Charity Bootcamp Photo Update

August 19th, 2010

Check out this great photo of Renee Callinan and Marilyn Clement, two of our Saturday bootcampers, and their children, dropping off all of the school supplies to one of the prinicpals at Rock Rest Elementary. This is awesome! Thank you again to everyone who participated. I will be at the Trail Run Challenge this weekend to benefit The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society at the US Nat. Whitewater Center. Check back soon for more charity bootcamp announcements.

Rea View Elementary Charity Bootcamp is a Big Success!

August 15th, 2010

We had 22 athletes survive the band flexibility program then two creative suicides with push-ups, Y-squats, and band rows.  Next,  I threw 10 body-weight challenges at them followed by 2 minutes of ab challenges.  Overall, it was a huge success as we raised about 3 big bins of school supplies for Rock Rest Elementary.  Check out this video where we transform Rea View’s parking lot into a killer fitness center!

Rhymer Fitness Starting Saturday Charity Bootcamps

July 21st, 2010

Do you ever have an idea that is so obvious that it “slaps you upside the head” when it comes to you?

That happened to me last week.

Over the last year, we have had a Saturday bootcamp in Matthews.  We have great people attending, but I must admit that I also love sleeping in and being with my family on Saturday mornings.  I have not done a lot to promote this bootcamp and was considering closing it down.

Driving home from another bootcamp, I started thinking, “What would get me really jazzed up to get up on Saturday and really grow that bootcamp.”

The highlights of my year immediately came to mind.  We had 3 charity bootcamps around Halloween, Thanksgiving and New Years (Workout Worldwide).

That was the “slap” I needed!  Let’s turn Saturday morning into charity bootcamp time!

But I mean really grass roots, “in the trenches”, kind of charity work.  The plan is to contact local charities with pressing needs and find out how we can help immediately.  Whether it is food, clothing, school supplies, or whatever, I want this to make an immediate impact for groups that are on the front lines of giving and helping.

That’s why we are not taking cash donations.  I battled with this one.  Here’s my thought.  Writing a check or grabbing some cash before heading out to bootcamp is easy.  I don’t want to take the easy road.  After all, the workout won’t be easy.  I want people who will put forth a little bit of effort to gather and purchase the items these groups will need.  If the effort is there before you show up to train, then you will have more of an attitude of giving your best in the training session.

Here are the details of this week’s Rhymer Fitness Charity Bootcamp:

Where: High Hill Court Cul-de-sac (Google Map here)
When: This Saturday July 24 at 8:00am
What: Rhymer Fitness Fat-Burning Bootcamp
Cost: School Supplies (See below)

Our first charity bootcamp will go to support Sedgefield Elementary.  Click this link that will take you to their supply list.  Purchase as much stuff that you would like to donate to that elementary school.  We know some of the kids that attend this school and I can assure you that there are many needs and it will be appreciated.

Also, if you show up with a $1 notebook, you can workout, but I will make fun of you and your session will be harder than everyone else.  This is for kids!  Give accordingly and dedicate your workout to them!

After school supply season is over, we will move onto other causes.  If you have a need, let me know.

Post this on your Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Plaxo, and other social networks!

Live with Strength,

Jason

10 Things I’ve Learned in 10 Years as a Fitness Coach

June 15th, 2010

Rhymer Fitness, Inc. turned 10 on June 3! It is crazy to think that a children’s theater actor/director with an Economics degree could fool train clients of all ages for 10 years!

I have learned many valuable life, business, and fitness lessons along the way. Here are 10 things that come to mind:

1) I like fitness. I love people. Fitness has been the best medium for me to try and make a difference in as many lives as possible. When I am old and grayer (already started), I won’t think back on all of the great fitness programs I planned or exercises I had people do. No! I will think about all the smiles, hugs, laughs, and times we spent “sweating in the trenches” together. As we are starting to expand our business, I am telling new trainers that you are in the people business, not the fitness business. At least, that’s how we run things.

2) Growing your business is about growing your relationships. Every client, bootcamp, corporate wellness opportunity, etc, stemmed from a great relationship. Every time I have spent money on advertising, I have seen almost no return. When I reach out to our best clients about more training opportunities, our needs have been met. I could do more to grow these relationships and that will definitely be a focus as I start decade #2.

