Every day fitness professionals are faced with frequently asked questions health and fitness questions from a wide range of topics ranging from losing weight to injury rehabilitation. While it is difficult to know all the answers, providing clients with ready responses and educated insights is our goal and a testament to my professional credibility. My FAQ addresses some of the frequent questions clients ask but as always we recommend meeting for an initial consultation.
Where are you located?
We are conveniently located near Midtown Reno at 100 California Ave. Suite #205, Reno, Nevada 89509. Click here for directions and additional contact information.
What is the best way to lose fat?
Fat loss is driven by two key factors, the amount of energy (calories) eaten each day & the hormonal balance or imbalance in the body.
More Than Just Calories
Not all calories have the same effect in the body, to begin using our stored fuel (body fat) we must balance blood sugar, cortisol, insulin and other hormones by choosing the right foods, in the right ratios.
Hormones
We will store or release body fat based on overall stress. Training at the right intensity, and then FULLY recovering from the work we do allows our body to utilize body fat for energy. Properly manipulating what is known as the hormonal cascade creates the body shape we desire from our nutrition and training regimens.
Training
More is not always better. Neither does training at a higher intensity equal more burned body fat. We have to push ourselves enough to create an adaptation, then recover fully to allow the body to adapt.
Strength > Cardio
Strength training not only creates desired dramatic daily real world benefits, it requires a different muscle fiber than slow endurance based training. These are referred to as Type 2B muscle fibers and are the reason for the physiques you see in power & strength-based athletes, such as gymnasts, who do no “cardio” as most would define it yet create the leanest most powerful looking bodies on top of elite unmatched strength.
One Size Does Not Fit All
We offer 5 nutritional approaches based on your needs, history, and current and future health concerns. You will learn what foods and in what ratios are optimal for creating your leanest, strongest, healthiest body.
Re-Learn the Needed Behaviors to Live Lean & Strong
Your current results are the results of past decisions. You are meant to live in a lean, strong, healthy body. It is simply a matter of re-learning ingrained behaviors that our species has known for thousands of years and letting go of habits learned in our unhealthy modern western culture.
Balance
Strength training as designed in our program, along with the recommended lifestyle modifications, will teach you how to interpret and process stress differently. You can learn to desire different foods, and behave differently to create your leanest, strongest, healthiest body faster than any other program, and make the changes permanent.
Who can participate in Vigor training?
Everyone! We are all hard wired the same despite individual movement and training needs. People of all ages will regain movement capacity, athleticism, strength, and create your ideal physique.
Do you want to be strong and healthy (aka VIGOROUS)?
Is it better to be strong or weak? Most I assume would say “Strong of course,” yet our culture has created the perfect environment for creating an overweight/obese, sick, immobile body.
Strength is a learned behavior.
Just as some are “prodigies” in music and art, others have higher physical capacities and body awareness, hence the “natural athlete” label given. However you too possess far more physical potential than you realize at this moment in time. Just as we master our incredible abilities to move our culture begins making us sit down, be quiet, and learn in a “schooling” system that in fact was meant to condition individuals for factory work.
The reality is your strength is laying dormant, ready, waiting, pleading for you to re-learn and unleash your genetic potential. Your body is by far the greatest machine on earth, building anything close to it’s function is not yet possible, both due to technology and expense. All in all each of us have been given a CNS and the vehicle it uses to navigate life that is worth billions of dollars when compared to the most advanced technology.
Use it, life is far more enjoyable when strong and supple than weak and imprisoned.
The brain relearns how to synchronize muscle activity, more muscle fibers are used each time you practice, while the muscles themselves adapt to generate more force. A byproduct of this is the aftereffect of muscle “tone” which is simply a muscle at rest being partially contracted in readiness to work. This is not accomplished from high reps with light weights, you must relearn how to use your full body to generate force and coordination in the five essential lifts (loaded movements).
What should my training priorities be?
Strength is built on top of movement capacity, and yes it is completely possible to simultaneously create strength and enhance movement capacity… if you’re training with us! Combining “stretching” (mobility), yoga poses (stability), full body movement patterning, lifting and several other practices optimizes and reinforces maximum ROM (range of motion), building strength and one’s optimal physique on top of health, as opposed to at the expense of it.
Strength training not only creates desired dramatic daily real world benefits, it requires a different muscle fiber than slow endurance based training. These are referred to as Type 2B muscle fibers and are the reason for the physiques you see in power & strength-based athletes, such as gymnasts, who do no “cardio” as most would define it yet create the leanest most powerful looking bodies on top of elite unmatched strength.
Is individualized programming important?
Given everyone has movement compensations we provide the best variation of each lift /exercise that meets the above criteria, to increase movement capacity and strength at the same time.
We are the only training company that tailors small group training to individual needs. This combination provides the best training experience possible by creating more accountability and motivation while still allowing for proper instruction and attention to detail to keep you safe while creating the results you desire.
What is the Amazing 12 Physique?
Directly from Belfast, Ireland comes the world’s most advanced and effective 12 week transformation system, changing each graduate both inside and out. There is no better system to safely lose and keep off the most body fat possible in 12 weeks while you set personal strength bests and gain the most lean muscle mass possible. Read More About The Amazing 12!
I've seen other programs also promising great results, WHY should I choose The Amazing 12 Week Physique over them?
One word, RESULTS. There are only two factors that will determine how successful a program really is, programming AND the coach.
The Amazing 12 was created over a ten year period by legendary Irish strength coach Paul McIlroy. Although he has created phenomenal physiques for 10+ years now out of his gym Centaur, he is even more renowned for having coached the strongest Irish powerlifters to world titles, not to mention many professional athletes of multiple backgrounds.
The programming used is truly one of a kind, and is in fact proprietary information that A12 coaches do not disclose, only to be used directly with our students. This information is not available through any other system, it has removed all that is unneeded while including EVERY facet needed for the most dramatic transformation possible in 12 weeks.
I as a coach am only one of several dozen in the US to have met the rigorous criteria to have learned and now teach this system.
I have no training experience, or I have not exercised in a very long time, can I do the Amazing 12?
In short, YES! Unlike other advertised transformation systems this program is based on the fundamental principles of human movement and strength and can be tailored to meet anyone’s needs.
For those with movement restrictions I will identify the optimal variation(s) of each needed movement and lift that we use.
Proper technique and safety are an integral part of the program, both enhance strength and performance. I personally coach every workout, providing guidance and modifications as needed to keep you within the optimal exertion range.
Nutrition: What the HECK should I eat?
With our program one of FIVE nutrition approaches will be given to you, depending on your current and past health, and current desired physique changes. Nutrition as a whole has become indoctrinated with unhelpful beliefs, particularly that there exists a one-size-fits all approach that will work for 100% of people.
Based on your needs you are taught how to optimally fuel your body for health, performance and physique changes, rather than an “eat this, don’t eat that” cookie-cutter approach. The body is amazingly adaptable and can convert all the macronutrients into energy, protein, fats, and carbs. This however is not true of micronutrients, the mandatory vitamins, minerals and enzymes your body needs to carry out all it’s needed functions.
Thus we ensure you are reaching those targets, while picking a macronutrient ratio that creates satiety and energy balance for your goals.