When a personal training client comes to our center wanting to excel at golf, it is even more critical that we assess and design a program that meets the demands of golf.

Often, personal training clients who choose golf as their sport, fall into two categories.

1. They have never devoted time to improving their body (money and time is mostly spent looking for the latest gadget or tool that will improve their game)

OR

2. They have been doing training that does not make sense when we take a science based look at the demands of golf. (And thus, give less than optimal results)

Category 1 clients would benefit far more from improving they body rather than their club collection. Mozart would sound like a master pianist on any halfway decent piano. It is the musician that makes the magic, not the instrument. Similarly it is the body of the golfer that makes the most impact on his or her performance – not his equipment.

Category 2 golf clients may need a bit more convincing to understand why we train them like real athletes rather than circus animals.

Let me explain. There is a great influence in the golf fitness training world of (and I’m being kind here) … ineffective exercises. Their inventors do not understand strength training well and therefore come up with fancy names for their training methods. “Core” work, balance boards, unstable surface training, vibrating plates and other such contraptions are a waste of a clients time, effort and money.

On average, a client at our gym in the east of Singapore, gives us about 12 weeks to get them ready for a tournament. This is a very short time because physical training is not the same as cramming for an exam. You are limited by your body’s ability to recover from training. With such stringent requirements for delivering results, we can only afford to use the most effective methods.

Will the ineffective methods give some improvement? Of course, but the improvement is incremental compared to what real training will give you.

Here are some of the reasons that truly serious golfers will require truly serious strength training.

1. The kind of contraction required in golf is approximately equal to 90% of a maximum. That means that on a hard drive, you are firing your muscles almost as hard as they can go. You need to train this ability to fire the muscles safely with this kind of force. This means that a serious golfer has to build serious strength to maximize performance and minimize injury. After all, one of the reasons Tiger Woods dominate golf for years is… his strength. It has been reported that he has a bench press of about 300lbs (134kg). That is strong, and strong is good.

2. The energy system required in golf is almost all anaerobic alactic. In regular speak, that means that its short duration. Isn’t that what golf is? Repeated, short duration efforts. Most golf training methods use sets which last 40 or more seconds. (“Try your best to do 15 lunges on that vibrating plate”)

Average set length must match closely to the specific sport requirements for best results. A shot putter also has a short duration of effort. And you don’t see champion shot-putters doing many sets of 15. A serious golfer needs to devote time to being strong for short bursts.  And don’t worry, we work on endurance (mental mostly) with customized nutrition.

3. EMG research shows that the firing pattern of a golf swing is the same as that used in more “vigorous” sports like shot-put, olympic weightlifing, and sprinting. Top atheltes in those sports don’t waste time with the ineffective methods I mentioned earlier.

They don’t use TRX, they don’t balance on Swiss or bosu balls, they don’t use funny weight implements (i.e. golf clubs attached to a cable machine). Years of sport science research has shown these methods to be wastes of time.

Mainly because they do not replicate the correct firing patterns of the body. If you use a weighted golf club in training, it is too different for there to be a carry over effect to your regular weight clubs. Similarly a good sprinter does not use weighted devices while training his top speed sprinting technique.

What training would I do with a serious golfer?

I would dedicate 6 months almost completely to strength training. Reducing golf sessions. During this time we would asses his strength balances, so that we can work on parts that are the “weak link” in his strength.

After fixing the weak links, we would work on the muscles that are the prime movers in the golf swing. Everything on the back of the body from hamstrings, to glutes and to back muscles. As well as the lat muscles. I expect good golfers to be strong in the deadlift exercise, as well as chin-ups. Once we get to this point, there would be significant benefits to golf performance.

If he was coordinated, we would move on to variations of the Olympic lifts. The muscle firing pattern for these lifts is almost the same as that of a golf swing. These lifts “integrate” the strength that we have built in previous phases of training into a proper movement.

Finally. We reduce strength training, and re-introduce more golf training. With this new strength and power, the golfers’ old “feel” for the game would be gone. Science shows that it takes about 21 days for the athlete to get used to his or her new strength.

