Helping people build the strength and endurance to live longer and healthier.

Squats and hip hinges are the two primary lower body exercises I teach. I do this because they are fundamental to human movement and are precisely where we want to build strength.

Think about your day. Do you need to get out of a chair? Pick up a child? Those are squats. Do you need to pick up the basket of laundry from the floor? Pick up the big bag of dog food from the bottom shelf at the store? Those are hip hinges. You need to train the squat and hip hinge patterns in order to build and maintain the strength and muscle mass that you need to live life.

In the hot summer sun, it can be tempting to stay indoors and sit on the sofa. While staying indoors is part of the advice you will find in this article, sitting on the sofa is not.

It is important for your health for you to get 150 minutes or more of moderate-intensity aerobic activity plus two strength building workouts every week. But we have to acknowledge that doing that in the heat and humidity can lead to, not just discomfort, but to acute health risks.

There are ways to reduce the hot weather risks and avoid the risks caused by sitting on the sofa.

Hiking or mountain biking in Iowa or the midwest is a lot more fun if you know what poison ivy looks like and can avoid it.

The trouble is that poison ivy does not always look like it does in the perfect specimen photos. Time and experience have given me a sixth sense about the plant. That is some hard earned knowledge, and I would not wish the experience of some of those poison ivy cases on anyone.

Skip the rash, and learn from these poison ivy photos!