There's lots of trainers with "group classes" out there, who make lots of promises, and have shiny new gleaming chrome equipment. It sounds good and looks great. But I was looking for a one-on-one personal trainer with years of experience with solid training techniques and an overall strategy of training, eating, and motivation. Brian and BFit Training were what I needed.
If you're looking for the success story, here it is: in the 10 or so weeks since I started with Brian in mid January I've lost almost 25 lbs of body fat and gone down almost two waist sizes in my pants. (He's good but sadly, he can't increase the inseam and make me taller.) And, I've added almost 15 pounds of muscle. Trust me, looking and feeling awesome is much better than a weight on the scale.
So what's the difference? I wish I could say Brian had some magic that, without any effort on my part, caused fat to melt away and add muscle. There's been a lot of effort on my part outside the Brian's sessions, both cardio on non-training days and careful nutritional intake. But if YOU'RE ready, Brian can provide the physical and nutritional structure along with the mental motivation to help you succeed.
First, during the sessions Brian laid out a set of goals that incorporated a challenging yet doable set of exercises using free weights, some pulley and smith machine equipment, and good old body weight calisthenics like pushups, squats and lunges, often in full body combination. Much I'd done before, but he's frequently showing me how I am doing (or sometimes lower quality previous trainers incorrectly taught me to do) them wrong, and teaches me correct kick-ass form. He is good at pushing your limits and testing them with exercises and ideas I have never tried. I had never done hanging leg raise exercises, and likely never worked my lower abs with previous trainers. The first time, I told him, no way, can't do that. He now has me excelling in them (well, "excel" for me) and love working my long ignored lower abs. And I've grown to love getting up early on an empty stomach first thing Saturdays and Sundays to do cardio. Your metabolism burns all weekend.
Second, Brian laid out a full nutritional plan that focused on counting macronutrients. He's a big proponent of preparing your six smaller meals a day for the week ahead of time, with eating some protein at each meal and occasional carbs and fats in some. Compared to the poor nutrition I was getting in my busy 10-12 hour work days, eating healthy proteins and carbs at regular intervals has been a blessing. You'd think powering through and not eating would be more productive. Actually stopping to eat right, with time to exercise and take care of yourself, makes you clearer headed and more productive, without the blood sugar highs and lows. I think more clearly and work more efficiently by taking a quick time to eat appropriately. And save money (eating out a lot is expensive!).
But most important for me, Brian excels in helping me manage the mental aspect of working out. Brian is a smart trainer. Not just that he knows a lot about exercise physiology; he has an understanding of the psychology behind getting in shape and working out. This is the advantage a trainer with 20 years of experience brings to the table that a newbie in a shiny new club can't provide. I don't think of myself as athletic. I tend to overthink what I'm doing, and get easily frustrated with myself when I feel I'm not picking up something new. There's been times I've gotten really MAD when my brain is telling me I don't know how to mechanically perform a new exercise Brian has showed me, and I yell in frustration. He gets that the anger is not focused on him, and gives me the space to sometimes get frustrated, but more importantly he points out that overthinking gets in the way of allowing my body to DO the moves correctly like it knows or can get to know. He's really pushed me on exercises I haven't done to BELIEVE I can do them. He knows and reminds me it may take me a set or two, but if I don't overthink and trust my body I can do this. That's the sort of confidence that makes a doughy middle aged man feel like I just might be able to manage a more "athletic" exercise regimen. And along with the physical and the nutritional it's given me the ability to succeed.
So I can't recommend Brian enough. He's excellent. If you're ready, he can get you where you need to go. read more