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I have written numerous times in the past that, in many cases, it isn’t necessarily the magic of a specific program that brings about results, but the consistency with which a person is able to stick to that program.  If the program is reasonable and the person follows it relatively closely, results should follow.

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So to me, getting results is just as often about overcoming barriers that get in the way of sticking to a program as it is about having the “right” program.   When a barrier gets in the path of any plan and that barrier is not addressed, consistency can fall off and results immediately begin to suffer.

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Dealing With Pain

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I recently wrote about the fact that I’ve moved to a new facility in a different city and have begun establishing a brand new personal training clientele.  Of the first 7 people I started training 4 reported having a history of some sort of back pain and one even had an acute bout as a result of a yoga class preventing him from training for over a week (it turns out that he was having a lot of discogenic pain and is very intolerant to flexion).  This means that 57% of my new clients have some experience or history with back pain!!!

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Now some would argue that it is not a trainer’s job to diagnose and treat back pain, and I generally agree.  I most often refer clients out to professionals who are more suited to deal with such problems.  However, I do feel very strongly that a fitness professional should be able to work around pain and, more importantly, be able to prevent such pain from recurring as much as is possible.

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When a client is in pain their workouts suffer, their results suffer, often they deviate from their nutritional guidelines out of frustration, and if they miss workouts, you could potentially lose the money you would have earned during that training spot.  And if they’re not getting results, you’re not getting referrals either!  Back pain robs your clients of results and can rob your wallet.

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That said, my friend John Izzo has recently rereleased his Shatterproof Spine product as a downloadable video and I think that this is an excellent resource for trainers to learn how to manage low back pain and prevent future occurrences in their clients.  John has (like me) been training clients for over a decade and he’s gone a ton of experience dealing with clients of all kinds.

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Attached to this are two fantastic bonuses.  The first an ebook that will help you identify at-risk back pain sufferers with 5 simple drills and the second is a 30 minute downloadable video titled “Eye of the Trainer” that covers the art assessing 7 specific exercises as they relate to back pain.  I really enjoyed this one actually.

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If you’d like to be able to crush this barrier for your clients, keep them out of pain, get them results, and maintain your income then this product is definitely worth viewing and I highly recommend it.

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Shatterproof Spine <== Check it out here!

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Last week I shared a couple videos by my friend Joe Dowdell and his partner in crime Dr. Mike Roussell.  In case you missed it, Joe is the owner of a 10,000 square foot facility in New York City called Peak Performance that has recently been ranked as one of the top 10 gyms in America.  He’s also possibly one of the nicest guys you could ever hope to connect with.

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In any case, this past summer Joe held a diet and training summit as his facility in conjunction with Dr. Mike Rossell and, fortunately for us, he had the whole thing recorded.  Today Joe is releasing all of that footage and for this week only he’s offering a $100 discount on the whole package.

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Frankly, I’m still working my way through the material (there is a ton of it), but so far I am pretty damn impressed at the sheer volume of information in this product.  The training section alone covers client goals, assessment, principles of training, periodization, program design, templates, and even actual client examples from Joe’s personal files.  And that is only taking you to about half way through the training component of the product!

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The nutrition component talks about the various stages of nutritional change (from nutritional freestyling to counting and compliance) and provides Mike’s comprehensive guidelines for each level.  As I mentioned last week, I really like the way Mike breaks down behavior goals into actionable steps rather than using meal plans and I feel that any trainer or coach could benefit from utilizing this method.  Of course, meal plans can still be used for specific times when rapid advances are necessary, but I feel that Mike’s method is more sustainable for most people.

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In short, I think the resource is absolutely solid and I’d recommend it to anyone who is seriously interested in stepping up their game.  I’ve also just learned that this product has been approved for 2.0 CEUs by the NSCA (which is pretty amazing) so if you’re closing in on the end of the year and you need to grab some quickly then this product will definitely meet your needs.

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Of course, since this is a product launch there are fast action bonuses so I figure I should mention these for those who are interested, but are in need of a gentle nudge.

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First 50 Customers

…will get PEAK 30 which is a Rapid Body Transformation program used at Peak Performance including meal plans and shopping lists.

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All Customers in the First 24 Hours

…will get 13 Naked Nutrition Bites white papers on topics including how to battle carb cravings, surviving the holidays, and more.

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And there are more

…but I’ll let Joe tell you about them himself HERE.

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Basically, I think this resource is definitely worth checking out and with the $100 dollar savings and the fast action bonuses the best time to purchase is right now.  If this seems like something you might be interested in you can check it out below.

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Peak Diet and Training Summit <== Get it Here!

