Tsunami

Jonny Tsunami

“RIDE THE WAVE”

                  Picture yourself in this situation, you are amidst a grueling one-hour workout with your trainer.  You glance up at the clock on the wall and are struck with the very real fact that only 23 minutes have passed since start time.  It is in this moment, when you decide that you are either going to give up and BS through your workout, or push yourself to reach new limits. 

                  We have all been there before, and unfortunately many of us decide at that moment to take a break.  Whether it’s stopping to check your phone, to turn to a familiar face and strike up a useless conversation, make a joke to make light of the fact that you are dying, or simply to just gaze off drifting into a world of your own thoughts (usually the most damaging for any workout), it is in that moment when you decide to make the most out of your workout, or the least.

                  Mental mindset is essential for a positive workout session.  Oddly enough many of my clients come into the workout session with the wrong mindset.  They have already put themselves into the machine and hit auto pilot before they walk through the door.  That is when I slap them with something new, something that challenges them and forces them to wake the fuck up and focus.  It is also at this point in the workout that I like to motivate my clients by reiterating very basic universal facts about having a successful workout. 

The workout is symbolic for everything we experience in our everyday lives

1. “Get comfortable with being uncomfortable” Too many times I have witnessed people leaving the gym with absolutely no change occurring in the process. They drift in, get lost in their world, and drift out.  The change never occurs because the challenge is never there.  When my clients experience a new skill set or unlock a new move they tap into a deeper understanding of their self-worth.  “I didn’t believe I could do that” believe me you can, and you will from now on.  All of this stems from the simple truth, if you don’t challenge yourself you will never move further towards your goals.  Outside of injuring an actual joint, ligament, or bone, the burning sensation you feel when working out a muscle or muscles is something you need to accept, not deflect.  Pain is temporary, and pain is proof that you are alive.  Remind yourself every day to prevent yourself from becoming stagnant and comfortable with being just par.

REAL WORLD CONNECTION – When was the last time you challenged yourself in your personal life?  How did it benefit you?  What did you learn through the process?  What did you gain, what did you lose?  Chances are the risks you took in life lead to growth, and that growth made you the person you are today.

2. “Don’t think, feel” When I receive a new client I always notice that apprehension and over analysis gets in the way of their workout. They spend too much time thinking about the move or wondering if it is working, instead of listening to their own body.  Many times, we lose focus in our workout and when this happens our mind body connection drastically decreases.  If we up our focus levels during the workout our results will increase drastically.  But how does one lose focus, and more importantly how does one gain it back?  The answer is simple, leave your frustrations, fears, thoughts, inner dialogue, and ego at the door, the rest will fall into place.

REAL WORLD CONNECTION – We have always had that moment in life where we realized that we should have gone with our gut instinct.  Life is usually best traveled when we follow our intuition, and the same goes for the workout.  Don’t worry about the numbers, the time, the reps, the minuscule details.  Focus on the moment, not the rep count, but the single rep, the one individual rep that matters in that moment alone.  If you focus on nothing but the present moment your body will reach fatigue and you would have accomplished your purpose for stepping into the gym.

3. “Less breaks! More work!” While I love all of my clients and are genuinely interested in their lives and well-being, I do not let it get in the way of their workouts. Yes, it is important to vent and let your frustrations out so that it doesn’t distract your workout, but if we are talking in-between every set, there is a problem.

Talking, joking, slacking, socializing, phone checking, business calls, professional calls, are all unacceptable when training.  When you walk out of a session and feel like you only had a basic workout, ask yourself where you took breaks and how long they lasted.  I’ve seen too many trainers talking to their clients, it becomes nothing more than cheap therapy and a shoulder to cry on.  Focus on your fitness goals while you are in the gym and let’s catch up on life after the workout or during the recovery stretch.   Personally, I would prefer a phone call off hours when we can talk for real.  Oddly enough, people would rather spend that time talking during the workout then on their own time.  That’s not going to work for you, and it’s not going to work for me.

REAL WORLD CONNECTION – Idol time is never a good thing.  Either we make no use of it, or we get sucked into our world of thoughts, keep moving, keep adding new interests to your life, and don’t get caught in the drudgery of the everyday. 

                  Remember to remind yourself that your goals in life and in the gym, are the same.  They both require a routine, a personal belief system, and discipline to practice out what you preach on a daily level in some way shape or form.  Let the gym be therapy for you because it should be nothing else but that.  If your vanity is dragging you in, you are in the wrong mindset and will only get superficial return from it.  If you truly seek a place of solace, then let the gym be the place where it happens.  Don’t worry about what other people are doing in the gym, don’t stare at someone wishing you had their arms, legs, ass, or whatever else it is you desire.  Focus on your goals and your personal growth and change.  Drown out everyone and everything around you and focus on no one but yourself.  If you want to see the change, be the change.

How Fitness Saved my Life

What does fitness mean to you?  When have you looked at fitness as more than just a way to look aesthetically pleasing?  Why do people have such a hard time committing to an action plan when it comes to a fitness transformation?  All of these questions seem to always be on the forefront of my mind when I meet a new client for the first time.  After all, being a personal trainer is not really about changing someone physically (even though that is one of the outcomes), it’s about helping them reflect on their ideologies and perhaps show them that like all life battles, we must begin with our mind before we change our body.  

