Best Fitness Article for 2016

What do you tell your clients on those days when they seem to be ready to quit, when everything you ask of them elicits complaints about discomfort, or difficulty, or exhaustion? Do you give them an alternative exercise? Or do you find a way to get them to choose to continue?

The answer lies in knowing your client — in open communication that helps you make decisions about every aspect of your client’s training, whether it’s exercise selection, intensity, volume, reps, or even nutrition protocols. What one client can handle is not the same as what another can handle, and each client’s needs may shift from week to week. This isn’t indicative of one client being a harder worker than another — it’s a matter of context. The context of one client’s life is not the same as another’s, just as it isn’t the same as yours, and knowing the difference, in addition to knowing at which points to push each client harder, is part of your job as a trainer. This week, Lance Goyke reminds us that helping our clients work hard isn’t a black and white science; rather, it requires us to be comfortable with gray areas, with “maybes,” and with adjusting our approaches when we must.

General Health

The Top 10 Psychology-Based Goal-Setting And Goal-Achieving Strategies — Tom Venuto

The Akrasia Effect: Why We Don’t Follow Through on What We Set Out to Do (And What to Do About It) — James Clear

Improve Hip Mobility With Dynamic Warm Up Stretching — Dr. John Rusin

4 Rules of Posture — Chris Leib, EricCressey.com

7 Steps A Fitness Coach Can Take To Ensure Their In-Person Clients Are Taken Care Of — Hayden Perno

Strength Training

Are Compound Movements Actually Making You Stronger? — Tony Gentilcore

Teaching the Hip Hinge: Things Most Trainers Don’t Think About — Todd Bumgardner

A Simple, Overlooked Way to Increase Your Bench Press — Andrew Heming

Best Exercise in Ever: Pendulum Press — Dean Somerset

Bench Press Form: How to Keep Your Butt From Coming Off the Bench — Jordan Syatt

Nutrition

Your Pre-Workout Meal Guide: How to Choose The Right Foods for You — JC Deen

Mindful Eating 101 – A Beginner’s Guide — Adda Bjarnadottir, Authority Nutrition

Legume Lunch — Spencer Nadolsky

Bodybuilding

Right Link/Wrong Link: Tweaking Single Leg Exercises for Hypertrophy — Tony Bonvechio

There’s More to Time Than Tempo: Back-Off Sets & Isotension — Joseph Brigley, Roman Fitness Systems

The Single Best Muscle-Building Method — Christian Thibaudeau, T-Nation

How to Build an Effective Hypertrophy Training Program — Mike Sheridan, thePTDC.com

Three Keys to Getting Your Brain in the Game: The Mental Side of Back Training — Alex Mullen

Fat Loss

How To Max Out Your Results by Minimizing the Change — Admin

Blended Training for Fat Loss — Eric Bach

How to Know When You Should Track Your Macros — Brian Compton

Reflections on Women, Fat Loss and Ooey Gooey Self-Love — Erika Hurst

How to Set Up a Realistic and Sustainable Fat-Loss Diet (Part 2): Goals and Time — Jonny Watson, Propane Fitness