December 15, 2024 • 17 mins
Ken Yu, CPT brings energy that doesn't overshadow his educational guidance—working out with him is like working out with your lifting buddy. Focused on functional movements with ultimate results, Coach Ken empowers you to use your body and improve your life. He believes fitness is more than a hobby; a lifestyle that comes with infinite rewards. Using strength movements to increase the ability to complete everyday tasks for the long game is of the utmost priority. Before fitness, Ken worked in the corporate world as an attorney. A natural athlete who enjoys playing sports, he joined a functional fitness gym and fell in love, sparking his journey as a fitness coach. Now, finding himself fittest at 40, Ken encourages mental resilience training in his sessions—encouraging you to step out of your comfort zone and push yourself to new limits, no matter how old you are. Learn more about Ken and his journey to becoming a Bodybuilding.com Master Coach in the latest podcast episode.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Then then then.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
What's up bodybilly dot Com listeners. My name is Danielle
Bits and welcome back to the bbcom podcast Today. I'm
joined by Ken You. Ken has been a certified personal
trainer for over ten years and joins us as a
bodybilly dot Com Master coach. Using strength movements to increase
the ability to complete everyday task for the long game
is of the utmost priority to Ken and the guidance
(00:32):
he provides. Before fitness, Ken worked in the corporate world
as an attorney, and he's a natural athlete who enjoys
playing sports, joining functional fitness gyms, and falling in love
with the overall process. Now finding himself fit us at
forty Ken encourages mental resilience through training in his sessions,
encouraging you to step out of your comfort zone and
push yourself to new limits, no matter how old you are. Ken,
(00:55):
welcome to the pod and welcome to bodybilly dot Com.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
Thank you so much for the amazing intro.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
We're going to jump in and have everybody learn a
little bit about our master coaches here in the coming
weeks and in the coming episode, so stay tuned as
we announce our roster. Stay tuned as we release more
content to help you connect with them a bit better
to understand who you want to work out with. Here
in twenty twenty five, So Ken, we're jumping in. Tell
us what brought you to becoming a coach and the
(01:22):
purpose behind your journey.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (01:24):
So I was in the corporate world. I was an
attorney for litigation, both in tax criminal defense and civil litigation.
And when you're in that environment, it's just like a
dog fight day in and day out. You know, you're
going against opponents, you're fighting motions, you are just fighting
these people. And I needed to get away from that,
and so I joined across a gym and the community
there was just so amazing. You're working out together, you're
(01:47):
lifting together, you're learning how to snatch and cleaning, jerk
and muscle ups, and that really inspired me to be
better about myself. So I start spending more time at
the gym and I was like, oh man, I kind
of like this, and so I got my Crossfits vacation.
I started being a price part time coach and then
one day I was like, I should try this, So
I applied to a big box gym. I applied on
(02:09):
a Thursday and then on Friday they give me an
phone interview. Saturday I went in for an in person interview,
and then a Monday morning after court, I went in
for a group interview in my suit and they made
me like squat and do push ups and they're like,
who's this corporate guy? And then I was you know,
and they gave me that job the next day.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
So you're doing the squats the push ups in your suit. Yes,
that's epic.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
Yeah. I was sitting there.
Speaker 3 (02:31):
I was like, uh, and they were like, the guy
in the suit, you're the one that needs to squat,
will analyze you. And I squatted perfectly and they're like, oh,
you can actually squatch.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
Yeah, they thought you were coming in with the technic
and the rounded shoulders and you probably had a better
squat form than everybody in the room. Coming from an
environment like a court room, I mean, tell us, tell
us the vast differences of your day to day and
you know just how your life changed, you know, switching
careers like this.
Speaker 3 (02:56):
Yeah, So I'd sit at court from the beginning of
the day. I would sit there all day long. I'd
get up and talk for five minutes and then I'd
sit back down. And just sit there all day long.
And then when I wasn't doing that, I'd go home
and I'd write briefs and just sit and run my
computer the entire day. And now I get to walk around,
I get a stretch from my clients, I get to
really move my body and just feel so much better.
I mean, my posture has changed so much in the
(03:17):
last ten years of doing this.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
Tell us how your fitness journey has evolved over time.
You started as an athlete yourself, you got into more
functional fitness and CrossFit, But tell us how you have
really evolved to become the coach that you are today.
Speaker 1 (03:30):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (03:30):
So I think it all started with the running. I
was like a cross country kid. I was a soccer player,
didn't really went to the gym at all. I remember
we were in high school and they're like, okay, this
is how you work out. Everyone get on a machine.
We're going to go for one minute and then you're
going to rotate to the next person on the next machine.
So you'd be able doing a lake press and then
do a neck bend and then you.
Speaker 1 (03:50):
Do a bicep curl. And I was like, this is
not for me.
