Bryan Clark Newest Trainer

Former Marine Sergeant and Austin Trainer Bryan Clark to lead new small group classes!

There’s no more room for excuses. Starting Tuesday, July 16, Clark will offer more evening small group classes, ideal for anyone interested in increasing their energy, strength and power in a fun and supportive setting. Small group sessions offer the same high intensity and energy as private programs for a fraction of the cost.

Former U.S. Marine Sergeant Bryan Clark will lead the classes. Each session will last up to 45 minutes, with minimal breaks, and include vigorous body weight and stability movements. Clark will end each class with an intense military style abdominal and core workout. Drop in for $20 a class or commit to a monthly program.

Clark brings over a decades worth of experience to each class. He's trained people of all levels from professional athletes to casual fitness enthusiasts and can work around any physical barrier including back injuries, knee problems and M.S. Plus, Clark's a riot and quick to remind you "pretty booties ain't free!"

Along with leading the new sessions on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 6:30pm. Clark will also be taking over the 10am Saturday class. For those who live further north, Austin Simply Fit's Burnet location offers small group classes Mondays and Wednesdays at 1pm, Tuesday and Thursdays at 7pm and Saturdays at 10am.

Increase Your Awesomeness

Yes, you know how awesome you are.  Now we are going to take that awesomeness to a whole new level.  Our philosophy resides within a revolving cycle of fitness and performance  which is proper exercise, proper nutrition, and proper recovery.  While one may, and sometimes will, make advances and progress with a consistency of two of those three, peak potential can only be reached with all three areas being programmed correctly.  It's like trying to race a high performance race car with only 3 wheels.  

Why even enter the race?  With your health, why would you do any less than what is best for your body and mind?  The answers are time, motivation, dedications, discipline, and lack of knowledge.  Let's take that last excuse out of play.  Listen real close, you will not want to miss hearing these knowledge bombs.
The number one way that you are going to start increasing your awesomeness is planning your recovery.  Everyone has a training program, and some of you will have multiple programs.  Many people will follow a certain diet or nutritional program.  You will even see a statement on most supplements, "when combined with exercise and diet."  How many of you, or people you know, will actually program their recovery? I bet less than 1% of the training(very loosely used term there) population.  That is why the lack of recovery programming is the missing "fourth wheel".  Does that mean that you should sleep a lot and stay out of the "gym"?  Absolutely not.  There are many modes of recovery. Here is a list of a few:

Cryotherapy
Ice Baths
Contrast Showers
Hot Tub/Epsom Salt Bath
Dry Sauna/Steamroom
Massage Therapy

The list above requires little to no effort on your part, and each of them has a unique way to expedite the body's natural healing processes.  Below are a couple of active recovery techniques that will also help improve your performance:

Sled Pushes

Sled Drags/Sled Pulls
Mobility Drills

Foam Rolling
Stretching/Yoga
Pilates/Ki-Hara Resistance Stretching

By implementing sound recovery techniques over the past couple years, I have personally reaped the benefits of increasing my totals over 250 pounds.  My training programs have always been solid.  My nutrition is solid most of the time.  The missing link to increasing my own awesomeness was to make sure that my recovery was programmed.

Here is a sample week:

Sunday-Upper Body training session, Lower body mobility work
Monday-Lower Body training Session followed by a contrast shower
Tuesday-Sled Drags and Foam Rolling
Wednesday-Cryotherapy before an upper body training session
Thursday-Ice Bath in the morning.  Sprints at Lunch
Friday-Lower Body followed by some Yoga
Saturday-Complete Rest, Foam rolling and stretching

I guarantee that, if you choose at least one of these modalities from each list per week, your performance levels and desired results will increase, as will your awesomeness.  All you have to do is program it.  Remember that the revolving cycle of fitness and performance is a proper training program, proper nutritional program, AND and proper recovery program.

-Breaking Records Daily

Drink Your OWN Kool Aid

There, I said it, and I believe it.  There are millions of people in this world, and fortunately, none of us have the exact same genes, body types, or goals.  What is apparent in our American society is the increase in obesity.  On the flip side of that is the increase of businesses that are trying to "make it big" by presenting false get-fit-quick schemes, training programs, and/or supplements *cough*Visalus*cough*.  Within the competition of those fitness and supplement companies are individuals that will do anything and everything to make their competitors look bad.  Is it making the competition look bad if it's the truth?  What is the truth?

As Jack Nicholson said in a Few Good Men, "you can't handle the truth."

He was correct then, and it is the exact mentality that lots of Americans have.  I won't throw statistics in here because 53% of all statistics are made up.

The truth is that there are no get-fit-quick schemes, and if you are drinking the kool-aid that someone else is mixing, make sure you have done your own research on the ingredients.  Here are 5 proven truths below(of course there are more.  we can't give all the secrets away at once).

1.  For optimal results, the trifecta of proper individualized training, proper individualized nutrition, and proper individualized rest/recovery must coexist.

2. Notice the use of the word training in the place of workout or exercise.  There is a difference.  If you don't know the difference, you may need to consult with a professional who does.

3.  You go to the gym to build muscle.  Fat is burned from the metabolic processes and proper nutrition and proper recovery following your training.