3) Less is more. Most people are stressed, malnourished, and sleep-deprived. It has taken me 10 years to learn that backing off, taking a deep breath, and doing cleaner reps with less weight, will produce better results than pushing through with lousy form and too much weight.

4) True strength has less to do with muscles than you think. Muscles are basically fancy rubber bands. They get shorter and longer, but that is about it. All of that movement is determined by how mobile the joint is that they attach to. Poor joint mobility equals poor muscle performance. 10 years ago, I thought that if I could just get everyone stronger, all of their fitness and weight loss goals would be met. That is still a big part of what we do, but now I believe strength can’t compromise mobility, pain levels, sleep patterns, endurance, and other specific characteristics for each client.

5) Most underrated body part that no one trains…feet. Thank you Z-Health (www.zhealth.net)! Almost every week, I have a back, hip, ankle, shoulder, etc. issue with a client that is “fixed” by addressing the joints of the feet. Last month, I took 100 basketball players through a simple heel-foot joint movement. You should have heard the “ahhhs” in the room as a great majority of them increased their toe-touch by this one simple move.

6) Better to be creative than smart. Look, the body pushes, pulls, and rotates in 3 planes of movement. That’s it. (Ok, that is actually alot, but play along with me…) My clients don’t want me to tell them about the origin and insertion point of their vastus medialis. But they love it when we play ScrABble (AB- core game with Scrabble tiles) or it’s their birthday and I have an Exercise Buffet and I let them pick their favorite exercises off the menu. The body is amazing…make each training session a fun game or challenge rather than a nerdy, boring “workout”.

7) Chameleon Personal Training - I don’t mean this to sound insincere or like I have a multiple personality disorder, but I love the idea that for one client I need to be a good teacher. For the next client or group, maybe I need to be funny and lighten the mood a little. For the next client or group, maybe I need to shutup and let them vent about their life. Reading your clients and others in your life and understanding how they communicate and want to be led is the true art of this business and I think I do a good job of it, but will continue to get better.

8- Keep learning - Literally, just a few hours ago, Bobby and I were talking about new stuff we had been exploring with clients. He told me about this very scientific and detailed training program and I showed him a lower body nerve glide. He is 5 years into his career and I obviously have 10, but we were both learning from each other and sharing cool things about the body that will make a difference in our clients. When dealing with the human body, the most amazing machine every created, it is best to check your ego at the door and have an attitude that you will be a life-long student.

9) Knowing What To Do vs. Doing What You Know - Another way of saying this is don’t let “paralysis by analysis” keep you from getting results. Just do what you know, every day or every other day, and don’t worry about knowing all of the great programs and worrying if you are doing the perfect thing. See #8 above…you will never know it all, so just do what you know and when the results stop, do something different. Taking action on a few simple healthy things is better than trying to research and plan the perfect program for you to do every second of the day. Eliminate your 3 worst eating habits now! Set a timer for 15 minutes and do as many squats, push-ups, and jumping jacks that you can. Bam! Go! Stop thinking too much and just do it!

10) “All the Body, All the Time” - This is a basic principle from Z-Health that says that any weak or damaged joint could make any other part of the body weak or hurt. But in the broader sense, this concept has taught me a lot over the past 10 years. Your body is made up of several parts…the physical, the spiritual, the social, the mental, just to name a few. When one of these parts is “hurting”, any other part of the body will be affected. I have an article that explores this further at Faith & Fitness Magazine called “Train to Live, Don’t Live to Train.” Basically, I love it when I have helped clients positively affect the physical part of what makes them whole, and it produces a huge change socially, mentally, or spiritually. I could write a book just about this idea…hopefully you will let me explore it with you for another 10 years.

Live with Strength,
Jason

Cheerleading Bootcamps Coming to Cuthbertson High School

April 29th, 2010

 Parents and Cheerleaders - Thanks for attending the meeting last night with Lisa Roberts!  Here is the information you need to be a part of our program.

 

Cheerleading Bootcamps at Cuthbertson High School!

·      Experience a cutting-edge group training session focused on strength, mobility,  cardio-vascular health, and fat loss.

·      In 45 minutes you will be stronger, more flexible, and learn how to coordinate your body for all cheerleading skills!

