Josh Hewett | Top Form Fitness

Building a Bulletproof Body – (Injury Prevention)

My last few blog posts have focused on injury prevention and fixing sore joints and muscles, specifically feet / ankles, knees, lower back, shoulders, and neck. This post is a summary or culmination of each of those previous topics, which I am collectively entitling "Bulletproof Your Body". My hope is that this will serve as a convenient reference for those suffering from aches, pains, weakness, and / or injury. Let's start by outlining my fundamental approach to injury management: 1. Fix muscle imbalances by addressing your weak or inhibited muscles rather than trying to stretch out the tight ones. The key is to address the root cause, not just the symptom. This is why I suggest to avoid passive stretching, and instead to employ active stretching, isometric exercise, and corrective isolation exercises. Learn all about this in my recent blog post: => The Truth About Safe & Effective Stretching 2. [...]

Josh Hewett2013-12-03T11:27:47-05:00

How to Fix Your Shoulders

In our modern society, rounded forward posture is becoming more and more common. It seems that the more advanced technology becomes, the more sedentary we as humans become. Whereas physical activity used to be a natural part of our lives, now we need to schedule time to go to the gym to stay in shape. Many people spend most of their days sitting at a desk, in front of a computer, in a car, on the bus, or in front of a TV. No wonder we appear to be de-evolving!After spending so much time hunched over, the muscles in our mid-back between the shoulder blades tend to get weak and lengthened, while the muscles in the front of our body and around our neck become shortened and tight. This can lead to shoulder pain related to a/c joint impingement, tight upper traps, rotator cuff muscle imbalance, anterior delt irritation, and [...]

Josh Hewett2022-03-22T21:15:24-04:00

How to Fix Your Back

As I discussed in one of my earlier blog posts, I was involved in pretty serious car accident as a teenager. A tire blew out and our vehicle rolled into the ditch, throwing me out of the window and about 20 feet through the air! I ended up fracturing 3 lumbar vertebrae (spinal compression fractures) and was confined to several days of bed rest in the hospital. After that I was told to never lift heavy weights again, which didn’t make sense to me because it was strength training that had protected me from a more serious injury! So I set out to learn as much as I could about strength training and post-injury fitness, and in the process I have trained my lower back and core to be one of my strongest muscle groups. Now, I understand that for most people suffering from lower back pain and/or tension it may not be [...]

Josh Hewett2013-11-26T15:11:20-05:00

How to Fix Your Knees

Back in 2004 I was taking Judo lessons (along with Kick-boxing and Wrestling) in my quest to become a legitimate bad-ass. During one lesson I was grappling with another big yellow belt and both of us were being a bit bull-headed, so when I tried to throw him (with sloppy technique) and he fought it, I ended up awkwardly twisting him across my leg and suddenly “POP”, there goes my ACL. Since a major part of my life involves being physically active I opted to have ACL reconstruction surgery. After the surgery I was surprised and disappointed to discover that my knee wasn’t recovering as quickly as I’d expected. I tried everything: physio, massage, chiropractic, acupuncture, laser, etc. I’d get temporary relief at best, but my strength and stability wasn’t there when I hit the gym. I just couldn’t get my medial quad to contract properly. Even after several months [...]

Josh Hewett2013-11-25T18:01:42-05:00

Stretching Can Cause Weakness and Injury

As in many aspects of our society, in the fitness industry there are things that many of us accept as true based on dogma rather than science and facts. An example is the persistent myth that “eating fat is bad for you”. Once an entire system of training (or nutrition) has been developed around a certain (erroneous) belief, it becomes very hard to change, regardless of how much evidence is presented. Cognitive biases are formed over time, which are inflexible by definition. This is why it is SO important to keep an open mind and to become a critical thinker! Stretching and flexibility training is one of the aspects of strength and fitness that really seems to be dragging it’s ass. Despite the abundance of mounting research and evidence to indicate that passive stretching can lead to muscle weakness, joint instability, and increased risk of injury, there still seems to [...]

Josh Hewett2020-06-20T12:52:51-04:00

My First Movember Mustache Crusade!

Much to the dismay of my wife and daughter I have decided to participate in Movember this year! This means I will be grooming my moustache for the entire month to increase awareness of and raise funds to combat testicular and prostate cancer. But I can’t do it alone… I need your support to fight the good fight! Find out more and give what you can on my MoBro page at: => MoBro.co/JoshHewett Or sign up yourself and start growing your own epic stache! If you do I invite you to join our team at: => MoTeam.co/Barbarians Watch this short video introduction to my Movember crusade: […]

Josh Hewett2013-11-04T02:30:56-05:00

Strengthen Your Neck, Reduce Pain, Increase Lifts

In general, there isn’t only one common cause of neck pain that applies to everyone, yet many people suffer from neck pain. If you have chronic neck pain, you may have received a diagnosis of disc herniation, whiplash, strain, sprain or something else. Frequently those who work at a desk all day experience neck pain related to postural issues, and even fitness fanatics get the occasion pain in the neck from intense training or heavy lifting. Regardless, most of these conditions have one thing in common: Certain muscles are affected, and these are the muscles we need to target before progressing to more challenging exercises or activities. There are certain muscles in the neck that are designed to help us maintain our normal and healthy curve of the spine. In addition, these muscles are designed to hold our head up all day. […]

Josh Hewett2013-10-27T18:49:38-04:00

My Pre and Post Workout Supplements Review

Someone on Facebook recently asked me what supplements I recommend before and after a workout. Since pre-workout powders and drinks seem to be all the rage right now, and everyone is also talking about what supplements to take during and after your workout to optimize recovery and maximize “dem gainz”, I decided to shoot a video discussing my own peri-workout recommendations: […]

Josh Hewett2013-10-25T11:41:32-04:00

Prevent Illness with the Power of Vitamin D

Every winter we get inundated by what I call “flu shot ads”… basically a marketing campaign to promote the importance of getting the flu vaccine. Well, I suppose this makes sense, because this is the “flu season”, although the flu vaccine may carry with it a few health risks itself; but there is another way to safely protect yourself against the flu virus. Vitamin D! […]

Josh Hewett2013-10-19T18:45:40-04:00

Gym Chat #217: Interview with Zach Even Esh (Underground Strength Coach)

In this Gym Chat we are very fortunate to have a special guest with us to discuss hard-core, old-school, no bullshit, “underground” strength training: Zach Even Esh! Are you confused by all the hype and gimmicky trends in the fitness industry? Ready to cut through the crap to learn some raw essentials of getting strong and athletic? Zach Even-Esh is an author, YouTube fitness celebrity, founder of the Underground Strength Gym, and creator of the Underground Strength Coach Certification. […]

Josh Hewett2013-10-09T21:11:25-04:00

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