Staying indoors unless you need necessities. Unemployment climbing each day. More and more confirmed cases of COVID-19. Avoid talking to strangers. Can’t eat inside restaurants. No sports. And no TOILET PAPER? Someone wake me up from this April fool’s joke. Wait. This is the actual reality, huh? This is all new for all of us. For me, I am trying to get used to no sports. Honestly, I miss it DEARLY. I miss seeing my Lakers, Dodgers (baseball is postponed), and all events geari

Never take health for granted. “Kei, I used to be so athletic and now I have back pain every day.” “I can’t go down on the floor like I used to.” These are things my senior clients tell me. I take their words dear to my heart and as a reminder to take care of my body. We all get old The senior clients are twice, sometimes three times, my age and they teach me what their bodies have gone through. How they felt in their 50s, 60s, 70s, and their current state. Their words and ex

Sore throat. Stuffy nose. Coughing. High fever. Flu. We all have experienced one of these in our past. How do you avoid getting sick? Here are 3 things that I do to avoid getting sick. First, drink a lot of water. My recommendation is to invest in a big water bottle. I have a 40-oz Hydroflask that I have been using for 5 years. I take it everywhere I go, so I am constantly drinking. Days where I don’t take it with me, I don’t consume as much. So it is vital for me to take it

This past weekend I went to go watch “Volta,” a Cirque du Soleil show that is in the Dodgers’ Stadium. Every time I watch these shows, I am fascinated with how incredible and what the human body is capable of. Hanging onto rings with one hand upside down and twirling. Bouncing off trampolines and landing insane jumps. Its endless acts of incredible acts. What makes this possible is the amount of training these athletes go through. Their bodies are the testament to their hard

Do you go 100% when you workout? Or, do you take it easy? How can you tell? As a personal trainer, I take pride in being able to push beyond what people are capable of. Here are some ways to tell if your intensity isn’t high enough. Soreness isn’t always the judge of a good workout, but it is a frame of reference. Exercise is specific in targeting certain muscles. When you do enough of a certain exercise, those targeted muscles will be stressed and sore. Soreness isn’t always

When it comes to fitness, there are many ways to achieve success. We get fixated on comparing ourselves to others. At times, we try things that are recommended by friends, family, or the internet. However, there are some things I want people to keep in mind in finding your path to success. Everybody has different schedules Everything revolves around your schedule: when to eat, when to exercise, etc. First, see what works for your schedule in terms of how often you can exercis

Sunday broke the news of the death of Kobe Bryant, his daughter, and along with 7 other people. I couldn’t believe my eyes. “This can’t be happening. Is this some kind of joke?” I am in denial, still trying to process all of this. We see stars, actors, actresses, famous people pass away from time to time, but this one is different. Heir to Jordan Michael Jordan was the face of basketball in the 90s. I grew up idolizing him. Everybody that played basketball stuck their tongue

If you read last week’s blog, I talked about how I gain about 10-lbs when I go to Japan. When I get back, its game time. I don’t want clients asking me, “man, did you gain weight?” Also, it’s not a good look as a personal trainer to have a gut. So here’s my way of losing my vacation weight. Drink more water Here’s the thing about Japanese people. They DON’T drink that much water. Tea is more common to drink during meals. In addition, the cups they use are smaller compared to

For those that don’t me, I am Japanese American. Other than my immediate family, all of them are in Japan. I grew up going to Japan every summer. I had my wedding in Japan in 2018 and I gained 10-lbs in 4 days. This past Christmas, I went for 9 days and gained 12-lbs. Why do I gain so much weight when I visit Japan? Here’s how. Gluttonous food Carbs. Carbs. Carbs. Rice. Noodles. Rice. You get the idea. Seems like all I ate was carbs. Wake up and eat 3 bowls of rice for breakf

Being in the fitness industry, I see this all the time. The gym is flooded with new people that are excited to start their fitness journey. I call these people “New Year’s resolution” people. Now, I am all for people wanting to exercise. However, my problem is the fact that they stop within 1 or 2 months. I may not be able to stop these people from quitting, but I can help them understand how the process works. So what are key things to avoid from turning into one. Going to t

