Sustainable Strength

I am very proud to be a personal trainer; helping to incorporate a healthy coping mechanism and watching each client grow and change, physically and otherwise is incredibly rewarding. That being said, I also understand that in-person training is not for everyone. It can get expensive, coordination and planning can be an issue, and it often doesn’t fit into our lifestyles. Not all of us have the time, the disposable income, (even though I would make the argument that having a trainer can easily save you money), or the right location to have a personal trainer. If you prefer to exercise on your own schedule, have a location where you can exercise, and want to save some money, you might not feel the need to have a personal trainer. And hey, you might not be wrong.

Regardless of your fitness experience or level, you still need to have a plan if you are going to be successful and avoid injury. Incorporation of a solid strategy, the right movements and exercises, and a routine that is sustainable within your own life is what will allow you maintain participation. Fitness is a use it or lose it activity, after all. That’s where my program comes in handy. With a personalized plan for each individual, taking into account equipment available, physical limitations and past injuries, as well as preferred exercises, I can build a workout routine that fits within your life, and allows you to focus on doing the work, and getting results.

The basics of how this program works is straightforward. Instead of using a confusing or sales-based fitness app, I program my workouts into a shared google spreadsheet, accessible on all platforms and programmed to be convenient to use and access on your phone. In the spreadsheet, the workout is mapped out, with a video link and personalized notes for each exercise, how many sets and repetitions to do, and a section where you can put in how much weight or resistance you used during the workout. All that is required of you is to show up, do the workout, record the resistance used, and I will do the rest.

In essence, this program is a simpler, more streamlined and more personal alternative to fitness apps and programs out there as well as being more cost affordable than in-person training, while giving you access to an experienced and qualified professional trainer.

I want to start this by saying that I have nothing against athletes or sports. What athletes do is impressive and enviable. The issue with emulating the way an athlete trains is relatively simple, however. An athlete will train his or her body to not only be competitive in their sport but also to keep pace with his or her peers who are also vying to for the chance to succeed and prove themselves. Cognizant of that, the athlete will always train to be fit, strong and viable in the short-term, knowing that his or her professional life and career is at stake. For the athlete, the risk is worth the reward, and whatever injuries and physical limitations that arise from their preparation and their occupation will be managed to the best of their abilities. That’s the contract that you agree to when you are an athlete, the responsibility that you shoulder. And honestly, for most athletes, it’s worth it.
There is, however, no sense in training like an athlete if you are no longer in the arena, and don’t plan on stepping foot inside that world again. For nearly all of us, fitness is either a coping mechanism, a vehicle to stay healthy and keep up appearances, or functional strength and movement so we can do the things we want to do, whether that’s outdoor recreation, keeping up with our children, the rigors of our job or just having the energy to be active and healthy. With that in mind, our training should reflect that, and we should be training for the long-term, instead of imitating those who are primarily concerned with their short-term success. Slowing down our progression, building habits and routines that flow within our lives and not getting sucked into extreme and unsustainable exercise and dietary regiments will allow our bodies to be operational for a lifetime, instead of a small window of extreme fitness when we were younger.
You can be strong, fit and healthy without engaging in risky, damaging and destructive exercise routines and movements. That’s what it means to be a non-athlete.

To show appreciation for those who are making a difference or hope to make a difference, I offer a 30 percent discount per session rate, good till the end of time, no gimmicks included. Doctors are excluded from this, as I can't wrap my head around giving high earners big discounts. You should still train with me though.

2h

Everyone knows this exercise, it’s a staple of modern fitness after all. Every time we go to the gym, it is inevitable that we see someone doing a barbell bench press, and while not everyone does them improperly, there are reasons to avoid the exercise altogether.
First and foremost, doing a bench press with a barbell isn’t even a good builder for your chest. The primary function of your pectoral muscles is to move your arms across your chest, which simply does not happen with a fixed bar bench press. Your pectorals never get a complete contraction, and your triceps and anterior deltoids end up taking most of the load during the exercise. This leads me to my next point, that the barbell bench press is destructive towards the tendons, ligaments and cartilage inside the shoulder joint, in particular the rotator cuff and the labrum. Your shoulders were simply not designed to load up that much weight and be the primary driver of a motion like a barbell bench press. Another factor in avoiding a barbell bench press is simply your anatomy. Most of those who lift extremely heavy on the bench press are built similarly, you know the type: shorter arms, barrel chest and no neck. Your anatomy is going to factor into the exercises and lifts that you perform, and the barbell bench press is certainly no exception; the more space between the bar and your chest, the harder it will be to move the weight. This will increase the tension and stress on your shoulder, and just speed up the inevitable shoulder pain and injury.
If you are looking for a good chest builder to replace the barbell bench press, I would advise doing a dumbbell chest press instead. Using dumbbells, you have more control, your chest is activated properly and built more effectively, and since your pectoral muscles are more engaged in the motion, your joints in your shoulders and elbows are spared. Spare your body the stress and switch out the barbell for dumbbells. It will not disappoint.

The average American lifespan is 77.8 years, which is impressive, considering the average lifespan at the turn of the 20th century was around 50.6 years. We have come a long way, no question, with the rise of modern medicine, advances in farming and agriculture and personal hygiene contributing to our extended longevity. There are flaws in looking at longevity as the benchmark of success as it comes to aging and health however. A better way of approaching health is to prioritize an individuals “healthspan” or the period of one’s life that one is healthy, free from serious diseases and other complications that require medical intervention.

In America, the average Americans HALE, (healthy life expectancy) is 63.1. That is a staggering number, considering the average lifespan is about 15 years higher. That means that we, on average, live up to 20% of our lives unhealthy. That is not a trivial number, and it is something we should improve on. How do we do this? Maintaining a healthy balanced diet with moderate, regular exercise and without smoking and drinking alcohol is the surest way to promote one’s healthspan and limit the onset of most diseases. If getting rid of alcohol in your life isn’t something you are willing to do, you can lower your consumption, if necessary. What we consume, the exercise we engage in, and what we indulge in will directly impact how we age, the quality of life as we age, and our checkbook, considering that the average American spends around eleven thousand dollars a year in health-related spending.

Lets choose health, yea?