I have had clients who were dancers tell me: “Jonathan, your training is bad for me, I keep falling down now, I need to do more balance work, its so embarrassing”

My reply: “Great! that means the training is working! give yourself 3 weeks of dance practice, and thank me later.”

Without fail, 3 weeks later “Oh jumping and turning is so much faster and more graceful now”.

Properly applied science works in any sport. From dance, to rugby to golf, science based,  customized training programs are the reason we can guarantee our clients results.

Over the past 3 days I was in Perth, Australia for a muscle testing course taught by Bob Guiel (see more about him on that link). Muscle testing uses the body’s feedback to help determine the best choice and amount of supplements for each personal training client.

It can do alot more than that, but this course is tailored to coaches and personal trainers so it focuses on using muscle testing for helping clients get the right supplements in the right amounts. A personal training client may pay extra for a muscle testing consultation, but they will save money in the long run because they will not need to buy unnecessary supplements.

For example, if you have excess stress that leads to extra fat on your tummy (i.e. fat tummy, and less fat in other places), there is a large variety of herbs, supplements and nutrients that can help your body manage stress better.

These are well researched and you can get them at our Singapore gym. But that doesn’t mean that they are all the right one for you. In fact some may do nothing, and some may even have negative effects on you.

Why? How can this be? Didn’t you say they were “well researched”.

The thing is, that your bio-chemistry is special. There is only one of you. In research, if a good proportion of the participants gets a good benefit, the product “passes” but the size of the benefit differs between subjects of the research, and a minority may get no benefit at all!

Using muscle testing, I would test such a “stressed” client with some stress busting nutrients and herbs and find which ones gave him the BEST benefit. I would eliminate those that did him harm or had no benefit. And I would test to see if there were any underlying causes such as digestive issues or toxicity that would need to be addressed first. This precision saves clients money and time.

We can also find the right amount (e.g. 4 capsules, 3 times per day) that he needs further saving time and money while getting the best possible result.

While selling large, random amounts of supplements may seem like a “good business” – it seems to work for many companies! – I am far more interested in getting clients the best result. That helps our gym to build a business, instead of simply making a sale.

This service will be added to the health and nutrition consultations.

On a personal note, I took a private consultation with Bob and he found that I was having heavy metal toxicity (not surprising since all major cities like Singapore can’t possibly be that clean no matter how hard we try). I’m starting a heavy metal detox program tomorrow! Will keep updates on how its going.

As many of our Singapore fitness bootcamp and personal training clients know, I am against the use of long slow aerobic training for fat burning or health. A well designed personal training program can get you results without the negative side effects of excess aerobic training.

One of these negative effects is oxidative stress. Oxidative stress results in the formation of free radicals which damage your body on a cellular level and cause pre-mature aging and damage to important structures like DNA. It is also connected to toxic exposure, cancer, heart disease, diabetes, aging, liver disease, Parkinson’s disease, and smoking.

The negative results of using aerobic training for weight loss can be seen in a test for oxidative stress that we can provide for the clients at our Singapore Gym.

This test is called “8-Hydroxy-2′-deoxyguanosine” or (8-OHdG). Don’t worry about the super nerdy name.

This compound is a by-product of oxidative damage to DNA and it can be measured in urine.

Of all the clients in our Singapore fitness center who have taken this test, only 2 had elevated levels of 8-OHdG, these 2 were the ones training for endurance activities like marathons and triathlons.

In fact, their levels were way off the charts (more than 11 units when acceptable range is less than 5.3, and ideal is somewhere around 2 or 3)

Coincidence? You decide. Unless you MUST really do these activites for other reasons (like hanging out with your friends, or relaxation), they are NOT a good idea for overall health.

And if you are an endurance athlete, make sure you get huge quantities of a VARIETY of anti-oxidants like vitamin C, E, selenium, glutathione, alpha-lipoic acid, and stuff from brightly colored fruits and veggies.

