Gear & Nutrition
"You can have all the tools in the world, but if you don't genuinely believe in yourself, it's useless." ~Ken Jeong
I'm not in the business of selling fitness gear, supplements, or wasting your time and money. Everything below is something that either I and/or my clients have found to be helpful along the path of improving health and movement. I do receive commission for some of the purchases made through the links listed below.
Perform Better is one of my go to companies for fitness and training equipment. Although I like to keep things relatively simple regarding equipment requirements, I do have a few things from this company that I highly recommend. Search the terms below on the website by clicking the image.
- Gray Cook Band - This is one of the most versatile exercise bands for the home and for a broad selection of exercises well beyond the usual exercise band.
- Indian Clubs - These one pound clubs come with an educational video series through Functional Movement Systems and are phenomenal for training coordination and shoulder mobility.
- First Place Kettlebells - I am picky about what kind of kettlebell I purchase and use as many commercially made ones you can find are poorly made, but these are worth purchasing as you will always get a consistently made product at a reasonable price. Best to purchase when on sale.
- Superbands - Heavy duty 40" loop resistance band that can be used both for developing strength and improving mobility.
Like most people, life is busy and maintaining a healthy diet can be challenging. Ample is my solution for when life gets too busy for me to plan a meal. This is the best meal replacement I know and has some brilliant minds in the realm of nutrition behind it. They have three options: Original, Vegan, and, my personal favorite, Keto. They come in 400 and 600 calorie options. Just add water and go. Since the bottles come sealed with the powder inside, they are quick and easy to transport and easily go through TSA inspection without any issues.
For the multiple years, I drink Bulletproof Coffee almost every morning and still do, but less frequently now. If you do not know what this is, I would recommend checking it out through the website. In addition to the method of making Bulletproof Coffee, I utilize the beans, Brain Octane, Activated Charcoal, Glutathione, and Collagen Protein on a regular basis from this company. The owner, David Asprey, is passionate about creating the highest quality product and promoting the idea that everyone can become better by focusing on what works for your body and that starts with high quality coffee.
US Wellness Meats is my number one source for high quality, grass-fed beef and lamb, heritage pork, wild caught seafood, and free range chicken along with multiple snacks and other humanely raised animal products.
Yoga Tune Up is a great company created by Jill Miller with the goal of improving movement and fitness. A great featured product that I own and use almost every day is the package of multiple sized balls used in variety of ways to improve connective tissue mobility and improve body awareness to help you move better. The balls are firm, but not as rough as using a lacrosse ball to work on the muscles, with the exception of the Coregeous ball, which is an inflatable ball that is great for gentle work on the body, particularly the abdomen.
Education
"Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice, and most of all, love of what you are learning or learning to do." ~Pele
These are just a few of the many resources I use for educating myself and my clients.
Dr. Chris Masterjohn is possibly one of the brightest minds I have come across when it comes to nutrition. He has a YouTube channel and a podcast along with his website. If you wan to dive deep into nutrition, Dr. Masterjohn is the best place to go. I also recommend checking out his Cold Season War Chest for supplements to help you fight off sickness.
Examine.com is an incredible resource for research on supplements, and that is all they sell, research. The entire company is geared toward constantly collecting data on supplements and a huge amount of that information is entirely free. So, if you are curious about what research exists on any supplement you are taking, look no further than Examine.com. For those of you who want the really deep details, they have a membership to the site that gives you even further access to research updates.
Precision Nutrition is one of the top nutrition coaching companies in the world and is where I formally started my education on nutrition. If you are interested in pursuing a career in nutrition without going through years of schooling, I highly recommend this program. If you are not interested in becoming a coach, the website also has a ton of free information about a wide range of topics that is boiled down into easily digestible infographics.
Functional Movement Systems is a key component to how I practice as a physical therapist and a trainer. Through this system I am able to efficiently assess movement at all levels to determine weaknesses and dysfunctional patterns. The website is full of great articles and videos on movement principles and how the need for assessment is critical for improving movement quality.
StrongFirst is one of the leading organizations providing education for how to build strength through the use of kettlebells, barbells, and body weight training. Check out the website for great articles on building strength.
On Target Publications is a treasury trove of free articles and videos that cover everything from the psychological approach to training and movement to building strength, and more. They are also a great resource for educational materials like DVDs, audio lectures, and programs to improve your knowledge of movement, fitness, and nutrition. I recommend this site for your purchases of these items since they always come with more than just the basic product.