Did you like veggies as a kid? I actually didn’t mind them. I had my favorites, green beans and carrots. I’m thankful that both my parents forced me to eat a well-balanced diet. I believe that’s why I enjoy veggies to this day and don’t have any nutritional deficiencies. I do wish I had a coach early on when I started strength training that forced me to work on my mobility. That alone may have saved me from a few injuries. Read More

The fitness studio industry is currently in a bubble and gyms are opening up at a rampant rate. I don’t make it a habit to follow the formats of other studios, but I do have to keep abreast of what my competitors are doing. I will routinely shop these facilities, observing the treatment of their walk-in guests, their front desk protocol, and how their gym floor is situated. Something that appears to be common amongst many of these places is their lack of a proper warm-up. It’s either minimal, at best, or missing completely. As a gym owner, I understand that your goal is get people in and get them moving as soon as possible to experience your workout, but skipping this vital part can make someone’s 1st visit hazardous. Read More

This past weekend, I sat down with Mike Boyle’s Advances in Functional Training, Revised and 2nd edition. I was sharing my thoughts on this book with a fellow veteran coach in the fitness world. He was shocked to hear me give this book high praises. Allow me to clarify, he agrees with the content. His reasoning was, “I doubt it taught you anything new. Why are you so high on it?” He was pretty dead-on, but the book provided me with affirmation on many of the things we do and practice at the studio. Read More

I just got back from the Perform Better Functional Training Summit that took place in Long Beach, CA. My staff and I attend this event annually. It’s a great opportunity for us to learn as a team together. It also gives me a quick glimpse into the future of fitness and to see the new “hot” topics and training modalities. This year didn’t let me down, as mobility and breathing were frequently discussed. Neither topic is new, but how they are being implemented into the workout are. As the fitness industry get’s away from “Frankenstein”, or muscle group training, and shifts into movement-based exercise, people are starting to appreciate the benefit of moving better. I’ve mentioned in prior articles that it’s rare for someone to walk into my studio and share that their #1 goal is to move better. Read More

Years ago, I listened to famed strength coach Mike Boyle state that “Personal Trainers have the hardest jobs in the world.” Boyle is known for working with high level athletes from the NBA, NFL, and MLB. He was the strength and conditioning coach for the Boston Red Sox during their last championship run. Read More

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