Speaker 3 (03:52):
I don't want to ever work out, and so all
I did was run. And then from there, I played
rugby in college and I think these guys were massive
and huge and strong, and I was like, oh, I
think I need to work out, and so, you know,
after that, I was like, okay, I'm going to start
doing the gym.
Speaker 1 (04:06):
I started.
Speaker 3 (04:07):
My older brother actually helped me like start taught me
to do like bench press and squats, and I had
really no idea what was doing, but I started doing that,
and then once I started getting good at it, I
was like, oh man, I'm pretty decently strong, like I
can do this, and and that's what really got me
into like and I'm like, okay, maybe I can bodybuild.
And I was like okay, I've do some bodybuilding, and
I'm like I found a kind of bodybuilding coach and
he's like this, iw you really do it. I'm like, oh, okay,
(04:28):
this feels really good. He made me more sore than
I've ever been my entire life, Like I couldn't walk out.
I drink like a gall at a gate ray just
to go out the couch. And that was like the
first part of it. I was like okay, and then
I was like now and then I'm kind of like bigger,
and I was like, I don't really move very well.
You know, I can only do these five lifts and
that's all I can do. And so I moved on
from there, and I was like, maybe I should move better.
So I went on to a crosst gym, and then
(04:49):
they taught me how to do handstands, how to do
muscle ups, how to do all these things, and I
was like, oh wow, I can really move.
Speaker 2 (04:54):
I feel like this is the exact evolution that you
hear all of the best coaches talk about. They start
as an athlete in some sort of specific sport that
grew into well, it eventually always has to transition into
getting stronger and faster. So you're in the weight room,
you start to develop that love. That sport may end,
maybe colleges over injuries happen, et cetera. You fall in
(05:15):
love with more of the weight room process. You get strong,
you get fast, but now you're missing that competition aspect.
So now you go hunting for the CrossFit, the alielifting.
Maybe you join a soccer directly, et cetera. So when
you talk to coaches, especially those who have been doing
this for a decade plus you hear about the many
lives in fitness and movement that they live. But all
of that to say, I think it really transfers over
(05:36):
well into having a diverse roster of clients and how
they can speak to those clients. Sure, you can help
somebody become a bit less sedentary to get into a
daily movement routine, but you can also speak to those
who do want to go after their first marathon, do
want to start performing in Olympic weightlifting for whatever reason,
join a CrossFit gym, et cetera. So I always find
(05:57):
that parallel between the coaches that come in here. How
would you specifically describe your coaching style.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
It's actually really relaxed. You know.
Speaker 3 (06:05):
I've taken those grupinous classes where you have that drill
sergeant and that terry crew looking guy like just screaming
at you, and I got decent results doing that, but
I knew that wasn't for me. Like, I'm not going
to scream at you. I'm not going to yell at you.
I'm not going to scream three two one and high
five and fispump you. I'm just not that h person.
But instead I want to give you a lot of knowledge.
I want to motivate you self, motivate you so when
I'm not there, you're like, Okay, I can remember to
(06:27):
pull back my shoulder blades so you know, really activate
my chest. And I want that knowledge to be there.
And so they hear myself, They hear my voice in
their head while they're lifting, while they're doing these things,
they're like, oh, yeah, I remember.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
That, a coache of wisdom instilling the everyday cues that
they can take into their workout. Because that's the point, right,
I mean, you don't let me speak for you, but
as a coach, at least from my perspective, when I've
worked with clients, it's I want to provide you with
the tools so that you can be successful in the
times that you're not with me. And we don't want
our clients to be hyperdependent on you know, just be
(06:59):
having us by their side, right, So you get them
what one to two times a week if you're lucky
for in person clients, but you really want to set
them up for success outside of your sessions.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
Exactly right. I Mean that's the key to that for me.
Speaker 3 (07:10):
If you can get one session and you get one
tip that makes your lift better, then you've succeeded. I
think these people want to come into a session and
be like, I'm going to fix my dead lift today,
and you're like, no way, you can't fix everything. Like
they just book us on one thing, like engage your
core and once we can do that, and then we
can mom the next thing and.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
Taking a step back. It's pretty hard for some people
to understand how to engage your core, like that's that's
usually step one. It's like, what do you mean my
core is engaged? Is like, no, we're going to We're
going to turn on some of these muscles. Turning on
that core is going to lead into an unlock in
so many other realms. And a question for you, how
do you want people to feel when finishing a workout
with you? So we have you know, we have workouts
(07:46):
coming out with you in twenty twenty five in bodybilling
dot COM's new fitness app and new experience. You know,
how do you want users to feel once they press
you know, end workout or finish workout in that app?
Speaker 1 (07:58):
Yeah, totally.
