Reno Personal Trainer

Sports West Reno

Tom — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 05:08:16 +0000

I got an email not too long ago from a woman who was very frustrated with her current trainer. She wrote me that she was fed up with “commercial gyms and health clubs”.

As an independent consultant, I offer two kinds of personal training, in-home, and gym training at Sports West Athletic Club in Reno NV. I also do what I call fitness counseling, which is where I simply talk with people and help them figure out and establish fitness related goals. I do this either in person or online.

Because I don’t work for Sport West Reno, I’m not under any pressure to sell anything. Which is one of the reasons I chose Sports West Athletic Club to support this arm of my business. I am there in the capacity as an independent contractor, I pay them a fee, and they allow me to run aspects of my business through their facility.

Because my focus has been growing the other aspects of my fitness business, this arrangement has worked out well.

Whether it’s planning a layout for a home gym, choosing and ordering the right equipment, or just helping people or athletes with program or nutritional design to meet their needs. I also do this for companies that care about their employees and understand that productivity increases when employees are fit and eat properly.

Back our girl, I took her note to mean that she must be looking for in-home personal training, or at least a program she could implement at home. So I emailed her back with some details about my system and how I help people succeed. I also asked why she was so against “commercial gyms”.

In her reply she let me know that it wasn’t that she didn’t want to work out a health club, she was just tired of her trainer always trying to sell her something.

He’s always trying to get me to buy the club’s supplements or clothing, and then makes me feel stupid when I don’t, like that is what will make the difference.

I was surprised. I knew that Reno health clubs had gotten pretty commercial, but I didn’t realize it was as bad as that. Sports West is not like that.

For my clients who prefer gym training, Sports West offers a lot that I would not be able to offer from a private studio. Things like aerobics classes, basketball, racquetball, and a full size salt water pool.

It turns out that she just wanted to invest in a fitness professional that genuinely cared about her and her goals, not selling a certain brand of supplements.

I may one day open my own facility (if I can ever afford all the room I would need) but until then, Sports West Athletic Club in Reno provides a menu of amenities that are hard to beat with a private studio or a big box chain gym.

Post from: Reno Personal Trainer

Sports West Reno

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The STORMstrength System

Tom — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 03:56:45 +0000

From there, together with the culmination of my years of experience I developed my own system. I call it, STORMstrength, because it’s catchy, short, and it has my name in it.

I like things in nice neat little packages so that they are easy to convey to clients who don’t have the background or the interest to study these things for themselves.

Basically, I took what these other trailblazers have found and tweaked it into a system that I can implement on clients. Of course, I’ve combined it with a brain dead simple nutrition plan (because 95% of my clients want to lose fat, even if they really don’t need to.)

It is applied in stages, and is progressive. If you don’t do everything required in stage 1, don’t ask me what’s in stage 2 because you aren’t ready for it anyway. Your body works a certain way. Do this, and this will happen, guaranteed.

My system is based on simplicity, and I teach I lot along with instruction. All this hoopla about custom designed programs I think is overblown.

I also think it’s part of the problem most people have with their physiology. We are all basically the same structure with the same capabilities.

If for some reason you do not possess the same ranges of motion or strength in ranges of motion as the average next person, I’m not inclined to work around that. In my opinion it’s a problem that needs to be addressed.

I’m not a doctor, and I don’t want to be (insurance is too expensive for doctors). Experience has taught me most of these “limitations” or “chronic pain” areas correct themselves by just learning how to move correctly and by strengthening weak systems in your movement patterns.

Designing training programs around these “anomalies” just enables them. I recognize there are cases where there are legitimate reasons for physical limitations, but they are rare, but when present, need to be worked around.

Post from: Reno Personal Trainer

The STORMstrength System

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My History As A Reno Personal Trainer

Tom — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 03:44:21 +0000

I’m not a typical personal trainer, and my system isn’t for everyone. I don’t train just anyone, and I’ll tell you why.

When I started my fitness career back in 1992, like all people starting out in business, I tried to be everything to everybody. After all, I knew my stuff, and I knew if there was something you wanted to do with your body, I could tell how to do it.

So that’s what I did. What I found out after a few years was that sometimes people just say things because they like the way it sounds, not because they actually mean it.