Nobody does exercise to age faster… and you shouldn’t either

Although the Singapore gym that I coach at tries to stay cutting edge in terms of equipment (we have 13 new bar varieties on order!). The crazy Singapore schedule means that some of our personal training and fitness bootcamp clients need to do some home workouts due to hectic work hours.

As many of you know I believe that a set of dumbbells and a good bench are the foundation of a home gym setup. Kettlebells are cute add-ons but don’t allow the variety of exercise that dumbbells do.

After my former piece on home gyms, I got a lot of comments asking about other kinds of adjustable dumbbells. There are several kinds out there on the market. They are relatively costly but have the advantage of space saving, and they allow quicker changes of weights.

In my travels, I have seen and tried these models of adjustable dumbells. And the one that impressed me most is the“Ironmaster” brand. They are all metal (no plastic bits to break), they are quick adjustable, they can be dropped (if necessary) and they are open handed (not in a box like the power-blocks) – allowing for more variety of exercise.

Finally they have attachments that allow fat grips, and heavy weight. All for a very reasonable price.

Remember, when it comes to equipment, invest once and for all, never needing to upgrade or replace.

You can take a look at them at their website. For what they do, they are a good investment for those of you in Singapore with hectic schedules and who don’t ever plan to join a Singapore gym.

PERSONAL NOTE: The point about buying good equipment once and for all CANNOT be under-stated. I recently tried to get a local welder to build some dumbbell racks to neaten up the gym and they did NOT turn out as I expected. In the end I will need to buy some professionally made ones, wasting my time and money. Learn from my mistakes!

One of my colleagues from England (correction – Wales) visited Genesis recently. Rachel Guy has been helping people get great health and recover from injury for many years and has put alot of time and dedication into being the best she can be in her field. She trained at Genesis while she stayed in Singapore and I had the pleasure of interviewing her for my blog.

I hope her story is inspirational to both our group bootcamp fitness and individual personal training clients as well as health care professionals in Singapore.

Hi Rachel, thanks for coming on to answer some questions about what makes you so passionate about health.

Q: I heard that you started out as a physiotherapist and now do strength and conditioning as well as Active Release Technique. That is a good set of skills that takes a long time and a lot of study to acquire! What life experience(s) got you started on this path?

Hey Jon, firstly, thank you for inviting me onto your blog! ☺

Yes – you heard correctly! I worked as a physiotherapist in the UK before moving to Australia in 2006. I became more involved in strength/conditioning and nutrition/health when I realized there was a massive gap in the industry between acute injury management and end stage rehab. All bases need to be covered to get a client or athlete to excel beyond where they were pre-injury.

It was at this point I became aware that this is what I loved doing! – Being on the gym floor as a coach; as well as in a clinic as a physio and A.R.T practitioner; fixing the root of the problem and also making people stronger, leaner, healthier, and evidently happier!

I went back to University in Sydney in 2008 to study post-grad Exercise & Sports Science; continued reading strength/nutrition and health textbooks, attending courses/seminars around the world; invested in many mentors, other coaches and therapists etc so I could learn from the best. A lot of work, yes! But I have loved every minute of it!

Personally – I have fallen into this path because I had one mission and one goal! I wanted to become ridiculously strong, yet stay lean and feminine, look good in a bikini and also grow come curves – in all the right places!

Back in the day, I spent hours of mind-numbing cardio and restrictive dieting, along with suffering from constant over-use injuries, always feeling tired and run-down. It was easy to make excuses as it all seemed too hard! Rightly so! I figured there MUST be a better way….. and so personally and professionally my career began!

What I thought was impossible at the time actually isn’t! It’s about eating the right foods, training hard, resting hard, being passionate about your goal and loving life!

Q: What gives you the most satisfaction from your work?

Helping people achieve their goals and giving them the education and confidence to take control of their lives.

I love when my girls come to training and say “feel how hard my bum/arms/tummy is!” Or when they can fit into those “tight-ass” jeans; can do their first chin up or PB deadlift! I see the look on their face, the big smiles and massive confidence boost they get. It’s such a good feeling and reinforces that I truly do have the best job in the world!