Speaker 3 (07:58):
I want people feel good, but like slightly sore of
the next day. I want you to be able to
come back day in day out and do this build
that consistency in working out. I think a lot of
times you go in there, you blast through this ninety
minute workout, you're drends and sweat, you're hurt, and then
the next day you can't even move and then like,
you're not gonna want to work out again. You're not
gonna want to see me again. You're like, Oh, I
don't want to do that, that's too intense. Instead, you
want to have this really nice You want to feel
(08:20):
like you worked out. Your muscles feel kind of sore,
but you're like, I'm ready for that again. I want
to put another five pounds on from that workout, and
the next week come to do five more pounds.
Speaker 2 (08:28):
In the app and with Ken specifically, we're going to
have a ton of strength workout. Strength really was the
core of everything that you programmed for individuals within the app.
Tell us why strength is at the core of your
coaching principles.
Speaker 3 (08:41):
Yeah, I mean strength is the building block, is a
foundation of your physical ability in everyday life. If you
can't walk up the stairs for the subway station, you
can't carry your groceries home.
Speaker 1 (08:51):
Then there's a problem. And this is why you need
to learn a deadlift.
Speaker 3 (08:54):
This is why you need to farmer carry, This is
why you need to strength train so you can just
be healthier and live longer. Great example, as my mom
had knee surgery and she was barely able to walk
and had a bunch of pain, and she wasn't do
her pet exercise something, Mom, you have to do your
PT exercises.
Speaker 1 (09:08):
And she started doing them.
Speaker 3 (09:09):
Slowly by Shirley, and now you know, last week she
hiked at Patagonia and so she's feeling so much better.
She didn't need her cane to actually walk, And like,
that is what your fitness is about.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
Yeah, transferring what you're learning in the four walls of
a gym to go out there and actually see parts
of the world that maybe you quite literally were not
fit for at one time. Right, So I think gifting
people with that ability is pretty commenceable. What's your favorite movement,
ken and why I.
Speaker 3 (09:38):
Would say the deadlift because I was awful at the deadlift.
I remember there was like I went on leg day
and I was like, oh my god, my back hurts.
I'm like, okay, maybe let's put on back day and
I'm like, oh my god, my back hurts. And when
you're really bad at something, there's so much more improvement
and I like kind of avoided it, and I was like,
I can't figure this out. I just hurt my back
every single time. And I'm like, it wasn't like that,
like a good back feeling. It was like that, Oh
my god, I think I snapped something. And then I
(09:58):
slowly was like, okay, me activate things. Let me get
my grip right, when me get my lads activated. And
then once I started doing it, I was like, oh no,
this feels really good. It's starting to activate everything and
you can lift the most weight you possibly can, and
basically you can teach anyone to deadlift. It's like, Okay,
I'm never gonna hurt my back again. I can actually
pick up something off the ground.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
I can pick up my kid, Yeah, pick up that
Amazon package that's coming after this Black Friday.
Speaker 1 (10:20):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (10:21):
But you know, I think the deadlift for me, I've
always really this. I would say. When I unlocked deadlifting
and I started to feel how it's supposed to feel, it,
it was a game changer for me, and not just
in the sense that I can move more weight on
the bar, in the sense of wow, like I can
build my entire posterior chain with this one movement. How
(10:43):
incredible is that? And deadlifting for me, I mean, if
I'm in a long car ride, if I'm coming off
of a travel day, I just want to get into
the gym the next day and do some deadlifts and
then it's not crazy. We're not loading up the bar
with crazy weight. But if I can find myself a
decently have a heavy kettlebell, you know, eighty pound kettlebell,
just sit there and just do some conservative reps to
activate my glutes, my hamstrings, my back. It just alleviates
(11:07):
all of the pain points that are typically find when
I'm seated for a long period of time.
Speaker 1 (11:11):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (11:14):
What's your advice for someone who's just getting started? I
mean someone who has never picked up a way or
maybe they have and they immediately put it back down.
They're a bit too intimidated to get into the gym.
They start running, they're out of air within two minutes
and they stop right. They just can't break through that
beginner's plateau, right, So what's your advice for somebody like that?
Speaker 3 (11:34):
I would sell them like the first the hardest step
is giving out the front door. But every step counts
after that. If you go for a five minute walk,
you get credit for that, and your people get discard
and be like, oh, I could only walk five minutes.
I'm like, no, you did five minutes. And if you
do five minutes tomorrow and five minutes next day, like
you're gonna add up. Every rep counts. So the more
that you can just lift and do things, and it
doesn't matter if you have an hour or five minutes,
(11:56):
if you just keep going at it and build a consistency,
you will get there. Because that's how we all started.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
Have an advanced Jim goher, somebody who's progressed throughout their
fitness journey for a number of years. Now they can lift,
you know, a good amount of weight. I'm talking the
folks who are over the two hundred pound deadlift, over
three hundred pound or excuse me, over two hundred pouns squad,
over two hundred pound deadlift, et cetera. They've exceeded the
two fifty club and all of it right, they can't
get another five, ten, fifteen pounds added to their one
(12:23):
rep max. What's your advice for somebody like that?
