actually even do for you, besides make you look taller?
I'm going to talk about the functionality of good posture. Why you should actually train your posture, but probably not in the way you're thinking with yoga and other unstabilizing movements and postures.
Let's chat about how you can prevent injuries and improve your overall life (maybe even become smarter) by improving your posture.
#11-30 How To Get Everything Done
I was in a conversation today with my client and they told me how they were so busy and I was amazed at all they were getting done. I was curious and asked them to share a little bit about they do and then I realized that a lot of what they were saying was very familiar. Today, I'm going to share with you how one of my busiest clients gets more done than you and I together in one day.
#11-29 TRX Translations: Pec Fly
We will be talking about this next week on YouTube. I thought I'd share it with you as a sneak preview. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to drop them into the review section. You can view our YouTube page as well. With over one hundred videos of helpful health and fitness tips, we're sure to answer many of your wellness questions.
#11-28 Put the Kindling on the Fire
This episode is about stretching. Many people believe that stretching is good for you, but it actually can be detrimental to your ligaments and tendons. I discuss a few points that I didn't cover in a previous episode. If you're interested in listening to that episode as well, you can it here. In it, I talk about PNF stretching and what effects that has on your body.
#11-27 Interview w/ Joe Cannon
Today is President's Day and it made me think about all the great leaders and mentors. I thought about a few of my mentors and how much they have shaped the trainer, coach, and person that I am today for so many people. This episode is from 3 years ago and it was an interview with my mentor, Joe Cannon. He certified me almost 20 years ago and was the one that got me excited about personal training.
In this episode, we talk about rhabdomyolysis and the book that he wrote about it. We, of course, talked origin stories, and where we hope to see the industry in the future. This was a really meaningful episode to me and I know it will bring you tons of value from a training and/or fitness enthusiast perspective.
#11-26 Squats (Strengthen Your Knees)
I've talked about squats on various occasions. How to do them, how not to do them, why you shouldn't do them, and today we'll be examining why you should. I'll specifically address knees as it pertains to your squats and what you should start with if you are having knee issues. There are a few gems in here that I'd like you to note because they are game changers for many of my clients.
#11-25 Mental Toughness
Today I wanted to talk about resilience. It's the time of year when people traditionally experience depression, so I wanted to help bring a little more practicality to resilience. There a few studies that I mention that back up these methods, so try them out and see if they work for you.
#11-24 TRX Translations: Raw & Uncut
Today's episode is a bit of a gem. We have a great talk about how to strengthen your muscles for pull-ups using the TRX. This is part of our TRX Translations series on YouTube. What makes it so special is that it's completely unedited. That's right, you get to hear my slip-ups and at the end, I give a bit of my commentary on the level of difficulty I perceived when trying to do pull-ups and talk at the same time. Look for the video on our YouTube page later on this week.
#11-23 Health & Fitness Myths...Debunked!
Want to know if you should stop eating gluten? How about what you should do after an injury? Today, I'm going to be talking about a few health and fitness myths that have been circling around that need to be put to rest. Some date back 5 decades, yet some people still think it to be true. Let's debunk some myths today, shall we?
#11-22 Testing
We've been doing testing here at the studio. Everyone is testing their cardio capacity and it brought me to thinking about how we can all test ourselves in the same way. If you'd like to take the GFC challenge and find out why you should be testing, listen to today's episode.
#11-21 How Much Protein Is Too Much?
There are a lot of different theories on protein. Some use it to gain muscle and bulk up. Others, use it in their keto diets and lose a ton of weight. What is the deal with protein? Is it magic? What exactly is it and are you getting an adequate amount daily? We're gonna get to the bottom of all this in today's episode.
#11-20 Magic Words
Do you know the magic words? It was once thought that we could conjure up anything with certain spells or magic words. Turns out this is true to a certain point. What you say determines your reality and it could be exactly as you want it to be...If you let it.
#11-19 Stressed!
Today, I discuss psychological and physiological stress. I'll be answering the question of whether or not there is good stress and what effect stress has on the body. Most importantly, you're going to learn what you can do to manage some of the unknown stressors so that you live a happier, healthier life.
#11-18 How to Stay Young Through Exercise
I'm sure you've heard a lot of tricks and tips to help you stay young. You might even own a few gadgets as well. Today, we're going to talk about a free way to keep your body and mind young throughout the years?
#11-17 Weakness or Degeneration?
A client posed a question to me today that was very nuanced. As you get older you tend to acquire aches and pains that seem to come out of nowhere. The question is, are those aches and pains degenerations of the joints or do you need to strengthen them? Maybe, it's a little of both...
#11-16 The Greatness Within
I was brought back to my college days with a package that I received in the mail. It reminded me of what discipline felt like and it's probably not most people imagine it to be. Often, you see people preaching discipline that seem to be miserable. Today, we're going to talk about what is to have a healthy (and happy) attitude towards discipline.
11-15 The Best Way To Train Your Core
We're going to talk again about core training and review a few of the subjects I talked about on a similar episode. This is a sneak preview of the lightly edited version. See the full version on our YouTube Channel next week.
#11-14 What You Talking About?
Communication is every bit as important to your health as crunches. Maybe even more so. Today, I'd like to give you a look into conversations I have with my clients and how they are sometimes helpful for them to make strong decisions even outside the gym.
We're going to be talking about a scenario where one person is faced with an obstacle and to get out of it, they have to properly communicate. You absolutely have been in a scenario like this, so take notes because this is a solid thought piece.
#11-13 Why You Shouldn't Squat
Squatting is an exercise that you see a lot of people doing (wrong). Some people say that a squat is one of the best things to add into your training program. I disagree. I don't believe that squats should be such an integral part of anyone's fitness routine and today, I'll tell you why.
#11-12 How To Work Your Core
There is a way to work your core that might hurt your back. Then, there's a way that will strengthen your back by improving its ability to stabilize your body. Are you sure that you're doing the right core exercises? Find out what you might be doing wrong in the gym and how to strengthen your core the right way.