A Few Tips to the Aspiring

So can someone please tell me where the crap November went, we're already in the last 3rd of the month? Seriously I only just looked at the date for today just now and did a double take. Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays so that is the silver lining for me at least.

I've done a post already about surviving the trials of being a trainer when you first start out. I figured I could probably offer a little bit more through my experiences in the last year or so, mostly consisting of mistakes or things I could have done better. Might not be the best advice but hopefully I can save 1 soul from losing their bananas.

1. Workaholics be warned- I would not consider myself a workaholic, but I'm not a bum either so I do believe I work hard. There is such thing as working too much, in this field especially. I've made the mistake in the last year+ trying to train too many clients, I know it sounds bass-ackwards right? I would train upwards of 40 hours a week, some days I'd jam in up to 6 hours straight of training, dumb. Yeah I know you can do YOUR job for 6 hours straight, but having to keep my energy levels up, stay locked in for 5-6 clients and a group class so no one gets hurts isn't quite a walk in the park.

Staying with that, when you're a trainer and have an open schedule like I do, and train 35-40+ hours a week you hardly have time for yourself and others in your life. Mostly because you aren't just away from home for just those 35-40 hours, you still have to hang around 30 minutes to an hour, waiting for the next client which can just be a drain. I am and was lucky enough to live close enough to my facility, that I could jet home and chill for a bit, not so much for others. Down time is key here because if you are constantly wound up and stressed the hell out there will be exactly 0 people that will want to be around you, I promise, and that's not great for business.

I acknowledge that I've stated before beggars can not be choosers, yeah congratulations you remember. When you get to the point where you aren't a beggar and have not been for some time, you can probably afford to be a bit pickier and save some sanity. My buddy Mike gave me this advice after he saw me just grind myself into the floor, 30 hours is solid, 35 should be the max for my own health and also because the programming turns to trash, no one wins there.

2. Schedule smarter-A couple things to try to avoid as far as your scheduling goes, I'm saying try, it won't always happen, just make it happen less frequently. If you know for a fact you have a session that will end later than 7 PM try not to kill yourself with a a handful of clients starting at 6 AM the next morning. Your sleep will SUFFER and then it turns into a slippery slope. Another thing I would reconsider is how many sessions in a row you train. I'm usually ready to exhale after about 4 hours in a row so I try to stay away from that.

It's OK to say no to clients, they'll understand, and if they don't well tough shit. I've acquired myself quite the solid base of regular clients so I usually have a pretty good idea of where my breaks will lie and where I absolutely don't want someone to schedule me. I will say the front desk staff at my facility does me many solids by keeping me out of the 'too many in a row' situation and letting me have my breathing room when I need it. My schedule isn't as fat as it once was, but I know my limits and usually have a good idea of what I'm dealing with when my check comes.

Hopefully the above helps someone out there keep their brain in order so they don't hate the world. May not apply to everyone, but I just hope it saves a few lifeforms from falling over.

That's all I got today kiddos, go out there and get after it!

Our Trip

I've been wanting to post this, but with a busy schedule upon my return and a lovely little migraine that greeted me on top of it I've had hard time getting time to sit long enough at the computer to write this.

 2 weeks ago to the day we got on a plane to California, my first trip into the pacific time zone. I will certainly say I'm making sure this is not my last either. This trip to Cali entailed a wedding, Catherine's brother's to be exact. All in all I'm not sure the whole thing could have gone down better, I'm sure there was obvious good planning before hand and hard work in the days leading up to the wedding, but I'd say it went off without a hitch. My body had a little fun adjusting to the first major time change it had experienced, but that's another story. I met some great people who only added to my great first California experience.

Our trial training facility

Of course while we were there we had to get a little training in, so we visited a local commercial gym. I think I've said this before but for whatever reason when we go to gym's outside of Boston I'm just shocked at the atrocity of the things people consider exercise (not that Boston's any better). The gym itself was enormous and like many commercial gyms their cardio and group exercise class areas dominated most of the real estate. There were a total of 2 squat racks and I'd say probably 4 or 5 different bench's, not counting the benches for the dumbbell area. I was slightly impressed that they had a landmine, although not sure many knew how to use it. Moral of the story when it came time after our pre-workout tasks and warm-up, Catherine and I didn't have much of a struggle securing our equipment.

In all seriousness I'm not that cocky of a person and I could have trained circles around pretty much every trainer I saw. There was 1 guy that commented on the great things that Catherine and I were doing for our workouts. I said thanks, then in my head I thought, why didn't I see you do any of them when you were training your client? I guess we all can't be perfect.

