Faith only gets strong when tested

Faith is like a muscle, it needs to be put under stress before it can be strong!

As the team at Genesis Gym help more clients, we get approached more to promote other people’s products because we have a (hopefully!) loyal client base who will buy stuff from us.

There are two conditions under which I will gladly promote a product to my personal training and fitness boot camp clients. So those of you who want me do to so, read this first.

1. It must solve a problem with the best possible solution available in the world today
2. It must be a good deal for Genesis clients.

If I promoted every product that came along (on average I get approached about 2-3 times per month by different suppliers) we could probably make a few thousand extra dollars each month.

But would this “easy” be worth it? I don’t believe so.

Most of these products are health based but they do not meet the requirements I have listed above.

This is important to me because this is being faithful to what Genesis Gym is.

Genesis Gym is a place where only the best methods and products in the world are allowed to be used.

Try to ask me to promote a Multi Level Marketing product – Flat “No” from me.

Some MLM’s have decent products, but they are overpriced and are a BAD deal for our clients. Simply because of the commission structure where the end user pays a large percentage of the product price into the many levels of commissions to sales people. (Yes MLM people are sales people, not business people so don’t be fooled when they offer your a business opprtunity).

Try to ask me to promote a non-world class product – Flat “No” again!

I have been asked to promote supplement brands, fitness bands (and other bits of fitness equipment) as well as some herbal health stuff.

Again, some of it may be good, but its not the best that you can get, and so you won’t find it in our products for sale corner.

Why so serious?

In the history of Genesis Gym, I have made mistakes in purchasing equipment and services before. These “less than best” products have ALWAYS had to be replaced eventually. These mistakes have cost us thousands of dollars in wasted money.

My learning point is to always get the best stuff. You will never feel like replacing or upgrading it.

What I think about constantly is: “If I had 100 times the money, could I get something better?”

And I want to have “No” as the answer.

This is also the way I hope our personal training and fitness bootcamp clients think of Genesis Gym.

In Singapore, even if they had 100 times the money, could they get coaching or information that is better? Equipment that is better? A training environment that is better?

My team and I work all the time to make sure that answer is “NO”.

After all, clients are trusting us with their bodies and their health that is also a kind of faith!

They should be provided with the best available care that can possibly be offered.

Part of life is to always keep moving forward. And in the fitness business like ours, that means meeting the needs of people better. This year, we did not have the manpower to open as many group classes as we would have liked.

This is because I don’t just hire people to fit more customers into our programs. I try my best to make sure that anybody who joins the Genesis team has the technical skill, and the character that we want in a coach.

After all, fitness services require a relationship built on trust between client and coach.

However I am happy to say that the Genesis coaching team has 2 new members. Allison and Melvyn. This allows us to open new group training programs starting in 2012.

These are the new programs.

1. Lunch Time Lean Body Fitness Bootcamp

2. Ladies Only Bootcamp in the afternoon

3. Mass Building bootcamp, in the early evening

Below is the full timetable for 2012 group training programs. While we reserve the right to make changes, we will try to stick to the plan and make it a great experience for our clients.

Genesis Gym Signapore - Group Training Schedule

My Classmates At Biomedical Dry Needling Course Oslo, Instructors Peter And Mark in the center

I just got back from a dry needling course in Norway. Here are some observations.

• Bio-medical Dry needling is not like regular acupuncture with the “chi” and meridian system. The only thing in common is that they both use acupuncture needles.
• I need to continue to improve my knowledge of anatomy. A lot of the targets for the needles are not just muscles, but nerves. And we need to know exactly where nerves come closer to the skin so they can be targeted with the needles.
• Acupuncture helps other methods of treatment to improve their results. The reason for this is that acupuncture boosts the overall healing ability of the bod.
• The instructors for this course were excellent therapists. Dr Peter Lundgren and Mark Scappaticci know their stuff. I was especially impressed with their palpation skills. They can feel with their hands exactly what is going on under the skin.
• As usual I was the only Asian at these kind of courses… But one thing I noticed about my fellow participants is how young they were. Average age 27 perhaps? They are way ahead of any therapists I have seen in Singapore at that age.
• I believe this has something to do with the education system in the Nordic countries where students are given a chance to do what they are passionate about, and if they choose wrongly, there is hardly any penalty to go back and start again with something you love. All the participants are doing what they love in the health care business, and do their very best to excel at it resulting in high levels of knowledge at a younger age.
• All of them are fit people. No fat physios or therapists here. Heavy dead lifts and Olympic weightlifting are common activities among the group.

