Josh Jones Forbes - Out Fitness Collective

I stopped trying to do it all before fall

New studio equipment, salvaging my summer, simplifying your exercise routines, and intentionally imperfect photos

My guide for gym beginners

Beginning your strength training, being idle like a cat, supporting abortion access, and meeting up with the ladies and theydies

"If you finish, you win."

My friend finishing new races, roasted edamame, garden plants, and "functional fitness"

Smith machine and other things you can try

Our studio's biggest gain yet, a pineapple drink, queer gyms across the nation, and a local breadmaker

Motivation

Claim your strength but check your pride

This newsletter is a new, imperfect work-in-progress that I'm trying as a creative outlet.

News

Let's triple down on strength 💪

I'm sharing a plan to upgrade all three of our studio's rooms to be "strength rooms," because our members almost always prefer our current Strength Room. The change would effectively triple our capacity for workouts! Every room's equipment would include: dumbbells with

Motivation

10 years of lifting: a love letter

A funny thing happened on the way to my thirties. I fell in love, against the odds, with weightlifting. Last week I reached 10 years of strength training (and with seven years as a vegan). Unlike the lifters who were high school athletes or college gym rats, I didn'

Food

How much protein?

I know you know that protein is important for building and maintaining muscle. Protein messaging is everywhere. Food packaging now shows protein right on the front. Commercials highlight more and more protein. Doctors often recommend increasing protein. And if you choose to go vegan or plant-based, everyone will ask

Tools

Book recommendations [updated]

This is a list of my 9 favorite books for a thoughtful, inclusive look at fitness, exercise, and food! Over the last three years, I've learned loads from these authors and their often personal stories. I've included Bookshop links because independent bookstores (American Booksellers Association) receive

Exercise

How many reps?

Here's a short explainer for a common question: How my repetitions should I do in one set of a strength exercise? There are several schools of thought about rep ranges. I'll debunk a couple and then provide a strong recommendation! First, we'll start with

A thesis for Out Fitness

I'm in a reflective mood as our studio, Out Fitness Collective, celebrates one year since opening here in Cleveland in October 2022! It has been an terrific learning process and made me exponentially more thoughtful about "fitness." Also recently, I read an excellent, new book, "

Exercise

Building beginner strength workouts

This is a companion piece for my Strength Starter Guide. It's the most common and consequential Google search most people make to start strength training: "workout plan for beginners." The results are dizzying, full of jargon and strangers' opinions. I wish I'd found