Happy New Year’s ladies and gentlemen! Brand new year. Clean slate. We get to start all over. Day 1 out of 365. You’ve had your break and now you are excited to get back to exercising. Before you get out there and crush it, have these in mind when getting ready to amp up your fitness. First, set goals. What do you want to accomplish for the year, 3 months, 6 months, and 9 months? Write these down. Also, be specific. Losing weight is vague. Be specific like, “lose 7 pounds by

Now we are officially in the last 2 weeks of 2019! It’s time to put the brakes on and stop exercising, right? No. These last 2 weeks are crucial. The three reasons are the sweet intake, work slows down, and lack of activity. Eating more sweets Egg nog. Grande latte. Candy cane. Hot cocoa. Cookies. Cupcakes. Fudge. Chocolate. This time of year these types of items are in abundance. Yes, personal trainers get these too. We are human. Now I am not saying you should not eat it, e

Grit: an individual’s perseverance of effort combined with the passion for a particular long-term goal or end state. Yes, you need GRIT. Especially in fitness. There will be days where you don’t want to exercise. There will be days where you are sick or injured. You will lose your progress or gain weight. “This isn’t working for me.” There will be countless times where you want to quit. Who’s going to push you? Nobody other than yourself. Having that belief and sticking to it

As we approach 2020, I wanted to discuss one of the trending topics in the fitness industry: wearable devices. I am sure you have seen the ad for it. It alerts you to take more steps, monitors heart rhythm, sends a small electric shock to let you know that you have been sitting too long, how well you slept, laundry list, and tell time (as well a watch should do). So what are the reasons why wearable devices are becoming more popular in the fitness industry? First, is the fact

It is here, ladies and gentlemen. The last month of 2019. Only 31 (now 27) days to go and we turn the pages to the New Year. You’ve exercised 11 months consistently. You’re not going to let this last month slide, right? So what are things to keep in mind to continue exercising? Avoid sweet drinks. Around this time of year, I get tempted to get those sweet drinks. Peppermint Mocha. Sounds delicious, right? Well, there’s 52 grams of sugar in a grande size. For those that are lo

Every year as Thanksgiving comes around, we are reminded to be thankful and appreciative of the little things. This year was different. I have been self-employed for 4 years and never would have crossed my mind that something like this would happen. The business next door caught on fire. In order to access the roof, the fire department had to forcefully enter (resulting in a broken back door) and cut through our ceiling. This wasn’t the issue. The gym reeked with the smell of

This is what I tell my clients all the time if they want results. Generally, you see your personal trainer for an hour. Multiply that by the number of times you go see him/her. That total number isn’t much compared to the amount that you are outside of the gym. So what are you doing with the remaining time? 24 hours – Sleep (8) – Work (8) = 8 hours left. We all have busy schedules. Work, eat, sleep, running errands, kids stuff (for those that are parents), the list goes on wi

You’re running and feeling good, then you decide to sprint. TWANG! Hamstring pull. The back of the leg cramps up and you cannot bend your knee. Muscle pull can happen any time and it’s painful. So what are things you can do to make it better? First, is to rest and stretch the muscle. Depending on the severity of the pull, you will need to rest that leg longer than expected. The hamstring muscles activate when you bend your knee, so it is vital to avoid exercises that requires

You’re driving and you see that orange light turn on. What do you do? You take it to the auto shop, right? The last thing you want is for your car to stop in the middle of the road. Ever experienced this? I remember my previous car. It was a 1997 Toyota Camry. I drove that car to the ground, had over 200,000 miles. However, it kept overheating and I had to put in coolant ever so often. One time I was driving and smoke started coming out. I had to pull over and wait for AAA. L

October 30, the eve of Halloween. You know what that means ladies and gentlemen. The season of candies. Milky Way, Twix, Skittles, Snickers, Nerds, Reese’s, 3 Musketeers, Candy Corn (yuck), Blow Pops, Sour Patch Kids, etc. we all have our favorite candy. As adults, we eat what we grew up on and candy hasn’t changed throughout the years. What are you going to do this Halloween to make sure not to gain weight? Control your portion “Fun” size doesn’t mean you should eat 5 of the