Category: learning and living
getting stronger is the key to whatever your goal is. Here’s why
The other day I was having a conversation with my wife. She was telling me she wants to grow her glutes and put on 3lbs of muscle over the next 6 months. I told her I could get her there in 3months by getting her stronger.
Now I’m a strength guy, getting stronger has been my focus for a long time and even got to the point of setting a world record and flying across the country and showing off from the stage. Get paid pretty well to do it too.
Now she was probably under the assumption that if all you have is a hammer, you treat everything like a nail. And yes that’s partially true, but when it comes to strength training, yes its a hammer, but its also a key. The key to just about any goal you wish to attain…at least from a physical standpoint.
Ken hexbar deadlifting around 185lbs and taking it for a walk.
If you’re one of the more “life experienced” people, getting stronger is the key to longevity. There is a correlation between grip strength and needing assisted living. When people lose the ability to get in and out of a chair easily that’s when things tend to take a turn for the worse. The key to longevity is get stronger.
Josh made the varsity team as a freshmen, went on to become team captain and achieved his dream of going to Westpoint Academy. Getting stronger helped.
If you want to get better at sports…assuming your technique is halfway solid, getting stronger will help you relax into it. I once helped someone add 20 yards to her golf drive in a month. I’m no expert in golf, but I’ve seen the Happy Gilmore movies and I know that if the numbers that are supposed to go up go up, good things are happening. All other things being equal, the stronger athlete will win. The key is get stronger.
2 people asked her if she had a butt lift operation. Nope, she simply got stronger in the exercises optimal for her.
And for someone who wants to look better in a bikini (and yes I have a vested interest in my wife looking even better), the key is get stronger at the optimal exercises associated with looking good in a bikini in the reps and volume ranges associated with building muscle and burning fat. I’m training a woman for a beach vacation coming up in January, and assuming everything goes according to plan, she’ll be doing hip thrusts with 480lbs for about 60 sub-maximal reps in a workout. How do you think her glutes are going to look when she’s doing that? How do you think the rest of her is going to look when she’s gotten stronger across multiple lifts? Let’s just say, she’ll be thankful she chose Eric Moss Fitness for all her health and fitness needs.
Hopefully I have you convinced that you should get stronger. We’ve covered some of the “why” (in actuality, there are so many more examples, but I’m trying to keep these somewhat short.). The next question is now the “how?” Well, there are many progression patterns you can try to find on your own, and many of them are pretty good too.
But if you want the simplest answer, let me do it for you. There is an art and science to optimal program design and much of it has a bit more complexity than “go hard or go home bro.” But don’t worry about that, just show up ready to go. I have a free trial available so you can see if you like it first. Just text me direct 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 strength performers more common during the turn of the century, he performs feats of strength such as bending steel and breaking chains as part of a live show and travels across the country doing presentations on goal achievement for conferences, corporations, associations, nonprofits, and government entities as well as for schools and universities. His personal training studio is located on Main Street in Boonton New Jersey and is close to Mountain Lakes, Denville, Montville, Kinnelon, Pine Brook, Butler, and Parsippany New Jersey.
Are you training too hard? A simple test
We are officially in the misinformation age. With deepfakes being created in seconds with AI and improving its going to get harder and harder to be able to spot the difference. And when it comes to misinformation the fitness industry is a frequent offender, so unless you have a trusted guide (like having a personal trainer such as myself conveniently located on Main Street in Boonton) you’ll have to kind of figure things out on your own.
But worry not, I’m here to help.
One piece of misinformation I’ll help clear up is the notion of “go hard or go home bro” and “pain is just weakness leaving the body”. Yes you have to train in a way that challenges you, but not go overboard with it. There is a sweet spot between too much and not enough and knowing the sweet spot is key to not only fast progress, but continual progress.
One client who I’ve been working with for sometime has been struggling with what may be left over from when she had covid a while back or it could be something to do with chronic fatigue syndrome. She also happens to be an avid runner and has some races coming up.
The challenge she faced was that even though her strength training is tightly restrained in order to keep her progressing, she also needed a way to do that with her runs. With having a race coming down the pipeline. Skipping the runs wasn’t an option.
So she needed a plan to still get the mileage in but also a way to track when she might be going to hard. I came up with a plan for her that used time as a metric (easy to track), have her doing nasal breathing (purposefully limits her speed) and also to track her resting heart rate and a unique test called that tap touch test.
If you look up cns tap test it’s a downloadable app. Not sure if it costs anything since I got it years ago. And the way it works is you tap it as fast as you can in 10 seconds. It tally’s up the number and you just keep track of it. If the numbers start dropping, maybe time to take it easy.
The reason this works is because when you central nervous system is starting to over do it, your fine motor control is one of the first indicators. This test is the canary in the coal mine. You can also just be observant if you start typing clumsily or have issues signing your name. Those all operate along the same principle, but the app is easier to track.
So if you are possibly overdoing it, try giving that a go or you can also have me take care of the complicated part for you. For me it’s simple to progress the things you can while staying in that sweet spot of training. All you would have to do is show up and work the plan, while I guide you through it. Simple as that.
