Ben

I never had any intention of becoming a personal trainer. I was never really even interested in taking classes about kinesiology, physiology, or even fitness. It was the shock I had after tearing my rotator cuff out of nowhere that sparked a desire to learn how it could have happened, how it could have been prevented, and how I was [...]

1. Track. Your. Food! This is the easiest thing in fitness to do but 9/10 people won't do it because it has to be done every day. Science has made it incredibly easy to accurately estimate our resting metabolic rate (measured in calories) and the caloric value of foods (energy intake) and many common physical activities (energy expended). These known [...]

One hundred days and 22.3 lbs later, my Dad Bod to Rad Bod program is complete. My one and only true goal was to look better than my After photo from last year and I am 100% satisfied in my success doing so. I lost more weight, finished at a lower body-fat percentage, yet weighed more than I did last [...]

If someone asked you to create them an exercise program, what would your end product look like? I recently heard that someone said a paid exercise program isn't worth doing if all the exercises can be found on the internet for free. To clarify, they didn't mean that if the program can be found for free on the internet that you [...]

I will never forget December 7th, 2018. My wife was home because she had a dentist appointment that morning and didn't want to go into work afterwards while her mouth was still numb. It's just another day for me, sitting in our living room working on fitness programs, my website, e-mails and whatever else my business requires. Out of nowhere, [...]

New Year. New Me! It's time to lose that paternal pudge that we all (both men and women) tend to put on in the Fall after pool season ends and full-coverage clothing season begins. I personally don't feel bad about gaining 10-20lbs in the Fall because all those extra calories really show up on the barbell (in a good way)! [...]

Minimalist shoes started becoming quite the fad around 10 years ago. Those ridiculous-looking Barefoot shoes that looked more like a Bigfoot footprint mold cast with shoe material caused quite the buzz. I have honestly never even tried a pair on because they look nothing like the shape of my feet. I heard mixed reviews on the pros and cons of [...]

Cold and Flu Season is upon us! Every year I field questions from clients wondering if they should workout if they feel like they might get sick, if they are sick, or worried they might get sick again. "What should I eat? What should I not eat? Should I go here? Stay home?" The list goes on and on. I [...]

Despite being quite popular for more than a decade now, I managed to make it all the way to this summer before finally giving Crossfit a try. A variety of factors opened an opportunity for me to finally visit a Crossfit "box", and it serendipitously aligned with a time in my life where I was legitimately ready and willing to [...]

The dieting strategy known as "Intuitive Eating" is becoming increasingly popular, and it's pretty easy to see why. Intuitive Eating promises successful weight-loss and management with no restrictions, calorie counting, or unsatisfied cravings. Participants are asked to begin monitoring their hunger more carefully, rating their hunger and satiety on a scale of 1 - 10. The goal is to keep [...]

A common fat-loss strategy is to add or remove starches from dietary intake day-to-day depending on activity level, type of activity, and the anecdotal and possibly arbitrary schedule one creates or follows. The idea is that depriving the body of carbohydrates on some days but adding them back on other days keeps the body guessing as to whether the dieter [...]

Meet Audrey. Audrey is the 1st Place Winner in the local Gold's Gym Transformation Challenge. I first met Audrey in the summer of 2016. At the time, she was battling some pretty serious health issues related to allergic reactions, as well as self esteem issues related to her weight at the time. Audrey had been passionate about her fitness for [...]

Every year, Gold's Gym hosts it's annual Transformation Challenge. As an employee, I'm obviously not allowed to compete, but the staff usually arranges a competition amongst themselves to keep us motivated and accountable for our own fitness each year. Last year I didn't compete because I was in the middle of my 12 Week Shortcut to Size program review, but [...]

It has been just over a year since I became both fascinated with and an avid participant in Olympic Weightlifting. I recently returned from a 5-day semi-primitive camping trip and had to share how much of a difference I could feel doing normal camping activities thanks to my strength and mobility improvements from Snatches and Cleans. Washing Dishes The first [...]

Nationally Certified Sports Nutrition Specialist and Personal Trainer, Ben Crane, goes in-depth into the blatantly biased, vegan-inspired health claims against animal protein sources made in "What The Health", the latest diet documentary available on Netflix. From a weight-loss surgeon spreading false information on the causes of weight-gain, to hypocritically claiming we can't trust studies about meat if they are performed [...]

Rather than follow the tune of the mass media and discuss only the negative occurrences of 2017 and what I hope changes this year, I would instead like to highlight what I accomplished over the last year and what I plan to accomplish in 2018. Accomplishments Produced a Top 10 finisher in the Gold's Gym 2017 Transformation Challenge Became a [...]

Humans have been around for a very long time. Our history goes back well beyond written historical record, including artistic and architectural expressions of cultural history and heritage. Times have changed, but the human form is very much today as it was when it first appeared on Earth. By analyzing human anatomy and contrasting it with behaviors observed in nature, [...]

Gym intimidation, or "gym-timidation" is the core marketing concept of Planet Fitness, a popular North American fitness center known for banning bodybuilders because they intimidate other members. They ironically call their club a "judgement free zone". It's ironic because they have caricatures of bodybuilders around the gym looking like an angry, uncontrollable Hulk, commercials making fit women out to be air [...]

I have seen enough success and failure both from personal training clients and myself to know what makes for a successful endeavor, and what sets you up for failure. Below are the four things I consider the most essential for accomplishing the serious fitness goals you have today, tomorrow, and years into the future! Food Journal No matter how many [...]

I'm obviously not a religious ambassador, much less an expert on how to differentiate what is sinful for one person and not for another, but a friend of mine recently asked me about this. The both of us consider ourselves disciples of Jesus (we don't like the word "Christian" for what it has become) and he asked me what my [...]

I have had the pleasure of working with a young mother of two in her late 20's who came to me looking to lose her baby weight from her last pregnancy. Out of respect for her privacy, rather than use her real name I will refer to her as Jennifer. Jennifer is a relatively short, endomorphic young lady; she has [...]

Personal Trainers like myself who go through a formal certification process are educated during their coursework on a model of training that virtually eliminates any chance of a plateau occurring. Each nationally accredited fitness council has their own name for it, but one is the Optimum Performance Training Model™, as trademarked by the National Council of Strength and Fitness. They [...]

Most people desperately need to eat more plant-based foods (myself included), but just like any diet that completely excludes certain food sources, diets that completely exclude animal products put those dieters at risk from receiving many of the vital nutrients our bodies evolved to expect from animal meat consumption over time. It's a bit ironic that vegetarians, particularly vegans, are [...]