Are you ready to LEARN?
Welcome to our “Shark U.” educational series! Here you’ll gain valuable insights into fitness theory, exercise form, nutrition, motivation and other topics aimed at getting you in kick-ass shape.
At Shark Fitness Training, we emphasize our program as a way of life, and we intend for these educational resources to further you along in that aim. We promise everything here is worth your time and attention.
Shark Fitness Training: “No Excuses. No Nonsense. Just Results!” And now, a few good reads to boot!
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- All
- Fitness Form
- Fitness Theory
- Motivation
- Nutrition
Preventing Ass Hickeys
Surround yourself with ASS KICKERS, not ASS KISSERS. The last few years have seen a nauseating campaign to save feelings at all costs…even if it results in the loss of lives. Perhaps the best evidence of this is the subject of obesity. Any attempt to candidly address the undeniable fact that America is obscenely fat and unhealthy is usually met with …
Shoulder Safety
Do No Harm to Your Shoulders! Today we are teaching some key principles of shoulders safety while you train! Shark Fitness Training prides itself on ZERO preventable injuries in our 22+ year history because we train the right way! Injuries should NOT be expected when you train. That’s BS. Count on US to teach you the correct way to train …
Snow Day Public Service Announcement
Keath has some winter weather tips for you and your kids!
Calculate Your Basal Metabolic Rate
What is BMR and How Do You Calculate It? How successful would you be playing darts blindfolded? It’s fair to say that luck would play a bigger part in hitting the bullseye than skill. Trying to manage your weight without knowing how many calories you consume and burn each day has an equal chance of success as not being able …
“REEL” Failures – Identifying Crappy Fitness Advice
There is no shortage of ridiculous and dangerous fitness advice out there to consume. Just because it’s difficult doesn’t mean it’s safe, productive or a valuable way to spend your time. Knowing what NOT to do is just as important as understanding what makes a solid, productive and safe program that will get you to your goals. Today Keath highlights …
Keath’s Recommendations to Enhance Your Home Gym
Fitness equipment worth the investment • Disclaimer: Work Ethic Required for ALL Our online programs have, for some, been the link to sanity amid the ever-changing COVID circus. While much of America pointed the finger👉 at the virus for their weight gain…the Sharks flipped a different digit🖕and made groundbreakingprogress. Adding more equipment to a home gym is a great way to boost results. …
Learn the Pre-fatigue Technique Sharks are Loving!
We’ve incorporated a great training technique to our boot camp classes in the last month – pre-fatigue – and Sharks are loving the results! There are several ways to incorporate this into your training regimen. For the upper body, set up for a regular set for either the chest or back and begin the set with a 30 second HOLD …
Serving Size Shenanigans
Be Smarter Than The Label Makers! When you read food labels make sure you understand what they mean. Reeses came out with a 9″ Reeses peanut butter cup pie. It sold out in mere hours of the product launch! The serving size is equal to 160 calories, BUT there’s a catch! One serving is 1/48th of the pie! Check out …
Halloween Challenge!
Shark Fitness Training has a two-pronged challenge for you this Halloween! 1. Pledge that you will have ZERO Halloween candy before, during and after Halloween. 2. Come up with something more creative than giving out candy for your trick-or-treaters. At Shark HQ we do “Push-Ups for Cash!” Trick-or-treaters earn cold hard cash for completing a certain number of push-ups for …
Periodization Training
Frustrated by Training Plateaus? Training plateaus, a stalling point in results, can be very frustrating and kill motivation. It can happen to all fitness levels but especially those who are at the higher levels of the spectrum. Here is how to avoid those pitfalls when it comes to your exercise. Age eventually catches up to us when it comes to …
Caloric Equalization
If weight management is your goal, it is incredibly valuable to know your caloric intake so you can win the numbers game of calories burned versus calories consumed. Eat more than you burn…your butt gets bigger. In today’s world, people are pretty quick to claim that they “deserve” something decadent for surviving another day on Earth. Unfortunately, when we …
Post-Training Recovery Tools
We often talk about the importance of training hard, but it’s equally important to make sure your body is given the opportunity to recovery properly and prepare for your next training cycle. When you train effectively your muscles undergo micro trauma and recover stronger. In today’s video, Keath and Maggie walk through some ways to aid in your stretching and …
How’s Your Posture?
