How I am dealing with the Covid-19 scare in my personal training studio
With the coronavirus affecting schools and a lot of businesses, a lot of them are closing down temporarily. Big box gyms are considered to be a hot ground for this sort of thing because you might have 50 or so people from who the heck knows where breathing heavy and sweating. Group exercise classes can be the same.
However, my personal training studio is considered semi-private/small group personal training. Sometimes it’s one on one, sometimes it’s one on a few (5 at the most). I don’t have a ton of people, it’s the same people (no walk ins) and I also know where they’ve been, so the risk is considered low.
And until I’m forced to, I’ll stay open and am doing what I can to stay on top of it so as to minimize any kind of spreading. Here is a list of what I am doing.
-Any personal training client that doesn’t feel well or simply just wants to make sure are instructed to just stay home for a bit.
-Prior to training, wash your hands. Do this at the end also.
-Equipment that will be used will be disinfected both before and after use.
-Hand towels will be replaced with disposable paper towels.
-Evening hours will end by 8pm because the mandated curfew. Though I don’t know what difference that makes.
– A general cleaning (mopping with disinfectant) will be done twice a week at the minimum. This depends on how many people train during the week. The disinfectant is also at a higher concentration than normal.
-The free trial membership will be temporarily suspended unless by referral from a current personal training client. The reasoning for this is that I don’t know who they are and whether or not they may have been in contact with someone infected. At least with regular clients, I can determine the likely risk. And with referrals from current clients, we can discuss whether or not whoever they are referring will pose an unnecessary risk.
I’m also open to suggestions about how to keep everyone healthy and safe.
I believe with all of these in place we can minimize risk, continue getting people healthy (which goes a long way to fighting the disease) and do our part in containing it without compromising the former.
“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”
Stay healthy, strong and safe everyone.
Eric Moss is a world-record-holding modern-day professional performing strongman, author, motivational speaker, and personal trainer. In the tradition of the strongmen more common 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 located on Main Street in Boonton New Jersey, is close to Mountain Lakes, Denville, Montville and Parsippany New Jersey.
The Terminator Mentality, the Optimal Mindset for Massive Transformation
A couple of years ago, I had a relatively well-trafficked blog dedicated to fitness. I stopped paying attention to it as I worked on other ventures and ownership of it had expired without me knowing. The blog was lost. C’est la vie.
One of my more popular posts back then was about what I call the terminator mentality when it comes to massive transformation and goal achievement.
Arnold Schwarzenegger was tremendously influential to me. For one, he was the big strong guy that always had the best one-liners, and was unstoppable. As a youth who was rather meek, this is what I wanted to be, and actually is something I pay a bit of tribute to on stage during my strongman performances. If you’ve ever heard my one-liner after my finale feat “I need a vacation” that’s a direct reference to a quote in T2.
When Arnold was originally cast for the movie The Terminator, they actually wanted him to be the hero (later portrayed by Micheal Biehn).
He said “No, give me the role of the terminator.” And the rest is history. He exemplified the role not just because he looks the part. He exemplifies it in the way he thinks.
With the terminator, it is the same way. The terminator was a machine sent back through time to destroy the future by killing humanity’s savior before he was born. He had one goal and was single-minded about accomplishing it.
Things that weren’t in line with the goal were either cast aside or destroyed while it was pursuing its mission. It didn’t whine, it didn’t complain, it didn’t get sidetracked. It would do everything in its power to do it.
For massive transformation, this is the mentality that it takes. You just simply have to do the things. You are either doing the program, or you aren’t. You are either following the diet or you’re not. Do the things and get the results, or make excuses and stay the same.
Now is this the way to live? Absolutely not. I tell my clients, life is for living. There is more to life than lifting heavy things and eating like a rabbit.
However, for short term heavily structured burst programs (as Dan John would say Bus Bench programs)….this is the way to do it. You just have to keep your head down and be single-minded in your mission in order to be able to expect the outcome the program promises. Then you can relax a bit and enjoy the fruits of your efforts.
In the past couple of years, superhero movies have led to a lot of interest in getting the Superhero physique. People want to know about their training programs.
What people should be reading about is their mindset. These people have tremendous levels of work ethic and motivation. They need to look a certain way for their role and will do whatever it takes to achieve it. Having a couple of million dollars on the line can be tremendous motivation.
“I’ve found it’s 80 percent psychology and 20 percent skills.”