I'll stop with the negatives now, so the day before the wedding the family held an even at a park overlooking the ocean, I know rough venue right? Honestly they considered the weather you see below to be not so good? My response....are you kidding me? I'm wearing shorts and a t-shirt and not worried about catching a cold or pneumonia...and it's October, wanna trade with us in New England. Actually I'm pretty sure that following Sunday was our first little bite of winter, barf.

OK so back to it, at the park they had one of the local food trucks waiting for us, freakin awesome. I had heard nothing but good things about this food. I was given a ticket so I could order, I got the steak sandwich, it was fantabulous, they also had the sign posted I have below, which lead me to believe that these were quality ingredients they were using. My taste buds told me that the ingredients were in fact good quality.

Tamarindo Food Truck

Great bit of wisdom

Yes for you ladies that may be wondering what the actual wedding venue looked like I posted a couple below.

All in all it was a great trip and I look forward to going back and putting my feet in the Pacific once again. Final note, a congratulations to Catherine's brother Chris and his new wife Kelsey on a beautiful wedding and wish them many happy years to come.

That's all I got for this day guys, go out there and get after it!

Nothing Special

Happy Tuesday to all of you folks. This week should endure less whining about a certain New England team that had been poo pooed on quite a bit in the court of public opinion. I'm sure New England will still find a thing or 2 to gripe about, oh well. I do have a gripe of my own to voice and my thoughts on all the crappy trainers and coaches out there.

Let's start with this simple fact, I AM NOTHING SPECIAL, at least as far as a talent or smarts stand point goes. I'm not dumb, although the knocking around of my face has probably shaken loose a few brain cells now and again. I've simply kept my nose to the grind stone and worked hard to get what I have, which isn't so bad, I have a boat load of clients that I enjoy working with and am working with one of the top Division 1 schools in the New England. Knowing what I have and knowing I didn't do anything that took something getting bit by a radioactive spider to get here. That said it makes my blood boil just a bit when I see people just put in nearly 0 effort....or no effort in some cases. Yeah I've had some great help around me, but really all it takes is some freakin effort.

I've had a couple people approach me about being a trainer or coach and say something to the effect of "Oh you just get to hang out in the gym all day." This was my initial thought when I got into this world, but I found out real quick it takes a ton of effort. While it is great that I get to hang out in athletic pants and a t-shirt for most of my day, the coaches and trainers that I know that are very good at what they do, are some of the hardest working people I've ever met. To these people that make this comment I usually try to find a short way to tell them what it takes to not just be a hobby trainer/coach. It usually comes down to saying, if you're not prepared to give mind, body and soul to make this a career and a life, then I strongly urge you to reconsider.

Final thought on this is to simply love and care. Love what you do, if you don't love this job and world, then waking up at 4-4:30 AM is going to get progressively tougher and tougher. Care about those that you are working with and those that you are training/coaching. It is very cliché but at the facility in Brookline we try to make it a tight knit group and act as a family. BU S+C is the same way and it makes my job and rolling out of bed at the crack-ass of dawn, that much easier....coffee helps too.

That's all I've got for today guys, go out there and get after it!

Morning People...

Yeah I wasn't one really when I first got going into this grind that is my career/job, but I've slowly become one...sort of. OK truth is it's a struggle for me until I get to either BU or Brookline, and if there's a ton of things to slow down my morning routine, I'm potentially doomed to wait for an extra 30 min for my brain to come out of slumber. Usually though when I walk through the door I can turn it on, if not at least I usually have a few minutes to do so before I need to be sharp and pay attention. I'm sure there are some of you that have had to adjust to schedules that require you to get up at the butt crack of dawn with the rest of us coaching and training folk. I've discovered a few things that have helped me make the transition from sleep to work easier. I have pretty much 0 scientific basis to back this up, but if you want you can prove me right or wrong, also I may have sniped 1 of these ideas from someone else. 

1. GO TO BED: OK this might sound like me being a jerk but seriously get your butt to bed. Going to sleep at midnight and waking up at 4:30 AM will not do you or your morning any favors. Believe me I've had to do it before. When you struggle to keep your eyes open it doesn't mean stay up for an extra hour to continue binge watching that show on Netflix.

2. Caffeine: Yeah some of us aren't super human and can't just wake up as perky as Richard flippin Simmons. I'm not saying get an extra large coffee with 10 sugars and a truck load of cream in it with caramel swirl and whip cream on top either (was that enough overkill there?). Get up and have a cup of black coffee, if you need a spoon of sugar it won't kill you and if black coffee gives you the creepy crawlies then use organic heavy whipping cream, great little addition for those going low carb as well. For those that want to eat me alive for all the chemicals that are in the big brand coffees have a read of this and give that some thought. 

