From a business stand point, planning is USUALLY a key contributor to success.  But the reality of things is that, nothing ever really goes exactly as planned.  There will be curve balls and many unexpected things thrown at you that you never accounted for in your "plan".  Or, you can be just be stuck in the planning stages and self-sabatoging your progress/growth.

Christian and Carlo discuss this topic for the entrepenuer minded individuals who need that push to begin or take the next steps in their journey.  The planning stage is key but there comes a time when you have to stop planning and just start doing.
There is no amount of planning that will get you to the next stage, you have to take action and only then will you level up.

Cheat meals.  Are they good?  Are they bad?  Are you even in the position to have one?  If you are starting your fitness journey or chasing that goal, these are few questions you should ask 
yourself before you even consider having one.  The word cheat has negative connotations and is usually associated with the feeling of guilt.  But, cheat meals aren't always a bad thing.  
In fact, if you have been following a strict diet and training consistently, cheat meals can actually boost your metabolism and help you lose weight... If it's done right.

After guiding thousands of people, from plain janes to the seasoned athletes to competitive bodybuilders, Christian shares his nutritional knowledge with you all.  Join Christian and Carlo
as they discuss cheat meals/days, some choices you have, if you can even consider yourself "eligible" and much more!  If you are fully committed to yourself and your fitness journey, don't
let yourself down because of cravings.  Take control and allow yourself to treat yourself.

Plateaus happen to everyone during their fitness journey.  It's not just you.  There comes a point where you just stop losing weight, or you stop gaining muscle, or you just can't seem to beat that time.  Going through plateaus can definitely be discouraging and we know exactly how that feels!  Don't let it get the best of you.  

Carlo and Christian discuss plateaus, the signs that you are hitting a plateau, why your choices may be the cause of your plateau and what to do if you are currently in one.  Let us help you prevent or get past these stages so that your goals and your timelines stay on track!

We all experience hard times in life.  Whether it's at work or in your personal relationships, hard times are going to happen.  When you experience them, it's easy to just run away and not deal with the problem.  But, who really does that?  We all know the phrase, "what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger."  In most cases, this is true!

Join us this episode as Carlo and Christian encourage everyone to take a step back and reflect, take accountability for their actions and face the facts.  Who knows? the problem could've been you!

There are many take aways from fitness that we all know about... We get fit, gain muscle and strength, lose fat, and there is so much more!  But, one of the best things in fitness that many people don't talk about are the lessons we learn in the gym/while training that we can apply to our everyday life.  We spend countless hours and work so hard to reach certain goals and when we reach these goals, we look past or downplay the fact that it was extremely hard to achieve.  

Carlo and Christian talk about the physical and mental adversity we put ourselves through in the gym and how relatable it is to life.  When you put things into perspective, many situations in life can't be as difficult as squating or bench pressing 315lbs.  Let's learn how to use this strength of overcoming stress and adversity, and transfer it to everyday life!

Everyone goes through pain and experiences hard times throughout their life.  It's inevitable.  Look back and think about a time when you went through pain, physically or emotionally, and think about how you dealt with it.   Our mantra is "Pain is inevitable and suffering is a choice" because we believe that the pain we have endured has literally made us stronger.  We are not saying that you can't or shouldn't feel pain, feeling pain is a good sign that you are alive! Pain is an indicator that something is wrong!  Sometimes, we can't prevent the pain, but usually, when you are feeling the pain, it's already to late.  Now, the question is, what are you going to do about it?  How are you going to let this pain affect you?  And for how long?

Christian and Carlo discuss pain and give some advice on how you can pick yourself up from it as soon as possible.  We know that you will face some demons time to time but we want to remind you that when it comes to pain and suffering, how we respond to it, physically and mentally, is really our choice.  

Laziness. 

Whether we live a fitness lifestyle or not, it's one of those words that we all want to dissociate ourselves with. Nobody wants to be lazy.

Being lazy can literally prevent you from being healthy and progressing with anything in life... Your career, cleanliness and your love life! 

In this case, Christian and Carlo talk about laziness in terms of your fitness. We all have those days and to be quite honest, it's completely okay! One or two days out of the gym will not kill you or prevent you from reaching your goals. This is not laziness. Take a break and regroup!

However, if you're "day off" is turning into several days per week and you are actually losing mental focus, you may want to do something about it before it's too late!

Consider simple things like changing up your playlist, finding a new partner or even experimenting with new exercises can help refresh your hunger!

Be proactive and adventurous, remember why you fell in love with fitness and don't let laziness get the best of you! 

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#strengthnu #behindthestrengthpodcast #dontbelazy #lazy #laziness #reachyourgoals #refresh #reenergize #fitnesslifestyle

In this episode, we sit with long time friend and one of the very first SNU members to sign up in 2011 when we had nobody wanting to pay for our services, the unbelievably inspiring, Michelle Pierce. 

 We brought her on the podcast because we know and understand the hardships and hurdles that she has gone through.  From being a single mother, fighting age and race stereotypes,  going to work and running her own business, and hitting what seemed to be her rock bottom. Michelle talks about the struggles, what she did to get through them, and the lessons learned along the way. 

If you're going through hard times, you'll definitely want to take Michelle's experiences into context and gain strength to get passed your own personal demons.  Feel free to contact us if you need that mental/physical push!

🎙Behind The Strength Podcast🎙
--Available on iTunes and Spotify--
.
Author: @snu_carlo

SHOULD YOU WORK FOR FREE?

Yes, you absolutely should…when it makes sense to… 
ESPECIALLY if you’re new to the game.

When I first started as a personal trainer (2010), I showed up at 6 am every single day for months to shadow and learn from Christian and other senior trainers…

Although I had about 12 years experience training myself in the gym before that point, the goal was to learn as much as possible because I wanted to be the BEST in the game…

Before I had any clients, I started training other trainers and sales staff for free to sharpen my skills…

Even when I started to get clients, I would still train people for free…the way I saw it, every interaction got me better.

With every new person I trained I got to experience a new challenge and figure out new ways to help someone achieve their goals…

A month after I got my first client, I became the top selling Personal trainer

6 months later we opened Strength-N-U…

How did I become successful so fast? .
.
.
🔑Instead of making money FROM my Personal Training, I started making money BECAUSE of my Personal Training.

when I started training the right people for free (sales people and other trainers), I started making money from the exposure and word spread fast that I was worth training with

So, yes, giving away what you get paid for can actually help you make more money.

The questions you must ask yourself about working for free:

1. If you sacrifice revenue today, will it lead to MORE revenue in the future?

2. Does working for free get you something worth MORE than just money?

3. Does the value of my service/effort at least double that of what I’m currently getting paid?

I’m a firm believer that if you choose a certain career and you love it, it’s your fiduciary duty to be the greatest in the world at it.

The pursuit of you being the greatest at your craft will lead to more abundance than you can ever imagine….and guess what, the greatness club has plenty of room…because everyone else's pursuit stops after they get the job.

#BehindTheStrengthPodcast
#workhard
#pursuitofgreatness
#success
#StrengthNU

We are closing out January and some of us have yet to hit the gym/start our fitness new year resolutions.  This could be because of laziness or time but there are a bunch of us who haven't started because we simply don't know where to start.  And that is OK.  It's not okay if you don't seek for help or the necessary answers but that's a complete issue in itself.  Don't prevent yourself from reaching your fitness goals because you don't know where to start.  

Carlo and Christian have created a checklist for you new gym goers so that you don't miss out.  Take these things into account before you even step foot into the gym so that you can be ready and prepared.  Let's start your fitness journey the right way!