Sometimes our fitness journey begins because we need to see a change in the mirror.  Maybe it is because we need something to distract our minds from the everyday struggles of reality, or perhaps the most important of all, we use it as a form of therapy.  Whatever the case may be, we all have to agree that it takes effort, time, and dedication to see a change. 

For me fitness became my savior when I left teaching back in June of 2014.  Almost 10 years of my life were spent in a classroom.  For the majority of that time I absolutely loved it.  My students (many of whom I run into today and still hug with open arms) were the reason I went to work.  The classroom environment always excited me and being around young energetic minds kept me young as well.  Unfortunately after years of service I began to feel an emptiness in my soul.  The politics and nepotism in our public school system became too discouraging to me, and I decided to try another course of action.  I decided to take my money out of the pension system (which inadvertently stripped me of my years of service), as well as my 401K, and took a risk on myself and went out into the world as a fitness entrepreneur.

For two years I spent my time training for the hit TV show American Ninja Warrior, and put food on the table by being an independent personal trainer.  At night during my free time I worked on my business plan for a ninja gym I wanted to open in the Monmouth County area.  Even with all the distractions going on, I began to feel lost and without a real cause.

For those of you who have had to go through a period of time without employment, you may be very familiar with the feeling of being lost.  The professions we pursue should be the reason why we better ourselves day in and day out.  Teaching was my livelihood and once I walked away from it, I felt empty.  I didn’t want to go back to teaching, and I didn’t want to go into a profession I didn’t love.  I was restless at home, and I needed something to distract me from the mental stress I was placing on myself day in and day out.  This restlessness led to training, and the training was based around the competition.  I would train Monday through Sunday, sometimes twice or three times a day for two years.  When I wasn’t running, I was rock climbing, or kayaking, or practicing martial arts or gymnastics, or lifting, or stretching.  I busied myself day in and day out to train for a competition that I had no guarantee competing in.  

The workouts were grueling, but they distracted me from my thoughts.  My thoughts of feeling inept, useless, and incomplete would lay at the wayside when I focused in on my workouts.  The workouts gave me a reason for waking up in the morning.  The workouts kept me in shape and prevented me from sitting on the couch and feeling sorry for myself.  The workouts were the one thing that I had to rely on.  My wife and kids were obviously a cornerstone as well, but sometimes the presence of other people is not enough to battle the inner demons we feel.  As time passed, even my wife began to wonder where I was going with this crazy journey, and to be honest, at the time, I had no idea.  The gym was my only solace, a safe haven where I could escape and leave my worries behind. 

As time passed I became stronger, faster, leaner, and more agile.  I became obsessed with ninja culture and being functionally fit.  I wanted a shot on the TV show so bad that it was all I thought about.  Unfortunately I was never given the opportunity to compete, but I still submit my video every year and hope to get a chance eventually. I realize now that the competition wasn’t the most important goal.  The competition was a beacon of light that kept me sane in a world of tumultuous feelings.  

So after two years of soul searching, luck would intervene on my fitness journey and bring me to OVOX.  When I met Stu Rosenstein for our first interview, I wasn’t nervous at all.  I had nothing to lose and saw this as an informal meeting that could potentially lead to some personal training.  In my mind I was already on a path, and nothing was going to get in my way.  I expressed from day one my value and understanding of my own self worth, and because of this my feelings were understood and finally recognized.  What started as an informal meeting became something so much larger.  Once I saw the vision from the owners of OVOX, I knew that I would be a powerful force within the company.  I still believe to this day, that if I didn’t have those two years to lose myself, I would have never truly realized who I was and what I was meant to do.  

The energy I exuded on the day of the interview came from the years of strenuous torture I put myself through, both physically and mentally.  The struggles I overcame during this period of my life, made me realize that I have everything to offer, and nothing to lose.  The false security of a regular paycheck left me stagnant, and it wasn’t until the universe intervened that I realized, I needed to let go of my fears, in order to evolve and become a better person.   

What I plan on bringing to this gym is the same thing I bring to my own workouts.  I want every member to walk out of our doors feeling ten times better than the way they felt coming in.  The gym is a home for those who seek change, a place of solitude where your frustrations and feelings can be released through physical challenges. I am here to make sure my clients learn that the fitness journey they are going on is not just about a physical transformation.  It is about the reevaluation of the self juxtaposed the society we live in.

We can never truly be happy with the way we look if our goal is to look like someone else. Remember that your personal growth should never be compared to someone else’s.  To achieve your fitness goals you must let go of the vision inside your mind, and focus on the reality that is in front of you.  If you are short, working out will not make you tall, and if you are tall, working out will not making you short.  Remember that your genetics and basic body composition is infinitesimally different then every other person on earth.  Because of this fact alone, you should never gauge your growth against another individual.  Focus only on your own personal successes and let those moments be the purpose you push yourself further.

When I come into the gym, I smile every time I walk in because I know that my workout is going to soothe my busy mind. The sooner you learn fitness is therapy, the better your workouts become.  Don’t come into the gym because you have to look good for the summer, come into the gym so you feel amazing for a lifetime.  Don’t come into the gym for the sake of coming, come to the gym for the sake of your well being.  Don’t come to the gym to please other people, come to the gym to please yourself.  Take pride in your fitness journey and remember that the most challenging part of the workout is showing up.

Sincerely,

Jonny Tsunami

“Ride the Wave”