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First of all, if you’re a regular reader of this blog and have been wondering where I’ve been since my last post a little over a month ago I want to welcome you back.  During this time I decided to take a small break from writing to focus on getting caught up with reading and watching all of the fitness and business products I’ve received over the past few months.  I’ve also decided to go back to defend my Masters in the New Year so I’ve been plowing through research papers like J-Lo goes through husbands.

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Of course, you’d probably know all this if you followed me on Facebook, Twitter, or Google+ as I tend to update my accounts daily…but I digress.  The long and short of this post is that my buddy Mike Robertson has just released a product called Complete Core Fitness and this product is LEGIT!  If you want to build a bulletproof, rock solid, and indestructible core then this may be one of the most critical products you’ll ever own.

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In fact, most people – even the experts – can’t agree on how to train the core for strength, stability, and performance.  Some say you don’t need to do any core training at all because the big lifts will take care of it for you.  Others suggest that isolated core training is necessary.  And still others debate about whether crunches should or shouldn’t be used due to potential hazards to the spine.

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And guess what?

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Almost everyone is completely confused about how to properly train the core for strength, stability, and performance!

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It doesn’t matter whether you’re a beginner or advanced.  It doesn’t matter whether you think you’re a core training expert or a complete novice…Mike’s product has something to offer you and I promise you’ll learn something.  Mike is NOT confused and his core training knowledge is immense.

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In 7 video modules he covers everything including his philosophy on core training, the functional anatomy of the core (for those who are new to this stuff), and how to properly assess the core so you’ll know where to start and how to progress your training.  *Note – I am big on assessments so I pretty much LOVE this part*

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From there Mike delves into building the foundations of a strong core, isolative training, integrative training, and finally training for sport and athletic performance.  In short, it is a step by step breakdown of the theory, anatomy, and applications of Mike’s extensively geektastic knowledge of the core.

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And that is just within the 7 modules the comprise over THREE HOURS of incredible material without even mentioning the fast action bonuses Mike is offering for picking up the product right now.

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On top of the product itself you get:

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- A two hour webinar by uber smart fitness pro Evan Osar

- A completely sick underground core training webinar Jim Smith

- Spice Up Your Core Training E-manual by Nick Rosencutter

- Exercises to Prevent Hip Injuries E-manual by Rick Kaselj

- Audio core training Q&A with Mike Robertson

- Powerpoints for all of the video seminars in the product

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Frankly, I think that this product is possibly the most comprehensive core training product on the market right now.  And currently it is on sale at an introductory price that is almost 25% off!  However, I’m a little late to the party on this one as I actually had to finish reviewing the product before I could tell you about it so you actually only have one day to purchase this product and save yourself $30 before the price goes up.

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To be super clear, if you want to get this product at an incredible discount you have to purchase it before midnight TONIGHT.

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That said, I don’t want you to feel pressured to purchase with no way out so it is good that Mike is offering a full 60 day 100% money back refund if you decide you don’t like the product.  Ultimately, there is no risk to you.  Just go pick up the product before midnight tonight and if over the next 8 weeks you decide the product isn’t for you then you can just email Mike and get a full refund with no questions asked.

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Of course, I don’t think that will happen as everything Mike touches pretty much turns to gold and I don’t think I’ve ever seen him disappoint on a product (and I think I have all of them).  But just in case, the offer is there.

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If you want a strong, sexy, functional core then Complete Core Fitness is absolutely worth picking up!

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Complete Core Fitness  <== Get it now before the price goes up!

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In a post last week I mentioned that fitness industry superhero Alwyn Cosgrove was going to be putting on a webinar called The Death of Personal Training.  Well…on Monday night that seminar took place and, as many who signed up probably already know, there were so many people trying to log in that the webinar service actually crashed!  I think there was such a rush of people trying to log in that Alwyn was single handedly responsible for the following afternoon in Virginia.

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In case you missed out and weren’t able to see it, here is the link to the replay (no sign up needed):  The Death of Personal Training

However, the fact that there was such an influx of people trying to login for this webinar tells me that there are a heck of a lot of fitness professionals who want to improve their business.  The good news (in case you haven’t heard it yet) is that after the seminar Alwyn introduced a special offer in the form of a new program called From Counting Reps to Counting Revenue.  Frankly, I probably couldn’t do the program justice if I tried to describe it so go check it out for yourself.

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From Counting Reps to Counting Revenue  <– Get the deets here!

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For those who aren’t in the know, one thing that happens when you offer to help someone promote a product in the online world is that they typically send you something called “swipe copy” that you can use to help them sell the product.  In short, it is usually in the form or pre-written emails or blog posts that you can use to provide your readers content.  Quite often, this is why a lot of emails from those promoting products look pretty much the same and seem as though they aren’t very authentic.  It is because they aren’t.

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I’ve never really liked swipe copy and don’t use it.  I prefer to write my own reviews.  In this particular case, this is especially true for 2 reasons.

