ACME Barbell Club

In my experience, a lot of NFL cheerleaders shy away from strength training because they’re afraid of “getting bulky” and/or losing flexibility. After almost 4 years of training together, and now being one of my strongest clients, pretty clearly proves that fear is unwarranted.

While we didn’t track body fat percentage or measurements, the changes are easy to see.

What I love about this is that she got a lot stronger without gaining size. What’s different now is muscle quality.

-significantly more definition and shape through her glutes and legs

-Stronger hamstrings and adductors, giving her better control, cleaner lines, and more stability in single-leg positions

-More upper-body and shoulder strength that improves posture, arm placement, and overall presence

-A crazy strong core which shows up in better balance, sharper transitions, and more control through jumps and landings

And absolutely none of this came from chasing any type of look.

It came from focusing on getting stronger over time. Doing the same moves over and over every week till she was sick of them. Training through full ranges of motion. Progressively loading. Using unilateral work. Pairing strength training with mobility instead of avoiding it.

She didn’t get bulky. She didn’t lose flexibility. She just became a lot stronger, more athletic, and more confident in how her body moves.

This is what strength training can look like for dancers when it’s done right.

I’ll never forget a conversation I had with late last year. She had already lost a few inches training with me but wanted advice because her clothes were no longer fitting but she was afraid to buy anything smaller…

I don’t think Maddie didn’t actually have a fear of buying new clothes, she had a fear of gaining the weight back.

A few months later, in February, I got one of my favorite texts I’ve ever gotten from a client. She texted me saying she finally bought her first new workout set.

It might seem small but i knew it meant she was starting to believe in herself. She believed that the work she was putting in was actually changing her life long term, not just her body in the short term.

A year and a half later, the transformation speaks for itself.

Now a days, she can’t stop buying new workout sets. Literally weekly. It used to be cute to watch her get excited about them but now we think she has a problem.

And now, as a gym community, we’ve all agreed her new-set buying addiction has warranted a conversation.

So , this is your intervention…

Jokes aside, over the summer madeline and I did a beach shoot together and seeing her confidence shine through on camera made me realize that these changes were so much deeper than what we can see on the surface.

Even though she’s changed a lot since then, I’ve included one of my favorites from that shoot so you see what i mean.

Here’s the numbers:
In total she’s lost over 40 lbs, had more than a 44% reduction in subcutaneous body fat and lost over 40 total inches — including over 10” in her waist. She’s visibly leaner and smaller through the waist, hips and thighs.

And despite lifting more than most people in the gym, she keeps losing inches — proof that strength training doesn’t make you bulky. It builds shape and confidence.

She’s benching 145 lbs
Hitting 105 lb single-leg RDLs.
Rowing the same weight I do (80 lb dbs)
Doing weighted chin-ups and dips like it’s nothing.

This. Is. What. It’s. About. So proud of you Maddie!

By popular demand I had to make one more just to to keep it fair and make sure all clients are represented and equally roasted.

Here ya go

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Workout from home with Arizona's top womens fitness trainer. Join us to sweat on Monday, Wednesday and Fridays for Full-Body HIIT circuits and come get a glute & ab burn on Tuesdays and
Thursdays Glutes & Core workouts!

Keep your camera on for individualized attention, form correction and exercise optimization adjustments.

All you need is a hip band, a set of light dumbbells and a stable couch or chair. Sometimes we use sliders so if you have them, keep them handy.

Let's gooooo!

20 years ago this week I began my journey as a trainer. Yep, I got my first job at a corporate gym the same week I turned 20. For those of you not great with math, that was a long-ass time ago. That means I’ve been a trainer since before being a trainer was trendy. Believe it or not, I’ve been a trainer since before Instagram, before Facebook and even before MySpace. As you can see, when I first started as a trainer, we had to take progress photos on Polaroid film because the iPhone wasn’t even a twinkle in Steve Jobs’ eye. Yes, it’s been that long.

Being a trainer has directly resulted in some of the best years of my life as well as some of the worst years of my life, so to say training has its ups and downs would be an incredible understatement. Actually, I’ve tried to get out of it a few different times. I worked as a bartender for a while. I became a divemaster as well as a rescue diver. I got an EMT certification. I became a really good photographer, I dabbled in graphic design and there was even a point at which I truly thought I could become a pro surfer.

For some reason though I could never fully get my foot out of the door.

In my desk I keep a folder of some of my best success stories from my first few years of being a trainer and I look at it from time to time to remind me of where I started and why I do this. I’ve looked at this folder at least every few months for the last 20 years and I really think that’s why I’ve stuck around for so long. After experiencing what it’s like to build such personal, extraordinary relationships with clients, I don’t know how anyone can ever give that up.

This progress photo in particular is one that always resonated with me. This was the first significant success story I had as a trainer. I remember taking the final picture and (after waiting 10 minutes for it to develop) comparing it with the first. I remember being overwhelmed with pride and happiness for this kid. I still get the same feeling when I get texts and DMs from clients telling me how confident they’ve become or how proud they are of a muscle they’ve never seen before. Even after all this time, it never gets old.

Continued in comments…

ZOOM RESULTS p̶r̶a̶n̶k̶!
w/

T̶o̶ ̶c̶e̶l̶e̶b̶r̶a̶t̶e̶ ̶o̶u̶r̶ ̶1̶ ̶y̶e̶a̶r̶ ̶D̶a̶n̶n̶i̶v̶e̶r̶s̶a̶r̶y̶,̶ ̶M̶a̶u̶r̶e̶e̶n̶ ̶t̶r̶i̶e̶d̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶p̶r̶a̶n̶k̶ ̶m̶e̶ ̶b̶y̶ ̶s̶e̶n̶d̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶m̶e̶ ̶a̶ ̶p̶r̶o̶g̶r̶e̶s̶s̶ ̶p̶h̶o̶t̶o̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶u̶s̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶o̶n̶e̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶h̶e̶r̶ ̶b̶i̶k̶i̶n̶i̶ ̶m̶o̶d̶e̶l̶s̶ ̶a̶s̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶“̶a̶f̶t̶e̶r̶“̶ ̶p̶i̶c̶.̶ ̶C̶r̶a̶z̶y̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶s̶h̶e̶ ̶f̶o̶u̶n̶d̶ ̶s̶o̶m̶e̶o̶n̶e̶ ̶w̶h̶o̶ ̶l̶o̶o̶k̶e̶d̶ ̶s̶o̶ ̶s̶i̶m̶i̶l̶a̶r̶ ̶b̶u̶t̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶r̶e̶’̶s̶ ̶n̶o̶ ̶w̶a̶y̶ ̶a̶n̶y̶o̶n̶e̶ ̶w̶o̶u̶l̶d̶ ̶b̶u̶y̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶!̶ ̶N̶i̶c̶e̶ ̶t̶r̶y̶ ̶M̶a̶u̶r̶e̶e̶n̶!̶

EDIT: GUYS MAUREEN JUST DMd ME AND APPARENTLY THE SECOND PIC IS ACTUALLY HER

I kid, I kid. For real though, I was so stoked to see Maureen hop on my Zoom HIIT classes a year ago, as she’s one of my favorite stylists in LA. I was even more stoked to see her stay consistent week after week. This girl shows up daily! She did my classes while she was quarantined with the vid. She has her husband log on and record the class so she can do it later if she can’t make it. She’s even taken me on vacation, so technically I’ve been to Hawaii and Puerto Rico with her (thanks Maureen).

I couldn’t be more proud of her and how far she’s come. Good work Maureen.

If youre looking for an incredible stylist in LA, hit her up!

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Thank you for all your support! Merry Christmas!