the Blog
Building Your Own Home Gym
I recently posted a walk-through video of my home gym.After I did so, I got a number of emails and comments from people about “where to start” for their own home gym. There are good reasons to train or workout at home: You can save money on membership fees. You can...
How I Became “Skinny Fat”
There’s an old saying about learning by doing. “Learn by doing” suggests that, beyond just knowledge, experience itself is a valuable tool that teaches you what works and what doesn’t work—and sometimes the greatest lessons come from your biggest setbacks. My “skinny...
The Coach Scott Abel Metabolism Experiment
I'm going to see how much weight I can gain during a period of extended overfeeding; then, when I get home, we'll see how long it takes for the weight to come off. Because of how metabolism works, my guess is that it won't take long at all.
Client Case Study: A Success Story About Life Beyond the Thin Cage
This is a success story about escaping life inside the thin cage—that is, when you lose weight “successfully,” but you end up more obsessed with food, diet and weight scales and numbers. This was what Andreas P was wrestling with when he first hired me. He had lost...
1990s to Early 2000s: My Eventual Exit from the Steroid and Hardcore Bodybuilding World
In the last retrospective, I talked about the real beginnings of my career as what I call a “Big-C” Coach in the bodybuilding world. In this one, I’ll be talking about the changes in the hardcore bodybuilding world that led me, eventually, to leaving it. The...
Enter the 90s: My Early Coaching Career
As I mentioned in the last article, I returned from Muscle Camp a changed person. I had just lived out a dream. My goal had always been to get to the bodybuilding Mecca on my own, and up until Muscle Camp I’d naïvely thought the only way to do that was to win an...
1989: Muscle Camp and the Summer that Changed EVERYthing for Me
Before I dive into the summer that changed my life forever, I need to recap a few incidentals that led to 1989. After the Great Lakes contest of 1987, the “Powers That Be” the bodybuilding world decided that only specific contests would qualify a competitor for the...
1987: The Last Year Before It All Changed
Note: If you haven’t been following along my career retrospective article series, you may want to go back and check out my 1983, 1985, and 1986 previous entries.1987 was one of the most important years in shaping my career trajectory—but mostly because of the...
1986: My Introduction to the Dark Side of Bodybuilding
This post is the third in a retrospective series. Read the first and second posts. When I think of 1986, the first thing I about is how the trophies started changing. In 1983, the trophies I won were tiny and flimsy, and only 2 or 3 feet tall. By 1986 and then 1987,...
Bodybuilding Retrospective (part II): Still Natural & Still Learning in 1985
After my first show in 1983, and the attention I received afterwards, I decided I wanted to keep going in this whole fitness and bodybuilding thing.
My First Bodybuilding Contest: 1983
I believe there can be tremendous value in nostalgia. Nostalgia can bring mixed feelings, and yes, it is possible to spend too much time in it—but I really believe there can be tremendous value in it. Recently, I discovered some old photos. With some help, I was able...
Client Case Study: Melissa S
In a recent email about my new coaching page, I hinted at the remarkable journey of one of my clients: Melissa S. Today I want to talk about that remarkable journey. When Melissa first hired me, she was concerned with metabolism issues she’d been experiencing as a...
You can do this. Against all odds, you can do this.
I’m going to tell you about a once in a lifetime achievement against all odds. I often say that how you live is a direct reflection of what you love doing. If you love “doing” fitness, then diet and training doesn’t feel like a struggle. It’s just an extension of the...
How a Client Maintained Diet and Training While on Vacation
People often have a tough time sticking to a fitness and diet regimen when traveling. The problem is often that people take an all-or-nothing approach to travel. Either they surrender experiencing ANY of the “fun” of travelling, or they give up and go way off the diet...
Dealing with Food Bullies
For as long as I can remember, I’ve had to help clients deal with the problem of food bullies, part of a larger category of problem I like to call “navigating the nonsense.” Navigating the nonsense usually has nothing to do with diet and training, and everything to do...
How to Change Your Life
You can't change your life in one area without changing it in others. Whole industries lie in wait for you; they're hoping to tell you that you can change your entire life by tweaking one or two things. They're lying. They're slapping a new coat of pain on old ideas...
Client Case Study: Maxx's Before and Afters
Why I do these client case studies? To illustrate that everyone’s journey is different and a definition of triumph and success is different for everyone as well – therefore there are no linear pathways – but there is expert guidance. Some people aren’t even aware of...
You're Not “Struggling” With Weight Loss of Physique Goals
I get one or more emails every day expressing something like this: “Coach, I’m really struggling with my diet…” “Coach, I’m suffering because of all the sacrifices I have to make to lose this weight…” Let me ask you: are the words “struggling” and “suffering” really...