freefit guy Posted March 8, 2011 Report Share Posted March 8, 2011 Hi everybody! My name is Matt (aka freefit guy). Thanks in no small part to Steve's inspiration, I've recently decided to throw caution to the wind and follow my passion -- and it scares the sh** out of me (good thing, right? haha). Currently, I'm working as an English teacher in Japan, but in August I'll be moving back to the States with my fiancee. She'll start Law School as I try to make my way in this world as a personal trainer. I've always been a nerd (Star Wars/Star Trek/JRPG's/Anime/etc.), but most especially when it comes to diet and fitness. Crossfit, Paleo, Nerd Fitness, Mark's Daily Apple, Starting Strength, Performance Menu, MovNat...I just can't get enough! So finally, it hit me: why not try to make my passion my job? It was a really hard/scary decision for me to make, but every day I'm more and more glad that I did. (I was planning on returning to graduate school to pursue a PhD in Japanese History up until a few months ago, so it was quite the switch!) Even if it blows up in my face, at least I'll have no regrets. I've been doing MovNat/Crossfit training for almost 2 years, and eating Paleo for the past 11 months. I really like training outside and using the natural environment as a giant playground. This week, I'm working with some "clients" (other English teachers) for the first time, and I'm super pumped/nervous. I'm hoping to gain inspiration/motivation from the Rebel Community, learn from your experience and know-how, and help out as much as I can. Thanks a bunch. Yoroshiku! Quote Link to comment
Brometheus Posted March 8, 2011 Report Share Posted March 8, 2011 Welcome to the board, and good luck Quote Link to comment
Plex Posted March 8, 2011 Report Share Posted March 8, 2011 Howdy there Ffg, and welcome to the Rebellion. Good luck on your goals, sounds like you are taking steps forward to level up your life already. Quote "She turned me into a newt!" "A newt?" "I got better..." Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/NFPlex That's NFPlex. Link to comment
kahn265 Posted March 8, 2011 Report Share Posted March 8, 2011 WOW! You have a great foundation there! May the Force be with You! Quote Link to comment
Alethea Posted March 8, 2011 Report Share Posted March 8, 2011 Hey man, welcome! I'm glad to hear that there's a personal trainer inteh world who doesn't subscribe to Conventional Wisdom. You are doing your clients a huge service in fixing their misperceptions on what fitness actually MEANS. Good luck to you! Quote "Let another say. 'Perhaps the worst will not happen.' You yourself must say. 'Well, what if it does happen? Let us see who wins!' ". - Seneca, 63 AD "There is no better way to fight weakness than with strength." - Henry Rollins Link to comment
freefit guy Posted March 8, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2011 Thanks for the warm welcome everyone! Had my very first "client" meeting yesterday (though I'm doing it for free just for the experience) and it went really well I think. Definitely still have a lot to learn. The entire time my mind was bouncing around to 100 different things I wanted to check and talk about. Really interesting experience. Today is round 2! I have another "client" meeting this afternoon. Quote Link to comment
paurullan Posted March 9, 2011 Report Share Posted March 9, 2011 That plan sounds awesome Congratulations for getting grip of your life and welcome to the forum! Quote Link to comment
shadowmeldfs Posted March 9, 2011 Report Share Posted March 9, 2011 Sounds like you have a plan...awesome. You have to have a plan to accomplish what you want. Welcome to NF. Quote 6'1'' ~271 lbs. (-14 8-5-12, -49 from max)back to 290 6/5/14Clark - SE TN, USMarried +3 boys (11,5,2)http://www.facebook.com/clarkbryanthttp://www.twitter.com/clark_bryanthttps://www.fitbit.com/user/2DYTCZ Link to comment
Alethea Posted March 9, 2011 Report Share Posted March 9, 2011 So what sorts of things are you planning to focus on during your client meetings? When people tagged along to yoga or workouts with me, I had a bad habit of just overwhelming them with information. Quote "Let another say. 'Perhaps the worst will not happen.' You yourself must say. 'Well, what if it does happen? Let us see who wins!' ". - Seneca, 63 AD "There is no better way to fight weakness than with strength." - Henry Rollins Link to comment
freefit guy Posted March 9, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2011 Haha, I definitely have had that problem during my first two meetings. I really try to get them talking at first: learn about their hopes, fears, dreams, you know...actually, I just ask them about past experience in exercise, what they are looking to accomplish, do they have any injuries, etc. That takes about 20 min. Then I spend the next 40 leading them through 5 basic exercises: air squat, push-up, shoulder press, pull-up, and plank. This is all done outdoors on a playground, and for each of my first 2 clients, the push-up was the only movement they were familiar with. So training 5 new movements with scaling for their ability level was probably a little overwhelming at first. But they each did brilliantly! Then I wrote up a basic workout plan for the week with notes on each of the drills, talked about some warm-up and PWO stretching, and asked for questions. Day 1 was huge, but from here on out this is what I expect a session to look like: Dynamic, movement-based warm-up Skill drills 20 min. or less workout Mobility work Can you tell that I just go overboard on this stuff? Lol. Trying to reel it in a bit so I don't scare them away! Quote Link to comment
Alethea Posted March 10, 2011 Report Share Posted March 10, 2011 That sounds awesome! Quote "Let another say. 'Perhaps the worst will not happen.' You yourself must say. 'Well, what if it does happen? Let us see who wins!' ". - Seneca, 63 AD "There is no better way to fight weakness than with strength." - Henry Rollins Link to comment
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