Exercise of the Week: Kneeling Rope Battle

What's It For?

So someone asked me what the sledgehammer and tire were for? What else would they be for? To sledgehammer the tire, one of my preferred "cardio" methods.

Breaking the Bank

Some studios and gyms will try to wow you with an $8000 elliptical or perhaps an ab device that performs liposuction as you do crunches. Sorry, but we're not going to do that at Accelerated Fitness. We'll make much better investments such as our newest pieces of equipment: a tractor tire and sledgehammer. We had to do some budget analysis before making the purchase, but after getting a tire for free and a sledgehammer for $26 at Home Depot, we thought we could afford it.

Lessons Learned

It's been about three months now since the doors have opened at Accelerated Fitness. In those three months I've already learned a lot whether it comes to opening your first business, whether it's related to the business aspect or in this case the fitness aspect. No one said it would be easy and I never expected it to be. Long hours working in the business and on the business. Figuring out what type of programming or training is going to work. Turning away 95% of the door to door salesman you that has a product to sell you even though you probably have no use for it. Trying to look for good help. All of these instances has taught me a lesson along the way. If you're a trainer or aspiring trainer looking to open your own place there are a couple things you might want to think about.

One, being a good trainer does not mean you're going to have a thriving business. Don't get me wrong. First and foremost I think you should strive to be the best at what you do. Be a great technician first. But even though you may be the best trainer in town, it doesn't mean people are going to come running through your doors when they open. You have to understand the demographics. You to have understand what people want. You have convince people your services are worth it. There's always going to be another business that offers services that cost less or claim to be the best. Understand the business of fitness as much as you understand fitness.

Two, you can spend as little as you want or as much as you want on equipment. Looking through a Perform Better catalog is like looking through the Sears Christmas catalog. "I want this, this and that..". What are you trying to get done in your studio? How much functionality does each piece of equipment have? I think you need your obvious stuff: dumbbells, power rack, and adjustable benches. It's nice to have some sort of functional trainer, but may be not necessary. In our case I felt it was since we were going to be focusing on group training, which also meant we should go with the dual stack version as opposed to the single stack. Do not break the bank on cardio equipment. A new elliptical can cost upwards of $8000. But how useful is it really? Some people may be able to outfit an entire studio for that much.

Three, meet with and talk with everyone that you can. Talk with the Chamber of Commerce. Talk to the local golf pros. Talk to chiropractors. Talk to other strength coaches or trainers you may know in the area. Talk to the dog groomer. Just talk to anyone. Let people know who you are and where you are. You never know what situation is going to pop up that may benefit your business. Who knows what connections the dog groomer may have? And never think of this time as a waste of your time. A real waste of your time is sitting behind the desk hunting down ex-girlfriends on Facebook.

Last, spend your advertising dollars wisely. A small ad in the local newspaper can run you anywhere from $200-$400/week. And then everyone that publishes some sort of local magazine is hunting you down looking for you to purchase space in their "renowned" publication. Your best is to use other avenues for advertising. Create a Facebook fan page. Get a blog started. Hold free open gyms or bootcamps. Offer free trial sessions. In my opinion you have a much better chance of getting people through the doors those ways.

Exercise of the Week: Standing Cable Lift

This week's exercise is the next progression in the Cable Lift progression after working from the half kneeling position as part of your core stability training.

Random Thoughts...

• I'm having some serious writer's block right, even though I'm not a writer. So that is why you are getting a random thoughts post and why this post maybe really random.
• Nice to see the Jets fall flat on their face this past Monday night. Undisciplined football. Bad penalties. A horrific offense. Hopefully they fall even harder this upcoming Sunday against the Patriots. Then we will see how much bravado Rex Ryan has.
• If there is one area I'd like to see people put more focus on during their workouts, it's their warm up. This is assuming that people actually even have a warm up as part of their workout. 5-10 minutes on the elliptical I would not consider a warm up. A few arms swings and leg swings is probably not enough either, although you're starting to get headed in the right direction. A proper warm up should address areas where flexibility or mobility is limited, excite your central nervous system a bit, get your blood flowing and mentally tune you in to your upcoming workout. If you're having a hard time putting a warm up together, take a look at Mike Boyles Joint by Joint Warm-up and Training DVD or another excellent DVD put together by strength coaches Eric Cressey, Bill Hartman and Mike Robertson, Asses and Correct.
• Personally, I hate single leg training. It exhausts me. After a set of Bulgarian split squats or reverse lunges I can usually be found crawled up in the corner wheezing for air afraid to face another set. And I think a lot of other people feel the same way. I think it could be the most demanding part of any exercise program. And I think it's also a reason why people avoid it at all costs. If you want to get to where you want to be, you're going to have to pay the price sometimes.
• One nice spice that you can use on just about anything is cinnamon. I put it in my coffee. I mix it in with my yogurt or cottage cheese. I put it on my peanut butter sandwiches. I throw some in the blender with whatever else is in there and mix up a shake. What's the deal with cinnamon you ask? If I know that it can help reduce blood sugar levels, increase insulin sensitivity and help reduce cholesterol, I'm going to use it.
• The more variations you can do off a base exercise, the more valuable that exercise is. Think of all the variations you can do off of chin ups, push ups, squats, deadlifts and lunges, none of which require a Bosu ball. All these exercises should be staples of your training program.
• The number one factor determining whether you're going to be successful with your training or nutritional program? Compliance. Are you following the plan at least 70-80% of the time? Less than 70% and your chances of success are probably going to be negligible. Above 80% of the time and I think you're going to be pretty successful.
• Are the Red Sox still playing?
• We plan on holding an open house here at Accelerated Fitness on Oct. 16. There will be a free bootcamp class held in the morning, followed by some food and refreshments. We are also lucky enough to have one of the local massage therapist come in do some chair massage. I'll follow up in the upcoming weeks with more details.

Have a great weekend everyone. Down with the Jets!!

Exercise of the Week: Dual Cable Step Up