Elite Fitness and Kettlebell Training

Q. Describe the most common types of jobs you do for your clients.

A. I work mostly with everyday, average adults who tend to be recreationally active. Most of them have some athletic event or sport that they are preparing for, or are rehabing an injury they acquired as a result of that activity.

Q. What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?

A. Ask questions and do your due diligence. Don't pay money until you are sure everything you want to know has been asked. You need to feel confident in who you hire, so don't afraid to be assertive. You are the customer.

Q. If you were a customer, what do you wish you knew about your trade? Any inside secrets to share?

A. The average person has no idea how to differentiate between trainers. They have no idea how to tell which are bad and which are good. They also believe that doctors (MDs) are the authority on exercise therapy. That couldn't be farther from the truth.

Q. What important information should buyers have thought through before seeking you out?

A. They should know exactly what they want, and have a prepared history of what they have done before contacting me. I need to have an idea of their training experience, education, and understanding of body mechanics. I need to know what motivates them and what discourages them.

Q. Why does your work stand out from others who do what you do?

A. Because my experience and training is hard to find. My training and experience are the result of a lifetime of dedicating myself to exercise science and human movement. People come to me if they want results and want to skip all the crappy, fly-by-night trainers out there.

Q. What do you like most about your job?

A. The freedom to help whoever I want, when I want, and how I want. The only person I have to answer to is the client, and if they aren't happy, I screwed up. I control my own success.

Q. What questions do customers most commonly ask you? What's your answer?

A. Why didn't my other trainers or doctors tell me that? The answer is, sadly, they don't have the training. Many trainers have full time jobs elsewhere, and only train part time on the side. They only want to make a few quick bucks to pay bills. And most MDs don't have any training whatsoever in exercise science and rehabilitation, and even less in athletic performance enhancement.

Q. Do you have a favorite story from your work?

A. I get young and middle age people who come in all the time complaining about how hard it is to stay active and change their habits. I worked with a 98 year old woman for about 3 months. When I met her, she had trouble walking using a walker and had horrible posture and pain. After exercise therapy, 3 months later, she could walk easily without a walker, with perfect posture, pain free!!

Q. What do you wish customers knew about you or your profession?

A. Paying for good training is a worthwhile investment. Everyday I meet people who tried to save money by hiring some newbie trainer, only to find they never learned anything, and made no progress. If they pay the money for a quality service, they make an investment in their health, rather than throw away their money.

Q. How did you decide to get in your line of work?

A. I grew up training martial arts since I was 5 years old. Around age 13-14, I started learning about strength training and performance enhancement methods. By the time I was in college, I had a huge base of knowledge and had made incredible progress in my training. Most of all, I never got injured, and I attribute that to my training methods. Over the years my body has been subjected to MMA and powerlifting, and still to this day, never suffered a serious injury resulting from athletics. I wanted to share my knowledge with others, so I go involved in kinesiology in college.

Q. Tell us about a recent job you did that you are particularly proud of.

A. I worked with an MMA athlete who was preparing for a fight. He was very tight, weak, and slow. After 3 months of training, he was much stronger and faster. His confidence in his ability led to him winning his fight.

Q. Do you do any sort of continuing education to stay up on the latest developments in your field?

A. Of course! I have to in order to maintain my CSCS certification. Recently I learned how to perform a functional movement screen, apply rocktape, and improve grip strength.

Q. What are the latest developments in your field? Are there any exciting things coming in the next few years or decade that will change your line of business?

A. Kettlebell training has come a long way, so much so that I have created a separate business for it. I teach classes every week, and beginners are welcome to attend in any of them. With people's fast paced lives and tight schedules, they don't want to spent hours in a gym. Learn to train with a kettlebell saves precious time, and yet, still provides incredible results!

Q. Describe your most recent project, what it involved, how much it cost, and how long it took.

A. My most recent project was conducting a half-day of functional movement screens for high school athletes and coaches. Each athlete paid $45, and they received the FMS assessment and corrective exercises to work on every day. It took about 4 hours to complete, for about 15 athletes.

Q. If you have a complicated pricing system for your service, please give all the details here.

A. Pricing is quite simple here. If it's 1-on-1 training, it is $50 for 30 minutes, and $100 for 60 minutes. If it is kettlebell classes, they are $20 per person, although you can save money buying 6 for $100. In some cases, 1-on-1 training is insurance reimbursable. You'd have to ask me to find out if that is you!

Q. If you were advising someone who wanted to get into your profession, what would you suggest?

A. Go to school, make connections with faculty and staff, and get involved in whatever area of the field most interests you. From there it is just about getting lots of experience and meeting people.