Phelps Fit Men
“Through strength, youth is found.”
110lb Incline Dumbbell Presses. Incline Bar Rows with 155 lbs. Hip Thrusts with 225 lbs. Lat Pulldowns with 180 lbs. Wall Squats with 100lb dumbbells….the list goes on and on. As these impressive weights are being lifted under perfect control, we often find ourselves shaking our heads in amazement at just how strong our favorite group of clients at the gym has become. Well, you may be saying to yourself, while those weights are impressive, surely every college football team has a plethora of guys who could crush those weights! Hold your horses, we are NOT talking about our college football players (sorry guys you are our 2nd favorite)! What makes these lifts so impressive is that they are coming from men who are between the ages of 45-65 years old! We have an ever growing number of dads privately training with us at the gym, and nearly all of them have the same goals, history, and story to tell. While not all of them start with the same level of strength, they all experience great results!
An enormous part of our job is to educate our clients. When consulting with prospective dads to workout with us privately, many of the conversations start very similarly. You see, most of these guys are HIGHLY successful, motivated individuals who are used to being the boss! Initially, it is very hard for some of them to relinquish control to someone else, so naturally our first meeting usually starts with them telling us what their goals are, which is fine. However, invariably, most of them will begin to tell us how they are going to get there! The issue with this is that as their trainers, it is up to us to educate them and set forth the appropriate course of action in order to meet their goals. A sample dialogue might go something like:
Prospective Dad: “I need to get leaner, lose weight, boost my metabolism and feel more mobile. Basically I want to feel younger! But I don’t want to get too bulky, I need really light weights for high reps so I can tone. And I need you to prescribe me a cardio routine to do on my own, the weight really flies off when I do my jogging.”
PTS Trainer: “Sir, those sound like great goals, but with all due respect, you need to hand over the reins to me when it comes to deciding what approach we need to take to reach your goals. Just as you are an expert in your field, I am an expert in mine, and part of you hiring me for my services it to put trust in me that I know what to do to help you reach your goals. Should you continue on with me, we will follow a progressive strength training routine that improves your cardiovascular health, muscular strength, and while not making you bulky, will increase your metabolism from a general increase in lean tissue. You say you want to feel younger? I firmly believe that strength training is the fountain of youth you have long been after. By getting stronger you will have less stress, more productivity at your job, and a metabolism that has finally woken up!”
Prospective Dad: “Oh ok, well I do that on my own already, I have a gym membership and weights in my basement, so isn’t it all the same if I just do it on my own?”
PTS Trainer: “You see, proper strength training is an art. With our supervision and guidance, you will be pushing your body to new limits, trying new things, and doing all of the above SAFELY AND EFFICIENTLY. Here you will TRAIN. When left to your own devices, well, that is just working out. Besides, how many times have you worked out in the last 4 weeks? What kind of split are you on? Are you getting stronger?”
Prospective Dad (with sheepish look): “Well, things have been busy lately so I haven’t worked out much. And I do tend to do the same thing…ok, when are you available, I would like to set up a trial workout.”
PTS Trainer: “That’s more like it! Let me grab my schedule, I am sure we can find a time convenient to your busy schedule.”
You can’t do it alone!
Studies have shown that 95% of the population hates to exercise! It is for this reason that we firmly believe that you NEED to be in here with a trainer to ensure that you are taking the proper measures to get stronger, healthier, and into great shape. We have seen what most dads do on their own, and it isn’t pretty! If there is any working out done at all, it is usually 3 sets of 10 on the bench press with the same weight you always use, some haphazard alternating db curls, zero mobility or soft tissue work, of course no leg training, and not surprisingly, no results to speak of! Yes, many of the chain gyms will give you a $10/month gym membership, and as far as we are concerned it is a steal because most dads we know either won’t use it, or won’t use it properly enough to get results.
You can't do it alone!
With our programming, all dads receive a custom designed program suited to their age, abilities, and goals. All dads go through a boatload of soft tissue, mobility, and flexibility work so that they FEEL better when they AREN’T at the gym. Our strength training uses a variety of different tools, from ropes and chains, to machines, to standard free weight movements. It is intense, fun, and most of all, rewarding. In fact, to a man, all of our dads are shocked at both the sense of accomplishment it gives them, and how good it feels to get stronger.
It always feels good to get stronger!
It’s your health.
In a nutshell, aside from the obvious strength benefits, here are just a few of the many benefits of our private training program for working dads:
- Increased bone density.
- Decreased blood pressure and improved cardiovascular health.
- Increase in lean muscle tissue, leading to an enhanced metabolism and decrease in body fat.
- Dramatic decrease in stress, improving work production as well as personal relationships.
- Improved sleep quality, as well as an Increase in energy levels throughout the day
- A general feeling of “being younger” and improved quality of life.
