10k Steps Daily Welcome to my tip series! I’ll be taking a deeper dive into some of my favorite tips to improve your health and fitness. The first tip is one of my favorites. Something I’ve been tracking for a few years now and usually is my first recommendation to anyone looking to get healthier. 10K steps every day. The number itself is almost arbitrary, the goal is more movement throughout the day. There is no one right way to do it, you can walk for 45 minutes after dinne

The last 3 months, when I haven't been rehabbing my shoulder, it’s been leg day. When I first got into lifting in high school, leg day was easily my favorite day. About 6 years ago, knee pain changed how I felt, it became something I would almost dread. Most activities, whether it was pick up sports or lower body exercises, were painful. I’d take some time off before going back to my old routine which ultimately led to no changes. I found myself totally avoiding exercises and

You have been active all day, your legs feel solid, but then you stand for ten minutes to chat and suddenly your low back feels like it is locking up. What is going on? The Locked Joint Trap When we get tired, we tend to hang on our joints. We shift our weight onto one hip, lock our knees, and let our spine take the slack. It is the path of least resistance, and your body loves it for about thirty seconds. After that, your muscles start to fatigue because they stopped working

Most people walk into the gym, hop on a treadmill for five minutes, do a few arm circles, and call it a day. If that is your routine, you are missing the most important part of your workout. You are essentially trying to drive a car with the parking brake on. That five minute treadmill walk is not warming you up. It is just wasting your time. Your Warm-Up Is A Mini Therapy Session Think about how you spent the last eight hours. If you are like most of us, you were sitting at

When you are reaching up to grab a heavy box from the top shelf, or pushing a barbell overhead in the gym, the goal is simple: get your arms straight up into the air. But if you feel a tight, stiff ache in your lower back the day after a heavy lifting session—or even just a long day of reaching and stacking—you might be falling for a classic movement trick. You think you’re training your shoulders, but your body is actually using a sneaky workaround that leaves your spine tak

When you are navigating a rocky trail, lifting a heavy object, or recovering from a sudden slip, your body is never perfectly still. You don't get to lock yourself into a rigid, non-moving box and just hold it. True core strength is dynamic and reflexive—it needs to turn on, adjust, and adapt instantly while your arms and legs are moving fast. The Problem with Static Bracing While holding a standard, stationary plank builds baseline muscular endurance, it only teaches your bo

Getting started in the gym can be a bit overwhelming, even once you’ve gotten a routine down it can still be uncomfortable. Whether it's the crowded gyms with rows of full machines, the experienced lifters doing intimidating movements or an unlimited supply of bad tips on social media, it can be difficult to get yourself into that routine. A lot of people feel like they need to be in the perfect situation to build any type of momentum or habits in that gym, but that couldn't

We talked about how your body handles force. We covered why your brain puts a speed limit on your movement, and how slowing down your exercises builds the physical tissue strength to absorb heavy impacts. This is the final stage of a complete braking system: reactive deceleration. It is the ability to instantly hit the brakes and stabilize your entire body in a fraction of a second. The Danger of the "Lazy" Stop When most people need to stop moving quickly, they don't actuall

Every time you change directions, your body has to hit the brakes. Whether you are twisting to grab a heavy box out of the backseat, stepping sideways to dodge a dog on the trail, or cutting hard on a turf field, your body has to completely stop your forward momentum before you can safely move the other way. If your muscles are not strong enough to absorb that sudden stop, your brain instantly senses the danger. To protect your knees from twisting or your lower back from taki

Something that often confuses people in the gym is rep schemes. As a trainer, I’m asked all the time “how many reps should I do?” Honestly, I don't think there is a wrong answer. If you are showing up to the gym any rep range will benefit you, but the correct rep range when training for something specific can make all the difference. Different rep ranges and weight schemes create different changes within the body, allowing you to target specific outcomes. Let's break down t

Think about the last time you drove down a steep mountain pass. If your vehicle had a massive engine but completely worn-out brake pads, you would be terrified to push the gas pedal. You would ride the brakes, coast down slowly, and hope for the best. Your body operates the exact same way. When most of us think about getting stronger or faster, we focus entirely on acceleration. We want to explode out of a sprint, lift a heavier weight, or charge up a steep trail. But if you

Ever feel like your body hits an invisible wall? You’re pushing hard on a run, crushing a lift, or flying down a trail, and suddenly your legs just feel heavy. Your coordination drops, your joints stiffen up, and your power completely evaporates. Most of us assume we just ran out of gas or need more cardio. But usually, it's not an endurance problem. It’s a stopping problem. Your brain has a built-in safety switch. It doesn't care how much force you can produce; it only cares

The fitness world has a major obsession with intensity. Media, supplements, and mainstream gym culture often push the idea that a workout only counts if it leaves you completely exhausted, dripping in sweat, and incredibly sore the next day. While working hard has its place, chasing extreme intensity as a daily metric usually leads to a predictable cycle: a few weeks of hyper-focused effort, followed by burnout, nagging joint pain, or an injury that forces a long layout. Then

Mountain athletes in the Roaring Fork Valley are built for the climb. We measure success in vertical feet and lung capacity, spending hours churning up trails like Prince Creek or Ute. However, there is a common paradox in the clinic: athletes who can summit peaks with ease often struggle to stand on one leg for thirty seconds without a wobble. You might have the engine to hike 3,000 feet of vertical gain, but if you lack lateral stability, you are leaking power with every st

Giving Yourself a Reason Giving yourself a reason to train will keep you moving forward! It’s easy to get to the gym and not have a plan for your workout. You warm up with some cardio (maybe) then hit the weights. Try a few sets of your favorite 2 chest, 2 back and arm exercises, then finish with some core and stretch (if you read my mobility blog). You can repeat this cycle for a while, but eventually that gets boring, frustrating and can lead to burnout. The difference

If your "core" strategy is just bracing your abs and pushing your belly out, you’re missing the point of stability. The Myth: "Belly Breathing." If only your stomach is moving, you are creating distension, not expansion. This doesn't provide true support for the spine. The Fact: 360° Expansion. For a stable spine and a balanced nervous system, your entire rib cage must expand—including the lower ribs, the sides (axilla), and critically, your lower and mid-back. Stability come

As we get older, it often feels like gravity starts winning. Maybe it’s a little harder to get out of a low car, or perhaps you’ve noticed your posture shifting forward. Most people chalk this up to "just getting old," but at Defiance PT, we look at it through a different lens. It’s not just about the years on the calendar; it’s about the battle between your muscle mass and the constant downward pull of gravity. If you’re looking for the closest thing we have to a fountain of

My 3 Favorite Tips One of the most common reasons for someone to start their health and fitness journey is weight loss, but not every weight loss goal is the same. Some people want to lose 5-10 pounds and are more interested in a body recomposition, involving adding muscle while losing fat. Others are looking to lose 50+ pounds and make true lifestyle changes. How exactly do you go about it? Well, over my years working as a personal trainer, I’ve worked with both types of

When we talk about core stability, most people immediately think of the McGill Big 3 or bracing their abs for a heavy lift. But stability isn’t just about what’s happening at your midsection; it’s a bottom up process. Think of your body like a skyscraper. You can have the strongest steel beams in the world (your core), but if the building is sitting on shifting sand (your feet), the entire structure is compromised. At Defiance PT, we believe that true performance and injury p

One of the least trained, yet most important components of overall health and fitness is our mobility. The ability to move freely and easily; how many of you would say that describes you? Mobility is something I’ve always struggled with, but over the last few years I’ve begun to place a real emphasis on it in my training. There are several benefits for all ages to having a regular mobility routine. As younger adults, training mobility can help improve athletic performance