How Can I Afford Personal Training?

I found this article, and thought it might be relevant to some of you interested in personal training. The only thing I would add to it, as I never recommend another trainer unless I know them (too many hacks in the business), is that you should NEVER be forced to buy large packages. If a trainer is confident in what they do, and know that they're good, they don't need to sell 50 sessions at a time. This is how people get ripped off. I've seen it over and over at various gyms. Whether you have a trainer at a gym, or at your home, don't buy the big package. My clients, as per my direction, pay me AFTER I've trained them. I do not sell sessions in advance. This helps with their financial flexibility, and ensures that I have the right mindset when I'm working.

-Steve

Boot Camps, Fitness and Sex

As you all know, this past week I completed our first boot camp. By any measure, it was an outstanding success (according to the participants) and a great time for everyone, including me. Everyone worked very hard, and I think we all learned some things along the way. (I'll be posting some of the comments on this site in the next couple of weeks) Moreover, it cemented that running these boot camps is something I want to pursue in the future.

I was fortunate this week to meet up with Zack Sandor Kerr, a friend of mine and PR specialist who took time to sit down with me and help me set a vision for this new enterprise. Zack gave me tons to absorb and think about, and so you'll be seeing some changes to this site over the next few weeks, along with a new site specifically reserved for the boot camps. Even for someone who is relatively tuned in to the tech world and social media, when you talk to a professional, it's quite startling to realize how little you actually know.

The same is true of the fitness world. When I first started training a few years ago, I spent the majority of my first six months playing catch-up. At least, that's how it felt. Despite two decades in the gym and years of coaching and working as a strength consultant for various teams, there was a seemingly endless amount of information to process. These days, I feel relatively caught up, and it helps to have married someone who knows more than I do about fitness and nutrition.

The purpose of a boot camp is not only to kickstart your drive towards being fit, but also help you 'catch-up' in a field that is much deeper than it appears. In many ways, it's like taking a course, albeit a fun one. (Gotta be fun!) A number of people at the last boot camp were amazed at what they were able to learn, sometimes simple things that really helped put other things in perspective. I think is especially helpful in a culture where we are overwhelmed with information.

Fitness and Sexuality

For those of you who visit my regular website, you've already seen some of the firestorm my article caused this past week. It was an article aimed at finding Mr./Mrs. Right, in which I admonished singles who refused to put in the hard work to be fit that they shouldn't complain when other people found them unattractive. A great deal of the complaints came from married women with children, who were not the target of the article. Obviously, life demands change when we have kids. Perhaps the real problem is the tie between fitness and sexuality. People were upset, I think, because the article felt like I was rudely suggesting that a women needs to be "hot" to be loved. And when she has children and is no longer hot, perhaps does not need to be loved?! I know how it sounds, but that wasn't the point at all. So let me be blunt.

I'm tired of people, specfically women, being put so low on their own priority list that they can't find time to work out or go for a walk or a bike ride because everyone else comes first. Self-care is a must for everyone. If your wife/girlfriend/partner/mom has no time for herself, make an effort to give her some time. This is especially true with mothers, who are so giving with their time, they tend not to take the time they need. Can we all agree to honour their commitment by helping lift some of their burdens so they can have time for themselves.

I'm tired of people making excuses for our obese society. Obesity is not only a killer, it's a life changer. Especially for children. We're too caught up in being politically correct (so we don't say anything), or we're just too rude (and we make fun of others), to simply be honest, without inflection or condemnation.

Fitness is not about looking like the skinny girls on the cover of magazines. They aren't fit. Fitness is a healthy, whole, balanced lifestyle that requires neither arrogance or wealth. Not everyone can afford to buy organic food (we don't), but we can all slow down a bit, turn the TV off, and do some stairs.

Fitness is about you. Ultimately, it's about taking care of what God's given you. It's learning to have a good time and being honest with ourselves about how we look and some of our habits. It's not about changing overnight, but working towards a healthier journey.

I wrote a follow up to the first article about Finding Mr./Mrs. Right, and imaginatively named it Part II. Mostly it's about fitness and sexuality. If you're interested, you can find it here.

Thanks, everyone. I'll keep you up to date on the boot camp developments.

-Steve

A Couple of Dumbbells

And no, I'm not talking about my kittens. This past week my wife and I purchased a new set of Bowflex SelectTech 1090 dumbbells. Despite working out for the past twenty years and spending the past three in the fitness industry, they're the first expensive piece of fitness equipment I've ever purchased. The closest, in terms of cost, would be my two year old running shoes (which were about 500$ cheaper). Generally, I warn my clients away from expensive equipment. The tendency in fitness, as in other things (like religion), is to consume, consume, consume. And a healthy life is less about consumption and more about expenditure. In this case however, as I don't have a gym membership and prefer to work out at home, the dumbbells are a blessing in that they allow me to push the heavy weight (they adjust up to 90lbs… they're huge) and produce the deep fatigue that can't be replaced (for those who love to lift) by any form of cardio.

The weights are sturdy, and take up very little space in our apartment. We did our reading before we purchased them, and the only caveat was that you had to be careful setting them down. Unlike the set, octagonal weights, which are almost indestructible, the 1090's can be broken if they're thrown around. And if you've spent any time in the gym, you've seen the heavy lifters throw the weights around before arching the super sexy eyebrow to warn you how tough they are. Fortunately, I can't seem to raise one eyebrow, though I've certainly tried, so I've always settled for rolling my neck and grimacing after setting the weights down carefully. In that sense, the 1090's suit me perfectly. Bowflex also has a smaller set of dumbbells, the 552's, which adjust up to 52.5lbs. I've used the smaller ones with a number of my clients, and absolutely recommend them for home use, though the same caveat about throwing them around applies here.

As I've said before on this site, the importance of resistance work can not be understated. And yes, for women too. Especially when it comes to doing back work, which is, along with core work, the most important and neglected area for most women. Ultimately, it leads to bad posture and back pain as they get older. Learning to do a proper back workout is VERY important.

For those of you who don't know, I do a lot of work as an unpaid writer, and supplement it with my training. We are not rich. Paying for those dumbbells wasn't easy, but moderated by my simplicity in other areas. For example, I've pretty much worn two pairs of shorts all summer. My 24$ sandals are my number one chose of footwear, and my idea of a good time (aside from the wild parties in Manhattan)is sitting on our balcony and reading a good book from the library. In that sense, it pays to be a geek, if a two hundred pound slab of geekiness.

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LAST DAY for Harriston Boot Camp

It's the last day for my Harriston Boot Camp. What a blast it has been! They've been an unbelievable, hardworking bunch and I feel as though I've made ten new friends. (Although, that's a bit mitigated by the cheers I hear every time I tell them we're done.) Honestly, it's been a terrific experience, and I'm looking forward to the last workout in a few hours. Thank you all for your hard work, for your questions, and for your desire to change your lifestyle. You guys were awesome!

-Steve