·      Explore strength challenges with bodyweight, kettlebells, bands, dumbbells and more!

                   

Bootcamps will be Monday and Wednesday at 6:30pm

From June 14 to July 14

Cost is only $100 for the whole summer! That’s only $10 per bootcamp!  Private one-on-one clients pay $100/session.  You’re getting 10 times the value and we guarantee the results!

 Consent forms and checks made payable to Rhymer Fitness can be  mailed to:

2340 Hamilton Mill Road

Charlotte, NC 28270

 

Consent forms can be found at:

http://www.rhymerfitness.com/Forms/RF_consentform.pdf

 

View a sample of one of our bootcamps below:

 

Rhymer Fitness Ladies Bootcamp - 30/30 Mayhem and Band Chaos

April 5th, 2010

Mayhem and Chaos…could that be fun and productive?  Check it out for yourself:

Live with Strength!
Jason

1 Rule To Optimize Your Workout

March 11th, 2010

Did you know that March is National Nutrition Month? Yup, it sure is.

So I figured this would be a great time to share this killer article with you. It’s from my friends and partners over at Prograde Nutrition.

Bottom line: Recent research shows any strength training workout should be followed by proper post-workout nutrition.

It’s all right here ==> http://rhymerfitness.getprograde.com/recovery-research.html

Live With Strength,

Jason

PS - I’m not kidding around. Do NOT waste your workout by fueling your body with junk afterward. Find out what the RESEARCH shows: http://rhymerfitness.getprograde.com/recovery-research.html

10 in ‘10: Top 10 Resistance Exercises of All Time

January 31st, 2010

I will use the snow day to launch a great series for the new year.  Since our 9 in ‘09 series was such a success (uh, huh?), 2010 is a great year for lists.  People love Top 10 lists so throughout this year we will explore with our own lists of things we have learned as coaches for the past 10 years (yep, this is our 10th anniversary, so stay tuned for that celebration!).

So here we go…I’m going to jump in with both feet to try and tackle the impossible…Top 10 Exercises of All Time!  Just that title makes me laugh, because we know that this list is totally dependent on who you ask and what the training goals are, but let’s have fun and I look forward to your disagreements, so post away!

10. Dip - It’s still mind boggling that the bench presses are full in gyms while the dip bar collects dust.  This one is not made for every shoulder, but it still cracked the top 10 because of all the muscles involved with this challenging move.

9. Plank - It’s a little lame that I have a core exercise in my Top 10, but with everyone “core crazy” these days, I thought I should include the most versatile exercise for focusing on the middle.  Stop doing crunches immediately and explore with the endless ways to “plank it”.

8. Truck (or other object) Push - Great full body move that always jacks my legs up in a very unique way.  I haven’t found another exercise like it that challenges legs and abs simultaneously.

(That’s Dave Tate pushing a Prowler…great tool that I recommend you buy at www.elitefts.com)

7. Full-Body Pull - Pulling activities always rank higher for me than pushing exercises because most athletes I have worked with need more balance through the shoulder and involvement of the scapulae.  This is just a big row that requires you to “root” into the ground and recruit the entire posterior chain from head to toe.  We do this in our boot camps with thick bands, but sleds are great too.

6. Turkish Get-up - My favorite exercise on the list, but it’s a little too complex to get higher than 6 on my list.  Here I am on Fox News Rising performing TGU’s with a bottle of detergent (what?):

5. Push-up - #1 pushing upper body exercise with unlimited variations!

4. Pull-up - #1 upper body pulling exercise and very possible for everyone to do.  Add a band or change the angle of the pull for almost as many variations as the push-up. 

3. Farmer’s Walk - The oldest exercise on the list…in fact, it’s just something man has been doing way before the word “exercise” existed.  Picking up something (weights, sandbags, kettlebells, rocks, etc.) and carrying it for distance various ways (overhead, cradled in arms, suitcase style, etc.) is very underrated in training. 

2. Lunge - Almost #1, the lunge becomes more useful in my training as time goes on and the athletes I train do more and more sitting.  It’s great for the non-working leg to get into extension. It has tons of carry-over for athletes in terms of first step quickness and jumping ability.  There is also a great cardio-vascular effect when you combine it with pressing or other upper body challenges.  Also, there are many variations including the under-utilized lateral lunge.

