We’re three weeks into the New Year and I am observing people struggling in getting started with their program. The New Year came and went, and so did their discipline. We’re right at that point where you can’t reference the year as “new” anymore. By February 1st, it’s just the year 2020.It’s not new anymore, similar to when you purchase a car and it depreciates as you drive it off the lot. The problem with the holidays is that people start to loosen up their self-control around Thanksgiving. Think about it, we have a holiday that we celebrate the Pilgrims after their first harvest in the New World by eating as much as possible. I admit I fall into that trap. What other holiday would you eat 2 servings of pie? Read More

Happy New Year! I wanted to start the year off continuing my discussion from December on improving shoulder stability. If you didn’t read the first part of this post, please go back and give it a read. In a quick recap I discussed the importance of posture and tissue quality of the latissimus dorsi. I would like to add that in addition to treating the muscle tissue of the latissimus dorsi, you need to address the tissue quality of pectoralis minor. As cited by Physical therapist, Shirley Sahrmann, in her textbook Diagnosis and Treatment of Movement Impairment Syndrome: Read More

Years ago, I started listening to a legendary strength coach for tips to be better coach. He had been in the industry for years, worked with professional athletes from different sports, and was a lifetime learner. During one of his talks, he mentioned that his experience from working with lots of people from different populations, had made him a good coach. I mention this as I write my final blog article for 2019and we bring 2019 and my 29th year as a coach and trainer to a close. When someone has a problem with shoulder stability, and it’s not from an injury, I follow a specific protocol that has generated successful outcomes. I’ll discuss this strategy in 4 sections. Read More

There’s a new documentary film on Netflix making a big buzz titled, “The Game Changers”. It’s a story how a professional mixed martial artist goes on a quest, in search of recovery methods after suffering two debilitating knee injuries. On this journey, with the end goal to get back on the competitive stage, he comes across the benefits of a plant-based diet. The movie ends with him learning how to fly after eating only plant-based food. Yes, that’s a joke. My post today isn’t going to be about converting you to a plant-based diet, it’s about the power of making subtle changes. Read More

I just returned from a quick trip to Long Island, NY. My wife’s nephew was getting married. It was a fun trip filled with visits to a couple of my favorite restaurants, discussions of memories from before I moved to Las Vegas in 2003, and a workout at the gym (Bev Francis Powerhouse Gym) which I called home from 1992 to 2003. I always credit this gym to where I got my start in personal training. It was where my interest in training first peaked. The funny thing was that nothing has changed there since I left 16 years ago, and I don’t know if that’s good. Read More

When you join our studio to train, based upon your goals, we determine the recommended frequency for your workouts (2- 4 days a week). Next, we put you through a movement assessment. The assessment we currently utilize is the Functional Movement Screen (FMS). We use this assessment because of it’s ease of administering and the valuable feedback it provides. The assessment puts you in the seven dominant movement patterns we use throughout life. It provides a score for a person’s movement competency. The fourth pattern checked in the screen is the active straight leg raise (as seen below). Read More

One of the more commonly mis-diagnosed ailments is sciatica. You get off a long airline flight or have pain down your leg after a day of long meetings at work. You then look up symptoms on the internet and come to the conclusion that you have sciatica. Sciatica refers to pain from the sciatic nerve which branches from the lower back through the hips and glutes into a single leg. It typically happens down one leg. Full disclaimer, I’m not medical doctor nor a chiropractor, so I’m not providing a diagnosis for you, but I do have people come to our studio to train sometimes complaining of hip pain. Read More

Over the weekend, one of the biggest stories in the sports world circled around the surprise retirement of NFL quarterback, Andrew Luck. He cited frustration dealing with his injuries as the reason for his decision. He felt that he was stuck in a constant state of rehab from injuries over the past few years. I can’t imagine how bad it got for him to walk away at 29 years of age from a game that brought him money, fame, and enjoyment. My reason for bringing this up is that many people find themselves in similar situations working around injuries from doing something they love- working out. Back pain, muscle strains, tendinitis, and the list goes on. A colleague of mine once made a post on Instagram that summed it up perfectly. Read More

If you want to stay ahead of the curve in fitness trends, just follow what the strength and conditioning coaches for professional athletes are doing. The 2019 minimum pay for an NFL rookie is $480,000. In the NBA, it’s $838,464. Olympic athletes, still considered amateurs, have the opportunity to earn millions in endorsement deals for coming home with hardware from either the summer or winter games. The financial upside in sports has grown substantially in the last 20 years. It’s the job of their coaches and trainers to guide and prepare them for victory. At the elite level, the difference between winning and losing can translate into millions of dollars. Lebron James has mentioned in interviews that he will spend upwards to a million dollars annually for recovery and regeneration services! His body is his business. Read More

I just got back from the 3-Day Perform Better Functional Training Summit, in Long Beach, California. Perform Better is an equipment company that is one of the best providers of education on training in the country. They recognized 15 years ago that if you educate people on how to utilize a piece of equipment better, they are more prone to purchase it. The growth of the company in the last decade provides evidence their theory is correct. Taking this approach, they have been able to attract the leaders in the personal training, strength and conditioning, and rehabilitation industries as presenters. This was the 4th year I attended with my staff. Taking a lesson from prominent business owners, I’ve learned that one of the best investments I can make in my business is education for my team. Read More