How would you rate your current level of fitness? What would you use as a scale? How much you bench? How fast you can run a mile? Can you touch your toes? These are all standards that have been used at some point in time by fitness professionals. And I would agree that each does has some merit. But the problem is that if you ask 20 fitness professionals how do they rate someone’s fitness, you’ll probably get 20 different answers. There needs to be a standard. When you visit the doctor, they take a few specific measurements to compare between visits. They typically take your blood pressure, temperature, weight, and resting pulse rate. Shouldn’t trainers have some type of standard to monitor someone’s current fitness state? Well actually we do. Read More

I can remember in my early days of training one of the biggest request from my female clients was “don’t make me BIG”. Now to bring you up to speed, this was the early 90s, bodybuilding was big... no pun intended. So big that most exercise routines performed in most gyms were taken right from the pages of Muscle & Fitness. These workouts weren’t research based products, just the flavor of the month. Later I would learn, from a friend who had his arm routine featured, that they were typically ghost written by the writing staff of the magazine, and pictures of the popular bodybuilder were just inserted. Also you have to understand the 90s were the peak of the machine/isolate the muscle craze. Read More

When I first started training folks my goal was to be something for everyone. If you know me personally, this should make sense. I generally enjoy people. I like to engage with people, so it’s very easy for me to ask someone what their fitness goals are, and what do they expect from our training. After I ask those questions I typically follow up with an important step. I listen. If they want to drop fat, then I draft a program that will assist in fat loss. If they want to be stronger, we focus on strength. If they want to improve their overall cardiopulmonary strength we strive to improve their lung capacity & efficiency. I do my best to let people know that they are in the driver’s seat. I work for them. Read More

In my 30 (+) years of personal training experience, one of the most frequent complaints I hear from soon to be or existing clients is that they are not happy with the shape they are in.  I listen as individuals talk about their frustration at the slow progress they are making in getting in shape.  They swear they know what to do and are exercising and eating the right amounts.  Read More

This is the response I have heard from people who contact me about personal training. After we’ve discussed their goals, their needs, and their current level of fitness, they ten proceed to end our conversation by saying “once I’m in shape I’ll give you a call”. That’s like cleaning up the house before the cleaning lady comes. Now this may be a way to avoid committing to a training program, and if so, that’s a discussion for another time. I always thought that after people attempt to get in shape on their own, and either don’t know how or just aren’t motivated, they hire a trainer. Read More

Functional foods, super foods, gluten free foods, anything-with-kale-in-it foods, etc. are all hot nutrition topics lately.  Fats, particularly oils, are right up there, as well. To be more specific, coconut oil is probably at the top of this topic list.  Nutritionists seem to be amused at watching some of these nutrition trends. They watch how fast these products flood the market and how fast they die down.  As with the rest of our nation, you probably have noticed the rise of the popular coconut oil.  The health claims of this product seem endless. Up to this point I have stood at arm’s length from talking all that much about coconut oil to its fervent followers.  Although I have had reservations about the coconut rage, I waited for more research results. Read More

So you want to learn how to successfully get in shape? Here is a major insider’s tip. Take it slowly, step by step. As a normal part of my health and fitness history forms that I have new clients fill out, I ask about  fitness  goals.  Many people start off their new fitness programs by setting their immediate goals at unrealistic levels.  They proclaim that they will eat only healthy food, take supplements, and go to the gym every day. Most of the time this just leads to failure and winding up right back where they started, if not worse.  There is usually a deepened feeling of lower self esteem and lack of confidence in their fitness journey Read More

Planning the start of my semi-private training has been both exciting and stressful. It’s a lot of work, but will be very rewarding in the end. Throughout the years I’ve had to deal with the obstacle of how I can help more people, without sacrificing quality. As my time has drawn more and more scarce, this has become a consistent problem. Working with 3-6 people at a time finally solves this dilemma. My next question has been what is my niche? I have come to a point in my career that I know I can’t be a trainer to everyone. Could I work with anyone? Maybe. Would I be better at focusing on a few specific goals, and mastering my craft towards them? Yes. So I have focused my energies towards creating a fat loss & strengthening class that I can coach in a small group setting. The last 5 years of my career I have spent studying and learning efficient & safe ways to implement kettlebells, the TRX, and sandbags into my programming.  That being said, I have chosen these tools as my choice pieces of equipment. Read More