Posts Tagged ‘Jason Ferruggia’

I have presented several times on fat los training and techniques in my career -  at the 2007 and 2011 Perform Better tours, the 2008 NSCA conference, ECA in 2009 and 2011 and the World Fit Body Bootcamp conferencejust a couple of months ago to name a few.
As part of my presentation I talked about my “story” – why I became fascinated with fat loss and effective fat loss training — and the need to destroy the myths that surround the topic — and why it keeps me up at night scouring journals for new information.

I believe that behind every person who is trying to change something — or present something new — there is a passion – an overwhelming why – that drives them to find the answers. It’s become something that I look for before really listening to coaches or trainers. The why. The Raison d’être.

Rachel and I just got back from NJ after being at Jason and Jen Ferruggia’s wedding. Now unlike most internet stories about “my good friend” – Jay and I do actually know each other. We first met about fifteen years ago, and have spoken at least weekly ever since. We spent Friday morning training (with Craig Ballantyne and Chad Waterbury) at the Renegade Gym in NJ. In between sets the conversation as always turns to  muscle growth theory. and I spent a while asking Jay about what has changed, what a typical renegade workout looks like etc.

You see Jason looks at building muscle in the same way as I look at fat loss — he’s always looking at research, reading training logs, testing methods and refining his ideas.

That’s his passion. His Raison d’être.

 

And that’s why guys like myself, and a bunch of other trainers are always asking his input on how to gain muscle. I flew him out to California to conduct a staff training for my team because he’s not only one of the best there is – he’s constantly improving his methodology. And that’s one of my “tricks” to advancing my own education – choose only to learn from lifelong learners, and your education will be exponential.

I mean – we’re talking about a guy who took himself drug-free from 147 to 231lbs.

We’re talking about a guy who has tried every training method under the sun and confesses to spending $60,000 on worthless supplements to try to gain size. This is a guy who would email me in the middle of the night when I was going through my chemotherapy treatments with ideas on halting muscle breakdown and using different nutrients to enhance my immune system. His desire to find the solution to muscle growth problems drove him.

And it continues to drive him today. Some of you may be aware that I used to have a column in Mens Fitness magazine called Hardgainer. I was a skinny kid who gained muscle (fought my first mens black belt event at 136lbs) and the editors felt that a regular column would be a great idea.

I did it for a year before I gave it up and handed the reins to Jay. You see – his passion for the topic,  and his knowledge on how to gain muscle was so strong that I felt that he would make a great resource for the magazine.

Jay’s Muscle Growth home study course is available here. I sat up late last night re-reading it. Even reading the information you can almost feel the passion behind the words — and you’ll see why Jay is one of the best in the field at this.

I think the overall message when you’re looking for information in any field is to find the most passionate individuals – those with a Raison d’être and an incessant desire to find out why… and a primary question of “how to make it better”…

Maybe one day I’ll know all the answers. Until then I’ll keep studying :)

–
AC
PS – If you want to read Jay’s story – get over to Muscle Gaining Secrets from Jason Ferruggia

I co-wrote the following list with Jason Ferruggia in mid 2006 for EliteFTS.com. Five years later and it’s still pretty good career development advice – check it out:

 

1) Set benchmarks of success that you want to hit. If you work in a club, maybe you want to become the head trainer or the busiest trainer? Perhaps you just want to have a full client load or charge more money?  Maybe you want to go out on your own or open your own place? (Keep in mind that although it seems like a goal, opening your own place or even working for yourself is maybe not the way you want to go. There are some GREAT trainers who have made a name for themselves working for someone else)If you’re just starting out, seek out a mentor to help you. Offer to assist them for free or even pay them for their time. It will put your experience and education on the fast track to a level far beyond any financial investment you may make.

 

2) Establish a level of excellence in everything that you do. For example – How’s your exercise technique? How’s your client’s exercise technique? What if you’re not there? Your client’s exercise form, without your supervision, is a window into your abilities. If you took a vacation and Dave Tate was supervising your AVERAGE clients’ squat workout (not your star client!), would you be proud of their form, or would you have the excuses lined up? Think through your communication skills too, your customer service skills, phone scripts etc. Revisit EVERYTHING.

 

3) Create a replicable system of program design. There has been a backlash against formal program design recently. The attitude has been “I don’t know what I’m doing exactly until I get to the gym.” This is acceptable when it comes from an experienced trainee, but in business, systems are everything. We should be able to write a program exactly as you do, without your input, by merely following your directions. This is the first step into hiring staff or increasing your business.

