Client Shout-Out #1

So this will be the first of a good collection of posts giving shout-outs to clients, friends and experiences on my many years as a trainer in the greater DC area.  First, the days workout:

3x6 barbell split squats w/ 6 max verticals each set

5x5 strict press

21-15-9 of:
GHD sit ups
Ball slams 20#
KB swings 62#

Split squats were a good exercise for today, working stability along with just a different approach to classic leg strengthening.  Getting the max verticals really rounded out this week of lots of jumping!  I worked with 135#, 165# and 205# on the split squats.  Then worked with 95#, 115#, 130#, 140# and 145#.  Yeah, still weak with my pressing, next month is the big shoulder month for me.

The metcon was sneaky hard.  I finished in 4:34 and felt pretty good with that time.  Check out the video below.

So, the famous Beth!  She came to me through Balance Gym a good 3 or more years ago with a few major issues.  First off, she was very overweight and was getting fed up with that.  Second, she wanted to learn to run.  This posed a bit of a challenge seeing how Beth, to that point, could barely make it around the block at a pace slightly faster then a walk.  But she was determined, and we got to work.  Twice a week, once out on the trails and sidewalks of DC, walking, running, walking, running, running some more and so on.  The second day we would hit the weights in a chipper style workout, building strength and muscular and cardiovascular endurance.  I vividly recall those running sessions, Beth getting pissed off at me when she realized I was extending her running sections without telling her, then getting even more pissed when I would walk next to her while she ran.  But she never stopped.  And those running portions got longer and longer until soon enough, she was running the entire session.

Thanks to a challenge from her brother, Beth very quickly put her new-found hobby to good use by signing up for and finishing one of the most famous 10-milers in the world, the Army 10-Miler!  What a bad ass.

Now, a few years later, a vast collection of 10-milers and a few half marathons under belt, the 35+ pound lighter Beth Hochberg is a regular at the gym, attacking any and every workout with a smile on her face.  She bangs out push ups with ease (an exercise she wasn't able to do a single rep of when we first met), flips tires, deadlifts well over 135# with ease, throws around sandbags as a warm up and tears through burpees like they are fun little game.

Beth has been a good friend of mine since we first met, she is supportive, energetic and passionate about the things she does (work, friends, fitness and piano!).  I know I'll see her here and there when she comes out to CA to visit myself, Blair Morrison (who trained her for a good amount of time also), and a few other friends.  And it's going to be impressive to see her insane gains over the next couple months, she just keeps loosing weight like mad!

keep up the good work Beth!

Never Stop, GET FIT.

Josh Courage