If you said “nothing” then I’d say think again.

Let me ask you a question…

…What makes you choose one gas station over the other one across the street?

They both provide the same gas don’t they?

So, you choose the cheapest one right?

Sadly, the same thing happens to a lot of Personal Trainers.

A lot of fitness marketing guru’s out there talk about the latest and greatest ways to make a 6-figure income fast and getting tons of personal training clients

But, I never hear anything about the most effective way to market your services…

…By getting UNBELIEVABLE RESULTS!

It’s not about marketing yourself through all kinds off Facebook ads, Google pay-per-click ads, SEO strategies and keywords

You have to do MORE than sell ‘weight loss’ or ‘total body toning’; hell every other Personal Trainer out there does that.

That still doesn’t answer the single most IMPORTANT question in a potential client’s mind–“Why should I choose you when everyone else is saying the same thing?”

And, unless you can answer that question and effectively communicate it potential clients will most likely base their decisions on who’s the CHEAPEST option…

…not good!

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I’ve decided to keep a video journal as I am just 23 days from bringing my message to the Personal Trainers & Athletic Coaches of Istanbul, Turkey.

I‘m excited and deeply honored that I’ve been chosen for this opportunity…

…An opportunity to help us all as Fitness Professionals redefine what it means to be a Personal Trainer.

That we can do more than count reps and show people how to use exercise equipment.

How WE TOGETHER have the POWER to change lives!

I never believed in my wildest dreams that I’d be teaching seminars to other fitness pros especially traveling to another country to do it.

I am truly blessed and grateful as I carry my message and I thank each and every one of you reading this right now.

My fellow Fitness Professionals. I thank you for allowing me to share my message with you.

So, today begins with a video journal countdown as I prepare for my trip. It’s 23 days to Istanbul.

In the video I share some of my insights and what I’m going through as I get ready.

By the way, stay tuned at minute 2 for a very personal message from me to you.

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It’ll hit you where it hurts…

…It can bring you to tears

It’ll get you down

But, I’ve got a secret 1-2 Punch–er, exercise–to KNOCK-OUT lower back pain fast!

Give it a go and let me know how it goes by leaving a comment below (hey, I could’ve been a poet…:)

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…Now you don’t

See what you ask?

The difference between the 2 photos on the left depicting the plank exercise.

Ok, so either I’m one apple short of a fruit salad or there’s not a difference right?

While it’s true that there is no visual difference (it’s the same photo) there can be a difference in what 2 clients FEEL even though they appear to perform the exercise the same way.

And, the muscles they feel can improve core strength, muscle balance and function or they can reinforce existing compensation strategies that contribute to shoulder, lower back and knee problems…

So, how can you tell if your clients are getting it right or if they’re just reinforcing pain patterns?

Watch the video below where I share an often over-looked problem that 9 out of 10 people are doing leading to pain and how to correct it.

Oh, and don’t forget to leave me a comment below after you watch:

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I remember sitting in front of my computer…staring…racking my brain for ideas about which corrective exercises to use for my clients.

I would often sit there for hours…no kidding–HOURS!

On more than a few occasions I would sit at the studio I worked for on a sunny Saturday afternoon practically pulling my hair out by the roots trying to come up with something to help my clients with injuries.

And, the only reason I would leave was usually because of a phone call from my wife telling me to get my A** back home so we could go have some fun together.

One of my BIGGEST frustrations back then was the lack of information on exercise assessment, post-rehabilitation exercise and program design.

Sure, there was all the run-of-the-mill info on basic gym exercises but there just wasn’t anything for Personal Trainers who trained clients with nagging injuries.

The cool thing is that after a number of years I finally have a model for designing effective corrective exercise programs and I’d like to share it with you in hopes that it helps you put together awesome, results producing programs for your clients.

It’s called my ’3-A Corrective Exercise Model’.

Check it out and let me know how it works for you:

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If you want MORE success…

If you want MORE money….

You must stand out from the crowd.

You must challenge yourself…push yourself…expand your role and redefine yourself…

Watch the video below then leave a comment and let me know if you’re up for this challenge:

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There’s this BIG debate in the fitness industry that many of us (Personal Trainers) are getting too caught up in trying to ‘fix’ our clients…

…That we treat our clients like rehab patients and how many of us are stepping outside of our ‘scope of practice’ when assessing clients.

And, while I agree that we should not perform anything beyond what we are qualified to do I have a problem when I hear or read about how Personal Trainers should stick to ‘conducting exercise programs for apparently healthy individuals’ and leave the assessment part to Physical Therapists.

Our job as Personal Trainers is to develop and implement fitness program to help our clients achieve their fitness goals.

But, in order to develop an exercise program we need the necessary information that allows us to do this.

And, that’s where the importance of assessing clients comes in.

There are a few problems I see with how most Personal Training courses teach client assessment.

• Most assessments provide general information about a client without telling the ‘whole story’.

Look, I’m all for measuring body composition, taking girth measurements, testing flexibility and cardiovascular fitness and the like but these assessments are pretty much useless for the majority of our clients who deal with shoulder, lower back or knee problems that are keeping them from achieving their fitness goals.

• Most personal training courses fail to teach specific assessments.

If we’re assessing a client’s posture and notice upper cross syndrome (forward rounded shoulders, protracted shoulder blades, etc) it’s easy to assume the client has tightness of the pectorals, the internal shoulder rotators and weakness of the scapular stabilizers.

And, typically stretching those tight muscles along with some foam rolling might be in order.

But, how do you know for sure?

What if this client really only had tight lats?  That would make all those pec stretches and rotator cuff stretches ineffective.

• Most personal training courses teach assessments without a specific model for using them.

