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Sep 14 2016

Personal Training Success Story Santa Fe

Personal Training Success Story Santa Fe – Pat Murphy

Pat is one of the happiest people I have ever met. Just look at that smiling shot for goodness sake! She seems to not have a care in the world. But on the flip side Pat is a very hard worker and has really proven herself over this past year of being with us.

Pat came to Santa Fe after a whole other life in South Beach Miami. She was in Miami before it even started to become the international metropolis that it is now. She was a social worker there working with clientele that had severe head wounds and/or was about to die. All day long that was the majority of her days, until finally she had enough. If she had to fill out one more report she was going to lose it. So she packed up her stuff and Lou (her husband) and moved to Santa Fe.

She had been coming here for 25 years and it seemed like the perfect fit for her new life. She also completely switched gears on what she wanted to contribute in this life. Instead of dealing with death and destruction (literally) she focused on the new joyous beginnings and became a wedding officiate.

I met Pat while networking and right after my “60 second commercial” she said, “You’re talking about me,” with a big ol’ smile on her face. Well I never know if somebody is really serious or not but sure enough she contacted me about a week later.

When she first started it was difficult! We were doing a myofascial stretching hip flexor routine and it was hard because it was new and hard because she needed it. And at the end of the session I said to myself like I say about everybody, “I hope she doesn’t quit.”

Well as I already told you, she made it through that class and all of the others throughout the year. And along the way she has made some amazing progress, so it wasn’t even a question to have Pat be our September Member of the Month.

1) What made you decide you wanted/needed to start a program?

I started to notice that I was getting weaker and starting to have a lot more pain. I also saw that many of my friends were going down the road of surgeries and illness, and there was no way that I wanted to do that. When I heard you speak, it really resonated with me and I knew it was for me.

2) What did you do before?

I tried Pilates, Yoga and some regular group exercise classes, but I didn’t like any of them. They just didn’t know how to address what was going on with me and I was afraid I was going to get hurt.

3) What results have you achieved since starting your program that you are proud of?

The pain I was constantly in is pretty much gone. I feel so much stronger and I am really proud of myself each time I finish a class.

4) Do you have a favorite exercise? Least? What do you like or don’t like about them?

I like the 90/90/90. My hips feel so good and balanced after we do them. I do not like the frogs. I know they are good for me, but they are hard.

5) What are some challenges or goals you are currently working on?

I just want to keep showing up. If I show up good things happen. If I were to stop I know I would go backward.

6) What do you like best about our program/ having a trainer?

I love being in a group where everybody is working hard! And the attention to detail and the knowledge that you guys provide us is wonderful.

7) What advice would you give to the other SolCore Fitness members?

Just keep coming!

8) What would you say to someone on the fence about joining our program?

Just try it and see what you are capable of!

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Feb 24 2015

How Did This Renaissance Man Change His Life?

Personal Training Success Story: Roberto Codato

I met Roberto when I first came to Santa Fe and was teaching my class at BODY. He came a handful of times, and after I changed my format and moved to Railyard Fit (formally Buddha Fitness Club) I didn’t see him for about four months.

Roberto had some challenging injuries from some severe accidents, and he was looking to finally correct most of these issues. He was a dedicated yoga practitioner and was always serious about his health.

When he contacted me about rejoining the classes in the new format, I told him it would take about a year for him to get permanent results because of the severity of his injuries and how long he’d had them. He didn’t even blink and has been a steady, hardworking and positive influence in the classes ever since.

I am happy to say that in the year he has been in the Posture Perfect class he has corrected 99% of his injuries and now has the tools to keep them corrected.

Roberto will be out of the country for a while pursuing some amazing opportunities. Congratulate him and wish him well!

Below is my interview with him on his personal training success:

What made you decide you wanted or needed to start a program?
My body was a wreck! I had been in two major car crashes and had gotten Lyme disease. I had done a lot of other modalities and had gotten decent results, but none of them really integrated the whole body like your program.