Everyone wants to walk into a room projecting confidence, right? Did you know that 55% of communication is non-verbal (including posture)? I don’t know of anyone who would wants their first impression to be one of disinterest, lack of self-esteem or tiredness – all of which are communicated through poor posture. Today we are demonstrating four different exercises for the rear …
Fitness Lessons from Sharks
At Shark Fitness Training, EVERY week is Shark Week. Since the world decided to jump in on recognizing the badassery of Sharks, we wanted to share with you some fitness lessons from Sharks. Eat Like a Shark! How much food do you think a Shark eats in the course of a week? Sharks consume about 1-10% of their body weight …
Garden Fresh Cucumber Tomato Salad
If your garden is anything like ours, herbs are going gangbusters and you’re at the start of harvesting some delicious summer vegetables. Fresh from the garden vegetables and herbs are best for this recipe, but you can find great stuff at grocery stores or farmers markets. Cucumber Tomato Salad Ingredients 1 large English cucumber Tomatoes (2 large, 4 medium or …
Don’t Hold Back • Know Your Angles and Exercises
There are three critical angles to work when you train your back. You need a downward movement, a horizontal movement and an upward movement. Keath and Shea are demonstrating three basic exercises to cover all those movements. Reps and recommended weight are discussed below. 1. The wide grip pulldown (downward movement) Set your weights for your desired goal; pull the …
How Is Your Pull-Up Game?
Pull Yourself Up! The pull-up is an exercise that has been around for ages, and even though it’s a simple move, many people screw it up. 2LT Limp is helping demonstrate the move today with clean, precise form – no swinging, kipping or jerking back and forth. We aren’t fans of anything but strict form because it doesn’t help in …
Stacked Watermelon Arugula Salad
Summer is just about here, which means an abundance of fresh fruits and vegetables are in season. A new favorite salad at Shark HQ is this refreshing Stacked Watermelon Arugula Salad. With our 6-days per week of curriculum in full swing for our Patriot Training Foundation military trainees, we are always looking for quick, healthy recipes to make for dinner …
Amplify Your Ab Training
Though EVERY exercise can be an ab exercise, you can amplify your targeted abdominal training with some relatively inexpensive additions to your training equipment! That said, the most powerful weapons in the pursuit of a “6-pack” or a flat stomach are your fork and glass. Check out our equipment recommendations below and our video demonstrating how to use them effectively. …
Ab Training 101
Today’s Shark U. is a mythbuster! What gives the illusion of a 6-pack of abs is actually one sheet of muscle that looks like different ones when you are lean enough that the ligaments press up against it. Check out our 90-second video with Keath and Shea demonstrating some common mistakes to avoid when training your abdominals. They’ll also teach …
Overcoming Adversity & Never Giving Up
Last night, I was flipping channels after another long day and stumbled upon the National Geographic Channel’s program about the Galapagos Islands. It was either that or an endless selection of reality television shows about people behaving like idiots to the delight of viewers with bad taste in entertainment. Anyway, they featured the Galapagos Woodpecker Finch that has a taste for grubs …
Anchors & Engines
You’re Only Human, Huh? Give yourself the green light to be exceptional Last year, a local young women’s high school sports team asked me to be their strength and conditioning coach for the season. I had a great time working with them until COVID shut things down. What I enjoyed so much about the team was the eagerness to improve …
6 Straightforward Nutrition Tips
Here are some quick nutrition tips for optimal performance and weight management. 1. Eat 5-6 small meals a day and choose your food based on what level of activity you have planned over the next three hours. More activity? More calories and more carbs. Sitting on your couch at the end of the day? Few calories and no carbs. 2. Eat and …
Accountability
After 20+ years in the fitness industry, one of the most common questions I get is how to stay accountable to fitness goals. Let’s break it down into a few simple steps. Set definable goals. You must be able to measure progress against your goals to know if you are moving in the right direction or the wrong direction. Don’t …
Common, But Dumb, “Combo Moves”
These two are ineffective, potentially dangerous and wasting your valuable time Knowing WHAT NOT TO DO when you train is just as important as knowing WHAT TO DO. Today Keath explains the reasons why two common “combo moves” are a bad idea and just not getting the job done. 🚫 Lunges + Biceps Curls Combo 🚫 Squats + Shoulder Press Combo …
The BEST Gym
How Would You Rate Your Gym? There are two main factors in determining the quality of your gym…and it has NOTHING to do with the thread count of the towels. Several years ago, I was asked to look at a very upscale gym that recently opened in my area. The owner mentioned the cost of the equipment, the fine wood …
If It’s Worth Doing, It’s Worth Doing Well. Let’s Talk Tempo!