Part of the vision for my team and I at Genesis, is that we want Genesis Gym to be the be the place that people in Asia can turn to for the best quality, cutting edge health services in the areas of fitness, rehabilitation and athletic performance. If you have a need, we want to be able to help you.

So far we have done well and have helped thousands of clients through our first 5 years in operation.

But there is much to change and improve on in the fitness industry.

• There is currently too much focus on “quick fixes” that can cause long term damage. Such as diet pills which help you “slim down” but lead to issues like adrenal stress and under-absorption of nutrients.
• There are also “quick-sell” fads like useless (and that’s a kind word) equipment that helps you “vibrate” your way to a great physique. If it were that easy why are there so few strong and healthy people around?
• And there are whole businesses built around the most profitable business model that can operate with the lowest skilled employees, rather than deciding to put the client first and helping them get results.

These problems are a huge part of why I started Genesis in the first place. To provide the right information to clients and readers of my blog and website.

I fully intend to “change the world” and make it a better place. And my team and I have begun this change in the fitness industry.

I appreciate the readers of my blog, website, XinMSN, Yahoo Singapore and Men’s Health articles.

When someone sends me an email saying:

“Wow I tried your Standing Broad Jump Technique and I finally passed my IPPT”

or

“Wow your tips really helped me sleep better and my energy is so much improved”

I get a great sense of accomplishment.

It is readers like you, who can tell good advice, from marketing hype, and who are wise and tough enough to put it into practice, that keep me striving towards our “change the world for the better” goals!

It is with this background that I have a favor to ask.

Genesis Performance Center has been nominated for Asia One’s People Choice Awards 2011 as the “Best wellness provider” in Singapore.

This award is won via the voting of the public. And it’s a sign of recognition by the media and the public.

Winning this award will be an uphill task. The competition is big and stiff!

The past winners have been the “big box”, “Globo gym”, “international franchises” with huge marketing budgets.

On the other hand, Genesis is a much smaller set-up. But this award is for the “Best Wellness Provider” not the Biggest. It’s a bit of David vs Golliath here!

We may be smaller, however I believe Genesis has a bigger mission, a broader vision, and a deeper, more positive influence in the lives of those we serve. We don’t have the massive marketing dollars, but with your help, I believe we have a chance to win.

If we can win this year, it would be a huge step forward for the fitness industry in Singapore.

• Serious training centers would become more “mainstream” and accepted.
• People getting results would start to be the focus of the health and fitness industry, rather than just making money off the insecurities of clients.
• Highly skilled and educated trainers would start to be the norm rather than the rarity.
• The entire industry would have to “step up their game” which will be of benefit to everyone.

So, I humbly ask for you support for our vision, which I welcome you to share.

Please cast your vote at the Asia One website here. And if you don’t have an account yet, please register here.

(Yes I know registration is a bit of a hassle, but it weeds out trash votes)

Thanks for Voting!

-Coach Jon & Team @ Genesis

Thanks to Google and the internet, there is more information and knowledge out there than ever before. Assuming a person is wise enough to sort out the trash from the useful stuff, there comes another problem – Too much information and knowledge.

This is certainly true in the world of health and fitness. It does not take a PhD in anything to know that veggies and unprocessed meats are better for you than potato chips and roti-prata…

The thing that separates the successful from the unsuccessful in almost any field, is the application of knowledge, rather than the knowledge itself.

My staff and I constantly try to apply correct knowledge to the programs of our personal training and fitness boot-camp clients.

For example my latest major “input” of knowledge was a great method and system of strengthening and injury treatment called Trigenics which I studied in Toronto, Canada just 6 weeks ago. I believe I’m the first Singapore based coach to do so. It was hours and hours of study both before and after – Lots of knowledge.

But just as knowing that veggies are good, while eating chips will keep you fat, knowing a great method for keeping clients healthier and stronger doesn’t help anybody till it is put into practice.

That is what I have been trying to do. Thankfully the study has paid off and within just a few weeks, we have more than two dozen clients aided by the knowledge from that course. Elbows, shoulders, knees and backs all feel better now!

You can watch Some of their rehab testimonials on our new youtube channel.

In the field of fitness, sports performance and personal training, just like in any other industry, there is what is called a “lag time” in terms of what is the best solution, and what is commonly practiced.