Speaker 3 (12:26):
Yeah, I would say it's equal parts mindset, and physical capacity.
So first I would look at the physical capacity. If
they're overdoing it, right, it's time to take a d
load a week, you can take down the weight and
really build a wider base so you can get that
higher plateau. So maybe, you know, I would say, like,
let's do fifty percent and build up from there. Again,
I think we always like hunting for these things, and
(12:46):
if you're just constantly trying to PR, you're never going
to make it.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
So we're saying, what overtraining has a lot to do
with that. Let's look at how much you're training in
the training frequency, Let's look at the load. Let's understand
if you're fueling correctly recovering correct which is probably a
larger conversation that we could sit here and talk hours
upon hours about. Right, you know, are we chasing a
five pound PR when we're on three hours of sleep.
That's probably going to make a big difference. Right. Definitely
(13:12):
tell us about your favorite Signature product and why it
is it part of your daily stack? And you know,
for us in Signature, we're really excited. This is a
super exciting time at BBCOM. We are re releasing Signature
in a new and improved way in early twenty twenty five,
we've removed all artificial dyes and coloring and replaced those
with natural ingredients, and we are releasing a number of
(13:34):
brand new products within the signature line. But Ken, what's
your specific signature? Go to?
Speaker 3 (13:39):
Always creating amount of hydrate. You cannot go wrong with this,
you know. It's like I've been taking it for almost
twenty years now, and it's always part of my stack.
If I'm you know, loading up my blender bottle, the
first thing that goes in is always creating. Why creating
most studied, well, very well tolerated. I feel the difference
in my own lifting, and it will make you stronger.
(13:59):
It will you have more energy you can just and
you'll grow more muscle.
Speaker 2 (14:04):
What's interesting about creating well, First of all, it's now
considered the most researched supplement on the market. We have
tons and tons of great data behind it. Bodybilla dot
com has been talking about it as early as two
thousand and two. Humble brag there everybody and signature creatine
is creating monohydrate. Creatin monohydrate is very closely being associated
(14:25):
with cognitive improvement as well. Over time, there are some
studies out there associated with potential decreased risk in diseases
such as Alheimer's, dementia, et cetera. Overall, very great for
muscle health, very great for strength, but also very great
for brain health and cognitive health long term. Ken tell
us about how you fuel your day. What's your nutrition
(14:46):
plan look like.
Speaker 3 (14:48):
So I'm a meal prepper. I've been meal prepping for
fifteen years.
Speaker 2 (14:51):
That's a prerequisite for being a BBCOM coach.
Speaker 1 (14:54):
You have to meal prep Definitely.
Speaker 3 (14:57):
I'm kind of like a reducitarium when it comes to
animal products. I still eat some meat, I will do
some dairy, but I try to just be plant forward
as much as possible.
Speaker 1 (15:04):
You know.
Speaker 3 (15:04):
I try to eat thirty different plants, and that has
made me feel so much better. When I started this,
my blood pressure went down fifteen points immediately as soon
as I ate more plants, and I was like, oh wow,
this feels really good.
Speaker 2 (15:17):
And what do you do for recovery?
Speaker 1 (15:19):
I saw it three times a week.
Speaker 3 (15:20):
I always have a dedicated rest day, so like Saturday is,
you know, like my holy day of rest. I will
not work out, I will not go do something because
that's how I am always just trying to do more.
I'm like, how much can I can I run today?
Can I lift today? Can I do a yoga class?
And I'm like, I need to take a full.
Speaker 2 (15:35):
Day off, always optimizing. That's probably hard as a coach
to remove yourself from something that's quite literally your profession.
All right, everybody, we are going to round it out
with a fast, rapid fire ten for ten here, So, Ken,
I'm going to give you an option A, option B,
and you're going to pick the former or the latter.
(15:55):
Are you ready?
Speaker 1 (15:56):
Okay?
Speaker 2 (15:56):
All right, here we go. This is the bb com
Edition upper Body or lower body lower body push or
pull pull, dead lifter, squat squat, biceps or triceps, triceps,
Morning or night workout.
Speaker 1 (16:12):
Morning favorite book Peak by Andrews Erickson.
Speaker 2 (16:17):
Good One favorite food.
Speaker 4 (16:20):
I've been New York for ten years, so I'm gonna
say pizza on brand. Favorite music hard rock. One word
to describe you wow, pressures on.
