It feels great to be back in the saddle. I’m a pretty organized guy, borderline OCD, but three weeks ago I was notified that I was selected as a finalist in the Men’s Health Next Top Trainer competition. I had 1 week to organize everything at home, work and prepare to fly to Allentown, Pennsylvania for a week. I would compete against 7 other elite trainers from throughout the US in physical & mental challenges. Here’s the funny part; I had no clue what I was getting myself into. I had entered the challenge on a whim. I saw an ad in Men’s Health magazine. I uploaded a headshot, filmed a quick 2 minute video challenge, and posted my entry link on my Facebook page so that people could vote for me. Read More

This week we complete 8 months at our new studio. We’re capping the week on Saturday with the Torch Challenge. The Challenge consists of 3 events: The gobblet squat, the TRX row, and the overhead press with a sandbag. These three exercises are foundational exercises in the Torch Workout. I believe that the Torch Workout should improve you in all three. I can’t think of a better way to prove that than to have an open competition. It is open to non-members so if you would like to participate it will only cost $20 and breakfast is included. We will have separate categories for men & women. Stop by and take the challenge. Read More

I’d like to wish a Happy Halloween to everyone. I love the fall, and for me Halloween ushers in the holiday season. I don’t want to freak anyone out, but we’re only 56 days away from Christmas. Wow! One of the reasons I enjoy this time of year is because it’s filled with a lot of tradition. I enjoy that piece of candy on Halloween, a piece of pumpkin pie next month, and the turkey dinner on Christmas. I know I just rattled off a lot of food. I can enjoy these things because I’ve been working hard all year. I also don’t back down from my workouts during the holidays, I actually try to step them up. In 2 months my phone will start to ring with people looking to “start the year off right”. My advice to people is to always start now, why wait? Start jogging and lifting now. I believe that life is about balance, and you should be able to enjoy those seasonal treats without guilt. I treat them as rewards for my hard work & discipline throughout the year. Read More

I want to take a moment and thank everyone who came out for our Grand Opening party last Friday. We also kicked off our 5-week Back to School Body Fat Challenge. It was a great night filled with friends, food, raffle prizes and laughs. Stay tuned for our announcement of the winner on November 21st. One of the highlights for me was showing guests the workout floor, where we keep the TRXs, where we store our kettlebells, and keep the sandbags. I enjoyed listening to a few members share their workout stories. One of the common themes I heard from members was how we do so much with so little. By little, I mean we use 3 pieces of equipment. Now the weights may vary from workout to workout, depending on what we’re doing, but 3 pieces nonetheless. It's been one of my goals to teach that a workout's effectiveness should be judged by it's results, not by the quantity of equipment. Read More

I recently was going through a few pictures of when I used to compete in Bodybuilding. I competed for over 10 years and was lucky enough to win the Jr. Nationals as a light heavyweight in my final year of competition. At that time I was obsessed with bodybuilding. Everything I did in the gym was about building size. And from the outside I appeared very fit. Read More

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