How to Step Up Your Meal Prep Game in 6 Easy Steps

darinstarr
How to Step Up Your Meal Prep Game in 6 Easy Steps Raise your hand if you love spending time in the kitchen – looking, looking – yeah ok, didn’t think so.  It’s not my favorite place to spend time, but as a bodybuilder it’s not a place you can avoid and be successful so we’ve got to make the...
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7 Ways to Slay Your Cardio Harder

darinstarr
7 Ways to Slay Your Cardio Harder Spoiler alert:  whether your goal is competition prep for a bodybuilding show or just fat loss in general, cardio is going to be part of the equation.  There’s no realistic way around it.  For most of the people I talk to and work with, it’s absolutely viewed as a necessary evil. Now yes, there...
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Product Review: ISOPACK from Isolator Fitness

darinstarr
Product Review: ISOPACK from Isolator Fitness A boy and his gym bag… I was recently in search of a new gym bag as my old one was A) seriously lacking, and B) looking like it got left outside in the rain a few too many times.  I searched high-end options, cheap-ass options, and everything in between. There was a feature...
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8 Ways You’re Screwing Up Your Macro Plan

darinstarr
8 Ways You’re Screwing Up Your Macro Plan We’ve all heard the hype, right? Macros are LIFE!!! If you’re still following a meal plan, you’re so behind the times I can eat whatever I want and still drop body fat! If you haven’t tried macro-based dieting (IIFYM, flexible dieting, etc) you’ve probably heard a friend or 3 who has spout...
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Workout Logging: My Secret to Force Progressive Overload

darinstarr
Let's start with a quiz.  It's simple, so don't worry.  It'll take about 3 seconds, and then I'll call for pencils down.  Ready?  GO! Are you a human being? Do you like to lift? Do you hate hitting plateaus? If you answered 'yes' to all of those questions, then you should be logging your workouts.
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Cream of Rice – A Primer on my Favorite Carb Source

darinstarr
Cream of Rice – A Primer on my Favorite Carb Source Ok, to be clear – my favorite carb source is bread.  Or cookies.  Maybe donuts.  French fries?  Pizza?  I could go on and on…can you tell I’m cutting now? But as far as “clean” carb sources, cream of rice takes the cake.  To be clear, I understand it’s not for everyone...
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Shoulders Lagging? Fix Your Lateral Raise Form!

darinstarr
Your Lateral Raise Form Might Suck – Let’s Fix It! Shoulders can be stubborn to get growing, and often times it comes down to execution.  Many trainers, coaches, and programmers these days are starting the trend of easing up on heavy pressing work, because the shoulder is a complex joint (I’ve often said the most complex joint, but a former client...
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Understanding Tempo

darinstarr
An Introduction to Tempo-Based Lifting One of the most often overlooked components when executing (or hell…writing!) a training program is tempo.  It’s easy to say “4 sets of 10, go!” and just bang those suckers out rapid fire.  Or maybe you’ve got a little more experience and you understand the value in slowing things down and keeping things at a...
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Video update: Progress Photo Strategies & Posing Basics

darinstarr
Progress Photo Strategies and Posing Basics for Bodybuilding Progress pics – I know how much we all love them, right? So let’s make them easier AND better. In this video I break down lighting and take you through my house so you can see what works and what doesn’t. We take a break for a couple minutes to go over...
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A Podcast Primer – How to Get Started Listening

darinstarr
Why Podcasts are Awesome While they are extremely popular with a certain population, there are a LOT of people – and I’m thinking YOU, the reader of this, may be one of them – that has yet to jump.  Maybe you don’t know what the big deal is, or it just doesn’t seem as intuitive to jump in to as...
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