I'm JJ (he/him), a vegan athlete who reimagined his "un-athletic" self through 15+ years of exercise. I'm a Certified Personal Trainer through the National Strength & Conditioning Association, and I founded Out Fitness Collective in 2022.
Exercise
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
Food
I didn't include this shake in my list of favorite recipes, since it's not a truly wholesome meal that I encourage everyone to make. But there's a reason why shakes and powders like Soylent or Huel (or worse, Muscle Milk) are so popular: The
Food
Living in a fatphobic society means nearly all of us want to lose weight or avoid body fat. Weight discrimination is a constant (and still legal) harm for the majority of Americans. In medical settings, doctors use BMI as the most important or even sole measurement of a person'
Motivation
Exercise is one of my lifelines, and right now I'm dangling from the end of the rope. It's been 12 days since I last worked out. That might be the longest gap in my lifting in seven years. But nothing unusual caused this. When my day
Food
Four years ago in 2019, I made a New Year's resolution to eat less meat. I had read about the environmental impacts of meat production and the ways it wasted land and water. I heard the World Health Organization say bacon and salami can cause cancer. I was
Motivation
Today marks seven years since I began strength training! When I was approaching one year out of college, I decided to commit myself to lifting at least once every week, mostly out of dissatisfaction with myself. I must have thought I'd make it at least one year, because
Exercise
Lower back pain is so common. Globally, an estimated 31% of adults experience lower back pain, with higher rates for women in particular. The pain typically begins around or after the age of 30. Before you first experienced back pain, perhaps you never even noticed your lower back or its
Motivation
Almost everyone I know has wanted to lose weight by dieting at some point in their life — me included. There is constant social pressure for people, especially women, to lose weight, and as a result, most of us have a negative body image. When I'm coaching someone, weight
Motivation
I was as surprised as anyone when strength training became my hobby. My experiences with exercise had been varied, but I always remembered the negative ones and thought of myself as "unathletic." Overcoming that mental trap required rethinking my identity and finding the right motivations. It's
Exercise
"What kind of exercise should I do?" The best exercise is the one you enjoy — but finding it can take time. The database on this page is your source for nearly 400 activity variations to consider. You might be surprised to see how many common activities can be
Exercise
The section of my NSCA textbook about shoulder impingement was a revelation for me. My shoulder joints aren't very flexible, and for years I've been frustrated by pinching pains when doing overhead dumbbell presses. Disclaimer: This article and my coaching are not intended to fix shoulder
Motivation
My love of fitness was latent for a long time. Finally embracing that passion is part of my ongoing effort to accept my full self, and I've learned (and unlearned) a lot of core beliefs and values along the way. For the majority of my life, I felt