Tony Robbins
So how do you know if you are on the right track? Get a proven program, learn what is required of the program. And then everything you do is a choice determined with a simple question.
“Is this in line with what I’m supposed to be doing?”
If you need that proven program and are willing to put in the effort then perhaps Amazing 12 is for you. I now save that only for the most dedicated members. Amazing 12 is all about what’s optimal, but that also comes with the optimal mindset for success. I’m actually putting together an application form to make sure they really are ready.
The more relaxed approach that builds incrementally over time is what I recommend for most people. Then when they get a bit of success under their belt and have shown me that they’re going to follow the program maybe I can put them through the Amazing 12.
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If you need help and think I’m the one to help you, let’s talk.
Eric Moss is a world-record-holding modern-day professional performing strongman, author, motivational speaker, and personal trainer. In the tradition of the strongmen more common 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 located on Main Street in Boonton New Jersey, is close to Mountain Lakes, Denville, Montville and Parsippany New Jersey.
Photoshoot ready and strength for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness
When the Amazing 12 Body Transformation Program gets a lot of attention because of the aesthetic changes it produces. You know, building muscle and burning body fat. And it isn’t hard to see why with the results it’s produced in a very short period of time.
However, what it does to “the way you look” is really just one aspect of it.
One of the things, and it’s actually the thing that drew me to it is the performance changes that happen. Specifically, two of the participants that trained with Paul McIlroy over in Belfast.
Strength isn’t about how much weight you can lift in the gym, to me the purpose is to make you stronger for life. Hence the strength for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness tagline of my studio.
So yeah, they got “gym strong” but how would this apply to strength that transfers to whatever it is you enjoy?
One of the more respected trainers out there is a guy named Nick Tumminello. He’s in the personal trainer hall of fame and had been named personal trainer of the year for 2016 by the NSCA and trains a mixture of regular people as well as athletes. Back in November, he wrote an article about the 4 main lifting movements. (the one on the right)
Now in the article, he had his own exercises that he recommends for the 4 main lifting movements and I wanted to show you how the exercises within the Amazing 12 program could apply to that model for transferable strength (what I’m about)
- pushing– This could include either bench pressing and overhead pressing, both of which are components of Amazing12
- pulling– This could include vertical pulls (ie chin-ups) and suspension rows both of which are components of…well you know.
- hip hinge– This is deadlifts, but I also have people perform kettlebell swings as part of the “muscular cardio” component of the Amazing 12. This is only if I’ve had adequate time to make sure they have good swing technique.
- knee bend– Squats
Each of the exercises that I listed in the various movement categories is part of the Amazing 12.
Another coach who has been a tremendous influence to me is Dan John. He originally caught my attention via the works of Pavel Tsatsoline and also Mark Twight (a world-class mountain climber and the trainer behind the transformations of Henry Cavill for the role of Superman, Gerard Butler and the others in the movie 300).
A list of Dan John’s functional movement categories can be found on this napkin which was posted on his Instagram page
In his book Intervention, he’d mentioned his strength standards that he puts all of the people he trains through. He also listed them in this article here http://danjohn.net/2013/04/strength-standards-sleepless-in-seattle/
Dan John trains a wide variety of people. Some of whom have Superbowl rings and others who on occasion take time away from training to go take out terrorists.
Now as for Dan John’s strength standards, the programming behind the Amazing 12 could bring someone from the standard of “expected” to “game-changer” in most of the movements. Though getups and loaded carries aren’t part of the program, it could be accomplished by doing it lightly as part of a warm-up, and then after Amazing 12 is done, giving them the focus to fill in the gaps.
I can’t verify it since the personal training clients I selected for it haven’t finished yet, but I’m fairly confident it will work. Right now, I have a jujitsu athlete going through the program that had started around the “expected” standard. Pending on how he finishes, it’ll make a decent case study.
So even though the Amazing 12 attracts people because of the before and after pictures, I truly believe that it’ll be the transformation that happens to their all-around strength (inside and out) that will truly make the difference in their lives.
It definitely made a difference in mine, as well as my regular personal training clients.
Strength for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That’s what it’s really about.
Eric Moss is a world-record-holding modern-day professional performing strongman, author, motivational speaker, and personal trainer. In the tradition of the strongmen more common 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 located on Main Street in Boonton New Jersey, is close to Mountain Lakes, Denville, Montville and Parsippany New Jersey.