I hope you had a great 4th of July. It’s expected to be 105 degrees in Las Vegas today. We are officially in the dog-days of summer. I’m still shaking my head as half of 2018 is in the record books. Time stands still for no one. The mid-point of the year is a good time to reflect on how things are going on the goals you set out in December. Have you been able to stick to your workouts? Are you spending more time with your family? I’ve recently been evaluating things we do well at the studio, and on things I think we can improve. In business, it’s pretty simple, do more of the good stuff and fix the bad. Read More

As we come to the close of another school year, our attention is focused on the completed tasks of students.  I want to bring attention to teachers for a moment. Teachers are the unsung heroes in my book. They play such a huge role in the development of our kids and we don’t give them enough credit. You have to be a unique person to pursue teaching. You have to have a passion for teaching. It’s not the type of job that people aspire to if they want to accumulate a lot of money. Being completely respectful to any teachers that may be reading this, you never hear anyone say “I want to make millions of dollars as a teacher”. I’ve gravitated to observing teachers in the last couple years. If you strip down the competency of a trainer (that they know how the body works and they have a basic understanding of exercise), the success of the people they work with depends on their ability to communicate and teach. Read More

Have you ever had an experience that went perfect, like a great meal or a great trip? There’s a commercial for Booking.com that captures that emotion. A family is walking down the hallway to enter their hotel room. The voice narrating sets up the scene, “This trip has a been a year in the making”. The family looks beat from a day of travel, as they open the door to an amazing room and view of the ocean. The father does a reserved fist pump and the narrator says, “You got it right, you got it booking right!” The commercial is hilarious. I think we’ve all been there. If you’ve never seen the commercial, the link to the clip is below. Read More

Have you ever had a book that you re-read and it takes on a deeper meaning the second time? Then you re-read it once more and it takes on a different meaning yet again. I have a few books like this in my bookcase, but the one I want to discuss today is Anatomy Trains, by Thomas Meyers. I have owned this book for 8 years. Recently, I started experimenting with a series of mobility drills and the entire concept has its roots in this book. I’ve mentioned before that in fitness, new gadgets and fitness toys are created monthly, but new concepts arise infrequently. What I’ve come to appreciate are a few pioneers who take an established concept and go a mile deep in its understanding. Improving mobility by creating tension and anchoring using sticks that flex is one of those examples. Read More

A long time ago, I realized you can’t please everyone. This can have its challenges at times, especially when you have new people walking through your door every day. I can help a lot of people, but every once in a while, I must explain to someone that our training studio isn’t a good fit for them. I learned that trying to accommodate every population and fitness goal will run both you & your staff ragged. It also effects how you train the people you strive to work with. I’ve done my best to work well with a specific niche due to this. Read More

In March, I’ll travel to San Diego to walk the floor of the largest fitness trade show in the US- The International Health and Racquet Sportsclub Association trade show or IHRSA, as its commonly called. Every aspect of running a health club, gym, or studio will have a presence at this event. I look for trends and to see the direction the fitness world is currently moving towards. It was at this show a few years back that I saw a clone of my studio. When I opened J & D Fitness Personal Training 2 ½ years ago, I envisioned a semi-private personal training studio that had a focus on coaching movement, not using machines. Read More

Lately I’ve cut the amount of time I spend on social media to a minimum. I think it has become a platform for people to shout their political perspective and demean others that don’t agree with their viewpoint. I’ve chosen to abstain from making political comments. I do use it as a platform to share my knowledge and information on fitness. It’s enabled me the ability to help others outside of my physical geographical reach. It’s also connected me with friends from my past. Recently, I conversed with an old friend from junior high school, via Facebook. I had to share with him the multiple parallels we’ve both experienced as we’ve carved out our careers by following our passions. Read More

As 2017 draws to a close and we push through the holiday season, it’s a good time to reflect and take an audit of your overall fitness program, or lack of. It’s also a time to create new goals for the upcoming year. Goals should be Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timely (SMART). I’ve used goal setting as an opportunity to take stock of myself and narrow my focus on things I need to improve. Mobility has become a priority the past couple of years. As I’ve aged, I’ve come to value the importance of being injury free. I’m currently creating a mobility program that I plan on using weekly, in conjunction with my strength training, for 2018.  Read More

I want to touch on one of the most important aspects of working with a trainer. It rarely gets discussed and most gyms are happy that prospective members don’t ask about it. It’s exercise program design. There should be some type of plan with your workout. It doesn’t have to be ultra detailed or intricate, but nonetheless, it should exist. Here’s an analogy I frequently use. Do you get in your car and just drive, or do you have a destination? There are multiple ways to get to a location, but you should have some type of route planned. This leads me to why we do an assessment on everyone that starts a program at the studio, whether private or in a small group. An assessment allows us to know our starting point. Think about when you use Google Maps; the 1st question you must answer is ‘Where are you starting from?” Read More

This Saturday I will be hosting the National Strength and Conditioning Association’s (NSCA) Nevada state clinic at the studio. We have 8 speakers (including myself) scheduled to present 50-minute presentations on various strength and conditioning topics. Training the glutes, programing specific to mixed martial arts, and how stem cell therapy has influenced the fitness industry are a few of the hot topics that will be discussed. These events provide professionals in the fitness community the opportunity to maintain their certified professional status, acquire continuing education credits and remain current in the industry. Coaches typically leave events like this inspired, motivated and ready to apply some of the concepts on Monday. There in lies the problem.  Read More