I grew up in Houston Texas and began a career at a very young age in the Construction Industry Through hard work and ambition, I managed to pull myself up rung by rung until I found myself running several construction related companies.
As you can imagine, there’s a lot of stress associated with becoming an executive, To lower my stress levels and maintain an even keel, I began working out at the Gym. Soon I was going to the Gym six days a week and at times even going back for a second daily workout. As I continued to train, I found myself getting very serious about learning nutrition and how it affects the body; also how by proper nutrient manipulation in ones diet you could make significant changes in body composition as well. In addition, I looked at how the Bodybuilding world has many of the same goals of normal people, i.e. fat reduction, strength gain, and muscle protection.
As I gained more and more knowledge I found that many times in the Gym, people would approach me for help in either their diet or around some aspect of their workout. Whenever this happened, I really enjoyed sharing with others to help them perform better. After a few years I found the stressful construction management gig along with a significant down turn in the market had become absolutely unbearable, However the working out and helping others in the Gym was really quite enjoyable and was where I found not only my stress relief, but most of my happiness as well. After a period of soul searching, I decided to find a way to jettison the stressful vocation and turn my avocation into my vocation.
I wanted to be in a position where I could share my knowledge and help others achieve and live a healthier lifestyle where they could accomplish their fitness goals. In order to make this happen, I first sought out the necessary Education, developed my skill set, and then set out to create a place where I could remove as many of the obstacles and negatives found in the usual Health Club and bring in as many positives as possible.
Today when you come to my Studio, you will find this has definitely been accomplished at The Body Master Fitness Studio. Now I am totally dedicated to teaching clients proper nutrition, how to set up a healthy diet, best ways to lose weight, how to gain strength, create a healthy lifestyle, and for those that need it help them to rehab an injury and get them back to normal living. All of this is done utilizing whatever techniques and modalities necessary to help my clients accomplish their goals.
Furthermore, I am a voracious reader and continuously study and research the best methods to help my Clients. In addition I send out a Newsletter each week with a good helpful article along with a Fitness tip and a healthy recipe to boot.
2.When did The Body Master open in Houston?
January 1996
3. Tell me about your philosophy in terms of health, weight management, fitness, etc. This can be your mission statement that you share with your clients and staff.
Short version: My philosophy is to meet people where they are on the fitness continuum and help them reach further than they ever expected to be.
Longer version:
In 1996, I decided to give the average populous an alternative to the typical gym setting and formed the Body Master Fitness Studio. A place where one would feel comfortable in a non-threatening environment without any of the usual club hassles and be able to learn how to develop a healthy lifestyle.
My philosophy is that it is important to meet people where they are in life on the fitness continuum. For instance, I would never take a person in their fifties through a workout tailored more for a twenty year old and visa versus. Additionally, I utilize different methods for every diet or fitness situation. I may use Weight training with free weights and machines with one Client and Exertubes with another, or even a combination of all of them. Sometimes, I even use the pool for their training. Mentioning this, one area of training that I really like is Aquatic training out in my pool. I find that my Clients get into it and enjoy themselves so much they don’t even realize how hard they are working until they get out and gravity hits them. This harder workout of course heightens the results quite a bit as well.
I really feel like my style of training up to this point has helped a good amount of people reach their fitness and health goals and ultimately find a little bit more happiness. And isn’t that really what personal training is supposed to be all about anyway?
4. I believe you added another personal trainer to your company. Can you please introduce him into the article so I can share your words with fellow Texans.
At the moment, I am actually the only personal trainer and I take care of every client personally. They each receive the highest form of attention from me and I push them to be better with each visit. Needless to say, my days are fairly busy. The person being mentioned however is my son and I am hoping he will be returning in the not to distant future.
5. What do you believe is your cutting edge in the personal fitness arena? What sets you apart from other practices similar to yours in the Houston area?
I can offer a clean private environment as well as a homey feel that allows my Clients to relax and not worry about prying and judging eyes. Usually, when you are comfortable enough, you will work harder as you’re not feeling self conscious about how you look while lifting weights or during any other exercise. I think it’s important to want to work out and busy gyms really can be a bit intimidating and can have you not wanting to stay longer than you have to or maybe even not long enough to complete a good workout
6. Who are your customers? Demographics, age range, male/ female ratio, etc.
My demographic ranges wildly. I get quite a few guys who come in trying to bulk up or lose weight and tone up as well as women who wish to do the same. Ratio wise, I would say about 2 women to every 1 guy. As for the ages, I have a couple of teens at the moment and the oldest Client is 84, and I truly have every age in between.
7. Do you only hold one on one sessions or do you also offer group lessons? Please elaborate.
I definitely offer group sessions. Again, going back to the feeling of comfort, working out with someone you know definitely helps keep you going at it. Currently, I have a mother and son group session and they go at it together for some real solid training. I also have a Father son team and some couples as well. Another group consists of a few women who enjoy working out doing their strength session in the pool. Anyway, I offer multiple varieties and create specific work out plans to manage the increase in numbers. I think it really makes the workouts more energetic and personal whenever you are able to do it with family or friends.