1.  Squat - It is such a foundational, primal movement that works over 250 muscles in the body.  It is still the “King” of all exercises (as stated by the International Sports Science Association years ago) and the most basic movement required for healthy hips, low back, knees, and ankles.  My 11 month old daughter reminds me of how we are designed to squat.  She is standing for short spells and cruises around low tables, but when she gets tired, she drops into a perfect squat with a long spine position.  Beautiful!

Workout Worldwide!

December 30th, 2009

Here is the press release for our biggest charity bootcamp ever.  If your new year’s resolutions include setting a Guinness record, getting in shape, and giving to a great cause, keep reading…

Charlotte Fitness Company Looks to Set Guinness World Record for Largest International Simultaneous Fitness Boot Camp Workout

American Heart Association to Benefit from Fun Fitness Event

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Jason Rhymer, 704-661-5301

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – It’s no secret that the month of January is the time of year when people are most motivated to engage in an intensive exercise regimen to improve their overall health, performance, and body composition.

To capture that momentum, Rhymer Fitness will serve as a local host for the first ever Workout Worldwide on Saturday, January 9, 2010 at 11 am at Carolina Courts in Indian Trail, NC. The event looks to set the Guinness world record for the “largest international simultaneous fitness boot camp workout” with all net proceeds benefiting the American Heart Association. To pre-register and learn more about this event, please visit http://www.workoutworldwide.org/locations/nc-cha, or email Jason Rhymer- Jason@rhymerfitness.com.

“Starting with Thanksgiving and ending with the countdown to the New Year, most people tend to gain five to 10 pounds due to a daily 500-1,000 calorie surplus,” Jason Rhymer, president of Rhymer Fitness said. “This stems from a lack of exercise and/or an increase in food intake due to the stresses and celebrations of the Holiday season.”

Workout Worldwide seeks to help those who fell off the wagon during the holidays get back on track in 2010. The workout will feature a time and space-efficient total body weight loss workout to provide a jump-start to one’s New Year fitness resolutions- a fitness program catering to busy professionals that can easily be continued in the days, weeks, and months to come. There will be 50 other boot camps around the world raising money for their local heart foundations at the same time on January 9.

“Besides having the opportunity to be a part of a world record event, there are lots of other cool prizes that will be provided to attendees including trial memberships to our local fitness boot camps, and discounts for various fitness equipment and nutritional supplements,” Rhymer said. “If you love fitness, you’d be crazy not to attend.”

Local businesses who make a $500 donation will earn their employees free access to the event in their area and will also receive a complimentary fitness lunch and learn and be put into a raffle to win free corporate fitness boot camp training sessions on-site at their facility.

About Rhymer Fitness

Rhymer Fitness offers personal training, adult and youth bootcamps, and corporate fitness programs in Charlotte, North Carolina. Drawing on science, faith and the creativity of our trainers’ personal and fitness backgrounds, we meet the physical, spiritual and social needs of our clients. Jason Rhymer is a Z-Health Level 4 Trainer, and Rhymer Fitness has been recognized as one of the top 50 fitness boot camp programs in the world.

12 Days of Fitness

December 25th, 2009

“On the First Day of Fitness, my trainer said to me:  Do a burpee!

On the Second Day of Fitness, my trainer said to me: 2 Turkish Get-ups and one burpee!

On the Third Day of Fitness, my trainer said to me: 3 Fireman pulls, 2 Turkish Get-ups, and one burpee!”

Are you singing the tune?  I hope so!  Merry Christmas to everyone!  This is a deceivingly tough bootcamp workout I have been doing with clients that only takes a kettlebell or dumbbell and a few bands.

To save time and space, here are the rest of the “days”:

4th Day = Pistols

5th Day = Push-ups

6th Day = Lunges (3 with each leg)

7th Day = Band or Bell shoulder press

8th Day = Kettlebell swings

9th Day = Jumping Jacks

10th Day = One-arm rows (5 each side)

11th Day = RDLs

12th Day = 12 biceps + 12 triceps

By the way, Fireman pulls are with 3 thick bands, hand-over-hand pulling and the Turkish Get-ups are just one on each side.

Have fun with this and let me know what you think!

Merry Christmas!

Jason