play time

There is time for play. Unless you’re the Grinch and have lost your way.

Return to play

Most trainers only show themselves at the gym doing incredible feats of strength, acting like superheroes, and showing their abs. Rarely do you see them doing yard work or gardening, snowboarding, tennis, or any activity that looks like play or actual work.

I feel like a kid who wants to play every day, even in adulthood. I can play many sports. Now I want to get as many adults as possible back into playing. Have you lost your ability to play because you don't do anything with your body yet want to go out and golf better(add in your activity)? Do you want to go out and play better with your kids but need to do something about it? Does it sound like you?

You don't always need to be at the gym to be healthy. Playing should become an option for a healthy lifestyle. Can we have a healthy state of both body and mind through the act of play? I challenge you to try it.

When I decided to be an online coach, I thought long and hard about how I wanted to teach you to be healthy. As I sat around and thought about all the things I had accomplished physically, some of the most fun things I have done in my life have been at play times. Now as an adult, I get it. We don't have any time for play. When I was trying to think of my logo and brand, I thought about how I wanted to project myself as being the coach or Trainer for you, and so I was watching wedding crashers, and in the earlier scenes, they mentioned this rule 76. No excuses. Play like a champion. And I thought that was perfect. I want no excuses. I want to PLAY like a champion, not because I want to train like a champion—more emphasis on playing.

Adults want to need to play!

Now more than ever, we watch our kids grow up and play the sports we used to. You probably sit around talking about your old sports life and reliving the glory days. Now you live vicariously through your kids. Boring. It would be best if you were playing too. 

When kids play, do you notice that they shout, scream, laugh, and run around? It is generally quite silly, and they don't care how they look when having fun. I have been having the most fun times when I'm playing. When I'm golfing, when I'm skateboarding, when I'm snowboarding when I'm playing tennis. Don't you think you're missing out on having those moments of pure bliss again, not caring about work or agendas? You owe it to yourself to get your body back into playing again.

I know what you're thinking. I would love to get back out there and start snowboarding, skateboarding, and doing all these things again, but I will probably get hurt trying these things. You know, I hear this a lot from the adults that I train. This emphasis is on getting injured. You don't have to go out there and do the most challenging things that Sport offers. Most of your fun is learning how to do the Sport or activity you're trying. When I showed my clients all the videos or pictures of me skateboarding and snowboarding, they were like, wow, how do you not fall, and how do you not get hurt? I tell them I do get hurt, and I do fall. I train at the gym, so my body is ready and prepared to do these activities and take the abuse that comes with it. You're probably telling yourself you live a life as a trainer, so your body is ready. You're correct, and it can be challenging. Sometimes I don't want to exercise. I do it anyway because I never want to stop playing.

You grow old when you don’t play.

I want to train you to get back out there playing. I will take you through 9 months of training to prepare you for playing. I will take you through some motion patterns to get your tendons, ligaments, and muscles all working again, unlock yourself, and prepare for the state of play. You can't just jump right in when returning to the state of play. It will take time for your body to get ready to go again. How are you going to get back into the state of play? My three-phase program starts with mobility, flexibility, and walking. The second phase is bodyweight movement patterns and band training. The third phase is when you start working with weights. (dumbbells, kettlebells, and barbells) using the same exercise patterns as we did in Phase 2. As I said earlier, it takes nine months to complete. I don't believe in a 30, 60, or 90-day program. They don't promote good foundations.

I believe in a 90-year program. It is the foundation you are building, and good foundations take time.

I wanted to show you a realistic view of what a Trainer should look like and what a Trainer should be doing. That is why I picture myself doing so much playing, yard work, and not so much heroic workouts, and I don't take off my shirt to show you what my body looks like because I'm more concerned with how I'm going to be able to do things when I get into my 80s and 90s. I wanted you guys to see that there is a realistic body type that's attainable, manageable, and looks nothing like a superhero. When you train in the gym, you exercise for play. Muscles are not just for show. They're for going out, doing yard work, going up on your roof, cleaning the gutters, working on your car, or repairing your home. The gym is for practice and getting ready for those things.

Playing is one of the most mentally healthy options you can have, and unfortunately, most adults nowadays don't get enough fun or play. We are all bound to work, kids, families, and other things on the agenda that take away our time for fun. It's time that we start scheduling fun and play. If we balance our life and start planning a small amount of time to have fun, we will find that play will become natural. I won't spit off all these articles on how science proves me correct. There are people in this world that explain it way better than I do. Exercising, playing, and eating healthy make for a healthy mind and body. If you don't believe me, read the literature, watch YouTube. The best trainers and coaches are saying the same thing. The gym isn't the only thing to help keep the body and mind healthy.

To give you an example of playing that I do in the summertime or closer to the summertime. I'll end up skateboarding a lot more. I have to work still, so I plan out about an hour and a half twice weekly. Now you may say that this is not a lot of time, or some of you may say this is a hell of a lot of time. Either way, I'm trying to make just a tiny window of time so that I can have fun, and it helps me mentally and also stay healthy. In the winter, I usually go snowboarding on Saturdays. It's just one day a week, so I worked hard during the week, and now, on Saturday, I go up and have no worries about anything else. That's right, I don't spend much time having a ton of fun, but I spent a little bit of time having a ton of fun, and I'd rather have a little bit of time doing it than none at all.

I don't hear a lot of other trainers talking about returning to play. Most are concerned with keeping their body fat at a bare minimum or making more muscle, or how their program will transform you, and nobody's talking about playing anymore. Why is this? Can we not be childlike at times? I know we can, and I want to encourage this as much as possible. When, as adults, did we decide that playing was no longer a good thing?

Play is not just for children. Playing is for adults. If this sounds like you, and you want to get back to having fun and laughing and squealing like a little kid, these workouts are for you. It's building a foundation so you can have fun and be safe and more confident whenever the moment presents itself.