8. I see that you offer Personal Training, Stress Boxing, Nutritional Guidance and Post Rehabilitative Training… Please elaborate on each category and tell the readers what each area consists of so they understand your services well…
To begin, my personal training is exactly as it sounds, training of the person. I don’t stop at just exercise however and I do continue to offer diet and other supplemental information all along the way as they traverse the fitness continuum to help them understand how to live a healthy and happy life. Within personal training, I also offer weight training, diet help, strength training, functional conditioning, and much more. Personal training is a fairly broad term but my goal is to help you hit your health goals no matter what they are.
One area that many Clients seem to enjoy is the Stress Boxing I offer. In this world today people have a heck of a lot of stress in their lives and getting an opportunity to knock something about really relieves their pent up stress and besides it is a lot of fun as well.
9. I believe your web page said that you are one of the few personal trainers in Houston certified as a rehab exercise specialist. Please explain what a RES is and why did you decide to become certified in that field? Stress this and highlight this area as much as possible since this is relevant to our readers as well as the fact that it appears to be a part of your marketing edge.
To obtain the best results when working with anyone recovering from an injury or from surgery, my goal is not to only rehab the affected area, but also to work on their entire body holistically. I believe in doing this because there is a cross-over effect that can be beneficial in expediting the healing process.
Unfortunately, it has been my experience that when a person is going through the Rehab process in a PT setting the majority focus seems to be on the affected area. My understanding is the Therapist are regulated in such a way as to only be able to operate in this manner and only give a small portion of their time to the rest of the body. Therefore, when I see someone who has come in after completing their PT, I immediately begin to work their whole body with whatever tools that would be best for their particular situation as well as to continue the Rehab process of their effected area.
As an example, I had a Client who showed up on crutches after ACL Surgery on his knee. He was not allowed to put any more than 125 lbs of pressure on it when he arrived at the Studio. The weight limitation was prescribed by his Doctor and his weight at the time was a sloppy 285 Lbs. Yes all on a man that is 6 foot 2 inches in height as well.
Within 3 months he was back to riding his bicycle and scuba diving and then in six months his weight was down at a fighting weight of 215 lbs. Additionally, he was doing 60 miles a day by that time on his bike and doing one heck of a lot of Diving to boot which is his absolute passion. This is what I mean about getting a person back to their life and doing it in a holistic manner.
Truly I have many more stories like the previous one. In fact I currently have a 75 year old Client that just had knee replacement surgery in September who I am doing pool sessions with and he is doing wonderfully at this point and another Client who is recovering from a stroke as well.
10. Please add in any helpful hints on how to get through the holidays without worrying about over-eating. Anything that you can share with the readers is greatly appreciated.
Most people out there will tell you to work in moderation or even to abstain from the delicious food and drink that encompass the holidays. However my main advice is to stay focused.
When I say this, I mean to focus on your health goals and keep them in mind as you take that sip of egg nog that you know you wouldn’t have any other time of the year. The holidays is a great excuse to be merry and engorge but if you can keep your focus and fitness goal in mind, keeping off that holiday weight will be easy as pie.
A few easy ways to keep that focus is to:
1. increase the amount of workouts you do per week. If you do 2 workouts, try doing three instead. If you do 0, try adding one in. Having any kind of physical activity really pushes you to remember what your goals are. And with the extra workout, you’ll notice a change that may make you want to avoid a snack or two to keep your figure.
2.Try to keep to a sleep schedule! It’s amazing how many people forget how beneficial sleep is for its restorative properties as well as its ability to keep your body running correctly. Not to mention, in terms of focus, a sleepy person is more likely to not be able to see things as clearly as a well rested person. Not to mention, it has been shown that when we do not get enough rest our cortisol levels will go up which causes additional fat storage, and can also lead to other health issues as well. Bottom-line when you get enough rest this will put your body into a routine that can make it run much smoother.
3. When you know you are going to a Holiday party or related event where there will be high fat foods and the like try eating a good healthy meal just prior to going to help you in making better choices and to not over indulge as well.
4. Try to stay away from alcohol if at all possible. If you find that you are not able to not drink, and then do so as little as you can when you do.
5. Finally, involve your family! Holidays are all about family so why not use them as a support team? Ask your spouse, significant other, or a friend for some moral support when you need to stay focused. Have them remind you of how healthy and good you have been looking lately to reinvigorate your drive to push through the holidays and come out the other side without gaining anything more than a new pair of socks you never knew you wanted!
11. I see that you have several testimonies. If you can get two of your clients to give you permission to use their first and last name, I would love to include 2 of the testimonials for sure. Please let me know which ones I can have the “green light” on.
Andron Smith and Marsha Turny.
12. What are your short term goals? Long term goals?
My goal is to continue to help people live a healthy lifestyle as long as I physically can continue to do so. So as it stands for the time being, my plan is that I will work with my Clients in my Studio and also to help more and more people via the Web as well, then when I can’t continue to physically do the work, I will be still helping people none the less.
13. At the end of the article, we have a For More Information section. Please include address, phone number, website, facebook and any other form of social media you actively engage in.
The Body Master Fitness Studio
7814 Nairn St
Houston Tx 77074
713-773-0077
Http://www.TheBodyMaster.com
Http://www.Facebook.com/TheBodyMaster
Http://www.Linkedin.com