Welcome to our Gym Shorts series, featuring quick tips from Twin Cities fitness pros. We spotlight the people powering our neighborhood studios and motivating us to keep coming back. Know an inspiring instructor? Email us at edit@mspmag.com.
Photo courtesy of Logan Herlihy
Logan Herlihy at Discover Strength
You may have seen Logan Herlihy shirtless at your local bookstore. (Really!) Host of the Discover Strength Podcast and instructor at Minnesota-based fitness studio chain Discover Strength, Herlihy is the author of How 2 Look Good Naked, a beginner’s guide to exercising and eating efficiently and effectively based on his own experience and research. “For the longest time, I was indoctrinated with the idea that more exercise equals better exercise, and, as I’ve found through my journey in the last two years, this is absolutely not the case,” he says in the book summary.
In our latest edition of Gym Shorts, where local instructors share tips and insights for better workouts and sweatier seshes, Herlihy shares why simpler is better (even for serious gym rats!), why there’s no finish line in your gym routine, and which underworked muscles deserve more attention (hint: you may have pain in this area!).
Photo courtesy of Logan Herlihy
Discover Strength Instructor Logan Herlihy
Tell me why you became a fitness instructor.
I was always passionate about fitness but was going through a rough patch in my life at the time I moved to Minnesota. I found a place that allowed me to start with minimal experience and build up my confidence and credentials. I started to feel confident in myself and my ability to help others. After building some experience there, I started with Discover Strength (4.5 years ago), achieved multiple nationally recognized certifications, and this spring I’m graduating with a master’s degree in strength and conditioning. Fitness has become not just a career, but a true passion and way of life.
What's one fitness rule you live by?
Don’t overcomplicate it. If you can’t teach it to your grandma and get her to do it safely and effectively, there’s probably little reason for you to do it on your own. This goes for people with no experience and professional athletes alike. The more complex, the less likely it’s an exercise and more likely it’s a skill that simply resembles exercise.
What is the most common piece of advice you give to clients?
Habit stack. Don’t try to do it all at once. Start with something you can commit to, whether it’s diet, exercise, cardio. Do it consistently, then add something on top of that. Exercise is not a “quick fix,” it is something we should be doing for the rest of our lives, so it’s not a race to get to the finish line. Don’t bite off more than you can chew, give yourself some grace, and acknowledge all the wins along the way.
What do you think is the most underworked area of the body?
The Lumbar musculature of the lower back. Eighty percent of Americans will experience low back pain at some point in their life, and almost all of it can be attributed to weak lower back musculature.
What song or artist never fails to pump you up during a workout?
Mac Miller… RIP.
What do you love about Discover Strength?
Busy people don’t have time to waste on exercise that doesn’t work—and Discover Strength works!
