But when you dig a little deeper—although the concept of the movement is the same for all variations of deadlifts in that they build posterior chain and core strength—their subtleties become evident, and can make a big difference.

The train-from-home bug even caught OPEX CEO Carl Hardwick, who started shopping around for some kind of cable system to add to his home gym. And after doing a ton of research, as Carl does, he decided to purchase the Tonal Home Gym, a “revolutionary” way of resistance training that uses electromagnetic tension to create resistance.

So you’ve dialed in your nutrition, followed a strict macronutrient plan, and you still aren’t experiencing results? The solution could be far simpler than you can imagine: chewing your food 32 times every bite.

If you work out first thing in the morning, chances are, at one time or another, you’ve been on the sleepy side and had to drag yourself out of bed with a little extra pep talk and motivation in your head.

Obeying a morning ritual is vital to not only athletic performance but your health as well. Any effective morning ritual sets you up for success the entire day to come. Perhaps the most important reason you need a morning ritual is that it creates a physical rhythm. Cadence and consistency are key to reaching whatever your goals may be.

The bench press is one of the most potent pressing movements you can prescribe to a client. Whether your client is a powerlifter, weightlifter, competitive fitness athlete, or simply looking to improve in general physical capabilities, the bench press is a powerful tool that can improve performance at any level of fitness.  

Every week we get direct messages, emails, and comments asking us “What is the best workout plan?”

If you’ve been around the world of functional fitness long enough you’ve probably heard of Marcus Filly. The 4x CrossFit Games athlete and founder of Functional Bodybuilding is the epitome of blending function and aesthetics. While Marcus stays on top of his training daily (you can follow through his Instagram) he owes a large amount of his success to the work that he puts in outside of the gym.

The landmine press is a diagonal pushing exercise. It features a barbell set in a landmine adapter or pushed against a wall. It can be used as a substitute for overhead pressing, a way to fix asymmetries, and add variation to an exercise program.

While I’m sure their scope is quite broad, the life coaches I know work with their clients to achieve goals, overcome obstacles and make changes in their lives to maximize success, health, happiness, etc. (This is also how the National Coach Academy explains the purpose of a life coach.) 

The amount of experience a client has will determine what their workout program will look like. So whether your client is brand new to exercise or has been exercising for a lifetime, this blog will highlight how often they should workout.

Do you find yourself trying to reinvent the wheel every session while your clients are homebound with access to only a few pieces of equipment? With the Covid-19 quarantine extending for many months, does it feel like you’ve had to throw all training plans out the window? If you answered yes to either of these questions, you are not alone.

“I’d wake up at 5 a.m. to coach the 6 a.m. class, and then make a push through to 9 or 10 o’clock. When I’d finally get a chance to breathe, I’d try to train, but I’d be tired. Then there was a dead part of the day, where I’d do administrative work, and then I’d push through to the evening hours and coach all evening,” said O’Brien, now 32. 

If you’re part of the millennial generation, this concept was drilled into us back in grade school, and perpetuated once we graduated high school and had to start considering career options. 

This year, James FitzGerald and OPEX Fitness are celebrating 20 years of honoring the coach, honoring the individual, honoring the process and honoring fitness. OPEX Founder and industry-leading educator, James FitzGerald, has dedicated his life to bringing honor to the coaching profession. This mission inspired the creation of the OPEX Coaching Education courses and Gyms Licensing Programs, to provide coaches with the tools needed to professionalize their passion.

The disjointedness that exists among various healthcare professionals—physiotherapists, chiropractors, fitness coaches, RMTs, osteopaths etc.—in terms of language and perspective. We all receive different training and acquire a different language and ways to communicate with our patients and clients, and as a result, they often leave the clinic or gym more confused than when they came in. 

In this week’s 10 Minutes of Fitness James FitzGerald highlights how fitness coaches can up their game by learning how to build better relationships with their clients. On the go? Listen to the full episode here. 

This blog outlines the principle of concurrent training, a fundamental taught in this 3-hour program design course, and how to create training sessions based on it.

10 years later I’m still coaching, and the reason I am still coaching is because I’m able to be an entrepreneur who gets paid on a percentage of revenue basis, I get to connect with people on a level beyond talking about day-to-day happenings, and I get to be involved with constantly learning about and working in the fitness industry.

After a week of programmed recovery and a week of easing back into the gym with bodyweight movements, OPEX’s coaches will be programming a series of tests to gather and assess a baseline of fitness for our clients.