I can always tell when someone asks me for fitness advice if they are going to take action or not. It is very interesting to me what drives people to take action and actually change their fitness/eating habits. I believe it can come down to something so simple as 1. Believing in yourself. 2. Taking Action. Indulge me......

Let me back track/side story. I have trained with Rick Ruether for about 3 years now & when I am in his basement, which I like to call the dungeon, I am training on equipment that he has designed and welded himself. Every Thurs. when I wake up I have excitement & a little bit of fear about my training session that morning. As I head into the basement I walk past a sign that says "The Lord can have your soul, your ass belongs to me." I then step on a mat that says No Whiners while walking under a doll hung by a noose b/c there is a cell phone in it's hand. During the workout I don't look at the weight amount & I have no rep number. He sets things up & I go until he says stop. There are many a day that I thought I would never make it out of the dungeon. I would say the thing that gets me through & has helped me through all the ups and downs of training is that whatever weight Rick sets, whatever Rep amount, & whatever workout the entire time I BELIEVE I can do anything that he wants me to do. I never never never tell Rick before a set that it's too heavy nor do I hear those thoughts in my head. I might tell him after I do a set that I was dying, but during the entire set I am saying in my head...."I can do it, light weight, you got this." I tell you this b/c I like having someone believe in me, & push me physically beyond where I would push myself. Being in this environment keeps me pushing myself hard & keeps me believing more and more in my training abilities.

Back to Action vs. Inaction. In my experiences the action people give a brief list of their bad habits/failures along the way, but they are more interested in the details of the process to change & starting a plan to get started. The Story people ask for advice and then just go into a very long detailed story about all their struggles/failures/excuses, they don't really want the details of how to change and they definitely don't want to setup a time to come in and see me.

When I tell "The Story Tellers" what I do and what my clients do I typically hear, "Oh I could never do that.....and this is why." It's very obvious that they don't BELIEVE in their ability to TRY let alone CHANGE. I typically will respond to them, "Maybe your are right, you can't do it." They are always surprised/shocked to hear me reiterate their own thoughts.

Action People:
1. Have the Potential/Desire to Workout.
2. They Believe they can Workout Consistently
3. They Take Action & Workout
4. They Become more Desirable/Healthy

The Cycle Repeats and they Improve Even More

1. They have even more Potential/Desire to Workout
2. They Believe in Themselves More
3. They Keep Taking Action
4. They Become even more Desirable/Healthy


Story People:
1. Have the Potential/Desire to Workout
2. They Don't Believe They Can Workout Consistently (focused on story)
3. They Don't Take Action, they continue Bad Habits
4. They Get More and More out of Shape

The Cycle Repeats & They Get More out of Shape

1. They have Desire/Potential to workout.
2. They Believe in themselves less (even more focused on story)
3. They Don't Take Action
4. They Get Even More out of Shape

MORAL: Don't stand in your own way! Believe in yourself and take action!

A new study in the New England Journal of Medicine might cause Doctors to start telling their patients to hit the weights. Generally Doctors have prohibited patients with breast cancer related lymphedema from weight lifting. This has prevented them from the well established health benefits of weight lifting, including increased bone density.

In August's issue an article was published titled "Weight Lifting in Women with Breast-Cancer - Related Lymphedema." The research article concluded:

"In breast-cancer survivors with lymphedema, slowly progressive weight lifting had no significant effect on limb swelling & resulted in a decreased incidence of exacerbations of lymphedema, reduced symptoms, and increased strength." (Schmitz 664)

Spin for the Cause in Cincinnati: www.SpinForTheCureCincinnati.com



On October 10,2009 there will be a 4 hour Ride at the Cintas Center, with only 300 bikes available. You can sign up in teams of 2 to 4, and you can split up the ride into 1 hour and 30 minutes blocks.


Schmitz, Kathryn H. "Weight Lifting in Women with Breast-Cancer - Related Lymphedema." The New England Journal of Medicine (8.13.2009): 664-73

People ask me all the time how I compete with all the gyms out there. I tell them, "I don't I just focus on doing what I do & doing it well."

At Sweat we Train People that Crave the Desire to Train like an Athlete.

My clients are typically active, involved in sports, used to be an athlete, workout consistently, & eat right. They come see me b/c they love to be pushed by a coach, want to keep their training challenging & catered to their body/mentality, want efficient/effective training, are starving for the team environment, & they want to always keep up on or improve their body.

There are the gyms that focus on the Powerlifters, the Bodybuilders/Figure Competitors , the HS/College/Professional Athletes, & the Weight Loss Gyms. Well, my place is for the working professional who want to always train and look like an athlete.

The Rise of Personal Training/Warehouse Gyms

I am a gym rat no doubt. I grew up training in an old warehouse gym that had no AC in the summer, just a big garage door & hardly any equipment. It's no doubt that I am a fan of small independently owned gyms, you can't replace the motivation that comes from that environment. I always go and check out the big franchises as they pop up in every suburb, but I am never motivated or ever have much fun while I am there. I have had many clients tell me that after seeing me every week they are finally motivated to use their gym membership. Motivated for two reasons they know they are going to die if they don't workout before seeing me again & they finally feel like they are learning how to do effective workouts on their own. I definitely think Personal Training/Warehouse Gyms are becoming more and more popular & there are good reasons why.

The Mass Produced Gym
1. Everyone has headphones on
2. People are reading or watching tv to distract themselves from their workout
3. The gym is stocked with Rubber Dumbbells/Plates & cheap nautilus
4. Talking on cell phones during workouts is the norm
6. The trainers have a high turnover rate
7. The most important employee department to the company is their sales team (who cares if you work out, as long as you sign up)
8. Everyone has a membership to these places, but most struggle to go consistently or never go.......I wonder why?

The Rise of Personal Training/Warehouse Gyms
1. Motivation to Train is personal and emotional, your trainer and people you are working out with know you & help to push you past your limits
2. The gym is stocked with useful equipment. You are TAUGHT how to do difficult & progressive exercises that help to challenge and improve your physique
3. The people that work there are passionate about training you & they are committed to the gym
4. You workout with no distractions. It's you and: loud music, pushing yourself to the limit, sweat, pain, your trainer, your teammates, & motivational/painful yelling.
4. Going to these gyms is being motivated to be apart of a team & working out to ACTUALLY improve your physique