Author: Eric Moss
Age is not a valid excuse
The last time I wrote one of these articles, I got a new client out of it and I’m excited to work with her so I figured I’d do it again. 🙂
About a week or two ago I was in my personal training studio when I noticed some guy crossing the street who looked like he was headed for my door which I keep open to keep fresh air flowing and to be more welcoming to people who are curious about what I do.
He stops in the doorway and says “Hey, didn’t realize anything was over here. How long have you been in business here?”
“I moved my training studio to Boonton about a year prior to the start of the pandemic, but I’ve been a personal trainer for about 17-18 years now.”
“Ah I wish I could, but I’m too old”
“How old are you if you don’t mind me asking”
“55”
I thought it ironic because the person I was training at the time was 58 and called him out on it and also the fact that the poster that is literally right next to the door showcases one of my former personal training clients…stating quite clearly he was 56 years old.
At the time that I was Tom’s personal trainer, he was 56. One year older than the guy appearing in my doorway. The main difference was that Tom was motivated to do something, sought out the right guidance, put in the work, and never used age as an excuse.
Just above his poster is a printout of Ken, who started weight training at the “too old in his 60’s” (I say that tongue in cheek) now he’s 68 is the strongest he’s ever been. To the left of the door is a picture of Angie who at 60 years old does chin-ups with respectable additional amounts of weight for any age.
I have another woman in her 60s who I was talking about this subject before. And she was telling me about how her doctor had mentioned strength training as helping to prevent dementia. I’ll look more into this when I get a chance.
Another former client of mine (back in the fall) got her first chin-ups the same day she welcomed her 2nd grandchild into the world.
I also have a woman in her 80s who is moving better and stronger. The one who referred her to me had said she notices the difference in the way she moves, and also in the sound of her voice.
I have numerous other examples, but let’s get to the main idea. People oftentimes think training is primarily for young people who are vain. This isn’t true. Everybody can benefit from gaining strength, therefore everyone can benefit from strength training.
Everything I do is about strength, even the body transformation programs are simply highly effective strength programs that are also useful for building muscle, burning fat, looking, and feeling great.
I have a tagline for my personal training studio.
“Strength for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”
Eric Moss Fitness
We should have the physical capability of doing what makes us happy, whether that is strutting your stuff on the beach, ballroom dancing, winning beauty pageants, playing pickleball or rolling around with the grandkids.
And if you don’t train purposefully to maintain and build physical capacity, you may find the things you enjoy slipping by without you realizing it. Use it or lose it is as they say.
Now I get it, the whole idea of getting in shape can be overwhelming and confusing with one expert seeming to contradict the others. And yes, even after 17-18 years of helping others get in shape I am still refining and perfecting my methods.
Fortunately for you, I offer a free trial at my personal training studio on Main Street in Boonton. You don’t have to be confused and overwhelmed. Just follow the plan I lay out and you’ll do great, just like all my other people do.
Send me a text at 973 476 5328 and introduce yourself to get started.
Eric Moss is a personal trainer in Boonton and moonlights as a world-record-holding modern-day professional performing strongman, author, and motivational speaker. 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, associations, nonprofits, and government entities as well as for schools and universities. His exclusive personal training studio is located on Main Street in Boonton New Jersey and is close to Mountain Lakes, Denville, Montville, and Parsippany New Jersey.
A Personal Training Session Should be Judged by the Results It Produces
Some people think my personal training studio in Boonton moved, no I’m still here and don’t plan on going anywhere. That was Impact Fitness that moved, and yes I was surprised since we moved in around the same time.
It happens I guess, I wish them well.
Years ago when I was developing my performing strongman career I had enlisted the help of Dr. Rob Gilbert to teach me about motivational speaking. Dr. Gilbert has a success hotline, and podcast where he produces a short daily motivational message, and the other day he spoke about why coaching is one of the most difficult jobs in the world.
Here is the link if you want to listen yourself, it’s only 3 mins long https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/why-coaching-is-one-of-the-most-difficult-jobs-in/id1532154557?i=1000553246960
It’s funny because personal training seems to be the exception to this rule. Sometimes when I talk to people I find out they already have personal trainers, and they like to say that he/she is really good.
Great! (the world needs more good personal trainers after all) What are the criteria you use to see whether or not they’re good?
They’ll usually say something like, I’m always sore, they push me really hard etc.
Ok, but is that the reason you signed up with them? To be pushed hard and get sore?
If that’s the reason, fine I guess but many times when people hire them to do it’s simply because they think that is the ticket to gains in strength, muscle definition, and dropping body fat.
