Paul Roberts

I was born an “average” athlete … always have been all my life. Good, but never the best. But I am an amazing academic student. Through studying CrossFit and training with some of world’s premier coaches, I learned how to coach and train CrossFit safely. Through CrossFit, I have been able to progress my own fitness far beyond what most people think is possible. Far beyond my own expectations. I am in the best shape of my life at 43 and I owe much of that success to correctly training in the CrossFit methodology. And to my friends and coaches in the Sand & Steel Community. My certifications and degrees include: BioMedical Engineering - Johns Hopkins University. Juris Doctorate - Rutgers, CrossFit Level 3, CrossFit Powerlifting, CrossFit Gymnastics Coach, Yoga Teacher, Catalyst Athletics Oly Coach, M|WOD Mobility Specialist, certified RR running coach, FRC and Kinstretch Instructor. I've trained over 3000 members and more than 200 personal trainers over my 10 years coaching. CrossFit brings me such joy and vitality to my life. I teach so I can share this knowledge and experience with others. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. Welcome to Sand & Steel!  -Coach Paul View my Bio | Email me  | Newsletter
Bodybuilding Alexandria VA

Tips on Bodybuilding in Old Town Alexandria, VA

Categories Personal Training by

Making a commitment to your bodybuilding routine is crucial to seeing results, but there may be other issues stopping your body from progressing in the right direction. The trainers at Sand & Steel Fitness are the experts in bodybuilding around Old Town Alexandria and would love to give you some tips on how to continue your bodybuilding journey.

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Parallette and Surge Intermediate Movements and Progressions

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If you own a pair of parallettes, you’ve probably discovered that they are an excellent source of instability for your shoulders, and your feet if you stand on them.  When you loop in a Surge (a water filled tube with handles), then you have instability in your core and shoulders as the water sloshes around.  When combined, they make for a truly grueling duo.

YouTube video

Make sure you check out the bonus videos at the bottom.  It’s a very original movement designed to provide an important progression for the pistol squat.

Movement 1:

1 Leg Glute Bridge 8/10.  The parallette offers a very stable platform to work from.  The only piece of equipment that’s better is probably the medball for doing 1 leg glute bridges.

Movement 2:

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Custom Programming

Categories Nutrition by

Custom Programming Defined

by Paul Roberts

NutritionIf you have had trouble getting or staying in shape because of your schedule (long hours, work stress, children, etc.) a custom written fitness & nutrition program is probably your best bet in terms of improving.  This is true in terms of money & time. Similarly, if you have a compound injury (hips, ankles, shoulders, etc.) getting in shape can be challenging, and an off the shelf fitness program like P90X is just not going to work that well.  Sand & Steel offer numerous ways to work within the confines of your schedule and restrictions.

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Bodybuilding breakfast and Lunch

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Bodybuilding breakfast and lunch for rapid weight loss

Prepared by Dawn Anderson.

Some great examples of healthy and tasty food you can quickly prepare at home to build muscle and lose weight. The key is in quality of the calories– all the food shown in this video help the body get burn calories and recover from a tough workout.

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Lisa F. Body Transformation

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21% overall benchmark improvement in 1 month!  4.3% composition improvement.

That didn’t slow down Lisa though. Lisa battled through the gauntlet of fitness exercises, and beat everyone of her previous scores. Lisa has been training at Sand & Steel for ten months, so she is hardly a new client.  However, this month, Lisa dialed it in like we’ve never seen before.  Smoked it on her nutrition, hit her best score on the benchmark, and had stellar marks on fat loss and muscle gain.

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Curing Sports Foot Injuries

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Curing Sports Foot Injuries

Dr. Ben Pearl, licensed and board certified Podiatrist will be presenting on cutting edge techniques for treating plantar fasciitis. In particular, we’ll be discussing options associated with stem cell implantation. We’ll also discuss applicability of this procedure to related conditions such as Achilles tendon issues.

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Protein and BCAA

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We recommend that all athletes that are interested in losing weight and/or gaining muscle take advantage of protein powder and BCAAs.  That said, there is a great deal of misinformation and bro-science floating on the internet.  Coach Paul breaks down the science and explains why you should should be using these supplements.

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Making Beef Jerky Safely at Home

Categories Nutrition by

 Making Beef Jerky Safely at Home

Homemade Beef Jerky

Want to make homemade Beef Jerky?

You’ve come to the right place.  This article will take you through all the steps to make beef jerky safely at home.

Buy your dehydrator.
The Excalibur 3926TB Food Dehydrator is one of the highest rated and most reviewed home use food dehydrators on the market.  If you check the Amazon reviews, you’ll find lots of good uses for dehydrators other than jerky (fruit leather, dried fruit, dried herbs, etc.)  We use the Realtree Dehydrator that we purchased from Dick’s for $150.  No problem so far — but the camouflage doesn’t work — you’ll still see a huge box in your kitchen.

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Parallette

Advanced Parallette Movements Part for Core and Shoulder Strength

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The Parallete

The parallette: a small, simple looking training tool that can deliver massive results in the areas of core strength and mobility. You won’t find parallettes in many gyms (other than Sand&Steel and some Crossfit boxes), so for the majority of you reading this post, I’m guessing you’re considering buying a pair.

Anytime, we purchase new equipment, we ask a few basic questions:

  • Does is it have versatility to create a large exercise movement library: Yes.
  • Can another piece of equipment duplicate what it offers? No.
  • Is it the best piece of equipment for certain movements? Yes
  • Will it break under heavy usage? No (at least not the ones we picked up from Rogue Fitness).
  • Can it be scaled in complexity and difficulty? Yes
  • Can it get you Sand&Steel Strong? Definitely.

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Robin Marion Bodybuilding Figure Competitor

Robin Marion Strength Training for Triathletes

Categories Past Coaches by

Strength Training for Triathletes Certifications

  1. American Council on Exercise (ACE) – Certified Personal Trainer
  2. American Council on Exercise (ACE) – Certified Health Coach
  3. American Council on Exercise (ACE) – Strength & Conditioning Coach
  4. American Council on Exercise (ACE) – Nutrition Certification
  5. TRX – Suspension Training Certification
  6. USAC – Certified Cycling Coach
  7. USATF – Certified Track Coach
  8. RRCA – Distance Run Coach
  9. Les Mills – Body Combat & CXWORX Certification
  10. Strong By Zumba Licensed Instructor
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