We have said it before, and will say it again: How much is your health worth to you? Can you put a price tag on being stronger, cardiovascularly fit and living a longer, more quality life?
Look, we know for many men, it is a tough pill to swallow to come in here and face the fact that you are not what you used to be. We get that. However ignoring the situation isn’t going to change anything. In fact, it is going to make it worse. Only YOU can do something about it, and have the courage to start something new. By ignoring your health and strength, you are allowing yourself to become old. I know of NOTHING that combats the aging process like proper strength training under a supervised setting. But don’t take it from us, here are just a few testimonials of dads who have trained with us:
“Phelps training changed my life. It is a gym that brought me from 260 to 185 in six months. My stress level went way down and my health is fantastic. The boys at Phelps always keeps it fresh with new exercises and I am in better shape at 50 then I was at 30! Thank you Phelps!”
-Jim B., 50
“I would not work out on my own because I always found something else to do with my "down" time. Matt Phelps works both the mind and the body. Through time our bodies change and our mind tells us that this "change" is part of the aging process. It is not!! I have moved inches off my waist and chin to my arms, shoulders and chest. Matt's approach is simple...If you want to socialize...go somewhere else. If you want to tone your mind and body with a nuts and bolts approach, stop by and watch us older boys burn it up.”
-Tim N., 54
“I began training with Brian Matthews at Phelps 4 months ago and have never felt better. My strength,flexibility,and cardiovascular endurance have all increased while still achieving a 20lb weight loss. Brian always makes sure the workouts are always very challenging;, they are never the same, and I have been able to schedule the workouts around my schedule. Go in and try a session and you will keep going back . Thanks again!
- Brian B., 42
“Approaching 50 years old I was in OK shape, but lived with chronic back pain. I walked into PTS two years ago and embarked on a whole new fitness concept designed around my need to reduce back pain, increase strength and become more mobile. In a nutshell I was taken out of my comfort zone and was pushed to a whole new fitness level. Whether it is a 38 mile mountain bike race, or skiing for 5-6 days in row, the results are undeniable: I have more strength, a much higher level of conditioning and most importantly, my back pain has been reduced dramatically!”
-Jim H., 51
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Attention Wrestlers…A Call to Arms!
Use a Balanced Approach and Smart Training to Unleash The Beast This Season!
How many times have you looked at an opponent and said “man, that guy is huge for his weight class!”, or how many times have you seen a tight match between two wrestlers of equal skill come down to the stronger, more conditioned wrestler? I can think of NO other sport where a proper strength training regimen will have a more significant impact on your performance than wrestling. So I am making a “call to arms” for all of you wrestlers out there, to focus on getting strong as a bull this summer and fall, and prepare yourself for the best season of your life.
Listen, I understand all too well that living in the weight room may make you look pretty buff, but if you don’t spend anytime actually wrestling and perfecting your craft, you will not taste victory as often as you should! On the flip side, if you live in the wrestling room but haven’t touched iron all summer, you will likely feel like you are wrestling a rooted tree during every match this winter. So where does this leave us? It’s all about balance my friend! Why not adapt to one of the following schedules this off season, and wrestle your best this upcoming season!
Both of these options will have you bigger, stronger, and more athletic than you have ever been, all while allowing you to maintain your wrestling conditioning, and pick up a few new moves along the way.
The key to your gains this off season will be patience! There are no short cuts, but if you strength train using 2-3x full body workouts/week with CONSISTENCY, you WILL get bigger and stronger, provided you work as hard you can, and implement proper technique in each training session. We believe in using progressive overload over time to gain muscular strength, size, and power. Progressive overload simply means adding 5-10 lbs on an exercise each training session, which leads to a great improvement over time.
Patience and Focus: Always the main ingredients in the recipe for SUCCESS!
For example, if you squat 135x20 reps right now, do you think that if you could squat 225x20, your legs would be bigger and stronger? They absolutely would be, and I can promise you getting out of that bottom position would be far easier too! Slow, steady gains over time ALWAYS yield great results, but only YOU can put that work in, and give it a 100% effort to be a champion.
What are you waiting for?
It is only May right now; we have a solid 6 months before the start of the next scholastic season. Our exercise selections are specific to the demands of the sport of wrestling, and will have you in full “beast mode” for the start of next season. It's easy to sit on the couch playing PS3, but you won't win many matches that way. Sure, you will be able to defeat some guys, but when it's crunch time in the 3rd period of a huge match, and the tank is on empty, you will wish you had worked harder in the off season. Don’t wait another second, contact us today to start your quest to get stronger, more explosive, and improve your chances of becoming a champion!
When its the third period, do you want your tank on empty?
This is a call to arms for next season…will you be ready?
