training plans

The Lifecycle of a Client

As a gym owner/coach, I know it’s an unpopular comment when I tell clients who I see for the first time, “I don’t want to coach you forever.” 

For me, ultimately my job as a coach is to get you to the point where you don’t need me anymore - FULL AUTONOMY. 

My goal is to teach you everything you need to know through education, inspiration, guidance and accountability. Once you are competent enough and have the confidence to spread your wings and take this on yourself for the rest of your life - that is a HUGE achievement!

A common lifecycle of a successful client usually begins with some sort of 1:1 face-to-face coaching - either personal training or in a small group setting. Once consistency is established, we move onto lifestyle guidelines - the stuff outside the gym. One by one, we attack each area starting with highest priority. The guidelines include: Nutrition, Hydration, Sleep, Stress Management and Daily Rhythm. We identify the area’s that are most challenging and create habits to support it. Some folks can conquer these guidelines relatively quickly, while others take time - it’s your personal journey, so we go at your own pace. 

Once all the habits have been established, you are now on your way to becoming autonomous. By this time you’ve made massive change both physically and mentally. Most likely you are a completely different person than when you started. I’ve seen some really amazing transformations. 

At this point you are feeling pretty good about yourself and your progress. Continuing to move toward autonomy, a normal transition from here would be to REMOTE COACHING. You get to continue working with your coach (me!), but in a more independent environment. You’ve learned how to move properly, you are competent and self-motivated. You don’t need to see me everyday, but following a plan and checking off those workouts serves a purpose while avoiding “decision fatigue” - having to come up with your own workouts. 

Avoiding decision fatigue is one of the top feedbacks I get from clients. They love having a plan laid out for them - something they trust and feel good about. Most of us are too busy with our lives as is, the last thing we need to do is coach ourselves. Let me take the wheel so all you have to do is execute! 

If you are in a place where you feel you could use some help, I want to know. It’s normal to fall into a rut from time to time.  Whether you are a former client or looking for something new, our onsite and remote options could work well for you. 

Katie's Plan - How She Lost 20lbs of FAT in 4 months

“A goal without a plan is just a wish” would be a great quote to summarize Katie’s journey.

Katie has been with us at OPEX for over a year. As with all our clients, we spoke in great length with Katie about her goals, lifestyle, nutrition, etc… so that we could help her formulate a plan. Based on all the information gathered during conversations and the initial assessment, we provided Katie with a fitness plan and some tools she can use to overcome certain barriers in her life.

Over the course of the first year, Katie meandered her way through her workouts semi-consistently, but never really addressed anything outside the gym. She was slowly improving strength, feeling better overall and gaining confidence with her workouts. But, something was missing. She wanted to see and notice REAL change, not just physically, but mentally and emotionally as well. She also shifted her mindset from having aesthetic goals to wanting more from herself. A better version of Katie now - and forever.

December 12, 2023 Katie and I met in my office. It was the “AH-HA” moment we had been waiting for. We went through a self-evaluation of our 6 Basic Lifestyle Guidelines and discussed each one in great detail. Through the conversation, we identified a few areas that really needed to be addressed: sleep/bedtime routine, managing stress and prioritizing/tracking protein in her diet.

We changed her bedtime routine from falling asleep late watching TV to getting in bed an hour earlier and reading a book. In helping manage stress we agreed she would do some daily breath-work and take a nature walk unplugged. Katie also began to track her food so that we could increase her protein in order to support her workouts.

Fast forward 6 weeks later, our next check-in showed that Katie had lost 12 pounds of FAT! An amazing result from making just a few changes, none of which from her workouts. The habits that she created over those 6 weeks all happened from lifestyle choices. I think that was a great eye-opening experience for Katie (and hopefully to everyone) to see that REAL change doesn’t happen in the gym, it happens in the things we do everyday in choices we make as part of our lifestyle.

Over the next several weeks, Katie lost an additional 8 pounds of fat while maintaining her new habits and adding in a few more. She started running one day per week in addition to her strength days at the gym. One big decision Katie made back in December was to cut out alcohol. She had only been drinking socially, but through some conversations, she decided it did not serve her in a positive way.

I’ve really enjoyed being on this journey with Katie. It’s been a great team effort. I’ve provided my insight, education and tools for her to use while mapping out a plan WITH her while she has done the work. The sooner clients can understand that this is how it works, the better. Take Katie’s results as a perfect example. Be patient, play the long-game, make your goals support your lifestyle, have purpose behind why your doing it and watch yourself soar!

