Seasonal Affective Disorder is real, and winter can hit hard — but there are ways to support your mood that go beyond light boxes and supplements. In this post, we dig into how trying a winter sport (even as a total beginner) can give you structure, sunlight, movement, and a sense of play when you need it most. We break down the actual barriers — cost, gear, confidence, cold — and share practical ways to get started without feeling overwhelmed or out of place. If you’ve ever wondered whether skiing, snowboarding, or simply getting outside could help you feel more grounded this season, this post is your guide.

Most people think they need another workout to burn more calories — but the truth is far less dramatic and way more doable. In this post, Ryann, Chloe, and Maggie unpack everyday movement (NEAT), why it matters more than you think, and how small habits make a massive difference for energy, mood, body composition, and long-term health.

Holiday travel and family chaos can turn your routine upside down — but staying active doesn’t have to feel impossible. In this post we break down simple, realistic ways to keep movement in your life during the busiest time of year. No guilt. No pressure. Just practical strategies to help you feel good, stay grounded, and keep your momentum even when everything around you is unpredictable. Perfect for anyone who wants to enjoy the holidays and take care of themselves.

The phrase “calories in vs. calories out” gets thrown around a lot in conversations about weight gain, but which side of the equation matters more? This post explores what the latest research really says about diet, activity, and their roles in long-term weight management.

Acacia, Ryann, and Jess Gordon dive into the real meaning of food quality and how small, practical changes can upgrade your meals. From frozen veggies to “dinosaur time” spinach hacks, they break down budget-friendly swaps and myth-busting advice to help you fuel better without sacrificing enjoyment.

In this blog post, we’re recapping the latest episode of Black Iron Radio, where Jess, Ryann, and Amanda dive into the real impact alcohol can have on your fitness goals. From hangovers that wreck your Monday workout to deeper disruptions in sleep, recovery, and mindset, they break down why even “social drinking” might be holding you back. If you’ve ever wondered whether booze and barbell PRs can really coexist—or what it looks like to find balance—this conversation is for you.

In this blog post, we’re breaking down the latest episode of Black Iron Radio, where coaches Christin and Chloe team up with pelvic floor physical therapist and performance coach Whitney to talk all things postpartum lifting. From navigating the early recovery phase to returning to barbells with confidence, they share personal stories, practical tips, and expert insights to help you rebuild strength without rushing the process. Whether you’re six weeks postpartum or a year out and wondering where to start, this episode is packed with real talk and realistic strategies for lifting after baby.

In this blog post, we’re unpacking key takeaways from our latest episode of Black Iron Radio, where coaches Maggie, Jess, and Joyce tackle one of the most common (and damaging) beliefs in fitness and nutrition: the idea that you have to “earn” your food with exercise. They explore where this mindset comes from, why it’s harmful to your relationship with both food and movement, and how to start shifting toward a healthier, more sustainable approach. If you’ve ever felt guilty about eating without “burning it off” first, this conversation will help you reframe your thinking and build a more positive foundation for fueling your body.

There are probably two types of people who clicked on this article. The first is your average person who just wants to make sense out of the conflicting and confusing information that is presented to them in the mainstream media, social media, or other sources who seem to use research to present completely contradictory views on fitness and nutrition. If this is you, maybe you were hoping to read this and come away with a fool-proof strategy that enables you to enter the correct things into Google to come away with the right answer to your fitness or nutrition question. The second kind of person, might be a graduate student who is curious how I possibly hope to condense the 6-15 credits of courses that they took, or are about to take, dealing with conducting research into a single article.  

If you have ever struggled to lose or gain weight, I guarantee you have at some point heard the advice: 

“You just need to eat more/less than you burn”

The person that typically says this kind of thing most likely also holds the belief that being overweight or having obesity is a result of pure laziness or a lack of morals. At the surface level, this advice is correct. However, it is correct in the same way that going to a football game and telling the head coach of your team “Hey pal, you just gotta score more points than the other team and you’ll win” is correct. Correct, but very unhelpful and lacks any understanding on what contributes to the scoring of points. 

I was really struggling with something recently, and after doing my check-ins with my clients that day, I realized that so many of you guys struggle with the same thing.

Taking time off from your regular workout routine for any reason can be a challenge, and it's common to worry about losing the progress you've made in your fitness journey. Whether you're recovering from an injury, dealing with a personal issue that leaves you with less time and energy, or facing any other circumstance that makes it difficult to maintain your regular workout schedule, it's normal to be worried about months or even years of training going down the drain. But how long does it take to really for deconditioning to really set in?

I think it's easy to forget that coaching should be a 2-way street. Yes, there is a level of trust and respect that should go into the relationship you have with your coach, but to get everything you can from your experience and investment, there should always be an active conversation going. So what does this mean for clients?

Trick to getting more steps? Get a dog!

One thing I try to focus on with clients who are trying to lose fat is not so much the hour IN the gym, but what they do in terms of movement the other 23 hours of the day. Personally, I think walking is the most underrated tool.

Here are some tips I give my clients:

Training in the heat can be challenging, especially if you aren’t used to it. When Black Iron Nutrition coach Amanda May moved south she realized pretty quickly that she was going to need a game plan for managing the heat; from hydration to meal timing, training volume to straight up managing her performance expectations. Similar to acclimatizing for high elevation, our bodies need to do the same thing for heat.

In 2021, I committed to walking one mile per day. When I told people I was doing a mile a day they always looked at me funny because they knew that I had a moderate level of fitness and could run much longer distances. But I knew I couldn't commit to running or even walking those longer distances consistently every single day for an entire year.

People want to glamorize recovery with fancy tools like the recovery boots and massage guns but what really matters?

Really, there are four important parts of recovery. If these points are not a priority, those fancy recovery tools aren’t going to do much!

How many times have you looked at pictures of CrossFit athletes, weightlifters, etc. and thought “I would kill to look like that” ?

But if we knew what it actually took to get there, we might reconsider.

This also brings up one of the biggest misconceptions in fitness - the idea that looking shredded is equivalent to better performance in the gym or in sport.

This is a question I get weekly and its a good question! It’s hard to sift through all the adds on social media and see what’s truly important.

I want to start this off by saying if your nutrition, sleep and hydration are not on point, supplements aren’t going to be doing ya much good. Supplements are just that, to supplement the things you are missing from your diet and lifestyle.

A lot of folks think that they need to do MORE MORE MORE to lose weight, gain muscle, or achieve performance/athletic goals, and yes, we DO want to exercise, but people forget that exercise is also a stressor on the body.