Author: Eric Moss
Daniel’s Personal Training Success Story
Meet Daniel. Daniel is not your typical college student. He has a wisdom that goes beyond his young age. While some of his contemporaries are focused on getting drunk, in his own words “If you don’t have your health, you don’t have anything.” and wanted to invest in his long-term health before it became an issue.
It’s not like he hadn’t tried it before. He’d worked out in gyms near Montville for nearly a year and never made the kind of progress he wanted, oftentimes getting hurt in the process. People his age are often the perfect storm for progress, but Daniel has long levers and a low appetite which made him “skin and bones” (his words not mine). Being tall and lanky, the levers of his skeletal frame are long, which can make it hard to use heavy weights (picture holding a broom by the end of the handle to get an idea of what I mean).
When he tried to work out, his arms would cramp up to the point where he couldn’t straighten them for a few days and his back would go into spasm. Long story short, he needed the right personal training program customized to his needs and abilities to help him achieve his goals of gaining muscle and strength.
So he started looking for personal trainers near Montville (the town where he lives) and found me. He did a little digging on me and found this picture of a steel bar I had bent on Instagram so he decided to reach out to me.
With his previous history of getting hurt in the gym, he had some initial concerns when he signed up for my personal training one-week free trial membership. I assessed him and came up with a corrective exercise program to make sure he wouldn’t get hurt. We put a plan into action and he was making decent progress.
Then with the surges of covid that had happened during the holidays, out of respect for his parents and concern for their safety, he decided not to risk it.
Luckily he did the corrective exercise homework I gave him and when tensions alleviated, he came back in. I assessed his movement patterns again and determined we could proceed safely on a more vigorous program. I put together a progressive resistance training plan that would span about 3 months to rapidly build his functional strength and muscle development expanding his capabilities to the point where he would surpass previous limits without even realizing it.
During the 7th week of the progression, when he was bench pressing I asked him “how does that feel?”
“A little bit heavy today.”
“Well that’s not surprising, that was your 1 rep max 7 weeks ago and you’re doing it for 5 reps…per minute”
BEFORE 12 WEEKS 
AFTER 12 WEEKS
By the end of the progression, his training weight in the bench press was a staggering 44% higher than his previous 1 rep max. To put that into perspective, an effective training plan may produce a 1 rep max of 25% higher if it’s done right. 44% higher for reps without performance enhancement drugs is often thought impossible even by knowledgeable coaches who I respect.
The success of a program can be proven by the results it produces. In 12 weeks he put on 25lbs of muscle simultaneously decreasing his body fat from 15% to 8%. His bench press 1 rep max increased by 64% and he churned out ridiculously easy 10 reps with what he previously could only do for 1 rep. He went from never being able to do a chin-up in his life to pumping out 3 of them consecutively with ease. We doubled the strength of his squats. We added 105lbs to his hex bar deadlift which is way stronger than anything he’s ever done before (not bad for someone who always hurt his back in the gym). He did all that without getting hurt, and without feeling sore. Now he’s stronger, healthier, more muscular, and more resilient to injury than he’s ever been before. Like Goldilocks and the 3 bears, my personal training program was just right for him.
Where do we go now? We continue to train and get stronger. Strength is a journey towards being better.
Is his journey complete? Hell no, but we are off to a very strong start. I’m proud of how far he’s come.
**** updated progress on Daniel’s personal training journey
So I had written his success story a while back and continued his progress. Just for the heck of it, we decided to test his chin-ups again. He’s now up to 8 consecutive chin-ups, which is more than double what it was before. Fun right?!?! One of the things I like to say is it’s not just a 12-week training program, it’s simply a strong start to a strong start to a lifetime of health and strength.
More of my personal training success stories
If you are ready to get a strong start to a stronger, healthier, and more muscular you, I have a 1-week personal training free trial membership. Just text me at 973 476 5328 to get started.
Eric Moss is a personal trainer in Boonton and doubles 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, 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.
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As you have probably heard by now, in addition to being a personal trainer in Boonton with a studio located on Main Street I also am a modern day professional performing strongman. In other words I perform feats of strength such as bending steel bars, breaking chains and rolling up frying pans as part of a live show.
Since live shows are few and far between I started a youtube series called Feats of Strength Friday where each week I perform a different feat of strength each week until life returns to normal. and I wanted to dedicate this one to my wife since it is our 5 year wedding anniversary. Check out the video.
Even though live shows these days are few and far between I did have one that I did this past Sunday May 2nd. I’ll upload the highlights once I get the opportunity. As you can probably guess I’ve got a very packed schedule.
Eric Moss is a personal trainer in Boonton and doubles 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, 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.
Boonton Personal Training Success Story – Tom and Tina
Meet Tom
Tom is a successful professional who saw himself commuting into New York and working long hours. When the pandemic hit, he found himself working from home and now without a commute decided to do something about his physique. So he took the free trial I offer at my personal training studio in Boonton.
He applied the same laser-like focus and work ethic that he used to become a success in his professional life into becoming a success at transforming his health and strength. In the beginning, he had some doubts, not believing he could eat as much food as he ate and still could lose body fat. And there’s a saying that a watched pot never boils, and this sometimes also made him question whether or not it was working. I told him, hold the course, trust the process and you’ll see. I knew he was transforming just from the numbers he was putting up, and his wife Tina saw it too (which was why she started training with me also). Now you can see it in the pics.
This is what Tom achieved in 12 weeks
Not only can you see how much leaner and more muscular he got in 12 weeks but he’s also massively increased his strength. He took his beginning 1 rep max in the bench press and did it for an easy 10 reps (1000% increase!). Doubled his chin-ups, added 50lbs to his squat, did his beginning one rep max in skull crushers and churned out an amazing 22 reps, and curled a weight heavier than his 1 rep max at the beginning of the program for a set of 8! He was literally laughing after retesting some of the lifts saying “that was easy!”
And after we retested his strength to show him how far he’s come, he said to me “I don’t want to stop, I want to keep going, I want to keep getting stronger!” That is music to my ears, and that is perfect because it’s not 12 weeks and you’re done, going back to the old ways. It’s 12 weeks that kickstart a lifelong journey of strength, health, and fitness and enjoying the benefits of life without the limits of weakness.
Now meet Tina
Tina is no stranger to exercise herself but was new to my strength training methodology. When she saw the results Tom was getting she wanted to give it a go and see what I could get her to do. Well, this past week she had taken a weight she couldn’t even do once a couple of weeks ago and did a set of 8 reps with it. That is an incredible improvement. Numerous times during our sessions, she’s said “I love feeling strong” which is once again music to my ears because one thing I’m always trying to do in my studio is getting people excited about strength.
And now Tom and Tina are both excited about strength because they discovered a bit of what they are both capable of. They are capable of more and my plan now is to keep getting them stronger and stronger. Life is about discovery and discovering your potential for strength is as worthy a goal as any.
If you want to try me out I offer a one-week free trial membership of my personal training program at my studio on Main Street in Boonton. Just text me at 973 476 5328 and introduce yourself. It’s as simple as that.
Eric Moss is a personal trainer in Boonton and doubles 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, 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.