Here's what I like to do:

I think a thing. We do the thing, sometimes for awhile, and then I think that thing again, only through clearer lenses.

And what's funny is I kind of sensed that we needed to change a few things about how we continue to approach this journey to lean, strong, hot and happy (I believe in that order) and theeeeennnnn I scooch myself over to the worldwide web to dig a little deeper about those things.

Here's what I've arrived on lately:

Body-weight exercises (performed mostly in timed intervals) do an OKAY job of keeping bodies lean, but weight training does it better. And over at Tribe, there's been a much heavier (hee-hee see what I did there?) emphasis on dat barbell lately.

I can't remember the last time we did 437 box jumps or 100 burpees in a row. Or a whole bunch of those god-awful pop squats. I suppose I don't mind the idea of those things occasionally (not the box jumps tho... never ever will we EVER do those for reps again.... not safe) but for the most part, they just don't provoke enough of a post-workout response to mess with. They CAN put you into EPOC, but remember how I said I've been watching you/me/our bodies over the last several months? I had my suspicions and my eyes proved them true, and when I did my research I discovered that sure enough, I was right. candy or blushing pink wears for flower girls

The latest science says EPOC is good. But not as good as "they" once thought. It does increase your metabolism post-workout, but high volume weight training does a much better job of burning calories for.... well forever or for as long as you maintain or increase your lean mass.

So, let's talk about that word, "mass." I'd like for you to once and for all redefine it in your heads... especially you women. When you hear me say that, what I mean is.... "the majority of."

You have a body. It's gonna be made up of something, right? Bones and skin and liquids and organs are a must. But what gives your body the shape it has? You have two, count 'em, two options:

Fat. Or muscle.

Fat takes up TWICE as much room as muscle, pound for pound. It's soft. It jiggles around and has weird little dimples in it that I for one do not love. Yes, some fat on a body is good, but I'd much prefer for my "mass" or "the majority of" my shape to be made up of lean, hard, round muscles.

I suppose you could say there's a third option:

Hardly any fat and hardly any muscle. And that is called skinny.

Hmmm. Skinny. Used to be such a coveted notion, especially for women. The smaller the number on the scale, the better the body, right?

I don't think so. Not anymore. Because here's the deal with that: You hit a "certain age" (truthfully anything over 25 years old) and what happens to skin that has begun to lose a bit of its collagen (elasticity) is it sags.

That means wrinkles and skin texture look worse. Cellulite too. Skinny is a one way ticket to bag 'o bones town.

And that is why I've shifted the method just a bit. It's why everyone who did our whiteboard felt like they died today even tho there was no clock to beat and nothing over ten reps. The weight was HEAVY. There were a lot of rounds. And that means central nervous systems woke up and took notice. Our hormones are doin' their thing tonight....our locomotive engine metabolisms are on fire, and the food we will eat will serve one purpose: To add just a tiny little baby hiccup bitty bit more lean "mass." (Read: Your body will morph into the majority... muscle.)

IF part of the reason you work out is to look good, you must sprint yourselves this minute to a place that clangs and bangs. How you move and how much you move will be the sole determining factor in the changes you see in the mirror.