Speaker 1 (16:34):
I'm going to go with hopefully intellectual.
Speaker 2 (16:38):
One word to describe your workouts effective, awesome. Ken, thanks
for joining us today, the first of many I'm sure
as we unroll and unravel the bb com Fitness app
and our roster of coaches here at bodybilly dot com.
Thanks so much for joining us today and we're looking
forward to working out with you in twenty twenty five.
Speaker 1 (16:58):
Thank you so much,
Then then then.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
What's up bodybilly dot Com listeners. My name is Danielle
Bits and welcome back to the bbcom podcast Today. I'm
joined by Ken You. Ken has been a certified personal
trainer for over ten years and joins us as a
bodybilly dot Com Master coach. Using strength movements to increase
the ability to complete everyday task for the long game
is of the utmost priority to Ken and the guidance
(00:32):
he provides. Before fitness, Ken worked in the corporate world
as an attorney, and he's a natural athlete who enjoys
playing sports, joining functional fitness gyms, and falling in love
with the overall process. Now finding himself fit us at
forty Ken encourages mental resilience through training in his sessions,
encouraging you to step out of your comfort zone and
push yourself to new limits, no matter how old you are. Ken,
(00:55):
welcome to the pod and welcome to bodybilly dot Com.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
Thank you so much for the amazing intro.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
We're going to jump in and have everybody learn a
little bit about our master coaches here in the coming
weeks and in the coming episode, so stay tuned as
we announce our roster. Stay tuned as we release more
content to help you connect with them a bit better
to understand who you want to work out with. Here
in twenty twenty five, So Ken, we're jumping in. Tell
us what brought you to becoming a coach and the
(01:22):
purpose behind your journey.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (01:24):
So I was in the corporate world. I was an
attorney for litigation, both in tax criminal defense and civil litigation.
And when you're in that environment, it's just like a
dog fight day in and day out. You know, you're
going against opponents, you're fighting motions, you are just fighting
these people. And I needed to get away from that,
and so I joined across a gym and the community
there was just so amazing. You're working out together, you're
(01:47):
lifting together, you're learning how to snatch and cleaning, jerk
and muscle ups, and that really inspired me to be
better about myself. So I start spending more time at
the gym and I was like, oh man, I kind
of like this, and so I got my Crossfits vacation.
I started being a price part time coach and then
one day I was like, I should try this, So
I applied to a big box gym. I applied on
(02:09):
a Thursday and then on Friday they give me an
phone interview. Saturday I went in for an in person interview,
and then a Monday morning after court, I went in
for a group interview in my suit and they made
me like squat and do push ups and they're like,
who's this corporate guy? And then I was you know,
and they gave me that job the next day.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
So you're doing the squats the push ups in your suit. Yes,
that's epic.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
Yeah. I was sitting there.
Speaker 3 (02:31):
I was like, uh, and they were like, the guy
in the suit, you're the one that needs to squat,
will analyze you. And I squatted perfectly and they're like, oh,
you can actually squatch.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
Yeah, they thought you were coming in with the technic
and the rounded shoulders and you probably had a better
squat form than everybody in the room. Coming from an
environment like a court room, I mean, tell us, tell
us the vast differences of your day to day and
you know just how your life changed, you know, switching
careers like this.
Speaker 3 (02:56):
Yeah, So I'd sit at court from the beginning of
the day. I would sit there all day long. I'd
get up and talk for five minutes and then I'd
sit back down. And just sit there all day long.
And then when I wasn't doing that, I'd go home
and I'd write briefs and just sit and run my
computer the entire day. And now I get to walk around,
I get a stretch from my clients, I get to
really move my body and just feel so much better.
I mean, my posture has changed so much in the
(03:17):
last ten years of doing this.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
Tell us how your fitness journey has evolved over time.
You started as an athlete yourself, you got into more
functional fitness and CrossFit, But tell us how you have
really evolved to become the coach that you are today.
Speaker 1 (03:30):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (03:30):
So I think it all started with the running. I
was like a cross country kid. I was a soccer player,
didn't really went to the gym at all. I remember
we were in high school and they're like, okay, this
is how you work out. Everyone get on a machine.
We're going to go for one minute and then you're
going to rotate to the next person on the next machine.
So you'd be able doing a lake press and then
do a neck bend and then you.
Speaker 1 (03:50):
Do a bicep curl. And I was like, this is
not for me.
Speaker 3 (03:52):
I don't want to ever work out, and so all
I did was run. And then from there, I played
rugby in college and I think these guys were massive
and huge and strong, and I was like, oh, I
think I need to work out, and so, you know,
after that, I was like, okay, I'm going to start
doing the gym.
Speaker 1 (04:06):
I started.