Its also awesome working with guys and a totally different vibe. I enjoy fixing long-standing niggling injures, getting guys ready during pre-season rugby or a specific event/sport; or working with corporates to push their physical/mental limits. Getting thrown a shed-load of abuse after putting the boys through a savage training program; or getting thrashed by the Prowler is not entirely uncommon! All I can do is smile, walk away and know my job is done!

Q: When you were training at Genesis during your visit, I saw that you take training very seriously! What kind of competitions do you take part in?

Yes when I train I like to be focused (despite the fact I am usually a chatterbox!). I never train for more than 50-60mins but like to go hard in that time.

I have previously competed in Figure but this year I am planning on doing IFBB Bikini. It’s a much softer look. Generally though I train for health and to look half decent year round! I don’t like the concept of extreme dieting for shows. If you are a competitor I believe you should always remain within 3- 5kg of your “on-stage” weight.

I also train in MMA, although I would never compete!

Q: What does a typical week of training look like for you?

Generally it depends on my phase of training.

Currently, I train MMA 3-4x/week; lift weights 3xweek; and also do 1x sprint session and 1x Strongman session. I also enjoy running now and again. Its never a formal part of my training but a short run is good for the mind. It is ALWAYS outdoors and even better if its raining! I am very lucky that my schedule allows 10+ training sessions a week and allows enough time for adequate rest. People with very hectic schedules should aim to fit in a minimum of 3x training sessions a week.

Q: If there were 3 main mistakes that you see ladies making in their nutrition or training what would they be?

1) Nutrition – Lack of quality proteins and fats. Not eating enough “real food” i.e grass fed meats, raw nuts, eggs, vegetables and some fruits. Over-reliance on “non-food” i.e most things that come in a box or packet, fat-free options and preservative/chemical-laden products just because they are low calorie or low fat. Also consuming WAY to many grains.
2) Drinks – Not drinking anywhere near enough filtered water; consuming too many diet soft drinks and not drinking real coffee or quality red wines! (I am not counting skinny soy lattes with a sugar-free caramel shot as “real coffee”!)
3) Training – Too many women are in training to be Gerbils! Walking on a treadmill at 5km/hr will not get you very far in terms of fat loss or cardiovascular health. I think most women rely too much on cardio training equipment a) because it is easy b) most women find the weights room a scary place and c) most women do not know how to lift weights. This is why it is a great idea to have a personal trainer and become a client at Genesis if your living in Singapore! ☺
Ideally women should be lifting weights a minimum of 2-3x/week and doing some form of cardiovascular training 2-3x/week in the form of a long brisk walk, strongman training or interval training depending on their level of current conditioning.

Q: How was your experience training at Genesis and would you recommend it to others?
Genesis is by far the best gym I have trained in in Asia! The equipment is second to none, staff are knowledgeable, friendly and approachable and it has a great atmosphere. I would highly recommend it to a complete novice and an experienced gym user. Jon, you have done a great job of creating a fantastic training environment!

Thanks for your time Rachel and we welcome you to train at Genesis any time you are in Singapore! See you at the next seminar or ART course.

Thanks Coach! Can’t wait to come back and I look forward to seeing you in Australia soon! ☺

At the Genesis Performance Center, Asia’s top personal training and fitness bootcamp center, it is important that we customize nutrition, training and supplementation for each person’s needs. We use several tools to do this, and one of them is functional testing of blood, urine, stool and saliva to see exactly what is going on inside, and what nutrients or lifestyle changes need to be made for maximum results.

While regular “total body” check ups are good for general health, they don’t really tell us that much about what to do, other than “eat healthier food, and exercise more” this is a good starting point, but it is not enough for the “tough cases” of people who have trouble with weight loss even with a good diet and more weight loss exercises.

There are many other things that can go wrong, like toxicity, hormone imbalances and digestive tract problems that can slow down results. For example the typical (no health issues) overweight guy usually loses 12 kilos of weight, and about 16-18 kg of fat in 3 months. This happens all the time with the correct combination of nutrition and training.

