We like to think we can tell ourselves what to do—that we’re fully in control and we just need to muster up our will power and get to work. Well, we are silly. It doesn’t really work that way. In fact, it doesn’t work that way at all. We’re a mass of unconscious drives that’s...Read More

Human beings are strange creatures. We’re surrounded by all of these things that could potentially make us happy—like success and the associated positive emotions—but it’s rare that we stretch ourselves and seek them out. Mostly, we spend our efforts trying to avoid bad things we might fail at, rather than actively taking steps toward good...Read More

BasicSkill, BasicsKill is a little saying we’ve coined around here. It’s representative of a simple philosophy: get great at the basic exercises and keep doing them because they produce results. That’s why, at BSP NOVA, we focus on getting good at things like squatting, hinging, pushing with our upper-bodies, pulling with our upper-bodies, crawling, and...Read More

In last week’s blog we outlined 5 Reasons to Warm-up With Weights. Today, we’re going to expand on warming up and give you a strategy for your weight warm-up—and answer some warm-up FAQs.   Ok, let’s dance.   . It Begins with RPE Last week we gave a brief description of RPE, or Rate of...Read More

Warm-ups that get the body moving are great—especially ones that start on the ground and progress to the feet. They prepare the body for a wide range of movements and build movement skills that carry us through life. And, they actually get us warm. But, when it comes to warming up for strength training, they...Read More

Thanks to gyms like Orange Theory and CrossFit, conditioning workouts are more popular than ever, and with good reason—the workouts are fun, focusing, and challenging. Conditioning, also commonly called cardio, is also a necessary component of any fat loss program. But, there are a few things that we need to consider before “letting it rip”...Read More

We all want to walk out of the gym feeling like we’ve accomplished something, and sometimes that something is feeling like we got our ass kicked. You know the workouts we’re talking about—the ones that tested your will, left a puddle of your sweat on the floor, and had you bargaining with yourself whether or...Read More

I don’t know if you know this, but Summer is basically here.  Have you been outside today?  It’s like 92° out there!  And you know what this means—vacations, pool parties, family gatherings, river trips, and other outdoor fun is right around the corner. I know what you’re telling yourself. “Here goes another summer of not...Read More

“I don’t know what this is, but I know this is what my son needs right now.  Is this strength and conditioning?” A father recently asked this question as he stood with coach Chris, watching his son’s first full training session here at Beyond Strength Performance NOVA, LLC.  His son wasn’t doing the “traditional” strength...Read More

Every time I here the slogan, “Train Like A Pro,” I cringe- as it usually involves an athlete trying to attempt some advanced jump when they can barely land correctly, or a soccer player attempting a very complex “trick,” or skills, when they have a hard time skipping with proper form.   I think to...Read More