I will have one of these!

3. GET UP: Yeah again another one that sounds like I'm being captain obvious, thank you very much at your service right here. Seriously though when you're alarm goes off if you hit snooze and try to sleep for another 10 minutes it will take you longer to perk up and come to. When that thing goes off start rolling, even if you end up flat on the floor face down, you'll feel better without the extra 10 minutes I promise.

4. Water: I could go a couple different directions honestly, but something as simple as the splash of water on your face will help, if you're a person that showers in the morning then you've got this step covered.

5. Silence...maybe not so much: I know many people looooove their piece and quiet the same way I looove lifting things up and putting them down, but maybe a little stimulus for the brain is good. I personally will either throw on Spotify on my phone or get my dose of Sports Center for the day when I wake up. Even if you want to turn on something as mind numbing like Teen Mom it'll probably at least get some of the CNS firing.

Hopefully some of these tricks help you get moving in the AM, and hopefully I didn't make a complete ass of myself here today. Have a good day all, go out and get after it!

Wait Who's That Guy?

Sorry guys I've gone AWOL lately, but I really haven't had much time to myself. Here's a little insight on what's going on before we get to talking about more training type things. The internship is in full swing and it hit me like a punch in the face. My CNS was so fried from my new schedule that my own training was taking a huge hit. I love lifting heavy, but lifting heavy didn't love me for about the first 10 days in September. Monday I get up, go to the Brookline facility, amscray around noon, get to BU around 12:30, hang there for the better part of 6 hours and then odds on I'm heading back to the Brookline facility for a couple more sessions. Oh yeah and I do this on Wednesday as well. Tuesday I'm up and head straight to BU, finish around mid day there and go to Brookline for the night, rinse and repeat for Thursday as well. Friday's are way easier, Brookline, meeting at BU and DONE. Needless to say, and Catherine can confirm this, I pretty much get home and fall down at night. The things you do to get better and get ahead in the world, good news is I do enjoy being at BU a ton, and my limited schedule in Brookline almost makes it more exclusive so the clients I train are the ones I look forward to training...mostly.

How I feel when I get home lately

In the meanwhile on my hiatus I turned 28, if you didn't consider 27 late 20's, well I'm there now. No I'm not bitching that I'm old, although sometimes I like to just because I can and I have moments that make me feel so. Example; I was working with a couple teams last night and they could not name songs that were playing that I remembered from middle school, then I realized I'm getting old(er). I had thought about doing a 28 things list, but instead I'm going to limit it to a few brief things, just so I don't have my mind explode first time writing in a month and a half.


1. K.I.S.S.-So often I've heard (about) coaches adding all of these crazy exercises that can fix your pelvic tilt, realign your ankles, stop your indigestion and cure cancer all in one....yeah not today bub. I'm all for corrective work provided it doesn't eat 30 minutes of your workout and cut out more important shit, like getting stronger and faster. I try to keep it between 2-4 corrective/activation exercises before the work out, how many is dependent on the person's issues. After that I might mix in a few more if I know they are or have been struggling with certain movements.

2. Be yourself-I honestly have really tried to make sure I keep a hold of this one no matter who I'm working with or where I'm working. This really applies to the private sector of training/coaching. No matter who's name is on the building the trainee will keep coming back if they like YOU, no one else. People appreciate when you are being genuine and actually interested in their well being, they'll keep coming back because of that. To be honest if I'm training someone that doesn't want to come back I let it go because it wasn't meant to be and they wouldn't enjoy it which makes my job hell.

3. Pick appropriate exercises- Yeah I love deadlifts, squats and chin-ups just as much as the next guy, but the 92 year old guy with balance issues is going to have different priorities than the former college cheerleader or the woman that just gave birth to twins. I haven't seen it all but the commercial gym setting leaves you with a pretty good understanding because you'd be hard pressed to say you expected the guy with an intellectual disability and vision impairments to be able to drag a sled with 200 lbs on it any distance, let alone 25 yards. Yeah didn't think so, so don't assume, everyone needs to squat or that everyone needs to go easy for that matter.

That's all for today folks, go out there and get after it!

Last of the Mohicans

Well the last domino has fallen here in Brookline. We've had the final person that was in the same school of thought as me when I first got hired here, leave the company. When I got hired here in the first month I gravitated towards a certain group of trainers, desk staff members and a pilates instructor. This certainly gave me a good comfort zone for when I came to work every day for about a year. Let's all remember that a year is a long time to have very little turn over in a commercial gym. 

