Bob
Smith

Age
62

Retired
VP of Finance – Marriott Corp.

I have spent the last 7 months training with Ben at his SaperiaFitnessCenter.

Recently retired, I looked to Ben as my final attempt to lose some significant weight and increase my strength and flexibility.  In my sixties and 80+ pounds overweight I had significant concerns on what I could achieve. To start Ben offered very pointed but very simple nutritional guidance which I found easy to make the change – issues like eating breakfast and eliminating diet sodas.  Ben is very sensitive to my age and weight and consistently monitors my heart rate during all activities in the gym.  When we first started my limit was two minutes on an elliptical machine –five months later twenty minutes at increased levels and resistance is a warm up.

Each month new and more challenging cardio and weight training has been introduced when I am ready.
Ben’s skills in resistance training technique are amazing – Before Ben I used to spend more time in the gym and with heavier weights with no results.   Shoulder’s back – chest out – elbows in – slower have strengthened and redefined my arms and legs.  This month I am working on improving my time on the rowing machines for a quick 2000 meters.
Ben started me – one minute rowing; then one minute resting.

Going to SaperiaFitnessCenteris a different experience from the large institutional gyms.  I know everyone.  Other members and the staff are so encouraging to me.

I feel great:  no back pain, no foot pain, no high blood pressure, no high blood sugar, no sleep apnea.  I have lost 56 pounds, I am getting healthy and gaining strength, balance and flexibility.

So there you have it, Bob Smith, a SFC LEGEND.

This all came about as two NUFC players, (Dan Gosling and Alan Smith), had been working with SFC in the early summer, to help prepare them for the coming season. I guess we did a good job as the next time we saw those guys they brought the whole team back with them.

I was fortunate enough to be invited to the NUFC outdoor morning session and the was asked if we could put on an indoor workout for the team that afternoon. The team had a game the next day so we were asked to keep the leg work to a minimum.

We ended up putting the team through a ten station circuit. The lads were put into pairs, one rested while the other worked for 40 seconds, then they would switch. After each player had done the station twice they would move on to the next station. They would do the full circuit three times.

The workout went very well, mostly due to the fact the NUFC players took it very seriously and were looking to get everything they could out of it.

Here are a few shots of the NUFC boys in action:

Alan Smith getting his core work in

Leon Best working the ropes like a BEAST!

Prof. David doing some one on one with Alan Smith

It was real pleasure having the NUFC team here, they were all gentlemen and very respectful of the facility, I would welcome them back anytime.

I’m going to post two or three workouts a week for people to have a go at, I welcome any questions or comments about the workouts.

Full Body Resistance Circuit

The circuit should be performed 3 times through with 2 mins rest in between each circuit, there is no rest between exercises:

Squat 135 lbs, 15 reps

Bosu Push up with knee to elbow, 8 reps to each side

Single arm 3 point band back fly to 45, 90 and 135 degrees, 5 reps on each side

Box jump 30″, 15 reps

Static JC Predator band press, 10 reps to each side

Burpee to pull up, 10 reps

TRX Plank, hands on straps, 1 minute

JC predator power rotations, 10 each side

Dumb bell clean and press 35lbs, 10 reps each side

High knee sprint skip, 30 each side

Single arm back fly at 135 degrees

This circuit is not the hardest workout you will ever do, but it’s a decent all rounder to compliment your existing routine, enjoy.

Ben.

It’s now 7.50pm and I have not had time to workout   and I still have stuff to do! I’m gonna get my workout in though cos that’s what I do.

I have had a lot of new people come into the gym today, which means word is definitely starting to get out about my place, and my nice new sign won’t be doing me any harm either!

I got the sign put up on Friday. Friday is a real treat for me because at the end of a long week I close at 9.00pm rather than 10.00pm, so what time does the sign guy turn up? 7.00pm! I didn’t get out of here until 10.30pm:(

That’s cool though as I’m real happy with it. Not so happy with the big oil leak his truck deposited out side the gym however, such is life.

Right, I must crack on, do my jobs and get my workout in, happy Valentines day and y’all keep it gangsta!

All you’ve got is a Swiss ball, medicine ball and bands!!!

 “No need to worry, here is a full body workout using just these pieces of equipment”

Begin with 10 minutes of jogging, skipping or brisk walking depending on your level followed by some light moving stretches to prepare your body for the session ahead 

Squat to shoulder press with bands (can use Swiss ball behind your back if you need it)

Push up with one hand on a medicine (alternate hands after every push)

Lat row with bands while sitting tall on a Swiss ball

Medicine ball chest press against a wall for speed (or to a partner)

Alternating front and lateral raise with bands (final position level or slightly above shoulder height)

Steps 1-2-1-3

Knee tuck on Swiss ball (shins on ball, hands in push up position, pull ball in until toes are on ball)

Medicine ball twists and throws against a wall (or to partner)

Sit ups on Swiss ball with (make sure to extend before you flex forward, also try not to let the ball move)

Do each exercise between 10 – 12 reps

Do 3 – 4 sets

Enjoy……..

This week I’m going to attack bad Personal Trainers, and I promise, there lots of them.

People may ask,”how can this be, don’t you need a certification to be a Personal Trainer?” To that I would say, “you also need certification to be able to drive, but there are still lots of bad drivers.”

And while we are on that subject of certification, we are all just a ten hour, online course from being Qualified Personal Trainers, so don’t be fooled by a certificate!