In fact, one of my clients from years ago hired me to yell at her. I told her I don’t really yell, but perhaps what she really needs is a more effective program. She was actually working as a personal trainer herself, and I completely changed her paradigm to one of progress instead of screaming “faster! harder!” (that’s what she said)
There is more to effective programming than simply working hard.
Now it could be you hire a personal trainer just to keep you consistent. If they’re keeping you consistent that’s great! Mission accomplished!
However, you may be looking to them for actual progress. And that’s a different thing entirely.
Indicators of progress for how it transfers to every day life would be things like you’re able to do things you weren’t able to do before, you’re looking better and feeling better etc. In the gym, I look at it mathematically. Are the numbers themselves improving?
As an example, there are multiple variables to be measured when it comes to progressive resistance training. The standard ones are load (amount of weight) volume (total amount of sets and repetitions performed) and density (load x volume/ time). It doesn’t need to progress every single workout, in fact wave loading style periodization goes counter to this. But in the bigger picture if the numbers are increasing over time, great! You’re making progress.
Now if you are trying to decrease body fat if your weight is staying the same, but you are repping out with weights you previously struggled with, you know you’re leaner because you don’t turn a 1 rep max into a 10-15 rep max without gaining a bit of muscle. You can often see it in the mirror or in before and after pics. Daniel gained 25lbs of muscle while decreasing his body fat with this approach, feels way stronger and is more capable and looks way better too. His bench numbers are almost twice as heavy as when he started with me. That’s progress.
I never once yelled at him and rarely does he feel sore after training. I push him yes, but not farther than he can effectively recover from. The important thing is the way his personal training program is put together and progressed.
Another personal training client of mine did chin-ups for the first time in her life for sets of 3 when she previously couldn’t do any. She also did her starting 1 rep max in squats for a set of 15. Those are all signs of progress.
Another personal training client of mine (a personal trainer herself) got her lifetime first chin up, and later that day welcomed her 2nd grandchild into the world. That was a big day for her and she felt accomplished.
So when you are looking at your program, ask yourself why you started it, then ask yourself if you are getting what you actually wanted out of it. If you aren’t, it may be time to rethink the way you look at it.
And if you need help with this, I offer a free trial at my personal training studio…still on Main Street in Boonton. Send me a text at 973 476 5328 and introduce yourself to get started.
Eric Moss is a personal trainer in Boonton and moonlights as a world-record-holding modern-day professional performing strongman, author, and motivational speaker. 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, associations, nonprofits, government entities 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.
Rest in Strength Bud Jeffries
I haven’t had much of a chance to write lately because I’ve been so busy. About a week and a half ago, I got a text message from my strongman coach Chris Rider. He quite simply said, “did you hear the news?”
“???” I replied getting a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach.
He told me Bud Jeffries had passed away. I was in literal shock. Bud was a man who literally redefined what was considered impossible. A man who would do one arm clapping push-ups at over 300lbs, dead squatted a 1000lbs (picture a squat where you crawl underneath the barbell before standing up, did full splits and swung a 53lbs kettlebell for about an hour straight. His odysey of working up to swinging for an hour straight burned over a hundred pounds of fat off of him.
Reading his books influenced many of the tougher sessions I’ve put my personal training clients through, particularly when it came to long kettlebell swing sessions and training heavy partials.
Lately, he’d been creative doing things like pressing a heavy kettlebell overhead while throwing a flaming ax on fire at a target.
“How could this be?” I thought. He was carrying a refrigerator over his head with one hand literally the day before it happened. Here is the link.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CY-XRMvr8Fn/
I knew of Bud because I had read about him in Pavel Tsatsouline’s books so he was like a comic book hero come to life. But I didn’t actually meet Bud until a couple years later when he caught wind that I was an up and coming strongman. When he was traveling through my area, he invited me out to one of his school assembly shows to see how he does them. I actually keep a clause in my contracts today so that I can do the same.
It was literally just a couple days after I did one of my shows and showed the difference between a garage band with potential, and Metallica. Man he was good. He was smooth, polished, had the kids watching his every move. He set the standard that I would attempt to live up to, and showed the potential to do something amazing. At over 1000 performances in 44 states, he inspired countless youth.
Bud had caught Covid back in December and though he was better, the theory is it was complications of that which eventually got him. Still shocking because if anyone was going to be kill proof it should have been him.
I guess the only bright spot of this is that he can now be with his son, who passed away a short time ago from being in motorcycle accident.
Bud’s passing also provides a lesson. Live up to your greatness, each and every day. It’s what he did and you never know when it might be your last.
Eric Moss is a personal trainer in Boonton and moonlights as a world-record-holding modern-day professional performing strongman, author, and motivational speaker. 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, associations, nonprofits, government entities 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.