Assessments often seem to be thrown in with no specific order or system for applying them.

I don’t think it’s a case of Personal Trainers needing to become Physical Therapists to perform more specific assessments.

But, let’s be honest here…the majority of clients do not fit the classification of ‘apparently healthy’ or ‘without physical limitations’.

And, it’s not realistic nor practical to refer every client with nagging shoulder, low back or knee pain to their doctor or Physical Therapist.

This is backed up by organizations like the American Council On Exercise who offer their Post-Orthopedic Rehabilitation program for Personal Trainers…

..And the NASM who’s Personal Training model is one of the most widely used (if not THE most widely used) in the fitness industry. Oh yeah, and that model was created by Michael Clark, one of the top Physical Therapist’s in the country!

If we truly want to earn the respect and recognition we deserve as true fitness professionals we need to step beyond ‘ordinary’.

The same old ‘run-of-the-mill’ assessments like curl-up tests, push-up tests and sit and reach tests will do very little to help the majority of clients reach their fitness goals.

Teaching our clients how to perform movements they use on a daily basis like squatting, balancing and lifting overhead without the nagging aches and pains associated with those movements will do much more in helping them reach their fitness goals.

Create a better assessment system and get better results for your clients.

Go beyond ordinary…Be extraordinary!

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So, there I was lying on the floor on my back pressing away with my wife just laughing at us…

Actually, she was laughing at me because after about 30 ‘Briana presses’ I was getting a bit red-faced and out of breath; HEY she’s a big girl now!

The thing is that about 6 years ago I would never have been able to this because my shoulders were a mess back then.

They always hurt after I worked out.

Sure, I did various PULLING movements like rows but I never made any real progress until I discovered the exercises were only a part of the solution.

The answer wasn’t just doing the exercises but HOW I was doing them.

“Pull your shoulder blades down and back as if pinching your spine” wasn’t enough to actually make those muscles work when they were never taught how.

So, I developed my own special cues to literally FORCE the right muscles to engage and that’s when I got serious results.

I have ZERO shoulder pain these days and one of the exercises that not only helped me but have helped some athletes I trained over the years was…

Get ready to cringe…

Behind The Neck Presses

UH OH!

Yeah, I know you’re probably screaming at me “Don’t you know that exercise will DESTROY your shoulders!”

But, that’s the thing…behind the neck shoulder presses aren’t the shoulder wreckers that 99% of fitness pros think they are.

Check out the video below where I share my ‘odd-ball’ thinking like:

• A simple way to determine if your clients or athletes are appropriate for the behind the neck press
• 2 shoulder mobility assessments you can use to assess your clients and athletes
• The #1 mistake most personal trainers and strength coaches make when assessing posture related to the shoulders
• Little-known technique tips to look for when performing behind the neck presses

If you like the video do me a favor and click the share link below and tell your facebook friends about it.

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If you’ve never been to or even heard of the Santa Cruz beach boardwalk it’s, well, a beach and a boardwalk (duh, right?)

But, the place has some really COOL rides including the Giant Dipper which is a legendary roller coaster ride that was built around 1924 or something. It’s said to be one of the top coasters in the world to this day.

Besides, there’s something about the atmosphere at Santa Cruz that makes me feel (and act) like a kid again–ok, maybe it’s not just Santa Cruz that does this to me

So, we met up with my dad and step mom who took our soon to be 3-year-old daughter Briana out on the beach where she would soon be making sand castles into what she called her ‘garden’

My step mom is really cool. She always has some surprises for us when we visit.

And, true to it she gave my wife and I a free all day pass where we could go on all the rides we wanted!

How awesome is that?

She didn’t have to ask me twice when she offered the passes either.

I grabbed them and practically dragged my wife toward the boardwalk and we had the best time enjoying the rides.

The CRAZIEST ride was called the “Double Shot”…

..You basically sit suspended on a seat outside and your legs are dangling in the air. You’re just sitting out there in the open with only a harness over your shoulders–no cart to sit in, no cage around you–nothing

So, I’m on this thing with my wife in the seat next to me and we’re sitting there, feet dangling and everything for me at least, went dead silent.

I’m waiting and waiting and still waiting for it…

And then BOOM!

We were launched faster than I could scream “OH SH*T!” straight up in the air about 900 feet or so and then we just dropped all the way back down

I thought I’d left my stomach somewhere above me at this point.

But, it wasn’t over.

Again, we shot back up and dropped down.

What a RUSH this ride was! And, for a split second while you’re up there you get the most incredible view of the whole beach (and practically the city)

But, part of it was a bit of a downer because my cooler than cool stepmom loves these kinds of rides–well, all of em besides the Double Shot

And, she can’t go on them because she broke a few vertebrae in her back about 3 years ago.

I’ve helped her with some exercises that have no doubt made her back much stronger than before but her doctor hasn’t given her ‘official’ clearance for any activities that involve high impact.

That got me thinking about how so many people like many of our clients who aren’t achieving their fitness goals. But, with less severe issues than my step mom.

Everything from weight loss to building muscle to improving sport performance are goals many of our clients fall short of not because they can’t achieve them but because they fail to address the #1 reason they’re not achieving these goals…

MUSCLE IMBALANCES

Speaking of correcting muscle imbalances my buddy Rick Kaselj just put up 5 awesome free corrective exercise bonuses for you.

These bonuses valued at over $115.00 are only available until midnight this Thursday when you purchase Muscle Imbalances Revealed. Also, if you order before Thursday at midnight you’ll also get the complete MIR system for a special price of just $77 (a $20 savings)

We’ve got lots of testimonials pouring in about MIR. If you’re at all thinking about investing in MIR this is the time.

–>Click HERE To Get It<–

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