Speaker 3 (04:07):
My older brother actually helped me like start taught me
to do like bench press and squats, and I had
really no idea what was doing, but I started doing that,
and then once I started getting good at it, I
was like, oh man, I'm pretty decently strong, like I
can do this, and and that's what really got me
into like and I'm like, okay, maybe I can bodybuild.
And I was like okay, I've do some bodybuilding, and
I'm like I found a kind of bodybuilding coach and
he's like this, iw you really do it. I'm like, oh, okay,
(04:28):
this feels really good. He made me more sore than
I've ever been my entire life, Like I couldn't walk out.
I drink like a gall at a gate ray just
to go out the couch. And that was like the
first part of it. I was like okay, and then
I was like now and then I'm kind of like bigger,
and I was like, I don't really move very well.
You know, I can only do these five lifts and
that's all I can do. And so I moved on
from there, and I was like, maybe I should move better.
So I went on to a crosst gym, and then
(04:49):
they taught me how to do handstands, how to do
muscle ups, how to do all these things, and I
was like, oh wow, I can really move.
Speaker 2 (04:54):
I feel like this is the exact evolution that you
hear all of the best coaches talk about. They start
as an athlete in some sort of specific sport that
grew into well, it eventually always has to transition into
getting stronger and faster. So you're in the weight room,
you start to develop that love. That sport may end,
maybe colleges over injuries happen, et cetera. You fall in
(05:15):
love with more of the weight room process. You get strong,
you get fast, but now you're missing that competition aspect.
So now you go hunting for the CrossFit, the alielifting.
Maybe you join a soccer directly, et cetera. So when
you talk to coaches, especially those who have been doing
this for a decade plus you hear about the many
lives in fitness and movement that they live. But all
of that to say, I think it really transfers over
(05:36):
well into having a diverse roster of clients and how
they can speak to those clients. Sure, you can help
somebody become a bit less sedentary to get into a
daily movement routine, but you can also speak to those
who do want to go after their first marathon, do
want to start performing in Olympic weightlifting for whatever reason,
join a CrossFit gym, et cetera. So I always find
(05:57):
that parallel between the coaches that come in here. How
would you specifically describe your coaching style.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
It's actually really relaxed. You know.
Speaker 3 (06:05):
I've taken those grupinous classes where you have that drill
sergeant and that terry crew looking guy like just screaming
at you, and I got decent results doing that, but
I knew that wasn't for me. Like, I'm not going
to scream at you. I'm not going to yell at you.
I'm not going to scream three two one and high
five and fispump you. I'm just not that h person.
But instead I want to give you a lot of knowledge.
I want to motivate you self, motivate you so when
I'm not there, you're like, Okay, I can remember to
(06:27):
pull back my shoulder blades so you know, really activate
my chest. And I want that knowledge to be there.
And so they hear myself, They hear my voice in
their head while they're lifting, while they're doing these things,
they're like, oh, yeah, I remember.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
That, a coache of wisdom instilling the everyday cues that
they can take into their workout. Because that's the point, right,
I mean, you don't let me speak for you, but
as a coach, at least from my perspective, when I've
worked with clients, it's I want to provide you with
the tools so that you can be successful in the
times that you're not with me. And we don't want
our clients to be hyperdependent on you know, just be
(06:59):
having us by their side, right, So you get them
what one to two times a week if you're lucky
for in person clients, but you really want to set
them up for success outside of your sessions.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
Exactly right. I Mean that's the key to that for me.
Speaker 3 (07:10):
If you can get one session and you get one
tip that makes your lift better, then you've succeeded. I
think these people want to come into a session and
be like, I'm going to fix my dead lift today,
and you're like, no way, you can't fix everything. Like
they just book us on one thing, like engage your
core and once we can do that, and then we
can mom the next thing and.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
Taking a step back. It's pretty hard for some people
to understand how to engage your core, like that's that's
usually step one. It's like, what do you mean my
core is engaged? Is like, no, we're going to We're
going to turn on some of these muscles. Turning on
that core is going to lead into an unlock in
so many other realms. And a question for you, how
do you want people to feel when finishing a workout
with you? So we have you know, we have workouts
(07:46):
coming out with you in twenty twenty five in bodybilling
dot COM's new fitness app and new experience. You know,
how do you want users to feel once they press
you know, end workout or finish workout in that app?
Speaker 1 (07:58):
Yeah, totally.
Speaker 3 (07:58):
I want people feel good, but like slightly sore of
the next day. I want you to be able to
come back day in day out and do this build
that consistency in working out. I think a lot of
times you go in there, you blast through this ninety
minute workout, you're drends and sweat, you're hurt, and then
the next day you can't even move and then like,
you're not gonna want to work out again. You're not
gonna want to see me again. You're like, Oh, I
don't want to do that, that's too intense. Instead, you
want to have this really nice You want to feel
(08:20):
like you worked out. Your muscles feel kind of sore,
but you're like, I'm ready for that again. I want
to put another five pounds on from that workout, and
the next week come to do five more pounds.