When I first read about your classes and their structure, they sounded perfect for me. And then when I first took the class I instantly knew that this was what I had been looking for. It took me a little bit of time to commit to the class because I needed to get my life in order and wanted to make this a permanent thing is my life.

What did you try before the SolCore Fitness custom-built exercise program?

Everything! No joke. Martial arts, yoga for about 20 years, kettle bells, body building, gymnastics, raw diets, macrobiotic diets, chiropractors, physical therapists, acupuncture, massage therapists—and that is just the surface. I tried a lot of really esoteric modalities. And I got some good results. I got rid of my Lyme disease with a raw diet and Bikram Yoga. I gained a lot of muscle through body building. But it never totally addressed my physical issues and in some cases made it worse. Like I said, none of it was as intricate and as integrated as your program, and that is what I needed. [Note: Roberto worked with and studied under some really high-level people. For martial arts he studied under David Carradine’s teacher. Yeah, Cane! He went so deep into yoga that Bikram asked him to be a teacher. Yeah, that Bikram!]

What results have you achieved since starting your program and are proud of?

First and foremost it has brought consistency to my life. I do a lot for work and for life and it has brought a consistent, positive presence. I look forward to SolCore Fitness’s Posture Perfect class! And as challenging as it is on multiple levels, I always feel better afterward and so much more accomplished. I move so much better now than I have since my accidents. My awareness of my body not only in class but more importantly in everyday life is so much more improved. I sleep better. My digestion is much better.

Do you have a favorite exercise? Least favorite? What do you like or don’t like about them?

I really don’t like the wall stretch (L5-S1 ELDOA). You are lying there and you expect that you are going to be supported by the floor and the wall, but you’re really not. It is very challenging to me. I really like the 90/90/90 (Obturator internus myofascial stretch) because it was really hard for me and I thought there was no way I was going to be able to do it. But now I can get in and out of it pretty easy and it always feels really good when I am done.

What are some challenges or goals you are currently working on?

Tight hips. But I guess that is just the reality of how we live our lives now. Always sitting in front of a computer. Stress is a big one for me, and recommitting to myself each day.

What do you like best about our program and having a trainer?

YOU! [You realize I totally paid him to say that, right?] You are very engaging and you keep the class fun and light. It is challenging at times, but keeping it fun really helps. There are also a lot of really interesting people in class who are working through their own things. They really inspire me to keep going.

What advice would you give to the other SolCore Fitness members?

Appreciate what you have in this program. There are only a couple of places in the States where you can get this kind of training. The others off the top of my head are New York, Dallas and L.A.

What would you say to someone on the fence about joining our program?

Sit down and take stock of your life and see what is working and what is not. Organize your life, decide what is important and write down where you want to be in a year—not in a New Year’s resolution kind of way, but real goals. This program works like nothing else. Commit yourself for at least a year. The first three months is like an introduction to your body. You get some good results, you start to feel better, your body starts to become more aware, but it is just the beginning to how good your body can feel if you commit to yourself.
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Sep 07 2014

You don’t have to work out like an NFL player.

By the time this blog is posted, the NFL season will be on its way. YEAH! I love NFL football, and since moving to Santa Fe, I miss living close to NFL action.

But don’t think I’m going to ask you to work out like an NFL player. I know what an NFL exercise program is like and I know it’s not complete. But there is something to be said about the NFL player’s exercise routine, which includes consistency and pushing yourself a little beyond what you can do each time to get a little bit better each day.

Consistency, pushing yourself, and trying to get a little better each day — these are the keys to any exercise program. And that last part is something you will hear NFL players and coaches say all the time: “We’re just trying to get a little bit better each day.” It is cliché, but it is absolutely true.

How to put a little NFL and a little kaizen in your exercise program.

Kaizen is a Japanese business philosophy of continuous improvement in all areas of business practices and personal development. I preach similar principles to all my clients and the people I work with here in Santa Fe. Gradual, steady improvement is the only way to approach a long-term goal without driving yourself crazy. I wanted everything now, so this was a big, uncomfortable pill for me to swallow, and I still choke on it now and then. But the alternative — the highs and lows and the stress that it produces — is not worth it.