It started really, last April, the first domino fell when my friend Kristen got a job with Northeastern. Next was my friend Shayne, she got her dream job as a college softball coach. Then came my buddy Rob who got a job as a ticket price analyst (sweet job). Next was Mr.Anderson himself heading for Ohio to see about a girl. My friend Joel gets to see Giselle on a weekly basis at his new job. Next my old roommate Luis went to get himself in the real world with a "big person job" as we call it. My friend Kayley got exactly what she was looking for at a YMCA in Connecticut. The last tile finally fell last week when my friend Shelley left the company to pursue further education down in Texas. 

This has left me as the last one to carry the torch, as they say. I won't even be in this facility that much because I am, of course, interning with BU Strength and Conditioning this fall, which I really can not wait to start, no offense to my clients in Brookline. I realize I've turned on the waaambulance here but hey I'm sure most of you have dealt with this somehow before, this is my way of dealing with it.

Now I've gotten use to getting outside of my comfort zone with my training, I'm well aware it's the only way you get better. Doesn't mean I like being outside of my comfort zone when I work, DAMNIT. One of the departed did give me this piece of advice for my remaining time here; Try not to worry about what everyone else around you is doing, just continue to do your job better than everyone, grow as a professional and good things will happen for you. For now that is the plan until something comes along where I can get into either a college strength and conditioning facility or a private one (not a commercial gym).

Please everyone don't get me wrong, I was very happy when I landed here in Brookline, my commute was cut down to a fraction of what I had before. I was suddenly that much closer to Boston and I was in a much nicer facility, no offense Hudson, total upgrade overall. As I've stated before though, I am ready for a new challenge from those that are much smarter than me. I simply can't get that challenge around here though, so I've made the search elsewhere. The new crew will take some getting use to, maybe at some point we can get some of the mojo back.

That's my bit today guys, go out there and get after it!

Schwing

HUMP DAY. OK sorry I won't go into that stuff, just had to get that out of my system. I wanted to hit on a topic that honestly has started to drive me nuts, more so lately. Today I want to touch on the little Russian cannonball with the handle on it, oh yeah the Kettlebell, to be specific the Kettlebell Swing. Please crossfitters note I am not hating on crossfit (I actually think there's a ton of good in it). Just hear me out on this and then you can virtually punch me in the face after. With the recent popularity of crossfit the swing has become a more popular exercise, and I love the swing...except I like the Russian swing, not the American swing. "Oh shit Jarrod's a commie bastard" no I'm not, trust me there's many a people that want as little as possible to do with Russia at this point in the world, I'm one of them and this an exception.

Listen I'm not THAT against going over head with a kettlebell swing, I'm not crazy about it, but I'm not dead set against it. The problem is pretty much everyone I see doing it SHOULDN'T be going over head. Over head movements, for any coach/trainer worth their salt, is something that should be earned. Yeah I like overhead pressing and other movements as such. I believe they are movements that you need the right mobility and stability in your shoulders and thoracic spine to do. Below here is a check list to go over to see if you should even attempt an American KB swing, assuming you've mastered the Russian KB swing.

-Lay on the floor on your back.

-Knees bent feet flat on the floor

-Pull your belly button to the floor

-Keep your arms straight raise them out in front of you so your fingers are pointing to the ceiling

-Then mover your arms over head trying to put your thumbs on the ground above your head, keep the arms straight

Now if your lower back (lumbar spine) arches or you simply can not touch the floor, do not even consider doing an American swing, please.

Another great way to check if you're good to go on overhead movement is to do the Shoulder Mobility screen from the FMS. The general belief is that you need at LEAST a 2 on this to be able to do most over head movements.

With all that said I prefer the Russian swing simply because everyone can do it without risking a major shoulder injury, assuming technique is on point. Let's expand on the technique talk a bit. The other major issue I have with the American swing is most can't get the Russian KB swing technique right. It's like taking someone that can't drive a sedan and saying here try to drive this 18 wheeler.

Hey you American KB swingers, yeah you read the list below please:

-Neutral spine

- Squeeze the glutes

-Be explosive

-HINGE don't squat

-Brace the core

-Lats tight

-Bell at chest height

Reading the list above, if your brain went, "hmm never heard/done that" then you absolutely need to stick with the Russian swing. I personally will 99.9% of the time stick with the Russian swing with my clients. I'm not comfortable with the American swing so I'm not going to use it unless someone holds a gun to my head. There are plenty of other over head movements to train with that I'm far more comfortable with. There's also something about having a 16 kg object that's on a pivot over my head (or a client's/athlete's head) that I'm just not that comfortable with.

That's all I got for you today folks, take a swing, go out there and get after it!