For example, in the field of digital photography or computer chips, the lag time is several months to one year. If a company does not put a new product using the latest developments in that industry on the market within that time frame, it is going to be doomed.

In the field of cars and airplanes it may be 3 years.

In the field of education it may be 40 years before new concepts are taught.

What about the field of sports performance and health?

Unfortunately indicators seem to show that we tend towards the 40 year slow change, rather than the 6 month fast implementation of new and better ideas.

My mentor in strength training, olympic Coach Charles Poliquin puts his guess at somewhere around 6 olympic cycles between what the top coaches use and what is taught in exercise science in most schools.

6 Olympic cycles is 6*4 years = 24 years!

Such outdated methods as… ice baths after training for recovery, low fat diets for health, and using cardio as a main method for fat burning are still widely taught.

In the “Strengths Finder 2.0″ aptitude test, one of my top attributes is “Learner” i.e. I can’t stand not knowing something, and I believe that we can learn just about anything.

This learner attribute keeps me trying to keep the “lag” in cutting edge knowledge at the Genesis Performance Center to close as possible to Zero.

My course in trigenics a month ago was truly cutting edge and the results have been awesome. The instant pain relief, flexibility and strength gains are what I would consider world class. That is why the Dr Alan Austin who teaches the system is often found at the sidelines of his Country’s Olympic teams boosting their performance just before the athletes take the field.

Watch some videos of what trigenics does. Check out our facebook page videos for what it has done for our clients.

The results are better than 20 sessions of most physiotherapy. That is what I want to see as both a coach, and as a patient. And that is what I would consider zero lag quality of results.

As new and improved methods come out, my staff and I at Genesis will keep our personal training and fitness bootcamp clients up to date!

NOTE: New does not mean better. There are plenty of things that are new, yet useless. We keep clients up to date on these time-wasters as well:)

One of my friends was recently admitted to hospital with a case of inflamed lymph nodes and tonsils. When my wife visited her, she was under advice from her colleague, to eat – get this – ice cream to heal faster.

After all, if you tonsils feel like they are on fire, a nice cold ice cream should soothe that ache!

It is a kind thought from her colleague but, sadly, makes my friend’s condition worse. Diary is a common food intolerance especially for us of Asian ethnicity. And the refined sugar, used heavily in most ice creams is also inflammatory.

So… for a patient with inflamation being a big part of their illness, a food with inflamatory properties because most of us are intolerant, and inflammatory properties because of its excess sugar content is the solution?

Just because it feels good for a few seconds while going down the throat?

I have no doubts over the good intentions of the advice. Unfortunately its wrong!

For advice to be useful the person giving it must have the following two properties.

1. They must care

2. They must know

It is almost impossible to fake love, care, and concern for the long term, so we can quite easily figure out part 1. But knowing becomes a bit of a problem especially with the vast information and mis-information on the internet. It becomes harder and harder to know whats real, or what is written by a 13 year old with no experience what-so-ever.

To help with that… I use my favorite question - “How do you know”.

“Ice cream will help your tonsils get better”

“How do you know”

“Uh I heard it somewhere”

“But how do you know?”

“I think my friend heard it from his friend whom I have heard, is a doctor”

“Is that how you know?”

“Maybe I was just watching a TV ad for ice cream while thinking of you”

“Oh, thats how you know”

“Yea, actaualy I’m just making stuff up because I wanted to share some of that ice cream with you”

See how it works:) With that question, its pretty simple to figure out whats real and whats not.

If they care but do not know, its still useless to you. And if the know but do not care, its also useless. Put them together and then that is a source of information you can trust!

My staff and I take great pains to know, and to care for our fitness bootcamp and personal training clients.

Thousands of hours of study, thousands of miles of travel, and many thousands of dollars of course fees and plane tickets. All this just to learn from the best in the world in the field of health. That is how we know.

As for care… it is impossible to fake! We would be found out in an instant.

I just got back from Rhode Island where I attended the Eleiko Strength Summit where top coaches presented some of their pet topics.

These are real coaches, with real athletes and real results. This is an important statement because in the days of the internet, the number of experts has suddenly increased exponentially, while the requirements to become an expert have exponentially decreased.

First up was Jonas Sahratian, the head strength and conditioning coach for the University of North Carolina, a constant top basketball program which has produced multiple NBA players.