 

4) What are the results of your TYPICAL client? We all have the superstars that we can hold up and say “this is our work!” Well, guess what. ALL your clients are your work, even the “athletically challenged.” It’s easy to show us a picture of a pro athlete who you work with or  a Men’s Health cover model and take all the credit (even though these guys were pro athletes or models before they even met you). Your reputation is built on improving the average client, getting Johnny off the bench and into the game, getting 30 lbs of fat off of Suzy. Raise the standards of your results across the board. We have a basic rule that if you’re not getting 10-12 inquiries or referrals per month – go back and work on your skills because you’re not good enough yet.

“People who are cocky and arrogant say, “I know that” and move along.People who are confident and positive ask themselves, “How good am I at that?” and seek to improve”-Jeffrey Gitomer

 

5) Think about the type of clients you want. You may want to train baseball players exclusively but right now only 10 percent of your clients come from that niche. How can you target more in that market? Maybe it means offering your services to some local kids for free to build your reputation?

 

6) And what kind of clients do you have? If you were to classify them as A, B, C, or D, with A being a highly motivated client in your target market, who trains hard, never cancels, is a great ad for your business, and refers other clients, and D being “you need the work to pay your bills,” how would you classify them? (You can use any system of classification that you want but hopefully you get the picture.) Every three months, you should be able to “trim the fat” and get rid of the bottom tier of clients. If this isn’t the case, then it’s doubtful that your skills are where they need to be.

 

7) Start studying the ancillaries of your profession. For example, if strength is your forte, then make sure you have a basic understanding of nutrition, mobility, energy system work, flexibility, and injury prevention/rehabilitation. The goal is NOT to become an expert in all of these areas, but to build a basic level of competence so that you can communicate on the   topic and establish who the experts are in these areas. You want to look for THE expert and also the LOCAL expert. This helps build a network for you to consult. (It has basically been the impetus behind the EliteFTS advisory team). To be quite honest, until you are good at what you do, no one cares about your ability to write about it or wants to view your new DVD on it!

 

8)  Magazine writing and product development all hinge on your abilities as a trainer. Getting good is not a step you should want to skip. If you want to get away from training and coaching, then maybe this field is not for you. Coaching is why we all do this. Don’t be in a hurry to get past that stage.

 

9) Similarly, if you want to write, STUDY writing. Some of the top journalists in this field, such as Sean Hyson, Adam Campbell, and Lou Schuler, have spoken to more top trainers than anyone else. These guys know a great deal but NEVER pass themselves off as trainers – they never disrespect our field so don’t be disrespectful to these guys and think you know how to write. Learn your craft.

 

10) Business book number one has to be The E Myth by Michael Gerber. Your goal should be to read this book ASAP. A good goal is to read a business book a week, alongside studying training. The second book to read is Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. It has about 15 chapters. Keep reading this book. Read a chapter a day every day so that you basically read it twice a month. While we’re on the subject of reading, a competent trainer should be reading Entrepreneur magazine, Fortune Small Business, Inc, Fast Company, etc. You should also be reading all the fitness magazines and websites. You can make fun of the fitness magazines all you want, but it’s what your clients are reading and you should know what’s out there. And face it, there’s not a single trainer out there who wouldn’t love to have a column or article in a national magazine. Read the magazines.

 

11) Attend any and all seminars in your area. You’re not that good that you can afford not to attend. We’ve never got dumber from attending any educational event. In fact, the networking alone is worth more than the seminar fee. And don’t limit yourself to only training events. You want your butt in all the business seminars in your area also.

 

The fastest shortcut to career success? You just need to have a methodical plan to improve your skills and therefore your business, and do everything in your power to execute that plan.

–
AC

Today is January 19th. That means a little over 5% of the year has passed already.

So let’s do a quick “goal review” or a Resolution recall.

Are you 5% towards your goals?

If your goal was to lose 50lbs of fat – you should be down 2.5lbs right now if you’re on track. If your goal was to increase your income by $10,000 this year – you should already have made an extra $500.

Now I know goals are not always achieved linearly – particularly not fat loss or financial goals — but you’ll hopefully see my point. Track everything.