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1.  Alwyn’s Product is Legit and I want this review to be authentic!

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Alwyn has not only been there and done that, but he’s helped others transform their businesses too.  To me, this is more important than just doing it.  He and his wife Rachel have shown repeatedly with their mentorship groups that they can produce results not just with themselves, but with others.  THIS give the program credibility in my eyes.  I’ve already seen the first week of videos and they are fantastic!

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2.  I know what it is like to struggle.

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A lot of other people reviewing this product have wildly successful fitness facilities.  Many of them have done it right from the beginning and have never known what it is really like to worry about making lease every month, whether they’ll be able to make their car payment, or even feed themselves.  I, on the other hand, know this.

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When my wife and I launched our facility several years back we did it all wrong.  We didn’t have a business plan.  We funded it with a line of credit and some credit cards.  We didn’t know which numbers to track and if you’d asked me at any given time what we had made that day (or that month) I probably couldn’t have told you.

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What I did know was that some months paying the bills was easy and there was a few extra dollars in our pockets.  When times were tough it was hard to pay the bills.  When times were tough, we’d send out the occasional flyer that never seemed to have the response rate that people talked about on the internet.  We tried running bootcamps (which were okay), but we didn’t know enough to have upsells in place to really make these profitable.

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What we did have was passion!!!  (If you’re a fitness professional I KNOW you do too!)

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We loved helping people and we figured that by simply becoming the best at what we did our business would thrive and we’d make tons of money.  So we leased a place, slapped a sign above the door, bought some equipment, and went to work.  And work we did.  Most weeks we worked up to 60 hours.  We’d work mornings…and nights.  We lost touch with family and friends as we worked ourselves to the bone.  And when we tried to hire staff, the process was a nightmare and we either had to fire them or they quit and swiped the clients they had from us.  Basically, we hadn’t bought ourselves a business.  We’d bought ourselves a job.  And it was a crappy job with no vacation, little pay (after expenses), and no benefits.

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In the end, it came down to a point where my wife and I decided we wanted to have a family.  And we both knew we couldn’t do it with both of us working 60 hours per week with very little money…or at least that wasn’t the life we wanted for our family.  So we opted to close our doors, sell everything off, and walk away.  And since we didn’t have an exit strategy (as Alwyn discusses in his product) we literally lost tens of thousands of dollars and we’re still paying for that until today.

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Now I don’t want you to take this to mean we weren’t good.

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At the risk of sounding arrogant, we were not only good, but we were DAMN GOOD.  Darn near excellent actually!  Almost every single one of our clients lost fat, gained muscle, reduced pain, and improved their health while in our facility.  I have testimonials to prove it.  And our client retention was excellent!  But there weren’t enough new people coming through the door every day and we certainly weren’t maximizing the amounts we couldn’t been making from each client with upsells, other services, and so on.

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In short, when it comes to running a fitness business, being good simply is NOT good enough.  You can be the best in the freaking world, but if you don’t have good business practices, you’ll end up with your doors closed.

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Now for me, this actually ended up to be a blessing in disguise as I ended up with consulting gigs, doing work for a government funded bariatric medical program, and I’m still able to train clients out of a friend’s facility.  In fact, it wasn’t until we closed up shop and I was able to spend less time in my business that I became able to share my thoughts through my blog with the world.  And we had a beautiful daughter.

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But not everyone is so fortunate.  And to this day I regret not having done it right from the beginning.  Had we had the systems in place we could’ve run the facility, made money, and stepped away to grow our family at the same time.

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So let me conclude with this…

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I consider myself to be a good person to take exercise and nutrition advice from.  I know these areas like I created them myself.  I can get results with almost any client you put in front of me.  But I am probably the worst person to take business advice from.  As a business owner you MUST know both of these areas if you are to succeed.  And since I don’t know business (although I’ve learned a TON about it after the fact) I can’t really tell you how to run a facility.

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What I do know is that Alwyn knows fitness business.  If you currently own a fitness business you owe it to yourself to pick up his product and turn your business around so that you never have to struggle.  I say this sincerely because I’ve been there and I know how you feel.  I know some of you might balk at the price (it is $297) I can’t say enough times how much money and heartache you’ll be able to save yourself if you just get your business on the right path.  Please do yourself a favor and pick this up.

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Counting Reps to Counting Revenue  <– Get it Here!

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I should also note that there is a 100% guarantee on this product and if you don’t feel it is worth the money you’ve paid (I KNOW it will be), just ask and your money back and it will be returned with no questions.

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And finally, this product is ONLY on sale until Friday September 2nd and then it will be pulled off the market.  Yep…pulled.  As in gone.

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Counting Reps to Counting Revenue  <– Get it While You Can!

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If you are a fitness professional, you will not regret it.

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