FLO FITNESS

Are you a flashlight or a Star?  When I say star I do not mean it in a hollywood way. Let me explain further. A flashlight can only light the way for one person. It shows that person how to get by in times of darkness. On the other hand, a star can light up the night sky, so that everyone can be given a chance to use its light. So which one are you? Many people will probably say that they are stars and help everyone all the time. That's great if everyone wants your help. You see in order for a flashlight to work a person has to put in batteries (give it ENERGY) and learn to use it. So therefore a person must be willing to allow you to help them, and they also must give you some of their energy so that you can help. A star may just give off light but no one wants or needs it, meanwhile the flashlight is there in times of need. The flashlight guides you in times of darkness but also allows you to go it alone if you no longer need it or want it. So which one are you?  There

Did you ever read a statement that made you stop in your tracks and rethink everything you have ever done? I just now at 8pm on July 18th, read such a statement. I was sitting on my porch enjoying a cigar and reading a book called Mindset by: Carol Dweck. I am only on chapter 2 of the book and i came across this statement that made me put the book down and just sit. I had to let it settle and somehow wrap my brain around how powerful yet simple it is. I also thought; "why did I not think about it before?".  The statement is: "BECOMING IS BETTER THAN BEING.". Just read that a couple of times over and over.  Ok, maybe it doesn't hit you the way it hit me.  I should tell you the rest of the story and maybe it will make sense why it struck me. I had just finished watching the HBO documentary on Derek Jeters 3,000th hit. If you watch the documentary you will know how wonderful of a story it is. The one thing i noticed is that the whole show was about him getting

It appears that with the extreme popularity of Metabolic Training, many trainers have forgot their purpose for training.  Trainers are starting to just throw a bunch of crazy exercises together and calling it Metabolic Training. Sadly, there is no rhyme or reason for the exercise selection, other than to make the people sweat like crazy and fail to finish. Have we forgotten our purpose at trainers? We are suppose to make people feel better about themselves and enjoy happy and healthy lives. They should walk out of the gym feeling great and ready to take on the day. They should not crawl out of the gym  barely able to lift their arms and walking like they just got off a horse.  This is the same thought process that scares people away from exercise and makes them think its to hard for them to stay in shape. People have talked about the economy and how the middle class is gone. There is just rich people and poor people. I feel the same is happening in fitness. The average person is slowly

You didn't get to where you are by doing what you're doing where you are. You got to where you are by what you Did.  -FLO  Something hit me the other night when I was thinking about the fitness industry. Most people are giving advice to people from where they are and forgetting the part of the story about how they got to where they are. Let me explain.  For people that know me, you know I am a huge Jay-Z fan, so I will use his story to help me explain what I mean.  If you have followed the career of Jay-Z , you have heard his dark stories of selling drugs and being in trouble with the law in his younger days. He has told many dark tales of a street life that he no longer lives. He also tells many stories of enjoying the spoils of wealth like women, cars, homes, parties, etc. He paints many pictures from different angles. To often people only listen to the glamorous part of the story and they forget what it took for him to get to this level.  So in order to be at Jay-Z you wo

Simple, Complicated and Complex Problems While reading The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawand, I came across this part in the book that talks about Simple, Complicated and Complex problems. I just read the part and it sparked a light bulb in my head to write todays blog post. The one phrase that kept jumping out of my head is, "Trainers and clients both want Simple Solutions to Complex Problems.".  Let me first try and define each type of problem and then discuss why trainers are not evolving the way they should.  Todays blog will start by talking about what each problem is and then I will try to  relate it to fitness. For a simple problem the book  uses the example of baking a cake. There is a recipe to follow and if you follow it, you will most likely get the desired result. In this case a simple problem gets a simple solution. For a complicated problem the book uses the example on sending a rocket to the moon. There are many steps and different groups of experts invol

An excerpt from The Road to Happiness by Mac Anderson and BJ Gallagher When I travel on business, I like to talk to the taxi drivers who take me from the airport to my hotel, or to a convention center, or to a restaurant. Taxi drivers are often immigrants with interesting personal histories and unusual cultural backgrounds. I ask them how long they've been in America, how they chose which city to live in, and what they like best about where they live. Of course, I also ask them for advice on good local restaurants and any special attractions they'd recommend to a visitor. I've had some great experiences on my travels, thanks to the advice of taxi drivers! On one trip about ten years ago, I was making conversation with the taxi driver, asking him my usual questions about how he came to live where he lived. Then I asked him a hypothetical question: "If you could live anywhere in the world—and if money was no object—where would you live?" Without hesitating ev

Super Secret Plan for Weight Loss and a Sexy Summer Body If you have been training long enough you have heard the same story over and over again. A person comes in and sits in front of you to LIE to your face. They say they want to lose weight to be healthy and live a better lifestyle (lie #1), they say they don’t know how to lose weight (lie #2), they say no matter how hard they try it won’t come off (lie#3).   If you are a trainer reading this you are saying, OMG so true; if you are a client reading this you are saying to yourself this is BS. Let me take it one lie at a time before I give you my Super Secret Plan! Lie 1:   Nobody wants to lose weight to be healthy (Unless they have serious medical conditions. This blog is not for that population). People say that junk because it sounds good, but the truth is they want to lose weight to feel sexy again, to show off to an ex wife/husband, to wear a bikini in cancun, to look good in a wedding dress. Those are the REAL reasons