An easy goal that I always set is just a specific number of workouts that you are going to do. Then you just mark them off. One goal for 2010 was to perform 250 workouts. I ended up a little short.
In 2011 I plan on doing 211 !
I also set a goal of twenty training sessions in January (as my facebook followers know).
So to be on track – I need to have performed at least 14 or so training sessions right now.

I am also planning to launch a couple of new product and services  this year. The fat loss programming manual is already available exclusively at the Perform Better events, and very soon we’ll be launching a new Results Fitness Programming seminar.

For one of our business projects – as of yesterday we’re at 5.5% of my annual goal. For another I’m at about a 4% increase over the same point last year (which is slightly behind schedule).

And I’m WAY behind on my newsletter schedule :)

The point is – you need to constantly assess where you are in relation to your desired outcomes.

Are you on track?
Are you headed in the right direction?
Have you even moved off the starting line?
Yes? Congratulations – 2011 is shaping up to be a great year for you.

No? Don’t worry – just step up your ACTION a little bit and catch up.

If it’s your fitness business that needs an overhaul – then check out the Results Fitness Business Mentorship. We have designed the course that we wished were available when we opened our facility eleven years ago.

If your own goal is to get leaner – get on a fat loss program
If it’s to gain muscular size then check out the Muscle Gaining Secrets Program.

Remember – even if you’re off course – you can still get there. A plane traveling cross country is off-course 80% of the time and still makes it to it’s destination because the pilot knows where the destination is, and makes constant corrections.

5% down – 95% to go. You’ve still got time to make some major changes in your life this year.

–
AC

PS – Don’t forget to follow me on facebook…

Recently I spoke to my long time friend Jason Ferruggia about training and time effective workouts:

Q: Jay, What’s the biggest mistake most people make in their fitness programs during the holiday season?

The biggest mistake people make around the holiday season is thinking that because they don’t have 60-90 minutes free to train they may as well skip their workouts all together. There are parties to attend, gifts to buy and cards to mail. Oh, and don’t forget about all the year end stuff that needs tending to at the office.

Even in my own gym I used to see attendance drop off around this time of year. That was several years ago before I shortened up all of our training sessions. Now that doesn’t happen anymore because I’ve found I’m able to get better results with people by keeping all of their workouts around 45 minutes or less.

Your body’s production of muscle building and fat burning hormones such as growth hormone and testosterone actually peaks at around the 27 minute mark of your workout. So by keeping them short you’re actually enhancing your results; not cheating yourself out of gains.

What more people need to realize is that you don’t need more than 30 minutes for an effective workout. The majority of my own personal workouts, in fact, only last an average of 35 minutes and I do the same with most of my clients. This helps you avoid overtraining and the excess production of cortisol, which is a hormone that eats muscle tissue and leads to the storage of bodyfat.

So please don’t think that you need a full hour to train. Nothing could be further from the truth. What might sound crazy to some people is that on really busy days I may only do ONE exercise for a grand total of 10-15 minutes and that’s my entire workout.

Q: How can you get an effective workout with just one exercise?

Easy. You pick a movement that works the entire body, like a clean and press from the hang or the floor. Warm up and work your way to a heavy set of 6-8 reps. This won’t be a true max but just a good clean heavy set that’s the best you can do on that day without letting your form get ugly. After your top end set strip about 20% of the weight off the bar and do 3-5 more sets of 8-10 reps with about two minutes rest between each.

That will come to ten or fewer total sets but I guarantee you that you’ll get a good workout. And all you need is three 15-20 minute training sessions per week like that!

If you have a half hour free, three times per week I suggest a hang clean and press, a deadlift and a modified muscle up using the TRX as your three exercises, using one at each session.

If you have the time for four 15 minute workouts per week try something like this:

Monday- Front Squat/ Push Press Combo

Tuesday- Chin Up

Thursday- Trap Bar Deadlift

Friday- Suspended Pushup

These moves will cover your entire body from traps to calves and your core will get a great workout at every session. Do two heavy sets of 5-7 reps and three lighter back-off sets of 8-10. That’s five total sets that will take you no more than 15 minutes.

And that’s all it takes to get a powerful anabolic (muscle building) and fat burning stimulus.  Let’s face it; we’re all human and we’re probably going to succumb to eating too much dessert or having a few too many drinks between now and New Year’s Day. The short workouts I listed above can help combat the poor eating habits and stress that tends to take over at this time of year.

