Views & Reviews...

Greetings,
Lately I've purchased some items that may be of interest for some. One was the KB Training for Fitness & Sport DVD, which came with 5 audio CD interviews of various KB training experts, too. I found the video to be chock-full of exercises/drills to do, so if you are really into KB training and wanted a great selection of new drills to do, this is a decent DVD to get. I got it through KettlebellAthletics.com, while they were having a short-term sale on it.

For my home gym, I also purchased a set of steel, adjustable sawhorses at Lowe's, for around $40 total. They adjusted from 25" to 40", making them ideal for me when I put my weight set downstairs in my home, come wintertime. Each can handle 1200 lbs, so I should be safe enough with them, I'd think. If you have a home gym setup like I do, with a rack, bench, & free weights, these might be a great addition to get if you want another 'stand' for your weights, such as a place to set the bar while doing hang cleans/snatches.

As far as my recent views on things in the fitness/sports training field...

(Caution: You're entering a no-spin zone...)

Trainer Leigh Peele just did a review of John Izzo's "Eye of the Trainer" DVD, and I think she said it best, and I quote here from Izzo's blog-posted review of hers:

"The Fitness Industry online is filled with a lot of the "I shot your grandma now you shoot mine" way of thinking. *No grandmas have to the best of my knowledge actually been shot*. That doesn't mean that some of these trainers aren't amazing trainers, but it does means that even the great trainers end up sometimes going along with the "ok" of a product even when they don't support it or add another notch never even watched it or read it. "

What she's talking about here is the constant 'I'll scratch your back if you scratch mine' routine that takes place between a bunch of trainers who have established a unique presence online & in high profile fitness magazines. Trainer A will make a product, and ask Trainer B, C, D, & E for 'testimonials' to fill up his/her webpage with promotional fluff for their sales page of Trainer A's product.

It took me a long while, but I finally grew sick & tired of seeing this attempt at marketing. Some call it 'networking', I call it scamming, as it should be. Some of these trainers have admitted in their blogs how they never really do ACTUAL personal training any more, but say in their 'testimonials' how 'effective' Trainer A's program/training is that's outlined in the product. Or they will just inflate ego's and say how "Trainer A is a rising star in the fitness field", over & over, in so many words.

Recently I just tried joining a personal trainer site that's membership based, one that I joined a long time ago, and quit shortly after "The Secret" book & DVD came out. It seemed everyone was jumping on The Secret's bandwagon. As a continually educating Catholic on my Catholic faith, I was seeing how The Secret was part of the New Age movement, and how the New Age movement can go against the Catholic faith, in oh-so-subtle ways. So, I quit the site.

I figured I'd give them a 2nd chance, after I read how they went with new 'faculty' there. I tried joining, and found out within less than a day that my membership was 'voided', due to my previous unhappiness with the site & one of its faculty members.

I guess they only wanted back-scratchers as members of the site?

An article of mine, found on StandApartFitness.com, entitled "The Disease of Personal Training", shows you what I'm talking about, when I discuss the disdain that I have with some people in the field.

You see, I see the profession as a field of SERVICE for the client, not 'abundance' for the trainer. Some trainers see the field as a way to make instant moolah. I don't see it that way. Perhaps that's why I'm out of it in a full-time manner, and just enjoy doing part-time work in it now as a hobby job of mine at night.

I could go on & on here, on how some parts of the fitness industry is trying to rip away at a theological model of the human body, but that's a really deep conversation to go into, and is not suited for this blog. After listening to an audio CD entitled "Theology of the Body" by Fr. Donald Calloway, which is a Catholic CD, I discovered more errors in the fitness field and why there is such a huge problem with trainers leaving it.

If you are interested in my take on that, you can privately email me at rkarboviak@speeddialcoach.com.

On a final note, I will be starting up some fitness Boot Camps soon for Finley, ND residents. Keep an eye on the blog & the site for when I do!
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Coach Rick Karboviak
http://speeddialcoach.com
http://asaptrainingsystem.com