My advice to anyone new to personal fitness classes who feels intimidated is to think of “starting simple but simply starting”. For new clients I work with who feel this sort of self-doubt, I take a gentle and encouraging approach without judgment. Building skills and confidence can take time so it’s vital to have a commitment mindset without being too self-critical.

I have my own personal definition of the difference in that fitness coaching involves a broader, holistic, approach to understanding your own particular challenges keeping you from getting to your goals, not just in the gym but in life outside the gym.

Absolutely. Everyone has their own unique circumstances and experiences throughout many aspects of their life, including physical fitness and self-image. Chronic injuries or health conditions often require some level of experimentation and trial and error to find the right approach where you can feel accomplished without too much worry or frustration. Ultimately, safety is the first priority.

Motivation itself is fleeting - it can get you into the gym initially, but it doesn’t keep you there long-term. What is much more important is consistency and discipline. The first step is to create a habit, even if it is a small one, and practice it frequently as makes sense. Everyone has created habits throughout their life which they no longer have to think about, or consider whether it should be done. Every time you brush your teeth, did you have to think about whether it should be done or not? Small, simple, habits may not necessarily produce immediate results but cumulatively over time, they are the difference between achieving your goals or spinning your wheels.

Gaining muscle while losing fat depends on the relationship between your fat mass and lean mass (I.e body composition). An over-fat and under-trained person will be able to achieve simultaneous fat loss and muscle gain with a consistent and progressive diet and exercise approach.

The leaner a person is, especially near their limit for muscle growth, they will likely find it much more difficult. At some point, the vast majority of people will see better/quicker results by choosing to focus more on one or the other (gain muscle, lose fat – often referred to as ‘bulking’ and ‘cutting’, respectively). For a highly general rule of thumb: those people who are beginners in terms of their training status will notice quicker results via consistent calorie deficit, while also developing strength more in terms of skill and confidence. For more novice or intermediate-level clients, refining the psychological and practical approach to workouts and nutrition will still yield smaller yet effective results.

Yes, lifting weights and getting stronger while in a calorie deficit is certainly possible and encouraged. This is not to say cardio doesn’t have its place as well, yet it’s commonly believed long bouts of cardio is the most effective way to burn calories. However, lifting weights/doing resistance training tends to be the best overall strategy to achieve leaner body composition, provided there is also an effective approach to nutrition as well. Consider the saying “you can’t outrun a bad diet”. Overall, prioritizing strength over cardio usually yields better results for a healthy body composition. With that said, choosing “fun” forms of cardio to supplement strength training creates the best of both worlds.

The most common criticisms of online programs include:

1) Lacking a plan for progression over time, especially in the area of adding weight or otherwise increasing resistance

2) They are not balanced in which muscle groups they hit, or the volume they hit them in

3)They are often more geared towards feeling difficult, rather than being based on effective long term training principles.

4) They use too many unbalanced movements, such as unstable surface training or Bosu balls, which add difficulty but do not have any actual benefit towards building proper strength.

5) They make excessive use of complex exercises that have artificial difficulty because of unfamiliarity and learning curve

6) They have an excessive amount of variance in the movements they use from day-to-day and/or week-to-week, sometimes citing “muscle confusion”.

7) They put too much emphasis on machines instead of free weights. Machines have their place in nearly every gym-based strength routine, however, they should ideally be used for accessories and not form the basis for a program (there are occasionally safety/health exceptions to this rule).

8) Related to #7, they put too much emphasis on isolation movements and not enough on compound movements.

9) They put too much emphasis on cardio, or high intensity interval type training and not enough on the fundamentals of progressive strength training.

Physical health and mental health are directly linked, with plenty of research to back it up. However, there is one very important caveat in that it is highly dependent on the individual and the “severity” of any mental health issues. Weightlifting helps regulate a myriad of the body’s hormone levels; brain chemistry being one example. With that said, questions related to medication and talk therapy are outside my scope of practice. Strength and exercise in general is best thought of as just one tool in your toolbox of managing mental health.

This is a perfect example of question that depends on a lot of factors, such as a person’s starting point in terms of body composition, age, health conditions to name a few. Rather than worry about specific timelines, I prefer to coach an approach of long-term consistency over a short-term focus on intensity. Throughout this long-term strategy, clients can learn how to handle their own perceived roadblocks, what works best for them in terms of an overall balance with the rest of their life, and how to stay focused on achieving many small victories for a positive, cumulative, impact.

There are plenty of people on an exercise routine who do enjoy the process of working out, however, it’s very common for many people to have it feel like it’s a chore. If it especially feels like a burden to set aside the time and energy for exercise, it rarely will last long. For people who don’t particularly enjoy exercise, it’s better to learn to love the results – even if they come slowly. You can think over an example from life where you had to put in hard work that felt difficult or boring but the result of that work made you feel accomplished. Even more effectively, you can tie in gym workouts into improving your skills and abilities for other physical activities you do enjoy. Something else to consider – it’s possible prior attempts at getting fit and strong in a gym atmosphere didn’t work for you and caused frustration. That is where I come in!

For the majority of people, the “sweet spot” for workouts and achieving noticeable results is 3-4 days per week. However, they don’t necessarily need to be as long and as intense as one of our training sessions, but they need to have a purpose and should be at least moderately challenging. For no extra charge, as part of the price per session, I can provide simple at-home or gym routines, and nutrition guidance to give you structure, as well as check-in texts/calls if need be. I have found that the most successful clients over the long-term are those who are able to become a self-starter for their exercise and nutrition approaches. With that said, during each training session, I will ask questions and have ongoing discussions about what is working well and what things are still challenges.

I take on new clients at two locations: Powerfit Personal Training in Rohnert Park (10 Enterprise Way), and Chalk it Up Strength in Cotati (7981 Old Redwood Hwy). Powerfit is personal training only (private sessions and group training). Chalk it Up is an “open gym” where you are able to access the gym with your own key-fob at any time. Additional options like online Zoom sessions may be an additional option on a case-by-case basis. For training and membership rates click here.