And luckily I also offer a free trial so you can see if you like it first. Just text me 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 strength performers more common during the turn of the century, he performs feats of strength such as bending steel and breaking chains as part of a live show and travels across the country doing presentations on goal achievement for conferences, corporations, associations, nonprofits, and government entities as well as for schools and universities. His personal training studio is located on Main Street in Boonton New Jersey and is close to Mountain Lakes, Denville, Montville, Kinnelon, Pine Brook, Butler, and Parsippany New Jersey.
re: Fit for TV, The Reality of the Biggest Loser…what I would do differently
I remember when the Biggest Loser first came out. I had already been working as a personal trainer for a couple years by that point and had a blog where I had called out some of the unsafe/unethical/stupid practices they had done. When that Netflix docu-series came out, I thought about hitching up to it, and calling out the original series again when all my suspicions were confirmed.
But I decided to go an alternate route and make it a positive/productive one instead.
I’d be thankful they chose Eric Moss Fitness for all their health and fitness needs 🙂
So first, lets look at the contestants and what their needs are. I didn’t watch the original series because truth be told, I would get disgusted with the trainers and the way they treat the contestants so I don’t know all of their stories. But there were a small handful of the former contestants that were part of the docu-series.
All of the contestants wanted to lose weight, knew they needed to lose weight but didn’t know how. They thought the Biggest Loser represented the ticket to better health and thought that the show had their best interests in mind. But Hollywood is Hollywood and the better approach doesn’t make for good tv. Also just having a basic understanding of how reality shows really work is why when I was approached about having cameras in my studio, I said there would have to be very specific ground rules that eliminates things like misrepresentations about the truth.
So, lets look at the contestants, what their goals are etc. Their goal is simple, gain health by losing weight and keeping it off. Now if you look at the actual results of what the contestants did…they lost a lot of weight and in a very short period of time but most of them gained it all back. The approach was crazy (people leaving in ambulances makes for great tv) they were screamed at and encouraged to fight amongst each other (because drama makes good tv) and made to do humiliating things (because once again, that sort of thing makes for good tv). My personal training business isn’t dependent on television ratings, it’s built on real people with real struggles, getting real results and continuing to choose Eric Moss Fitness for all their health and fitness needs and telling their friends about it.
Phase 1: Establish better relationship with food, progress custom workouts that build muscle/cardiovascular fitness. Body fat would come off, strength and biomarkers for health improve dramatically, confidence and life outlook improves drastically.
Phase 2: Maintain and build upon your results, continue to live the best life for years on end.
So my approach would be a multi phase approach. The first phase for training would be centered around the basics to get them to build muscle and strength, improving their cardiovascular system and burning body fat right out of the gate while teaching eating skills that set them up for quick wins with longer term success. The results for building muscle and strength will come fast. Reason for this is because they spent so much of their life feeling like they weren’t enough and I’d want them to feel good about themselves for a change. Nothing builds confidence like the way effective training can. In addition to that, building muscle helps you burn fat and keep it off.
The workouts would be challenging, but never outside of what the person can safely do. There is a sweet spot between too much and not enough, and keeping them in the sweet spot is the key to both fast progress and sustainable progress without the body ruining it’s metabolism along the way.
The nutrition would be something that simultaneously fuels the workouts, provides enough protein to build muscle while keeping them in a caloric deficit…but not enough of a deficit where they feel hungry all the time resulting in the body fighting back with the rebound effect (work with your body instead of against it). Instead of overly strict dieting which wasn’t even effective in the first place, I would have them use their hand size to help with portion control while practicing the healthy skills and habits that will set them up for long term success. According to Dr. John Berrardi and his staff at Precision Nutrition, using your hands as guides for your portions has approximately 95% the accuracy of weighing your food…and is much easier and more practical. If something is going to be effective, it needs to be consistent. And if it’s going to be consistent, it should be convenient.
You can learn about it on his website https://www.precisionnutrition.com/hand-portion-faq
For the way I coach them. I wouldn’t BS them and I wouldn’t belittle them or yell at them either (unless they were doing something unsafe and I only would do that to get their attention). What the contestants were looking for is a guide to help them. I would be the caring guide that treats them like a friend/family member and help them strategize how to make the process fit their lifestyle. The plan works and I’d get them laughing throughout the process to make it enjoyable for a change.
When phase 1 is done, I’d show them how far they’ve come, and I wouldn’t use the scale. I don’t think the scale is that useful of a metric because it doesn’t take into account things like muscle growth. For body composition I prefer progress pictures and possibly waist measurements. And I wouldn’t use it as a public spectacle for embarrassment. If I have people post their progress pics, it’s because it will make both them and me as their guide look good.
I’m not about guilt and shame, I’m about building gains, because life is for living.
Now you may not be a contestant for the Biggest Loser, but if you need help and if you are in or near Boonton NJ and if what I say vibes with you, I offer a free trial so you can see if you think it’s for you. Just send me a text at 973 476 5328 and introduce yourself to get started on the road to better health, strength and confidence, quickly but sustainably.
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 strength performers more common during the turn of the century, he performs feats of strength such as bending steel and breaking chains as part of a live show and travels across the country doing presentations on goal achievement for conferences, corporations, associations, nonprofits, and government entities as well as for schools and universities. His personal training studio is located on Main Street in Boonton New Jersey and is close to Mountain Lakes, Denville, Montville, Kinnelon, Pine Brook, Butler, and Parsippany New Jersey.