You need a laid-out, realistic exercise program in which you push yourself a little further than you are comfortable with. And uncomfortable comes in many different flavors — physical, mental, and emotional. For any success to happen you have to be OK with the uncomfortableness.

This means your muscles may burn a little more than you’d like, or if you live in a high altitude as we have in Santa Fe, you may be huffing and puffing more than you’d like.
This means you may have to put away your ego and what you think is right, trust in the program you have chosen, and do it.
This also means you will have to be OK with the feelings that come to you before and during your exercise program. Nothing comes for free; you’ve got to work it.

Say yes to your inner NFL player.

Scene: You standing at the mirror looking at yourself in the morning. “I’m just trying to get a little bit better today.”

Sounds hokey, doesn’t it? It feels even hokier when you actually do it…at the start. It gets easier and easier each time you say it. You don’t have to use that exact sentence. Keep the idea and find your own words.

From Washington, DC, to North Carolina to Los Angeles to Santa Fe I have used this with varying levels of consistency and with my own words. When I am more consistent in saying those words, they come true. Now combine that with a thought-out program and being OK with the uncomfortableness that goes along with it, and what do you have? Success. Meaning you are a success. Now go stand in front of the mirror and make yourself uncomfortable.
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Sep 02 2014

Use this 1 simple trick to skip “diet foods”!

How doing this one simple trick will let you eat the foods that you love and skip the “Diet Foods!”

Being a trainer I inevitably get asked questions like: “What do you eat?” “What are the best diet foods?” Or something along the lines of “You’re a vegetarian right?” Not…even…close! And every time I get asked this I know what they are thinking. They think I am going to tell them I eat diet foods, e.g., cottage cheese, chicken breast, veggies and protein drinks, all day long. My digestive system is annoyed just thinking about that. But the funny thing is that when I first “got in shape” after playing football, that’s kind of how I ate. That and an enormous amount of working out helped me lose 65 pounds or so in three to four months. But it wasn’t sustainable and was definitely not right for my body.

So when I tell people I don’t eat diet foods, that I eat French toast, pancakes, eggs, bacon (yummm!), lasagna, steaks, burgers (OK, I’m getting a little out of control), they look at me like I’m crazy, or they think my being in shape “just comes naturally.” I work really hard on my exercise program and I put just as much effort into what I eat—especially where it comes from.

How eating quality foods will allow you to skip diet foods

There is the trick if you didn’t catch it: eating “quality foods” means you do not have to eat diet foods. Where you get your food really matters! As long as I am eating for my metabolic type and not overeating or indulging, healthy foods keep me healthy and I am not overweight. The easiest way to do this is to eat organic, grass-fed, pasture-raised, wild-caught, nonprocessed, pesticide- and herbicide-free food. If you do that, you are on the right track.

Our body does not know what processed food is. It gets confused. And when it gets confused it doesn’t process it as well. This leads to bloating and inflammation, which leads to feeling and looking like crap. So if you are buying and eating food that Monsanto “grew” (used really loosely), having a burger that was fed corn and by-products, or a chicken that “lived” (again, used loosely) in an overcrowded coop, that is what you are turning your body into. You are what you eat. Imagine that you were only allowed to eat junk food and had to stay in your room. How healthy do you think you would be? Well, when we eat conventional food, that is what we are ingesting.

This is overwhelming!

No, it’s not. It’s an easy fix. Start going to establishments and to farmers markets where they grow and support real food. Ask the managers, or better yet the farmers at the market, “Do you practice organic farming?” A lot of farmers do but are unable to purchase the organic title because it is so expensive and red-tape driven.

Also, start to track your food, and more important, how you feel when you eat. No need to calorie-track; it doesn’t work. Just start to realize what foods work for you and make them part of your diet. You will know when they are right because your weight will normalize (as long as you are exercising properly and enough), you will have more energy, your body will be less achy, and you will be more clearheaded.

There are many reasons to support and eat organically grown foods. And if for no other reason, do it to take care of yourself. Happy eating!
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