However we have had clients who are very motivated, and hard working, get very little progress… I can’t stand clients not getting progress… and this is where functional testing plays a part.

We can find out accurately if its food allergies, gut bacteria problems or hormone issues that hold the person back. Fixing these issues also tend to resolve other things like sleep issues, constipation/loose stools, and common illnesses.

The first test that should be done is a “Comprehensive metabolic profile” which does a pretty good job of finding out what the problem is, and directing us to look out for what else needs to be done.

It is a test that can be done at home, and requires 2 finger pricks (just like those that diabetics use to measure their blood sugar at home), as well as a small urine sample.

Only 8 hours of fasting is required, so one nights sleep should do the job.

In fact, I just submitted my sample via courier today (see above pic). As my personal training and fitness boot camp clients know, I never as anybody to to anything that I have not tried myself, whether its a training program, a nutrition plan, a supplement, or a blood test!

Yesterday our first phase of major gym upgrading was completed. One thing I have learned over the past few years of operating a personal training center in Singapore, is that its always best to buy the top of the range equipment, to learn from the best mentors and to give the best results to our personal training, Singapore fitness bootcamp and health consultation clients.

That is why I choose the “Black Iron Strength” range of dumbbells for our fitness center. Can you get good results with regular dumbbells? Of course! But are the Black Iron ones better? Certainly! Here is why…

1. Fat grips - fat grip training has been shown since the strongmen of old to improve strength faster. In fact we also see that it improves the balance between right and left hand better as well, so for personal training clients with left and right imbalances, fat grips are excellent.

2. Rotating handles – the grips are not only fat, they rotate. This reduces stress on the joints while at the same time forcing them to work harder for better gains. Putting the fat, rotating grip handles together, and training with them for a while, you will find that training with regular dumbbells is “easier” since you will be used to the hard stuff, this increases your poundage with regular weights.

3. Adjustable in small increments. There are a variety of custom made add-on magnets that allow you to adjust the weight in small increments of about 1kg. Often a 2.5kg jump between dumbbells may be too much. We don’t want to be stuck with a weight that is too light, yet not able to lift the next heaviest weight at all.

4. They are solid stainless steel. This means they last just about forever. No joints, no bolts, nothing to break.

5. They look AWESOME. Check out the cool engraving on each dumbbell! Just looking at them inspires me to train. And I hope it does the same thing for our clients.

Some might think that the reason we can get the best equipment is because I am perhaps playing with “mom and dad’s” money or have a wonderful “angel investor” somewhere. While my family is a great source of security and love, massive financial resources were never part of the start-up plan!

Most importantly, one character trait that I have learned from my parents is worth more than millions of dollars of “start-up” capital. After all, it is possible to spend millions of dollars foolishly as we see with celebrities and sports stars every day in the news.

This character trait is called delayed gratification. As an example, I did not even take a salary for more than 2 years when the Genesis Performance Center was starting up. I put almost every cent back into education, equipment and coaching. I worked almost non-stop from 730am to 930pm, and I actually worried a lot about making rent payments just like any other start up business owner.

Looking back…the 2 factors that contribute greatly to the success of the Genesis Performance Center are…

1. Our clients! I thank each client that we have ever coached for their trust in us, and it is the results that we work together for which result in more testimonials, more referrals and more trust in our services.
2. Education! It is never a bad investment to invest in education. Books, videos, and especially seminars and mentor-ship programs. The top mentor ship programs cost thousands of dollars per day especially when overseas accommodation and air-fare are included. But I think of it this way… if I even help are few clients with the knowledge that I learned, the investment would have been recovered AND I would still have kept the knowledge. It’s an excellent choice!

Another key benefit of seminars is that when you meet the top people in the field you choose to study in, you learn from them how to “weed-out” bad information so that your time invested in books and videos is even better spent.

There we have it, no secrets, no magic tales. To the aspiring gym owners and personal trainers out there, if you put in 15 hour days, constant education of an additional 15 hours per week, constant personal character growth, wise spending habits, and a genuine love for your clients – every day till you die, with no short-cuts, then this will be one of the most satisfying jobs on the planet.

