Often times following one of my strongman performances, when people find out I have a personal training studio they make the mistake in assuming that the clientele I typically work with are up and coming strongmen.

My demo vid so you know what I’m talking about.

This is not the case.  It used to be that when people wanted me to teach them some of the classic feats of strength, I’d tell them “Do a Turkish get up with 100lbs, then come back to me and I will teach you.”  Now I just send them to my coach Hairculese Chris Rider, because quite simply in my opinion he’s way better at teaching it than I am.  And by the way, he’s coming to my studio on September 9th to run the Break Through Strength workshop.

The kind of people I work with aren’t normally up and coming strongmen, bodybuilders, or professional athletes.  They are usually recreational exercisers that simply want to look, feel and perform better in life.  There is a difference between “fitness” and “health” but that’s another topic for another day.

When I sit people down for the goal assessment interview, I dig into their goals to try to figure out what it is that they want to achieve.  It’s quite simple really.

1. Find out what they want to achieve.
2. Figure out where they are, compared to where they would like to be.
3. Based on the first 2, determine the actions necessary to bring them from where they are to where they want to be.

And when we’ve determined which actions are necessary to achieve said goals, then you simply do the things. And that’s the hard part really.

Let’s take for example someone who wants to lose 50lbs. It’s quite simple really, the super secret yet effective combo diet and exercise has produced more success stories for weight loss than any other way of doing it.

Here’s how; train with an intense yet safe program consistently over time and follow a diet that works.  I personally do intermittent fasting but for most people, I recommend the slow carb diet popularized in the book the 4hour Body by Tim Ferriss for most people (google it).

If you follow those actions consistently, you’ll lose weight.  If you aren’t losing weight, or any other goal for that matter, then it’s time to look at the actions you’ve taken.

Were you training hard enough, often enough?

Did you follow your diet to the T (as in, all the rules all the time)?

Fat loss requires a full-time commitment which is a pain in the ass. I know, it’s a big commitment to do all the actions that it takes to achieve your goals which is why I ask people to rate how committed they are.  On a scale from 1-10 if I get anything less than an 8, then it’s simply not enough and I send them away.

However, if someone simply wants to be all around healthy and strong, strength training and eating generally healthy foods can work wonders.  This is a goal too, although not a very specific one and the program needed to achieve it is not nearly as harsh in its execution.

This is where most people are.  Most of the ones I work with are along these lines.  They simply want to know how to train safely so they can move through life stronger, a bit leaner and healthier without having to live inside of a gym off of nothing but boiled chicken, steamed broccoli and protein shakes.

What are your goals?  Do you need help with them?

If so, give my trial membership a go by texting me at 973 476 5328.  Just tell me who you are and what you’d like to achieve and I’ll see what I can do to help.

Eric Moss is a world record holding professional strongman, author, speaker and personal trainer. In the tradition of the strongmen during the turn of the century, he performs feats of strength such as bending steel and breaking chains as part of a show and speaks on goal achievement for corporations, nonprofits, government as well as for schools and universities. His exclusive personal training studio is in Boonton Township New Jersey with Lewandowski Chiropractic and is close to Mountain Lakes, Denville, and Parsippany New Jersey.

I enjoy cooking and recommend others learn to cook as well, particularly when going through a body transformation program.  For one thing, cooking gives you power because you are in control of what you put into your body which is very helpful for body transformation.  When you depend on others to cook for you, you are at the mercy of what they cook which may or may not be in line with what your goals are.

“But my mommy/wife/whoever doesn’t cook that so I can’t lose weight.”

Yes, I hear that excuse, and of the excuses I hear, this one probably annoys me the most because it is whining defers responsibility.  Well, maybe the one of “but I can’t give up xyz.”

Recently I picked up The Bobby Flay Fit book (which I do recommend).  The way I see it, I want my family to eat well and having good tasting healthful recipes can pay dividends long term.  Pick a recipe, practice it with the intent of mastering it, eventually you’ll have a delicious healthful dish that your daughter turns down in favor of chicken nuggets that are shaped like dinosaurs.

Of the recipes I’ve made, 2 out of 3 were successes.  The rest have a lot of ingredients that I didn’t have readily available.  So I guess the recipes are good, but some of the fitness advice I take a bit of issue with.