If you do things right and follow any of the wide variety of programs I’ve put together in my new manual, Minimalist Training there’s no reason why you can’t prevail this holiday season and actually get in better shape than you are right now… while everyone else around you is letting themselves fall apart.

–
AC
PS – to check out FIFTEEN time-effective exercise programs – get over to Minimalist Training

Guest blog from Jason Ferruggia

—

I don’t know about you but there are plenty of days where I could use a lot more than 24 hours to get everything done that I need to. Especially around this time of year. With the holiday season upon us extra time is going to be a precious commodity that’s hard to come by.

That’s why I don’t have time to agonize over what to do in the gym. I only have 30-45 minutes total, to get in and get out. And that usually includes warm up time. I can’t waste valuable minutes figuring out confusing, overly complicated set and rep schemes or mess around with 15 different exercises per session. I need something quick and easy that’s going to produce results; not stress.

So what do I do?

Easy- I take the Bruce Lee approach and cut out all of that which is not essential. I know what exercises work better than all the others and I know what loading parameters elicit the fastest gains in size and strength. I’ve been using them for 23 years on myself and for the last 16 with hundreds of clients.

These are the same principles that have been embraced by some of the biggest, strongest men in history, from George Hackenshmidt to Franco Columbu to Matt Kroczaleski.

At this busy time of year I can’t be futzing around experimenting with new stuff in the gym. Like you, I have family commitments and other important responsibilities to tend to. So my workouts must all be minimalistic in nature. It’s either that or I have to skip them.
And that’s not an option for me. I’m sure many of you can relate and feel the exact same way.

With that in mind I hit it hard and fast, never focusing on more than three exercises per workout. If you think a workout consisting of only three movements can’t produce impressive size and strength gains I have to question your exercise selection and training intensity.

There are very few people on the planet that couldn’t get fantastic results with squats, chin ups and military presses. Or maybe a combination of ring dips, pull ups and deadlifts? Either one will develop muscular bulk and strength quite efficiently.

The fact of the matter is that beginners NEVER need more than three exercises per workout. Advanced lifters could do more than three exercises per workout if they so desired, but there’s not necessarily a need for it. Especially around this time of year when the clock is always ticking and there’s always somewhere to be and a deadline to meet.

The are two major differences between the training programs of beginners and the training programs of advanced lifters that’s worth noting, however.

Beginners always do best on full body workouts while advanced lifters seem to excel on upper/lower splits.

The other major difference is that beginners should always use the same weight for all of their work sets, using what’s known as a “sets across” approach. Advanced lifters should always “work up” to a top end set, increasing the weight each set.

An effective minimalist workout for a beginner would look something like this:

1) Trap Bar Deadlift- 5 x 5 with straight weight
2) Standing Military Press- 5 x 5 with straight weight

An effective minimalist workout for an advanced lifter would look like this:

1) Trap Bar Deadlift- Work up to a top end set of 3, followed by one back off set at 90%
2a) Hanging Leg Raise- 3-4 x 8-10
2b) Glute Ham Raise- 3-4 x 8-10

These workouts will have you in and out of the gym in 30-45 minutes, tops. They will save you time, frustration and stress. Best of all they’ll allow you to still make incredible gains all throughout the holiday season without impeding on your social life or family commitments.

Sounds like a win, win if you ask me.

==
AC
PS – Jason has just released a collection of short, Minimalist workouts, some less than 30 min, some are only 3 exercises or less.
It’s a great resource for trainers working with busy clients, who need to write, short effective workouts.
I actualyl had Jason design some minimalist workouts for me when I was recovering from cancer treatment.

You can check it out at Minimalist Training

Just a quick note today guys – I was talking to my friend Jason Ferruggia last night (actually we were texting – which is ridiculous for two men in their thirties) – who is in California for the duration of the summer.

He told me that to celebrate his engagement to his lovely fiancée Jen – that he’s offering 51% off all his products for the next 36 hours.
What a romantic! I guess the ring was more expensive than he thought :)

Check it out : Athletic Development and Performance – the Triple Threat Program

or if it’s sheer muscular bulk and size you’re after: Muscle Gaining Strategies

51% off the investment of either package for the next 24 hours. If you’re smart – you’ll pick up both.

–
Alwyn
PS – 36 hours and it’s back to full price:
Athletic Development – the Triple Threat and Muscle Gaining Strategies