Expanded Coaching Hours - Lunchtime Block

Starting today, March 11th, we will be offering an afternoon/lunchtime block. We understand life gets busy and time is limited, so we are excited to offer the opportunity for folks to train at times that are convenient for them. 

Here are our updated hours:

Monday - Friday:

6-10am, 12-2pm, 4-7pm

Saturday:

7-10am

Sunday:

Closed

Our main goal is to teach, educate and guide our clients in every way possible. One of those ways is to coach our clients in-person. Therefore ALL of our open floor hours has at least one coach on the floor at all times. This allows us to connect with you as you train while ensuring you are moving correctly. 

If you are looking for a more personalized approach in a private training facility, we’ll be happy to connect. 

Here’s how it works:

  1. Click the button below and fill out our quick in-take form

  2. We reach out to schedule your initial consultation

  3. We meet in person or phone call (whichever you prefer) to discuss your: goals, background, lifestyle and to pair you up with a coach

  4. You go through a 3 part Assessment to identify strengths/weaknesses, starting points and movement patterning

  5. Your customized training + lifestyle plan is designed by your coach, sent to your app (CoachRx) and executed by you

  6. You are your coach communicate daily and meet every 4-6 weeks to stay on track

This system as worked amazingly for hundreds of clients over the past 6 1/2 years proven with over 50 FIVE star reviews. If you are ready to try something that actually works and lasts, start with the button below.

Tillman Johnson: All-American Dad

40+ Dads can get stronger too!

2 months into training at OPEX, Tillman has increased his bench press by 20lbs, improved his pull-ups by 4 reps and lost over 4lbs body fat.

As a former All-American lacrosse goalie at University of Virginia, Tillman remembers what it was like training as an athlete and pushing the limits everyday in the gym to reach peak performance.

Tillman is a husband and father of two. With a busy lifestyle and demanding career, fitness looks a bit different now than it did as a young athlete. Goals have changed from performance based to longevity, vitality and overall health.

Although his training looks a bit different, his results are proving that it works. Matching his training to his current lifestyle and allowing him to find balance and sustainability has led to a lot of consistency in the gym.

Our goal with Tillman and all our clients is to match a fitness plan to meet the needs of their lifestyle. This will allow for success now and forever.

If you are ready to experience results like Tillman, use the button below to get started.

Client Spotlight: Matt Bryer - Family Man/Firefighter

Matt is a husband, father and firefighter. His goals are to: build functional strength, decrease body fat and stay healthy and fit for life. His WHY is because he understands the importance of this to perform highly at his job, be a good husband and have the energy and longevity to be the best father he can be.

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Matt has a solid background in fitness from playing sports at a young age and through high school. He’s been lifting weights since his early twenties, has 8 years of CrossFit experience and has tried various group style strength and conditioning gyms. 

 

However, within the last few years, Matt has been injured several times when in the CrossFit/Group model which has taken him away from fitness and forcing him to take time off from work. He wants to stay healthy so that he can have consistency around his training long-term and not have to take time off work anymore due to his injuries. 

 

When sitting down and talking to Matt initially, we spoke about how we will provide a plan for him specifically that meets him where he is at and progress him properly so that he stays healthy and to re-program him to think long-term. He admittedly said that he’s always looked for the fast-track plan as he tends to fall out of training (due to being hurt) and wants to get back to where he was quickly. We talked about the importance of allowing change to happen naturally and to trust the process. We also spoke about his job being a high stress job, having a young child (and another on the way) and how we need to match his intensity in training to his life. He enjoyed that conversation and understood a plan that is low(er) intensity with progressive weight training and easy aerobic will serve him well. 

 

We have now laid out a long-term plan for Matt that he can get behind and trust as he visualizes his future moving forward as a plan that will fit perfectly into his life so that he can achieve life-long fulfillment. 

 

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Since training at OPEX South Shore, Matt has dropped nearly 3 percent body fat in 6 months, put on muscle and hasn't missed a day of work from being injured. He's enjoying life during the summertime at the beach with his family and friends and feeling fulfilled through his personalized fitness plan and the results he is seeing. 

 

Matt is a big part of the OPEX Family that is growing here in the South Shore and we are so excited to be a part of his personal growth in fitness and life. 