I learned from him how important if is for a whole team of experts to fully prepare a champion team of athletes. For example, their star point guard Ty Lawson (now with the Denver Nuggets in the NBA) had a persistent toe injury but with the help of an osteopath and the use of pompage (french for “pumping”) as a treatment method he hardly missed any game time.

On a side note, I was honored that Jonas recognized me from my website and gym! So for our Genesis personal training and fitness bootcamp clients, you all are getting known world wide so train hard and make us look good ok!:)

Next was Sean Hayes who worked with the NFL’s Buffalo Bills and now coaches the University of Georgia. The main thing I learned from his presentation of acceleration training was a good method for teaching correct acceleration footwork.

Emil Johnson who is the Conditioning coach for Yale University showed us a great method of motivation and discipline for team sports training, his video of what he does with the Yale American Football team made me feel like going out there and lifting weights immediately.

Finally Mark Knapp presented some research on the (gasp) importance of cardio training for performance. He had valid points and his research was accurate. However the methods for achieving high levels of sports specific conditioning I feel can be better met with more sport specific interval training, and longer duration strongman training circuits.

There we have it, it was a great seminar and perhaps even more importantly, the audience was awesome. I caught up with old friends who are awesome coaches. People like Yves Nadeau, the worlds most medaled olympic speed skating coach (the guy is like national treasure, and is actually trying to promote speed skating in Singapore), Eric Falstrault who works with Olympians from Canada’s ice hockey team, and Joe Dowdell who is the “real-deal” trainer of the stars in New York. Too many more guys to mention but all people I would trust to take care of my clients if my clients traveled to their cities.

I also met the bosses of Eleiko, the Armani of barbells and weightlifting equipment. Very humble guys who have a great customer focused business plan.

Thanks to everybody who attended.

In the picture above is Coach Jonas Sahratian from UNC.

Industrial espionage and spying is something I thought we only see on TV or in big corporations. But it appears the Singapore fitness industry has some of this too!

Over the last month my staff and I have entertained several “visitors” and “potential clients” at our Gym in Singapore. We help hundreds of clients every year so we know, in general, what client’s needs are and how a new visitor usually behaves.

However these visitors were different. Their attitude was different, their questions were different, and they just don’t seem “usual”.

They pretend to be interested in our fitness bootcamp or personal training programs, but then go ahead and ask alot of questions.

There is nothing wrong with asking questions. And as our many clients can attest to, my staff and I are more than happy to answer these questions.

But these questions are not about their results, but about our client base, our business model etc. WHAT HAS THAT GOT TO DO WITH YOUR HEALTH OR RESULTS? Very odd…

(Quick note to potential spies – 3 of our staff, including myself have backgrounds in the social work/counseling/family crisis management areas. It would be madness to think you can fool us.)

But the world is so connected that soon we found out that these “visitors” are actually personal trainers from other gyms or competing fitness businesses.

Instead of being upset, we are flattered that you want to find out how we do things. It just means that we are doing things the right way, and benefiting the most people.

Even if I gave you every piece of information about our methods, you would not be able to duplicate it.

• If you had lots of money and training experience you could duplicate our equipment and setup
• If you had lots of time, money, determination and IQ you could duplicate our constantly growing education and knowledge
• If you had lots of business coaching, you could duplicate our system.

But what you will not be able to duplicate is the culture of excellence, honesty and care for members that makes all the difference because culture is not about what we do… but rather, who we are.

After all, if you are a spy, this culture is not part of you.

While I do my best to improve my staff, and my own skills as personal trainers and strength coaches, it is not that often that I get very excited about a new skill. But muscle testing does excite me. The ability to precisely customize a client’s supplements makes it cheaper for them and more effective as well!

I liken muscle testing to having a very precise sniper rifle. It will put the bullet where you point it. All that remains is to develop the skill of the firer. That would be the guy performing the muscle tests.

The rifle may be perfect, but the sniper still needs to learn how to adjust for wind conditions, gravity, the spin of the bullet, the spin of the earth! and the movement of the target. When he knows how to do these things, the combination is very accurate!

Similarly with muscle testing, the method is correct, but the practitioner’s understanding of bio-chemistry, nutrition, supplements, and his interview skills to see what potential issues the client may have will determine the eventual accuracy of the method.

A beginner shooter may hit a target at 100m, but as he understands more of the parameters that affect his shooting he can learn to hit targets at 1000m.

I am constantly working on my “other parameters” like bio-chemistry, and interview skills so that I can be more and more precise with recommendations for our personal training clients.