If not please stay away from the personal training, nutrition, health and strength and conditioning business, you make those of us who care look really bad.

Part 2 of upgrading happens later in July 2010 when the 2nd container arrives. I can’t wait:)

I rested a day, then used the infra red sauna at my personal training gym for the 2nd time. This time with the full support of antioxidant supplements as well as support for the detox pathways of my liver. If you don’t read to the end of this post, its alright. Just know that there is a HUGE benefit and positive difference in the way the detox sauna makes you feel when you body is nutritionally supported.

• Time of sauna use: 1100am – 1130am
• Temperature 50deg C
• All Infra red lamps to middle heat.
• Activity before sauna – Lower Body Training – Recovery session
• Nutrition before sauna – Full compliment of anti oxidants using both water soluble and fat soluble anti-oxidants, as well as various amino acids to support liver detox pathways.
• Activity after sauna – wait 15 mins, then cool shower
• Nutrition after sauna – More anti oxidants in the form of organic vegetable drinks as well as antioxidant supplements. More amino acids.

No nausea even though I was in there 5 minutes longer than the previous session. The only thing is that sitting inside is kind of boring so if you are planning on using it please bring something to do!… I was listening to some educational Mp3s on my iphone although I’m not sure the heat is good for electronics. Anyway the iphone is supposed to have a heat sensitive cut-off mechanism so I think its ok:)

No light headed feeling, but I was still happy to get out into more “normal” temperatures. After the shower I noticed something nice, my skin feels really smooth and clean! I mean I’m a bit too manly to notice this usually! But there was a huge difference.

The rest of the day was alot better after sauna then the first time I used it. Alot less “traumatic” on the body when we use the full range of supplements. I will certainly include the supplements with the sauna usage for my personal training and boot-camp clients. I feel it would be irresponsible as a health professional, to let people use the sauna without that support.

The sauna will be open for use from this coming Monday onwards. For Genesis Gym members and bootcamp participants the fees are $60/session or $500 for 10 sessions including supplements for before and after the sauna. For the public please make an appointment through our “contact us” page. Fees for the public are $70/session or $600 for 10 sessions inclusive of supplements.

Looking forward to helping Singapore residents get toxin free! No more exhaust fumes, or plastics in our bodies. This speeds metabolism, boosts fat loss and weight loss and increases energy levels.

NOTE: Saunas are NOT for us for ladies who are already pregnant. They are wonderful for those thinking about getting pregnant though! We want as clean an environment as possible for our babies to grow in. But we don’t want to stir up toxins while we are carrying a child.

Well… it works for any kind of workout and no matter if you are trying to lose weight, build muscle or run your opponents into the ground as a competitive athlete training for sports, just doing this one thing will improve your workouts alot.

It is so simple, anybody can do it, and if you are one of my personal training clients you MUST do it.

Write down your workouts and record what weights you used and how many reps, sets you did, as well as what tempo you used and how you felt during the workout.

One of our clients filling in his customized program with today's workout results.

As weightlifting champion Tommy Kono once said “The faintest ink is better than the best of memories”.

Each of our personal training clients has their own file where they record their workouts. These files are some of the UGLIEST files you will ever see! Sweaty, crumpled and often torn. With terribly messy handwriting (you try to write neatly after 25 sets of training). But that is what training records look like if the program is challenging enough, and done with the right level of commitment.

Chains are well known as one of the best ways to improve explosive speed when doing exercises like squats and deadlifts because they force the athlete in training to accelerate the bar to overcome the increasing resistance of the chains. The most common way to attach them to the bar is with small chains and carabiners. And the set up is seen in this older video of me squatting with chains.

While this works for sure, it is annoying, time consuming and troublesome for both our coaches and personal training clients. That is why I got a custom set of collars that makes attaching the chains alot easier and less time consuming. The chain weight can also be adjusted easily by choosing different collars with different size chains attached to them. The setup also doubles as a collar for the plates.