What Part of the Lifting Movement Delivers the Results? Both – If You Lift With Proper Tempo Throughout 21 years of training civilians and military, I’ve stressed proper technique as being THE most important aspect of optimal training…followed very closely by high intensity. When you speak about correct training form, it generally can be broken down to two areas – …
Fixed Machine, Barbell or Dumbbells – Which is best and WHY!
People are often intimidated by the free weights when they go to the gym and default to fixed machines, unintentionally performing less effective exercises. Gym confidence comes when you learn how to work in the gym – what exercises to perform, the proper sequence and tempo, and what equipment to use. Today’s Shark U. lesson takes a look at the …
You Gained Weight During COVID. Now What?
It’s time to turn the tide on current weight gain trends! It seems like every day there is an alarming new study showing statistics of weight gain during the last yer and its detrimental effects. A year or so ago as the pandemic began, we learned that comorbidities – including being overweight or obese – dramatically increased risk for …
Portobello Mushroom Quinoa Gratin Recipe
The Shark HQ kitchen has been trying out and adapting some new recipes and this one passes the test of healthy, delicious and nutritious! We experimented with a base recipe and our final recipe includes protein-rich quinoa and low-fat, smaller quantity alternatives to some of the ingredients (heavy cream, yikes!). This dish can be used as a vegetarian main entree …
Easy Sucks. Hard Work Saves Lives.
Wouldn’t it be great to see years of neglect disappear in a couple of weeks with the help of a supplement, ointment or ingenious device? What if ANY level of activity worked? Strolling around the neighborhood, yoga or dance classes just don’t cut it. For physical training to be truly effective it has to be hard…really hard. It includes having a …
Why you should NEVER do dips.
Despite being one of THE most common exercises, chest and triceps dips are NOT a good movement. Not only do they have a very limited range of motion but also can damage and weaken the connective tissue in the shoulder. What Should You Do Instead of Triceps Dips? The safe and more effective alternative is the triceps push-up. Unlike …
Stop Overcomplicating Your Nutrition
A Simple Nutrition Strategy that WORKS Let’s talk about a habitual or lifestyle nutrition strategy that is simple. You don’t need to overcomplicate things. I’ll address the endless supplements, fad diets and fasting another time. Regardless of how hard you train, real success in weight management and overall health comes from your diet. Let’s start with one very basic yet …
“Cardio” vs. Endurance
Fitness Truth Bomb! Strength Training IS Cardio Training! The two basic categories of exercise are strength and endurance training. Many incorrectly think that the term “cardio” doesn’t apply to weightlifting…that is wrong. Cardiovascular training is anything that elevates and maintains the heartrate in the training zone for an extended period of time. Ideally, that is 45 minutes or more. Most …
The Top 5 Signs of an Effective Fitness Training Program
What is the difference between being active and training? There are five key points to identifying the difference between an activity and legitimate training program. How does your program stack up? Balance. Your program should address all areas of the body equally: top and bottom, front and back and side to side. Range of Motion. Each muscle of the body should be …
Oblique Ab Exercise: Low to High Hack
This is a great exercise to target the guts, specifically the obliques, but you must be diligent about the form. You can perform this exercise with a cable machine set on the lowest anchor point or use resistance bands with a low tie-off. Begin with your resistance band tied off low; squat down with your upper body rotated 90 degrees …
Put your money on resistance training!
The undisputed top value in exercise is resistance training. It offers more benefits than any other method of training and be tailored to produce specific results for each area of the body. Plus, if done correctly, has exceptional cardiovascular benefits as long as you don’t screw around between your sets and maintain an effective training heartrate. Unlike any form of …