Today’s my last full day of “work” before I head out for a few days to Las Vegas. You see, my sister in law is getting married, and they wanted to get hitched in Sin City, which means a few days of temperatures not hovering around freezing and we’ll even catch a show with Jerry Seinfeld. It’s gonna be awesome.

Now one thing I’ve noticed about Vegas in the past is that everything costs money. EVERYTHING. The gym included. Even if I’m staying at the resort or hotel, most gyms cost about $20 to get in a workout. I know this isn’t a big expense, but I’m cheap when it comes to fitness. Seeing as how I can do more from a body weight perspective than most people could do with a fully stocked gym, and have access to a free gym 360 days a year (closed on major holidays), I kind of balk at paying to go and workout, unless I have a session with a trainer.

As a result, I’m going to be bringing a TRX Pro Unit and getting in some daily workouts without the cost, which can then be used to fund my wife’s shopping spree.

If you ever travel and want to have a piece of equipment than can pack away easily into a carry-on bag (or check luggage depending on how sticky the TSA decides to be), these are great. You can hook them up in a hotel room without damaging anything, hang them off a tree, whatever you like.

Now on to the good stuff.

16 Most Effective Exercises From Top Trainers – Jon-Erik Kawamoto on Livestrong.com

While the title for this article is incredibly grandiose, it’s still pretty cool to have my ugly mug showcased in an article on Livestrong.com. For those who don’t know who Jon-Erik is, he’s the guy who made the sick Dragon Tee featured during my encounter with the bad-girl machine here.

The article features fine folks like John Romaniello, Rachel Cosgrove, Jason Ferruggia, Martin Rooney, and a bunch of other really smart and cool people.

10 Ways You’re Sabotaging Your Workouts – Jon-Erik Kawamoto on Men’s Fitness.com

Another hit from Jon-Erik, this one features some other big names like Nick Tuminello, Brad Schoenfeld, and yours truly to show ways that most people will commonly hold themselves back from progress, and some simple fixes to get you back on the straight and narrow heading towards Awesomeville.

Sweet Free Videos on Fitness, Writing, and Marketing – Lou Schuler, Neghar Fonooni, Elsbeth Vaino, Mark Young, and Rog Law from the PTDC Becoming the Expert Seminar

These are some sweet high def video presentations from the Becoming the Expert seminar I was fortunate enough to speak at last October, and features some awesome content from some really successful people (and Mark Young). You may not know Lou Schuler by name, but you probably know him from his best-selling fitness series “The New Rules of Lifting,” which has 5 different variations and typically occupies an entire shelf at any book store. Neghar is one of the Girls Gone Strong and a contributing author to pretty much every fitness magazine out there, Elsbeth runs a very successful training centre close to Ottawa, Rog Law is in pretty much every publication out there and has been featured numerous times as a trainer to watch, and Mark is……well, Mark.

Mark’s 3’6″ of science-knowledge, and in all seriousness his presentation was one of my favourites, talking about how medical science’s approach to weight loss still leaves a lot to be desired, and that every variable being controlled and accounted for still doesn’t predicate sustained weight loss. Think bariatric surgery is the best option? Maybe just dieting? Mark’s got some great long-term studies to show successes and also some simple common sense solutions to make it happen.

Hip Thrust and Glute Science – Bret Contreras

Bret makes most Rhodes scholars weep in the corner with his in-depth discussions on how the glutes and hip extension actually work, and has no problem pointing out some of the biggest issues with most glute training program. While very technical at times, this is a fantastic post on how to make Das Butt stronger, rounder, firmer, sexier, and the envy of every other person in the change room.

He’s even recently released his new book, Strong Curves: A Woman’s Guide to Building a Better Butt and Body, in which he completely dispells the notion that lifting heavy will make women bulky, that high reps and lots of cardio will help lose stubborn body fat, and that women should never lift more than three pounds or they’ll run the risk of becoming bulky. Plus it includes sweet info-graphics like this:

My only gripe is that he didn’t send me a copy to review before it dropped. Terrible Bret. Just terrible. I thought we were bro’s.

Finally, here’s a sneak peak at my next training phase. I think it will finally bridge the gap between the strength training world and the functional training world. It’s incredibly advanced, so don’t feel too bad if you can’t follow along with everything going on in the clip.

[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_KHh_c6Ha4&feature=youtu.be’]