Speaker 2 (08:28):
In the app and with Ken specifically, we're going to
have a ton of strength workout. Strength really was the
core of everything that you programmed for individuals within the app.
Tell us why strength is at the core of your
coaching principles.
Speaker 3 (08:41):
Yeah, I mean strength is the building block, is a
foundation of your physical ability in everyday life. If you
can't walk up the stairs for the subway station, you
can't carry your groceries home.
Speaker 1 (08:51):
Then there's a problem. And this is why you need
to learn a deadlift.
Speaker 3 (08:54):
This is why you need to farmer carry, This is
why you need to strength train so you can just
be healthier and live longer. Great example, as my mom
had knee surgery and she was barely able to walk
and had a bunch of pain, and she wasn't do
her pet exercise something, Mom, you have to do your
PT exercises.
Speaker 1 (09:08):
And she started doing them.
Speaker 3 (09:09):
Slowly by Shirley, and now you know, last week she
hiked at Patagonia and so she's feeling so much better.
She didn't need her cane to actually walk, And like,
that is what your fitness is about.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
Yeah, transferring what you're learning in the four walls of
a gym to go out there and actually see parts
of the world that maybe you quite literally were not
fit for at one time. Right, So I think gifting
people with that ability is pretty commenceable. What's your favorite movement,
ken and why I.
Speaker 3 (09:38):
Would say the deadlift because I was awful at the deadlift.
I remember there was like I went on leg day
and I was like, oh my god, my back hurts.
I'm like, okay, maybe let's put on back day and
I'm like, oh my god, my back hurts. And when
you're really bad at something, there's so much more improvement
and I like kind of avoided it, and I was like,
I can't figure this out. I just hurt my back
every single time. And I'm like, it wasn't like that,
like a good back feeling. It was like that, Oh
my god, I think I snapped something. And then I
(09:58):
slowly was like, okay, me activate things. Let me get
my grip right, when me get my lads activated. And
then once I started doing it, I was like, oh no,
this feels really good. It's starting to activate everything and
you can lift the most weight you possibly can, and
basically you can teach anyone to deadlift. It's like, Okay,
I'm never gonna hurt my back again. I can actually
pick up something off the ground.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
I can pick up my kid, Yeah, pick up that
Amazon package that's coming after this Black Friday.
Speaker 1 (10:20):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (10:21):
But you know, I think the deadlift for me, I've
always really this. I would say. When I unlocked deadlifting
and I started to feel how it's supposed to feel, it,
it was a game changer for me, and not just
in the sense that I can move more weight on
the bar, in the sense of wow, like I can
build my entire posterior chain with this one movement. How
(10:43):
incredible is that? And deadlifting for me, I mean, if
I'm in a long car ride, if I'm coming off
of a travel day, I just want to get into
the gym the next day and do some deadlifts and
then it's not crazy. We're not loading up the bar
with crazy weight. But if I can find myself a
decently have a heavy kettlebell, you know, eighty pound kettlebell,
just sit there and just do some conservative reps to
activate my glutes, my hamstrings, my back. It just alleviates
(11:07):
all of the pain points that are typically find when
I'm seated for a long period of time.
Speaker 1 (11:11):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (11:14):
What's your advice for someone who's just getting started? I
mean someone who has never picked up a way or
maybe they have and they immediately put it back down.
They're a bit too intimidated to get into the gym.
They start running, they're out of air within two minutes
and they stop right. They just can't break through that
beginner's plateau, right, So what's your advice for somebody like that?
Speaker 3 (11:34):
I would sell them like the first the hardest step
is giving out the front door. But every step counts
after that. If you go for a five minute walk,
you get credit for that, and your people get discard
and be like, oh, I could only walk five minutes.
I'm like, no, you did five minutes. And if you
do five minutes tomorrow and five minutes next day, like
you're gonna add up. Every rep counts. So the more
that you can just lift and do things, and it
doesn't matter if you have an hour or five minutes,
(11:56):
if you just keep going at it and build a consistency,
you will get there. Because that's how we all started.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
Have an advanced Jim goher, somebody who's progressed throughout their
fitness journey for a number of years. Now they can lift,
you know, a good amount of weight. I'm talking the
folks who are over the two hundred pound deadlift, over
three hundred pound or excuse me, over two hundred pouns squad,
over two hundred pound deadlift, et cetera. They've exceeded the
two fifty club and all of it right, they can't
get another five, ten, fifteen pounds added to their one
(12:23):
rep max. What's your advice for somebody like that?
Speaker 3 (12:26):
Yeah, I would say it's equal parts mindset, and physical capacity.
