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Mar 16 2015

SolCore Fitness Personal Training New Personal Trainer

The New Personal Trainer On The Block

My whole goal in starting SolCore Fitness Personal Training was to provide cutting edge Health and Fitness information and coaching to as many people as I can, so that we all have the potential to live our unlimited lives. I have seen how effective this type of training is and I have been fortunate to help many wonderful people here in Santa Fe (That’s you!). I have also built a profitable business but I had gotten to the point where I needed help.

When I first started personal training (cough) 20 years ago,

I really had to figure out the business of personal training for myself. I appreciated the freedom but realized that there was a lot to learn and when I had an opportunity to hire trainers personal trainers, I would do a lot different to help reduce their learning curve. When I first imagined hiring a personal trainer, I was hoping to hire someone completely opposite of me. I had even imagine a woman with a gentle demeanor who was also an exercise nerd (like me). I launched an Ad with Craigslist back in Nov and had gotten less than desirable applicants, but I was still determined to start building my team. However, one day between sessions, I was standing at the front desk when I saw this young, smiling lady sitting in the front. I struck up a conversation with her, thinking that she was wanting to join the gym. I found out that she was looking for a personal training career, had a Bachelor’s degree in Kinesiology and she has 4 years experience as Yoga and Pilates instructor who had experience training in a clinical setting.

So long story, shorter…..Meet Maya Cordova. Our new Personal Trainer at SolCore Fitness. Here’s what Maya has said about herself:

I was born in Santa Fe, NM in 1991. It was here that I was introduced to Native American traditions of healing and discovered a profound importance to connecting to the Earth. I have always had a strong connection to my purpose of guiding others towards a healthier lifestyle and greater sense of well-being.

As a child and adolescent I participated in every form of physical activity that I could find. This included years of tap, jazz, and African dance classes, coupled with years of soccer, volleyball, swimming, and tennis. Movement has always provided a way for me to express myself and to find joy and happiness.

After my first serious knee injury at 16 years old, I was introduced to the world of physical therapy and rehabilitation. This sparked a huge interest in me to pursue an undergraduate degree where I could learn about the anatomy of the body and learn how to heal myself and help others. At 18 years old I was determined to play volleyball at Chapman University in California. After a year of college volleyball, and another serious knee injury, I found myself slowly letting go of my identity as an intense athlete. This humbling process of letting go opened up a whole new world for learning about the human body from different perspectives. On top of partaking in a comprehensive athletic training program, I began learning more about holistic therapies and how to combine them all. I began to discover the amazing benefits of Pilates, Yoga, and meditation through my own personal experiences and extended education.

After gaining experience with teaching Pilates and private Yoga, in the summer of 2014 I headed to Peru to learn about other opportunities for healing and personal growth. I lived in Peru for almost 5 months and had an amazingly challenging, beautiful, and life-changing experience. While traveling, I was also able to teach private Yoga classes and share my knowledge of the body, mind, and spirit to locals and other travelers throughout Peru. This experience helped me to truly understand the infinite potential of the human being. I am so grateful because I also experienced the positive effects of eating healthy organic food. I learned about plant medicines and natural remedies that promote health from many indigenous people throughout Peru.

Now that I have returned to Santa Fe, I am eager to integrate all that I have learned into my future occupation. In my own life I value eating healthy and being aware of where my food comes from. It is important to me that I maintain a meditation and yoga practice along with partaking in fun fitness activities. This lifestyle allows me to be an exceptional guide for others on their journey towards better health. I have an open mind and heart and I am very excited to learn new approaches to fitness, health, and healing. I am also looking forward to continued growth as a health care professional and human being.

Very inspiring. To be young in age but wise in mind is a good combo! I am looking forward to teaching Maya all about the Soma Training way and sending her to learn directly from my teacher Guy Voyer. She has already been able to teach some of our classes and train privately and everybody has loved her. We have already started working on how to combine her Yoga and Pilates background with the Soma Training way without watering anything down. If you are interested enhancing your Yoga and Pilates Practice with a program that gets rid of back pain , strengthens and tones your arms legs and core while drastically improving your posture reach out to us for a FREE consultation.

