Bespoke Personal Training

The view from my back porch tonight. I have spent a thousand hours gazing at this skyline. I see an outline of a Phoenix in the tree and tonight it’s backlit by fire in the sky.

I sit here every morning when the silhouette is backed by a canopy of stars. I say my “I am” mantras.

I am blessed
I am fortunate
I am grateful
I am a part of everything
I am healthy
I am loved
I am powerful
I am ….

I believe “I am” to be one of the most powerful things one can say. And that it works both ways. Finish the mantra with

Not worthy
Stupid
Angry
Depressed
Lonely
Sad

You can create you reality this way. For better or for worse.

Pro tip: When you say your I am Mantras go into the feeling of the words and don’t just memorize and recite them.

I am grateful

Ideal force generation sequence will usually put you out of what you might consider to be “Perfect alignment”. Think of a baseball pitcher or volleyball player spiking the ball. If you limit your training to that which keeps you moving like a robot, you’re setting yourself up for injury in daily life. Develop strength outside of what you think of as perfect posture and prevent injuries no matter what life throws at you.

100 reps per arm 28kg/62lbs alternating clean and bent press 1:00:50 - No put downs! With some help from

https://www.facebook.com/100010651954841/videos/719975366456976/?idorvanity=162820140749877

I have worn Vibram five fingers exclusively for eleven years. When I first started wearing them, I understood why people would point them out and ask about them but I also thought it was because they were such a new phenomenon. It’s been a decade and people still point them out and ask questions. I turn all my clients on to these, or something similar based on their preference. In case you are curious, I’ll break down the top three reasons I wear these shoes and what you should look out for in active foot wear (and avoid in any shoe you wear frequently or for extended periods). First, a wide toe box to allow your toes room to spread out naturally, as nature intended. Second, very little cushioning, which enables the proprioceptive feedback loop from your brain to your feet and back. Finally, there is no elevation of the heel over the toes which promotes normal length tension relationships in your muscles and prevents heel striking during all phases of gait. I see a lot of feet, as I ask my clients to workout barefoot if they don’t have good shoes and I have seen over and over again the damage done by wearing the wrong shoes. You don’t have to wear five finger shoes if you don’t like the look, but I do recommend finding shoes that meet those three criteria. Happy Friday!

My morning routine is what keeps me sane. My favorite time to wake up is 3:45. This gives time to sit and stare at the stars with a little bit of cold brew coffee. I spend this time in gratitude and with a quiet mind in the stillness of the night. After that, I work out, having at least an hour in the gym and hitting the sauna for an hour before the family gets up at 6:30. When the kids wake up, it’s cooking breakfast, getting them ready for school and taking care of Dad duties before the work day. There are days where this doesn’t happen. The kids come into my bed because they are afraid of monsters and keep me up, wriggling around and I don’t get up in time. I very rarely sacrifice sleep if I can avoid it. Other times it is to spend some extra time with my wife, other times my schedule is off because I am taking a class or traveling. When I get out of my routine I keep it alive as much as possible and don’t allow myself to get upset or feel guilty. Things happen and I will live to fight another day. Being in the zone is one of the greatest joys in life and a good morning routine is the best way I have found of getting there. What’s your morning routine and how does it serve you?

Another Chek milestone completed. This was an amazing course, filled with some incredible tools that can be used to improve lives while living my dream and values.

This is an extremely important assessment that every fitness professional should perform before writing an exercise or stretching and mobilization program.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPnK-EqADNw&t=18s

Assessing spinal curvature and understanding posture It would be impossible to design a strengthening, stretching and mobilization program without first acquiring certain information about the individual. This ...

This posture is the common result of tight hamstrings. The pelvis tilts down in the back, pivots on the axis of the hip and moves up in the front, Like a see saw. This posterior pelvic tilt causes a backwards lean of the upper body which is counter balanced by a rounding of the mid back and a forward head. This also causes the neck to become hyper extended as a way of bringing the eyes back to the horizon. Notice the wrinkles in the back of the neck. This deviation usually causes elevated and rounded shoulders and scapula. The cause of the tight hamstrings can vary, but is very often the result of weak core stabilizers and a faulty breathing pattern. Weak stabilizers cause prime movers to perform the function of stabilizers, which diminishes their capacity as prime movers. They tighten up and lock into place to provide much needed stability. In this image, the hamstrings, abdomen, pec minor and neck extensors are all either tight or hyper facilitated, while the hip flexors, erector spinae, upper back and neck flexors are all lengthened and weak.

I love kettlebells, but they aren’t the only thing I use to train clients and for my own workouts. Far from it, my gym is stocked with a wide variety of equipment. Many people come to me because they have seen my online content and assume that’s what they will learn. Some people can start learning kettlebells within a few sessions of starting but many people will be working with me for months before we even touch a kettlebell. My first priority, after the initial assessment has been completed is to develop a good breathing pattern. Not only is this an area that most people need to improve, but it is also one of the most important things we can do. Your breathing muscles are core stabilizers. Without a good breathing pattern the core cannot be stable and compensations are going to happen. Remember, breath is the regression of every exercise.

In order to write exercise programs or stretching & mobilization programs for yourself or a client, you must perform assessments that give you specific data about the body. Your data should give you specific information about muscle function as well as paint a bigger picture as to what is happening. The plumb line assessment is a wonderful "Paint the picture" type of assessment.

"If you're not assessing, you're guessing"
-Paul Chek

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6i82g6k5G0&t=3s

The plumb line assessment In order to write the most effective program, and lower the risk of injury both in and outside of the gym you have to perform many assessments so you know wh...

Breath is the ultimate regression of every physical exercise. If you struggle to move properly, begin with breath work.

Sally Fallon is the author of Nourishing diets and Nourishing traditions and a longtime contributor to the Weston A. Price foundation.

A popular trend these days is to let babies feed themselves their first solid foods from the moment they wean off breastmilk or formula. Sally Fallon Morell, who leads the Weston A. Price Foundation, offers us her recommendations on how to introduce solid foods. Listen to, or read the transcription of, this overview of our recent Wise Traditions journal with a focus on how to nourish a baby. We also cover other topics that address everyone – such as how to attenuate non-native EMFs with diet, and the risks of routine colonoscopies.

https://bit.ly/babypodcast

This is an excellent way to develop hip flexibility using the contraction of reciprocating muscle groups. You don't have to use any weight at all, and when you do you can start with something very light. The weight overhead will eventually become an incredible feedback tool that helps improve your stability and efficiency.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ME6j6WPrfZc&t=80s

How to: Overhead Squat to Windmill This is a fantastic movement for developing some serious mobility and body awareness. It is quite a challenging progression of the traditional kettlebell win...

A few people have been asking about where to start with your kettlebell training. My membership site is a great place to learn the basics and progress through the level system one step at a time and at your own pace. You can find it at www.kettlebellmovement dot com. With that in said, I wanted to share with you a video I filmed specifically for this community that provides even more highly useful information on the subject of getting started. In this video, I discuss the most important aspects to building a solid foundation that will allow you to progress into kettlebell and resistance training with minimal chance of injury. The video ended up being a little bit longer than I had planned but I think you will find it is packed with useful information. Give it a watch here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SCErITxKKI

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Breathing basics and core function This video is about Breathing basics and core function