I was watching one of my fellow trainers put one of their clients through a workout a while back and something struck me a little odd. I had seen this before.   I went home and looked through all my fitness magazines and low and behold there it was.  Muscle and Fitness Hers   center fold out workout. Almost the exact same workout exercise for exercise. I was perplexed. I payed attention to this trainer for the next few weeks and I saw the same trend. All but one of their clients received this exact same workout. I was amazed  that a client was paying $65.00 and hour for something they could have gotten for $3.99 at the local HEB. 

   I'll be the first person to say that personal training isn't rocket science. In fact I think sometimes we try to overcomplicate it. I actually heard someone say that standing on the "power Plate" can rid your body of toxins. You've got to be kidding me. Don't even get me started on the "power plate".

       I've always tried to make things new and inventive for my clients and for Austin Fitness Extreme. About 6 years ago when I was just beginning my first small camps I decided to spy on all the "other camps" out there and see what was going on. For the most part they all did similar things. Some were more intense. Some seemed like a social hour. And some just seemed as though the class was leading the instructor not the other way around.  I knew I needed to be different. I went out and bought 40 kettlebells , 40 resistance bands, and 40 pushup handles. It was a gamble. Every other month I would add something new. Eventually I couldn't just bring everything. I brought one item a day . On friday I started doing stations of 15-30 different exercises.  I also included days of nothing but military calisthenics . Now our list of supplies has grown to

 kettlebells

dumbells

weighted bars

resistance bands

pushup handle

plyometric ladders

plyometric benches

hurdles

sandbags

medicine balls

kickboxing shields

cones

gymnastic rings

I'm sure as the months pass that list will increase. I've constantly tried to think outside my own comfort zone.  I want to learn new things. At the same time I don't want to find myself doing the same workout everyday. One of my frequently asked about workouts is "the Deck Of Cards" so check it out.

Take a deck of cards

Diamonds:   pushups

Spades     :    curls(resistance bands)

Hearts     :    squats(with med ball)

clubs        :    crunches

as you draw from the shuffled deck  do 4 counts of each number. Jacks are 15 Queens are 20 Kings are 25 and an Ace is 30. A Joker is a minute of mountain climbers. Go through the whole deck.

Good luck!