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Feb 12 2015

This warmed the cockles of my heart…

I was doing my perpetual task of checking on and deleting emails today and I came across an email that made me smile. When I was training back in L.A. personal training and working at the big box gyms, I met a lot of really great people. This was probably the single greatest thing about working in those factories. Getting to know all these interesting people over the past 20 years is one of the perks of having this career and being a personal training.

And there are always some people who stick it out more than others. One of these people was Geri. I met her when I first moved back to L.A. (I know…move back…you were out!) and was working at a box gym in West L.A. She was always smiling, working hard and super friendly. We had some good conversations, but when I decided to leave that gym we lost touch.

Then about two years later I was personal training for another gym in Santa Monica, and as I was doing my walk around the gym, lo and behold, who do I run into but Geri. We struck it off as if no time had passed and she asked me if I would be interested in training her. Well, as most of you who know me would guess, I said, “Let’s have a consult first to see if we are a good fit.”

During our consult I found out what her goals were and what she was doing for her workouts. I also learned about her lifestyle and dietary habits. This is the holistic part of my personal training practice. It’s not just what you do in the gym during your workout; it’s how the whole picture fits together.

I found out that Geri had some big challenges. She had pushed herself so hard, in her workouts and in life, that she ended up with a couple of autoimmune diseases in her thyroid and adrenals. This made her goals significantly harder to achieve. She also had some physiological issues in her pelvis and spine (like most of us). Digging further I discovered that her workouts were in direct opposition to her limitations and goals. She had fallen prey to the obsessive high-intensity workouts plaguing our nation. The last thing you want to do is to overwork yourself on a structure that is compromised both inside and out. She was also stuck in a 90s diet in which fat intake is minimal and all grains are good.

I always try to explain to everybody I do a consult with what exactly it is that I see and realistically how long it’s going to take and what training will be involved. In a nutshell, for Geri it was a huge scale-down of her training ( with an emphasis on Myofascial stretching, ELDOA, and basic proper movements), plus getting more sleep and starting to eat good fats and meats (grass-fed organic, of course).

She resisted a bit—not because she didn’t believe me, but because what she had been doing was so ingrained into who she was, even though it wasn’t working. The good thing though was that she was obviously open or she wouldn’t have signed up!

And to her amazement (not mine) she started to make progress. She made progress because she was following one of our core principles of SolCore Fitness Personal Training: consistent, steady improvement. You don’t have to be perfect, you just gotta try your best to the level you can do that day, and then be happy for that and make improvements where possible.

Hi Ekemba,

Just wanted to say thank you for truly helping me improve my overall health over the past year and a half. When people say how great it is that I’m more flexible with my eating and how impressed they are when I say I’m taking a rest day, I know I really owe that to you. I am definitely a changed person and will not go back to my old ways. I’ll gladly be a reference for you as you work to build your business in New Mexico. You are a one-of-a-kind trainer and I’m glad I bumped into you and changed my equifit that day to work with you!

Safe travels. Wishing you and your family all the best!!! hugs, geri

This is the number one reason I chose this career: to see “regular” people achieve a level of well-being they never thought possible.
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Dec 24 2014

Happy Holidays!

How to have a truly Happy Holidays.

The craziness is upon us, and sometimes its feels as if you are not having a Happy Holiday. Its tough! Travel, short work weeks, long weekends with family, feeling like you are bleeding money, etc,etc,etc. Tough to squeeze in happiness.