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Summer Training
I remember it like it was yesterday….Ok, 13 years ago. My junior year of high school had ended, and it meant one thing: time to start….Yes, I said it…start…my summer strength program for football. A typical day went something like this: after working my summer job at the New Scotland highway department flagging, mulching and keeping the good people of the Town’s highways in tip top shape, I would go home and nap. After dreaming of Jennifer Anniston, Circa Season 4 of Friends I’d wake, hop on my mid 90s Huffy and do my “conditioning,” biking the hilly trek to our high school weight room. Upon entering this match box sized-iron palace, I would assault my biceps for an hour or two, talk about how awesome the band Bush was, and then bike the two miles back.
"Machinehead" will never get old
Revisionist history? Maybe, but not too far off from the amazing speed and strength program I was on at age 17! Standing 6’5” 180 pounds with the frame of a “inflatable arm flailing tube man,” I was burning tons of calories at work, burning more on my “conditioning” bike ride and trying to turn my 13 inch arms into maybe 13.5 inchers. I certainly wasn’t sprinting, squatting, stretching, bounding, jumping or doing any sort of skill work, but man, were my guns almost average! Fast forward to today, and many kids left to their own devices will use the same tactics I employed at their age. Is there a solution? Sure, and in my experience here are a few points we try to hammer home to our athletes:
1. Why Start in the Summer? A low level high school athlete will get almost immediate gains from a structured strength and speed program, which is great. But it is a process, and after three months in the summer where does it lead them? Maybe a little bit stronger and faster but still probably low level. A year of legit training will always trump the rushed “more volume is better” methodologies of most summer warriors.
2. Don’t Freak out over conditioning in April. Unless you literally cannot walk up and down the field, court, or bowling alley, don’t bug out and run 100 gassers every day in April and watch your strength levels plummet lower than the Mariana trench. One of the last physical traits to leave an athlete is your aerobic fitness and one of the first is your speed which leads me to…
3. Get Faster- And I’m not talking about 300 ladder drills till your blue in the face. You may get better at hopscotch but if you can’t chase down a sloth then who really cares? The movements in sprinting are specific and need to be trained as such. We use Dr. Yessis active cords to mirror patterns that are actually used in sprinting. Once the exercises are mastered, new more advanced variations are implemented….not more ladder drills.
4. Get Stronger- Bang for your buck multi-joint exercises are tried and true ways of increasing total body strength. Sports and tactical skills being equal, the stronger athlete will generally prevail over a weaker one in whatever competition they are in.
5. Be Consistent- Far too often I have run across the completely conditioned athlete who wants to go guns a blazing back into training. They talk a big game…”5 days a week, max out every day, conditioning until they are in a puddle on the floor” yada, yada, yada. Two things pop into my head: 1.) That’s asinine, and your body will probably be sore from just doing the dynamic warm-up , and 2.) Why can’t we cut the big talking and just get a little consistency, training 2-3 times a week through the regular year? Invariably the big talker ends up taking a 6 month hiatus after training for 2 weeks and the kid who is consistent makes amazing gains through that entire duration. Training is a slow and gradual investment in yourself, and there are no quick fixes.
6. Get a group to train with- "Individual commitment to a group effort - that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work." – Vince Lombardi. A bunch of like minded people training together can achieve tremendous results. It’s one of the reasons many professional athletes will seek out other pros to workout with during the off season to push, encourage and compete with each other to get to the next level. Anyone who has worked out alone can attest that it’s tough to get up on your lonesome and even the most self motivated person needs a pick me up from time to time. In groups energy levels are higher with loud music and competitive chatter bouncing off the walls, PRs are sure to be dropping on a daily basis.
7. Don’t neglect sport skills- You see this especially in football. For instance: a kid can live in the weight room add a ton of weight to their bench and squat, but still can’t pass rush past a tackling dummy. This seems to be a football only phenomenon; you generally don’t see a soccer midfielder think that because he has put 50 pounds on his bench that he is automatically going to become a more dominant soccer player. Practicing your sports skills is still of paramount importance for all athletes, and there are plenty of opportunities to go to camps with appropriate coaching throughout the school year and summer. In addition, game film is so easy to get a hold of with today’s technology that there is no reason an athlete can’t get their hands on and watch film in their free time.
This is not an exhaustive list by any means, but hopefully these few ideas can get the wheels going in motion for the summer and future training. Follow these and I’d bet my bottom dollar that any athlete who follows this will be well ahead of the competition.
Here’s where PTS can help, we are offering several sessions throughout the summer. Speed, strength mobility, jump training, quickness and a myriad of other athletic qualities will be trained. The time is now to develop yourself as an athlete and totally dominate on the field of play! Contact Brian Matthews at , and start the long road to becoming a better athlete!
-Brian Matthews, CSCS
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