Albert K. Park

            Hands can reveal a lot about an individual. Scars will have stories, nails can express personalities, and ashy knuckles will scream “lotion”. When you flip them over they can be a gateway into the truth. I can’t help but laugh every time someone suggests I wear workout gloves in order to protect my hands. Not only do they make you look like an 80’s break dancer, why the heck would I want to hide the evidence of my hard work. Calluses become an accessory in gym attire among our members. They are worn proudly with the exception of the few that still think they are gross but trust me when I say they will soon have a change of heart.

            I get it! Some day’s you wake up and your just not feeling it. Yeah, you might have told yourself you were going to get up early and go for that run or make it to the morning boot camp but you find something to tell yourself to get you out of it. Have you noticed how easy it is? Maybe you didn’t get enough sleep or you promise yourself,

            Today was one of those days for me. Maybe it was relaxing in the sun and laying out on the beach, I just lost my killer instinct. I didn’t get my usual surge of energy until I started to train my evening clients and the PM boot camp. They came in, got down to business, and killed it. Without this training I may have found another excuse to skip another workout.  After my 7pm group, we have an elite athlete group that I train with. 8:30pm sharp, they would probably laugh if they read this, but we do try to start at 8:30pm. With a new surge of energy flowing through me from the contagious atmosphere of boot camp, I was ready to go.

            This group goes through every program in the book. 5-3-1’s, experimental Tabatta training, Joe De Franco’s built like a bad ass, Pavel’s Kettlebell training systems, Steve Cotter’s Mobility work, Eric Cressey’s Power training, Robert Dos Remedios Conditioning, and Martin Rooney’s Bodyweight training. The list truly is endless. The one thing that we do bring every time regardless of the training is intensity.

            Over time and after going through countless programs, I have come to one very important realization. If you give your training everything you have and bring the intensity, you are going to get one bad ass workout. It isn’t always about the program, if you are pushing yourself to the edge the results will come.

 Train like a mad man or woman! Zoom focus in on your goals and keep asking yourself how bad you want it. I promise that your mental determination will crush any physical pain and any thoughts of giving up. This elite athlete-training group has been unlike any I have ever been apart, simply because every single individual understands how important “intensity” is. It’s everything.

            My clients and bootcampers will often think I’m crazy. A very sweet but tough as nails lady asked me,  “How do you have so much energy all the time!”

It’s simple, your atmosphere can influence how much you are willing to perform and that adrenaline rush of energy is contagious. They see me running around correcting form, yelling “Don’t slow down, speed up!”, performing exercises with them, and basically going nuts. I am there to train you and make sure that you brought your intensity with you. My energy comes from the pure desire to create the most training effective atmosphere for everyone.

              The first and most important thing to understand is that I truly care about their results. I want them to reach their goals more than anything. My motto is their success is my happiness!

            Secondly, I know that passion and energy is contagious. If I can create an atmosphere where hard work and intensity is a staple in our gym, I know if they show up they’re coming prepared to train their ass’s off! Literally. Don’t forget to bring intensity with you to the gym along with your i-pod.

            At the end of the night, you won’t face anyone but yourself. Take a long look in the mirror and really ask yourself “Am I really training hard?” Be honest because there are days that I know I could have pushed for a couple extra reps or danced with the edge a little more. Never get done with a workout saying, “I could have given it a little more!” Use this article as an opportunity to sit and be truly honest with yourself.

            Shake anyone of our elite athlete group member’s hands and you will notice that they are rough to the touch. Calluses are consistent and reflect the relentless training we do. Take a look at your hands if you can’t face yourself in the mirror. What are they telling you? So now, Do You Think Your Training Hard?