Generally when you receive an email from somebody in the Health and Fitness field during this time they will tell you about how people gain an average of 6 lbs during the holiday’s. And how to combat that with a positive mindset, of moderation, water, walks with the family is essential. I know because I have done it! And all that is this is true, but I want to talk about what this Holiday time really is good for. Its about giving thanks. And not just on Thanksgiving. Having a truly Happy Holidays is about taking stock in the wonderful things in your life and being TRULY BEING grateful for it.

How To Truly Be Grateful And Have A Happy Holidays.

The easiest way to have a Happy Holidays is to give thanks. With all the “too do’s” and being pulled this way and that way it is easy to lose sight of the wonderfulness that is right in front of us.

Giving thanks can be done a number of ways:

At night before you go to bed
Taking some time on the weekend to sit down and write out everything that you are thankful for.
When you start to feel overwhelmed and possibly angry.
Give yourself a designated amount of time to build your gratitude i.e “The 30 days of gratitude.”

Or use this list to stimulate your imagination to design your own gratitude program.

How I am going to have a Happy Holiday.

I am going to “eat my own dog food.” I am grateful first and foremost for my family. I am grateful for my friends. I am grateful that we are in Santa Fe and it has been good to us. And I am grateful for you. All of you who have supported me and continue to support me. I love what I am doing and I love that I get to not only to continue, but to grow. Thank you

P.S. If you have any really cool ways of giving thanks, post them in the comment box below. The more options we have the better!

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Aug 23 2014

These 3 Motivational Words Will Put Your Exercise Program In Overdrive And Have You Looking And Feeling Better Than you Have In Years!

What three motivational words can you say to yourself that will put your exercise program in overdrive and make your fitness dreams come true?

“I Want To!”

Too often we approach our fitness routines with the thought “I have to,” and it produces a counterproductive attitude toward our fitness program. Say both phrases out loud (if you’re in a public place you can wait till you get home…or not) and pay attention to how it feels within your body. “I have to” produces dread and a “heavy” feeling. “I want to” produces an extra pep in your step and a joy associated with whatever you want to do.

How I used this phrase to help me.

I’ll be honest, getting myself to work out is not difficult at all. I just set a plan, follow it, and adapt along the way. It’s one of the reasons I became a personal trainer; it has pretty much come easy to me. But there are goals I have had that have really challenged me mentally and emotionally. In fact I am going through one right now.

Back in February I threw caution to the wind and hired a French teacher to, well, teach me French. I knew French back when I was a wee tike but lost it when we moved to the States. And ever since I could remember I have wanted to relearn it. So I started doing my research, looking for a teacher, and I found Sabine. Born in France, she has a PhD in French studies and is a teacher…DING DING DING! I stalked her down and got her to meet with me, and after a nice chat I knew it would work. So even though I was still trying to build my business, take care of a baby, and learn a new city, I committed. I told her I would be with her for at least a year, and we got started.

(P.S. There are a lot of really good teaching points in this last paragraph about achieving your goals. You might want to go back and reread it.)

This Santa Fe French teacher is kicking my butt!

I was so gung ho those first couple of classes, and I was feeling really excited about finally being able to speak French. And then I got hit smack in the face with reality. I remember it really clearly, that feeling of being overwhelmed and all the negative thoughts flooding into my head. “There is no way I can learn all this.” “You’ll never get this.” Etc., etc. I continued because I do not like to quit, but I was trying to power through these thoughts and feelings. I “had to” do this! Push Push Push!

Then the thought came to me, “I want to do this,” and I felt the calmness that came with it. Done. I don’t question things when they are this clear. So I started to approach learning French in this manner, and it has helped me tremendously. Do I still get frustrated and impatient? You bet I do! But I don’t let it become me. Because I “want to” I can now relax, have fun, and consequently learn more efficiently.

What’s running in your head?

Do you “have to” go work out? Or do you “want to”? If you “have to,” you are fighting yourself and it will make accomplishing your goals exponentially harder. If you “want to,” you are enjoying the process and it will allow you to get to where you want to go quicker. So add a little “want to” in your life.

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