George Hynec at M.A. Training is the most knowledgeable personal trainer I have met. I interviewed George recently, which resulted in the very informative and amusing piece that follows:
"I have people come to me that have been completely dormant, in an office coma sort of thing for 30 years or more. Some even look like a chair from sitting in one so long. I help these people get back their health, fitness and mobility.
I differ from traditional personal trainers in that I am really interested in and focused on my client’s overall health and wellbeing, not solely their fitness. Often those that come to me haven’t been focused on their health. They’ve been focusing on work and family and have been under a lot of stress. Many are in their 40's or 50's and realise, 'O my God, I have high blood pressure and my cholesterol levels are up to here'. At that point they are prepared to spend a lot of money to get their health back."
Screening Process
"I have a fairly in-depth screening process. First of all I give out a questionnaire so I can find out the health history, whether there has been any injuries, surgeries, I look at their posture, hormonal levels and – the most important thing – what their diet is like."
Diet
"What do they put in their mouth? Most people are in denial about this. Even if they keep a diary, it will usually only be about 30% accurate. Studies have shown that we tend to lie to ourselves. We don’t want to write down the things we know are bad.
Many people have also adopted extreme types of diets sometime in their life. None of which work long term because you can’t stick with them. For example, diets that are extremely low in carbohydrates or fat. These diets cause a yo-yo effect which causes the body to accumulate what’s called ‘stubborn fat’. This ‘stubborn fat’ is quite nasty to get rid of. By the time someone is in their 40’s and 50’s they’ve got this hard line on their bodies. And they come to me and think that in two weeks’ time they are going to look like a pin-up model."
Hormones
"For those in their 40’s and definitely for those in their 50’s they should have a hormonal profile done. They need to look at testosterone, oestrogen, progesterone, thyroid and other hormone levels. We have been exposed to so many pollutants that throw our hormones out of balance. We are now finding men in their mid-forties that have more oestrogen than their wife! They are developing breast tissue and enlarged and cancerous prostates. And women develop fibrosis in the breasts, which can lead to breast cancer.
Elevated oestrogen levels are not getting the attention that they should, because most of the time GP’s are not informed about testing for them. When you ask for a hormonal profile they will look at you and ask ‘what the hell do you need that for?’ Some of them even get angry. I hear that a lot from my clients. I send them for a test and they come back and say ‘my doctor yelled at me.’ I tell them ‘it is your body; you have the right to know’. I’m not sure that GP’s know what to do with the results. They don’t know how to analyse or interpret them, and even if they did they don’t know what to do about it."
Posture and Balance
"I next look at posture and for body imbalances. I have not come across a person that is perfectly balanced, even athletes with these impressive physiques. Athletes are actually the best example of muscular imbalance due to the right or left-sided dominant movements performed in their particular sport.
For those wanting to get faster or stronger, often all is needed is a correction of the imbalances in their body. I often send clients on to specialists that can do a thorough diagnosis of their physique and can pass back to me detailed information that I use to put together a training program that will be safe for them.
The first session I will not prepare anything specific. I will ‘free style’ them on various exercises to see how capable and flexible their movements are, see how much strength they have, and what might prevent them from doing particular exercises."
How do you put together training programs?
"I first find out the client’s goals, what they really want to achieve. Not everyone wants to lose fat or work towards looking like a super model. Their goal might be to get stronger or prepare for a particular event. I help them to develop a short and long term goal and their program is structured along these lines. The key thing, no matter what the goal, is that they have progression.
Unlike what usually happens at a commercial gym, I make sure that the client does a wide variety of exercises from week to week. At the gym you see that same woman on the treadmill year after year – she always looks the same because her body has adapted to walking on the treadmill week after week. You can’t let the body adapt – you just can’t let that happen. You must have variety, it must remain interesting. But you can’t change too often or you won’t know if you are progressing or not."
What sort of exercises would someone do in your programs?
"It’s no secret my favourite tool is the kettlebell – it is very versatile. You can build a training program from kettlebells and body weight alone. I also use clubbells, static contraction and many other training tools. Some like to do kickboxing. These are just tools though; it is the methodology (how they are used) that will make a difference. Depending on the persons goals there are different methodologies that can be used: escalating density training, high-intensity training, high-intensity interval training, sports training, etc."
You can contact George at:
0416 198 611 or info@matraining.com.au