You must have seen the bad Personal Trainer, he’s the guy who:

•             Is texting on his phone behind his client while they workout.
•             Works his client out next to the other bad trainer so they can talk to each other.
•              Man handles his female clients and walks around with his eyeballs on stalks, like a pervert in paradise.

•              Lifts up his T-Shirt and tells his client, “one day you might be able to look like me.”
•              Doesn’t care about his clients form, or that he can hear their knees crunching with each bad lunge.

 Or maybe you have not seen the bad trainer….because he never bothered to turn up for his session.

The fact is, a lot of these guys can get away with it. Because a lot of people that use trainers are new to a gym environment, they don’t know what the standard of a decent Personal Trainer is. So they go home with a bit of a sweat on, thinking they got a decent workout, when they actually just got robbed and physically abused!

With that said there are still lots of great PT’s out there, so here is some advice on how to sort the good from the absolutely rubbish:

1)      Find out who they are certified through and research their qualification online.

2)      Ask for testimonials from previous clients, get three as everybody has a friend or two that will give them a nice write up.

3)      Ask for a free session to start with, in fairness a good trainer will offer you this anyway, it’s their way of finding out if they want to work with you!

4)       Watch them work with a client, see if they pay attention to detail, then speak to their client after the session.

5)      Don’t purchase a large training package to start with, start with a small package to make sure you don’t get stuck with somebody you don’t like.

If anyone has had/having a bad Personal Trainer experience, please share…..Peace.

Thank you for all of your helpful comments via twitter, facebook and the SFC site. I took them onboard, (the good ones anyway), and this is what I have to show for it, if you click the flyer, it should get bigger:

It’s not gone to print as yet so any comments on this, once again would be appreciated.

Also if anybody has suggestions on the best ways to distribute a flyer, I’m all ears, (not literally of course, I’m part nose).

When I first opened the gym all the way back there on January 3^rd I had made a decision not to do any advertising, either before, or immediately after I opened. The reason behind this was, I had never run a gym before, so I just wanted to settle in slowly and make sure I could get all of my systems in place. Therefore if I made any mistakes, I wouldn’t be a major deal, I could correct them and get on with things.

Well I’m now at the stage where I am comfortable with how everything is running and I am going to start doing a little advertising. I’m in no mad rush to get people through the doors, so I’m just going to start by getting a flyer printed and distributing it locally.

So I was wondering if I posted the text I am going to use on my flyer, would people would be kind enough to offer any comments or suggestions? Below is an old flyer of mine I used in England. I like it so it is going to be laid out in a similar fashion, obliviously with different text and logos.

And here is the text I have so far, let me know what you think……Peace

Can you imagine the perfect Fitness Center?

Would it have…….

No minimum term contracts,

No start up fees,

No annual improvement fees?

A limited number of club memberships to stop overcrowding, and Personal Trainers of the highest standard? How about friendly, knowledgeable staff and some of the finest fitness equipment on the market today?

Well, that’s how I imagined the perfect Fitness Center and then I made it a reality.

The Saperia Fitness Center was designed with one goal in mind; provide a Fitness Center that is geared up to get its members to the next level of physical fitness.

You’re invited to a different kind of Fitness Center, one that bases its success on its members’ health and fitness, not its bottom line.

Meet me at the gym?

Ben Saperia

LOGO

Saperia Fitness Center LLC,

Windermere Business Center,

6735 Conroy Road, Suite 105,

Orlando, FL 32835

407-996-2522

www.saperiafitness.com

This weekend we got involved in some group training by hosting the first Saperia Fitness Center Blogger Boot Camp.

The idea for the Boot Camp came from a friend of mine, Julie who wanted to put on a fitness class for local bloggers and blog readers.

So on Saturday morning at 9.00am, nine ladies descended upon SFC and hopefully by the time they left they were all a little bit fitter!

The workout was made up of eleven stations, each with a different exercise attached, you would stay at each station for one minute, and then move on to the next one until you had been at all eleven stations. We went through the circuit three times. The circuit was designed so you would work a different muscle group at each station and also get some cardio in at every other station. Here are the stations that were used:

The star of the show was definitely the Woodway Curve, which always helps change peoples opinions on treadmill training and by the end of the session, I think everybody had gotten in a decent workout.

To finish off the session there was a little warm down and a chance for everybody to have a chat. Who ever knew that ladies liked to talk?

I would like to say a big thank you to all that attended with a special thank you going out to Julie, Katy, Meghann and Carolina. I hope to see you all again next time….

It is pretty simple how it is put together but there is nothing simple in its execution. A great thing about this workout is it never gets old and it will always challenge you to your maximum. I just put one of my new members through it this morning and he said it was the best workout he had done in ten years.

Here’s how it goes:

When you are rowing you are looking to achieve the fastest time possible. When you get onto the bike you are just going at a steady pace.

Warm up

Row 2000

Bike 5 minutes

Row 500 meters

Bike 5 minutes

Row 400 meters

Bike 5 minutes

Row 300 meters

Bike 5 minutes

Row 200 meters

Bike 5 minutes

Row 100 meters

Bike 5 minutes

Keep a note of the times you achieve on the rower and try to beat them each time you do the workout.

If you are honest with yourself and you give this workout your all, I would be willing to wager it will become one of the most challenging workouts you will do.

Happy rowing.