Next week, I’m traveling to Long Beach, California with my team for the Perform Better Functional Training Summit. This event is the premier training and performance conference on the west coast. I’ve been attending this event for 15 years. It will be a time of learning, but also a time to see old friends. I’m not sure which is more important. The relationships I’ve developed in the fitness industry have grown over the years. The studio provided me a platform and many of my peers respect the type of coaching we execute at the studio. What’s funny is it’s some of my earlier experiences at this conference that motivated me to establish a welcoming and fun culture at the studio. Read More

Last week, I had the opportunity to host a mobility workshop at the studio for my team and other coaches. The workshop was taught by Brad Cox, of the Acumobility team out of the Boston area. It featured their soft tissue tools, a unique roller, therapy balls, and their bands. The balls are flat on one side which allow you to apply pressure to restricted areas while you work the muscle through a range of motion. I’ve been a fan of tissue work for a while. If I had the time and unlimited resources, I would choose to get manual tissue work 2-3 times a week. Tools like foam rollers and balls have proven to be a good plan B. Read More

When you do something time and time again and you can replicate the process, you should experience a consistent outcome. Isn’t that why we gravitate to some restaurants over others? The food and service are consistently up to our standards. This explains why franchises are so popular now. People don’t like change for the most part and prefer predicable outcomes. When I walk into a Starbucks, I know exactly what to expect. Read More

I have a birthday coming up next month. If there are two times of year that get me to reflect, it’s the end of the year and a month before my birthday. Both are milestones. The new year creates thoughts of a clean slate, while my birthday makes me reflect on what I’ve accomplished. When looking at my birthday, I tend to think where am I currently on the fitness spectrum? When looking at fitness programs, I believe we flow between multiple training objectives on this big scale or continuum. Read More

This past fall we launched a new workout at the studio- Mobility Worx. The inspiration for me was to create a workout for our members that would help them to move better. It’s been a hit. I recently watched a group go through a session. At the outset of the workout, they could not squat to parallel. By the completion of the workout, they were squatting below parallel. I wanted to share the four steps we used to get to that outcome. Read More

A common complaint I hear from people prior to joining the studio is that squatting hurts their knees. Squats are a main movement in our program design because of the strength benefit. I also like it for the metabolic benefit, which makes it ideal for anyone looking to drop body-fat. Squats come up day one because we have everyone perform an overhead squat when we administer the Functional Movement Screen (FMS) during their initial assessment. The screen is a great tool, but it’s a screen, not a diagnostic test. I want to be clear that I’m a certified personal trainer, NOT a medical doctor. Read More

There’s always something to do. That was a realization I came to about 2 years after opening the studio. I never lock up at night or get up from my desk at home telling myself everything is checked off my “to-do” list. This realization taught me to prioritize my time into quadrants of things that are urgent and things that can wait. On that list of things that can wait is to shop my competitors and to observe and learn from organizations I strive to be more like. When I opened the doors of J & D Fitness in 2015 my #1 objective was to be considered the best in Las Vegas at providing both semi-private and private training. When I had two clients away last week, I had time to visit Soul Cycle in the Wynn Plaza. An opportunity to check something off my list of things that I normally don’t have time to do. Read More

I recently embraced cooking as a hobby. I’ve always been an average cook, at best. I have been lucky to have my wife, Judy, perform most of the cooking in our home. As much as I enjoy running the studio and being a coach, I’m trying to maintain some level of work/life balance. That requires enjoying things outside of the fitness studio. Someone I recently discovered on my recent culinary journey is Samin Nosrat. Samin is a writer, chef, and teacher, who has a skill at turning complexity into simplicity. Read More

I recently had a woman stop by the studio interested to join but she couldn’t because of her dilemma. She liked everything we had to offer and was particularly interested in our expert coaching in a small group setting. The problem was she had a membership to a local chain that she went to 5 days a week in the morning before work and she had a 2nd membership to a Boot-Camp gym that she went to 3-4 days a week after work. Her problem wasn’t our cost, but the total amount she was going to be spending on gym memberships. Her other problem, and a bigger issue, was trying to determine when she could fit in the time to come to our studio. Read More

One of the common misconceptions with training is that there are exercises that create size. One of the biggest fears for some women when they start lifting weights is that they are going to become bulky or have a more masculine appearance. I take these times as opportunities to educate them on how the body works and dispel any anxieties, they may have about entering a strength training regime. I thought I would share an approach that has served me well throughout the years. Read More