Feeling sore after crushing a tough workout? Good for you! This shows that you're really pushing yourself in the gym! However, if you're always sore, you might be overtraining. The old saying "No pain, no gain" isn't necessarily true. Stiff, aching muscles can affect your overall performance and stall your progress in the gym.

So what causes muscle soreness?

Are you lifting heavy enough to build muscle? What if you want to lose fat? Can high reps be just as effective as heavy lifting. It all comes down to your goals. (Besides weight, there are many other factors that influence your progress, such as nutrition and workout intensity.)

Bodybuilding isn't the same as powerlifting. Conditioning isn't the same as strength training. Training with heavy weights does help, but it's not everything. Here are some things you should know before hitting the gym:

There is a recent trend towards intermittent fasting among athletes and people trying to lose weight.

Some people agree with fasting, others strongly disagree.

On the other hand, low calorie diets have been going on since forever, but they seem to work for some people and not for others.

So, if we want to lose weight smartly, what does today’s science have to say about dieting?

"You can either have excuses or results” while I appreciate the sentiment I actually disagree with the premise. The premise of this implies that excuses are bad, in fact, it’s saying that they're down right wrong. Believing that, ignores one giant fact, and that is that you make a LOT of excuses to do the right thing.

You make an excuse to go to work, to pay your bills, eat healthy, and yes even to go work out. Now understand what you're doing is creating scenarios in your head about why it is important, or unimportant, every time you make a decision.

While the term "excuses" is often associated with made up (or even real) reasons to not do something, psychologically it is the same principle that convinces you to actually follow through on the things that you are doing. So while many advocate against excuses I'm here to make a case for them, a case for better excuses.