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If you are like Matt and want to find that balance between looking your very best and finding true fulfillment in your life through health and fitness, then start your journey and become a part of the OPEX Family.

Onwards and Upwards!

 

Owner/Head Coach,

Bobby Scott

Tracking Mary's Success: Part 2

Mary FLR

Mary had a great first month and a tough second month. As a mother with a full-time job, life can get challenging at times. Things can start to pile up and get you out of your rhythm but it's important to know that health and fitness is a long game and you must always keep working at it even when life gets busy. Two vacations followed by getting knocked out for a week with a bad cold will throw you off course a bit, which is what happened to Mary. 

Our 1 month consultation showed that Mary had gained about 2lbs of muscle and lost almost 3lbs of fat which brought her body fat percentage down by over 1 percentage point. Pretty good for just 4 weeks with a beginner strength plan!

The second month check-in revealed exactly what she and I both thought it would. The lack of consistency because of all the things mentioned above lead to loss in muscle by about 2lbs, increase in fat by about 2lbs and body fat percentage back up to where it started. It's good to see and a good motivating factor to know that consistency really matters and getting back into the groove is top priority. 

This was actually great for Mary to experience because its TRUTH and REAL LIFE. Things happen whether we want them to or not. I'm sure many moms and busy adults can totally relate to this! The good news is, with the OPEX model of fitness, we have monthly one-on-one consults with coach and client. This is where we are able to discuss what happened in the previous month and make new goals for the upcoming month. 

A couple pieces of homework I gave Mary outside of just making an effort to be more consistent is to:

1. increase protein in her diet through natural sources of quality foods.

2. no added sugar for a full month until next consultation for our monthly check-in.

Simple and achievable pieces of homework are important. These will be the top two focus points for the next month and I'm sure we'll be seeing some great results. 

Onwards and upwards for Mary as she continues to work towards her goals of running her first 100k race, being a great Mom and finding consistency within her work/life balance.

your coach,

Bobby Scott

START YOUR OWN TRAINING PLAN AND SCHEDULE A FREE CONSULTATION HERE

JOIN OUR NEWSLETTER HERE AND FIND OUT BOBBY'S GUIDE FOR OPTIMAL HEALTH AS WELL AS MORE PERSONAL HEALTH AND FITNESS STORIES

OPEX Fitness South Shore

"Professional Fitness Coaching Customized to YOUR Success!"

Tracking Mary's Success - Part 1: Her Story

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Mary is a very busy 36 year old mother and wife as well as a full-time manager of a running apparel store and is looking to improve her fitness and health.

How does she do it? ----> Her first step: Hire a professional coach to write her programming for her...

Mary has been kind enough to allow us to provide insight into her training plan from the beginning and track her progress along the way.

This will be the first time Mary will work with a personal coach that aligns her goals to her life and fitness plan. She has followed some basic workout/running programs in the past, but nothing specific to her needs or goals. 

We found some good information in her initial consultation. She's ultimately training to run and finish her first 100k trail race along with getting stronger, losing fat, and improve her energy levels and sleep patterns.

Mary's personal assessment revealed some weaknesses between right leg and left leg which could ultimately be an issue for running patterns and staying injury free. Corrective exercises in her program will allow her to address these discrepancies. She also showed to be much stronger in front loaded/knee bending exercises in comparison to hip hinging/posterior exercises. Making sure her hamstrings and glutes develop will be a priority within her strength program. 

Predictably, Mary is much stronger aerobically than anaerobically. Her background in distance running proves to be much more developed than her high energy output aerobic system. Getting her stronger will allow her to produce more power which will help when running the hills on her trail runs. 

We've mapped out Mary's training plan over the course of the next month. We'll be sharing Mary's results to her training plan on a monthly basis. You'll be able to get insight into her body fat percentage, strength gains, and how she is feeling during the course of her training plan as she approaches running her first ever 100k race!

We'll check back in soon... See you then!

your coach,

Bobby Scott

START YOUR OWN TRAINING PLAN AND SCHEDULE A FREE CONSULTATION HERE

JOIN OUR NEWSLETTER HERE AND FIND OUT BOBBY'S GUIDE FOR OPTIMAL HEALTH AS WELL AS MORE PERSONAL HEALTH AND FITNESS STORIES

OPEX Fitness South Shore

"Professional Coaching Customized to YOUR Success!"