4. Resistance training will always produce better metabolic results over any "cardio" activity.

5. Resistance training is the foundation for improved performance, whether it's at home playing with your children or grandchildren, at work, on the dance floor, on the field, or in the arena of choice.  I'm sure there is one area of your life that you want to make sure you perform at your best.

Now back to the kool-aid and the soap box that I'm about to get on.  After over 15 years of training experiences with a variety of goals and atmospheres, I place my core value in the correct programming and execution of the powerlifts(squat, bench press, deadlift).  Does that mean that all else is crap?  Absolutely not.  I can reach  my performance and fitness goals and help others reach their goals with this solid foundation.  All types of athletes and individuals have seen and will continue to see performance progress with our training methods.  Is this for you?  Who knows? It's up to you to find what ingredients(trainer, training styles, etc) belong in your kool-aid.   

Every Program Works, But Nothing Works Forever

Proper individual programming and  relevant programming variations will allow an individual to continue to make progress for years to come.  I will not say that someone elses program will not work, although I may have thoughts that it is longevity proof, or not optimal.  However, I just said above that everything works, but nothing works forever.  In this society, I applaud any and every individual that takes a step to improving their health.  It is our job as fitness professionals to educate and provide that lifestyle change.  Whether it's crossfit, Lifetime Fitness, golds gym, or one of the many other personal trainers in the country, there is a step in the right direction(note planet fitness will be omitted due to their policy against hard training).  We would like a more fit and less obese America. Unfortunately, it took us years to get that title of the most obese nation, and Im afraid that it may take years to challenge and remove that label.

" The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step."-Lao Tzu 

Once the step is taken, then it's easy to dominate life with consistent proper training, proper nutrition, and proper recovery.

Have and promote core values.  List all of your ingredients on the label before pushing others to drink-up.

Our ingredients are consistent and practical programming with a huge dose of education, experience, effectiveness, and efficiency.

Instead of belittling other programs, we will celebrate an individuals journey to fitness, and help others mix their own koolaid. We are fortunate to be able to expand and open another location. This was made possble through clients that are committed to making a lifestyle change.  Instead of celebrating the grand opening of another fast food restaurant, we will celebrate another step towards America getting fit.  It's a great feeling driving into work and seeing 6 gym/personal training studios within 4 blocks.


"Breaking Records Daily"

Why Are We so Fat?

Are we uneducated or flooded with mass deception of marketers? Are the marketers actually deceiving us, or are they just not telling the whole story? The answer is all of the above.

We make sure that each client is educated and that they understand the difference in realistic results and those results on magazine covers. We do not advocate the "get fit quick" schemes that are present and popular throughout mainstream society. We promote healthy lifestyle changes that are consistent and meaningful.

Personally, I have been to the dark side and attempted some yo-yo diets. As a 300+lb individual, I obviously wanted to do whatever it took(whatever they said it took) to lose weight and not be obese. I have been as small as 217. It has taken years of experience and proper education to understand and accept the reality of what fitness looks like and how to reach and maintain it.

After reading through a plethora of relevant research by Dr. Robert Portman and Dr. John Ivy, some of which is included in their book, "Hardwired For Fitness", it is no surprise that 20/20 aired their recent segment

http://abc.go.com/watch/2020/SH559026/VD55202007/2020-511-losing-it-the-big-fat-trap

To save you a little time, here is a brief connection of the two. Yo-yo dieting will produce more fat gain than fat loss in the long run. Notice I said fat gain, not weight gain. When we restrict(below RMR-Resting Metabolic Rate) from our diet, we will actually store excess calories as fat more efficiently because we have slowed our RMR down. One thing that we do take from our Paleo ancestors is the genetic coding. We are designed to adapt and grow to "weather" the circumstances. If we are designed to adapt and grow, why are we trying to wither away and shrink? Mainstream society says that it is popular and accepted to be thin. On the other hand, it is also very popular to perform at high levels(ex: professional athletes).

The easy scapegoat for obesity and childhood obesity is fast food. I'm going to step outside of that box and throw a curve ball. I believe that it actually has very little to do with fast food and everything to do with the pace and advancements in technology in our society. Fast paced society equals more stress, more time spent behind the desk, more work, less daily activity, higher cortisol levels, and less sleep. Kids and adults alike are not moving daily. Yes, we live in the most exercised, bodybuilding, powerlifting, Pilate's, yoga, and cross fitting nation.So, why are we so obese? We don't move daily. We exercise 1-4 days a week, yet there are seven days a week. Our lifestyles aren't as active. We sit in offices, in vehicles, on planes, in meetings, or at home. Do we not need rest days? Of course you do. From training, not life. Therefore, with all of this random exercising and dieting, we are losing only to gain it back if we do not adapt to an active lifestyle. Does that mean that exercise is contradicting? Absolutely not. It means that you should get off of your rear-end and do more throughout the day everyday so that exercise can be super beneficial. Once that takes place, your healthy eating decisions and exercise routines will present the most optimal results.

Therefore, we are a fat nation because we have inactive lifestyles. When you add processed, fast foods and a manipulative food and supplement industry, the results are exactly what you see; Realistically Unreal.

-Forward in Fitness