Here is a piece of advice I take issue with;

Once you’ve hit a groove, mix things up. Not only can doing the same thing day in and day out get boring, but your body needs to be challenged in new ways or it can become used to a workout. There’s no better feeling than being sore from a new workout and knowing you’re flexing new muscles.

Uhm, no. Admittedly, this is an opinion of mine but there is no better feeling than actually hitting a new personal record and accomplishing a goal. That’s the part that lets you know that what you are doing is actually working, not being sore.

And the way you do that is you fluctuate the intensity (percentage of your max weight), your sets and your reps…not your exercise selection. Do something similar, but not the same. There are many different ways to do this.

You probably won’t be sore, but that’s not a bad thing because soreness is not an indicator of progress.  It’s just soreness.  Progress is in actually getting closer to your goal, and it’s measurable.

Second, and this part is fact, you won’t be flexing “new muscles”.  You already have all the muscles you’ll ever have and in fact already have muscles capable of lifting a car.  They just don’t know it yet.  Gaining muscle is actually developing muscle fibers that are already there and you can train them faster but doing it the smart way.

If you need help with this and you happen to be anywhere near Boonton Township, give my personal training one week trial membership a go. We will know quickly whether or not we are a good fit to work together.  Text me at 973 476 5328.

Eric Moss is a world record holding professional strongman, author, speaker and personal trainer. In the tradition of the strongmen during the turn of the century, he performs feats of strength such as bending steel and breaking chains as part of a show and speaks on goal achievement for corporations, nonprofits, government as well as for schools and universities. His exclusive personal training studio is in Boonton Township New Jersey with Lewandowski Chiropractic and is close to Mountain Lakes, Denville, and Parsippany New Jersey.

Last week I ran out of printer ink and went to go pick up some more.  The guy who runs the print shop oftentimes regals me with tales of his back problems.  As of now, he’s pain-free from doing yoga and is now preaching about the importance of your health.

You’re preaching to the choir, my friend.

But it was his quip that made me want to write this article.  He had said that people will take better care of their car than their body.

In a networking group, I used to be a part of they bring in a speaker who is known to wash his truck every day…rain or shine, even in subzero temperatures.  Me being a personal trainer and I’m not trying to make judgments here, but you can’t help but notice the spare tire he tries to hide under his shirt.

Now it’s possible he doesn’t know what to do, in which case that’s why people like me exist to guide them and teach them, but I’d wager that he doesn’t bother to try.  And that’s a shame.

If you spend a lot of time in the car, you likely have a 1 or 2 hour each way to work.  On the top end that’s about 4 hours a day… that’s a lot.

But you spend 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year every year for the rest of your life in your body. So you might as well have the best one you can have.  That’s one that is strong, lean and healthy.

And I can tell you that when you are like this, life is better, plain and simple.  You’ll have the strength to be capable of whatever it is you want to do.  You won’t be self-conscious or embarrassed to dress for when the weather gets warmer (if this weather EVER acts normal.)

What this does for your self-confidence is transformative.  In fact, the advice that’s usually given to people recently divorced is to get in shape because it makes you feel better about yourself.

If you are unsure how to do this, here are a few tips.

via GIPHY

-switch out the unhealthy food you are eating to healthy food choices, and/or fast.

-pick exercises that train multiple qualities (mobility, stability, strength and cardiovascular conditioning) and practice them. I find the basics of kettlebell training to be the best at this.

-dedicate 2 – 3 times a week to doing this, consistently and in time you’ll have that body.  And maintaining it is easier than building it.

If you need help with putting it all together with guidance, a supportive environment, and accountability, perhaps now is the time to hire a personal trainer to help you with this.

I have a trial membership available so you can see if I’m right for you. If nothing else, I can teach you stuff you can do on your own.

Eric Moss is a world record holding professional strongman, author, speaker and personal trainer. In the tradition of the strongmen during the turn of the century, he performs feats of strength such as bending steel and breaking chains as part of a show and speaks on goal achievement for corporations, nonprofits, government as well as for schools and universities. His exclusive personal training studio is in Boonton Township New Jersey with Lewandowski Chiropractic and is close to Mountain Lakes, Denville, and Parsippany New Jersey.