Inspiring Individuals

For all of us young guys who think we are studs and that we can’t be beat, let me introduce you to an emerging breed of hard working, dedicated, not taking crap from any body athletes! The “Big Dogs”! Ironically they aren’t meat heads and prefer not to flex in front of the mirror but they can hold their own against the best of them. They talk about core training. flexibility, and cardio, things that some young guys take for granted. They bike, they run, they hike, they live life, and then they go home and do yard work. I have truly trained some amazing gentlemen…. these guys are the true “Big Dogs”.

I always try to design training programs that are fun, challenging, and different. One of the most important aspects of training is variety. The ability to introduce new exercises, techniques, and methodologies into your routine in order avoid stagnation. So the next time you decide to do the same workout over and over again consider tossing in a few new moves!

I often step back a few feet after I explain a workout to my clients. Why? Well to be quiet honest if you saw the look on their face you would probably step back too. There are always certain psychological aspects to fitness that we all have to take into consideration. Have you ever been nervous before a workout? I certainly know I have! It is a feeling that you can’t explain. You aren’t nervous because everyone is looking at you, or you have a giant hole in your short, or forgot to wear under wear. You are nervous because you can’t believe that you are about to shock the living day lights out of your body. Yup! We have all had sweaty palms and an elevated heart rate when we approach barbell, squat rack, or run route. if you haven’t well you seriously need to overhaul your training routine. But what do we do we? We step back wipe our hands on our pants, take a deep breath, exhale, and execute! Why? Because we are fitness enthusiasts! We were thinking about it the night before. We planned the set up of the workout at our cubicle on break, because we live for these moments. We know that it is all mental!

Bothers JP and Sergio Romero.

I wrote an article at the beginning of the year that addressed why I personally think we fitness professionals need a taste of our own medicine. In addition to motivating your clients to work harder you show them that you lead by example and you don’t push pins all day or count reps and senselessly stare into space repeating good job, or one more! So we arrive at yet another dosage of medicine that was a bit too strong for me. although I have no picture to prove this I admit that the same guy that I wrote about in January….. well lets just say I was tired and I didn’t rest well last night and not to mention he had a week off. Toward the end of the workout I proposed a challenge that I was confident that I could complete. The challenge or “finisher” as we call it is designed to do one thing put you on your back. The finisher of the day was as follows:
1 Set (no rest)
20 Flat Bench Press @ 135lbs
20 Shoulder Press @ 70lbs
20 Burpees

Remember back when I said I devised this workout with complete confidence? Well I did! I was confident that I would finish this workout top to bottom with not breaks and literally floor my client. My mom always used to tell me a cool phrase when I would want a ridiculously expensive pair of shoes. “People in hell want ice water” Lets just say I didn’t get anywhere close to what I wanted and Milner literally mopped the floor with me. I must admit I underestimated him and overestimated my own abilities. Great Job dude…. But it aint over yet! P.S. you have to respect the change in his appearance since January in taste of my own medicine part 1.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words and let me tell you nothing supports this statement better than when I started training the best photographers in the world. You have to love the irony of this story. I met Marcos and Elba late last year for photography services. I was not only impressed by their taste, creativity, and innovative photography skills. I was impressed by how great they are as husband and wife. I began training the dynamic duo and I must admit after a few sessions that consisted of symptoms such as nausea, fatigue, and. mean- ugly death stares I realized how hard they worked together as a team. They actually inspired me to invite other D&M Elite Fitness athletes to invite their spouses to participate in the sessions and run, burpee, push up, pull up, dead lift, and squat together. It is a great way to bond build motivational support and devise ways to throw things at me after the workout, most importantly it is FREE for the spouse. Well three months and thirty pounds later I am proud to say that my favorite photographer is solid as a rock and so are my other married teams.

John and Adrianna figured they would do their regular Saturday morning workout in the gym but the looks on their face when we went outside ………Priceless!

The Rock

The Hard Place

The Aftermath

I love my job as a Personal Trainer after God and My Wife & Son Comes Fitness. I must admit that I am truly blessed to have such a dedicated and hardworking client base. In an attempt to further meet the needs of my athletes I feel that it is necessary to walk the walk and talk the talk. I also feel that I should get a taste of my own medicine. I made up my mind a long time ago that if I was going to be a trainer then I would certainly look and perform like one. I wrote this article for a very good athlete and friend of mine. Let me tell you something. It is one thing to train yourself hard but when you take off the stop watch and hand it to your client/athlete boy do the tables turn. I allow my athletes to train me periodically because I think it boosts their morale. I use this time as a way to assess if my athletes can successfully program their own workouts. I think it is a win- win situation, I get to get my ass kicked…literally, and I evaluate if they can apply the exercises that I teach them in a workout, especially if it is with my client in the picture. I must say he certainly can embrace the role as a trainer VERY QUICKLY! But it was all in good fun. I look forward to the next one.

As we all know I am a combat veteran. I am very proud to have served and defended my country and I am thankful for the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Marines that sacrifice so much for us to keep our freedom, and believe me when I say freedom isn’t free. When I was in the Army my most memorable moment other than basic training, and Iraq was earning my stripes as a sergeant. I feel when I get my athletes to a certain level of fitness they officially earn their stripes (bars) There are three bars as you can see on the shirt Bar no.1 Represents Discipline- An activity or exercise that develops or improves a skill. Bar no. 2 Represents Dedication- The state of being dedicated. Bar no. 3 Diet- A particular selection of food prescribed to improve a person’s physical condition. It takes hard work and dedication both inside and outside the gym in order to earn your bars. We also have a Rights of Passage Workout in order to obtain your bars too! Congratulations to long time athletes Nat & Warren and to all of my other athletes that earned their bars more pictures will surface as my athletes complete the Rights of Passage (ROP) workout!