By that I mean, they’ll say they are all up for doing whatever it takes to lose 20lbs by June. So long as it doesn’t involve anything “crazy”.

“Okay”, I say to myself, no problem. Because I don’t have people do “crazy” things. Then I come to find out that their definition of crazy is anything that’s uncomfortable!

So what ended up happening was I had an unhappy client, because in her mind I told her she could reach her goal without doing anything uncomfortable. To me, that’s “crazy”!

Fortunately, the vast majority of my clients through the years have been successful and happy. And in that time, I’ve learned a lot about these perfectly designed forms we use while on earth called bodies.

I saw a pattern. In the ’90s I like many other trainers learned and trained based on a “bodybuilding” format, or universe of knowledge. After all, that’s how I started, that’s how I trained, and that’s how gyms were set up. They still are.

If you belong to a gym or a health club, it’s probably divided into a cardio section, a free weight, and a selectorized machine section. Depending on the size, it may have an room for aerobics type classes.

This is a “bodybuilding” format.

I’m sure there are some that will disagree, and that’s okay, but that’s what it is. It’s set up for isolating and compartmentalizing things that the body needs for fitness and strength.

This is a direct product of the ’80s fitness movement, and there is a MAJOR industry now for this product. Billions of dollars from companies who manufacture this “equipment” and millions from gym owners who have bought it.

This isn’t a criticism, that’s the nature of business. I simply mention it because it may help to explain why the recognized establishment in this industry don’t want to hear anything other than machines and stairmasters are great.

I also want to say that I have nothing against bodybuilding or bodybuilders. As I said, I did it too. I was big and strong, and trained 5 days per week. I invested a huge amount of time and money going for the look and the feel that I thought was great. And it worked, except that it seemed I was always plagued with injuries, and little aches and pains.

Then one day, I totally blew out my knee. I was just getting up off the floor from showing something to a client. Nothing hard. Not a 400lb squat. Just getting up off the floor. Within an hour my knee was the size of a grapefruit.

I was so angry. “How could this happen,” I thought. I’m strong. I squat 400lbs to parallel. The connective tissue in my knee should be like steel! This was exactly what I thought would never happen to me because I trained.

Well, whatever I thought, I was wrong. And now I had to figure out why. Regardless of what I thought and understood to be true, this had happened, and it only meant one thing. That I had been wrong.

I followed every guideline. I practiced every protocol that my national certification had called for. What did that tell me? They were wrong too. It was all wrong! The whole stupid system.

I realized most people would never realize it because they weren’t pushing the limits like I was. But when I looked at those that were what did I see? Big huge strong men and women who looked like statues plagued with injuries and pain almost constantly.

That was all I needed. I had to get the bottom of this. There is only one thing I hate worse than being wrong, and that’s helping somebody move.

Fortunately, there were others who were already blazing new trails and thumbing their noses at the big “fitness” establishment. Guys like Paul Check and the crew over at Crossfit were breaking out with the truth about how our bodies really work and how to get the most out of them.

>> Continue to The STORMstrength System

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My History As A Reno Personal Trainer

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Privacy

Tom — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 05:19:56 +0000

I will never sell or trade your information with anyone. If you subscribe to my newsletter, or inquire for information, your information will stay with me.

I never sell or trade information with any service or business. If you do subscribe, you can unsubscribe anytime with one click.

Tom
RenoPersonalTrainer.com

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Privacy

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Fitness and Training Articles

Tom — Mon, 26 May 2008 23:33:31 +0000

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Fitness and Training Articles

Fitness Videos

Tom — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 21:58:59 +0000

Don’t think that it’s okay to be out of shape because
you’re middle-aged!

One arm chins & muscle up set by Jaz @ Bondi Beach

Want to see 10 one-armed overhand pull ups per arm?

150lb one arm dumbbell snatch!

This guy is just amazing! Ivan Chakarov weighs
200lbs and squats with full deep 583lbs for two deep easy reps!

So You Think You’re An Athlete?

3 1/2 minutes that will change the way you see
the human form

This craziness is called “Parkour” or “free running”. This what I consider the epitome of human athleticism. As you will see, “bigger” isn’t better, it’s just bigger. This is strength, power and coordination all rolled up into one.