So first I would look at the physical capacity. If
they're overdoing it, right, it's time to take a d
load a week, you can take down the weight and
really build a wider base so you can get that
higher plateau. So maybe, you know, I would say, like,
let's do fifty percent and build up from there. Again,
I think we always like hunting for these things, and
(12:46):
if you're just constantly trying to PR, you're never going
to make it.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
So we're saying, what overtraining has a lot to do
with that. Let's look at how much you're training in
the training frequency, Let's look at the load. Let's understand
if you're fueling correctly recovering correct which is probably a
larger conversation that we could sit here and talk hours
upon hours about. Right, you know, are we chasing a
five pound PR when we're on three hours of sleep.
That's probably going to make a big difference. Right. Definitely
(13:12):
tell us about your favorite Signature product and why it
is it part of your daily stack? And you know,
for us in Signature, we're really excited. This is a
super exciting time at BBCOM. We are re releasing Signature
in a new and improved way in early twenty twenty five,
we've removed all artificial dyes and coloring and replaced those
with natural ingredients, and we are releasing a number of
(13:34):
brand new products within the signature line. But Ken, what's
your specific signature? Go to?
Speaker 3 (13:39):
Always creating amount of hydrate. You cannot go wrong with this,
you know. It's like I've been taking it for almost
twenty years now, and it's always part of my stack.
If I'm you know, loading up my blender bottle, the
first thing that goes in is always creating. Why creating
most studied, well, very well tolerated. I feel the difference
in my own lifting, and it will make you stronger.
(13:59):
It will you have more energy you can just and
you'll grow more muscle.
Speaker 2 (14:04):
What's interesting about creating well, First of all, it's now
considered the most researched supplement on the market. We have
tons and tons of great data behind it. Bodybilla dot
com has been talking about it as early as two
thousand and two. Humble brag there everybody and signature creatine
is creating monohydrate. Creatin monohydrate is very closely being associated
(14:25):
with cognitive improvement as well. Over time, there are some
studies out there associated with potential decreased risk in diseases
such as Alheimer's, dementia, et cetera. Overall, very great for
muscle health, very great for strength, but also very great
for brain health and cognitive health long term. Ken tell
us about how you fuel your day. What's your nutrition
(14:46):
plan look like.
Speaker 3 (14:48):
So I'm a meal prepper. I've been meal prepping for
fifteen years.
Speaker 2 (14:51):
That's a prerequisite for being a BBCOM coach.
Speaker 1 (14:54):
You have to meal prep Definitely.
Speaker 3 (14:57):
I'm kind of like a reducitarium when it comes to
animal products. I still eat some meat, I will do
some dairy, but I try to just be plant forward
as much as possible.
Speaker 1 (15:04):
You know.
Speaker 3 (15:04):
I try to eat thirty different plants, and that has
made me feel so much better. When I started this,
my blood pressure went down fifteen points immediately as soon
as I ate more plants, and I was like, oh wow,
this feels really good.
Speaker 2 (15:17):
And what do you do for recovery?
Speaker 1 (15:19):
I saw it three times a week.
Speaker 3 (15:20):
I always have a dedicated rest day, so like Saturday is,
you know, like my holy day of rest. I will
not work out, I will not go do something because
that's how I am always just trying to do more.
I'm like, how much can I can I run today?
Can I lift today? Can I do a yoga class?
And I'm like, I need to take a full.
Speaker 2 (15:35):
Day off, always optimizing. That's probably hard as a coach
to remove yourself from something that's quite literally your profession.
All right, everybody, we are going to round it out
with a fast, rapid fire ten for ten here, So, Ken,
I'm going to give you an option A, option B,
and you're going to pick the former or the latter.
(15:55):
Are you ready?
Speaker 1 (15:56):
Okay?
Speaker 2 (15:56):
All right, here we go. This is the bb com
Edition upper Body or lower body lower body push or
pull pull, dead lifter, squat squat, biceps or triceps, triceps,
Morning or night workout.
Speaker 1 (16:12):
Morning favorite book Peak by Andrews Erickson.
Speaker 2 (16:17):
Good One favorite food.
Speaker 4 (16:20):
I've been New York for ten years, so I'm gonna
say pizza on brand. Favorite music hard rock. One word
to describe you wow, pressures on.
Speaker 1 (16:34):
I'm going to go with hopefully intellectual.
Speaker 2 (16:38):
One word to describe your workouts effective, awesome. Ken, thanks
for joining us today, the first of many I'm sure
as we unroll and unravel the bb com Fitness app
and our roster of coaches here at bodybilly dot com.
Thanks so much for joining us today and we're looking
forward to working out with you in twenty twenty five.
Speaker 1 (16:58):
Thank you so much,
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