How the Trainers Train: John Godoy
How do area top fitness pros whip clients into shape?
NASM-certified Personal Trainer John Godoy, of the Trump International Hotel Chicago, has a flair for training clients in a time-efficient, functional manner.
“There’s a transference effect in our personal and professional lives when we accomplish our physical goals,” Mr. Godoy notes. “We develop the energy, self-belief and positive outlook that push us in all realms of our lives.”
He goes beyond the scope of a basic training program by encouraging people to identify and correct the negative internal issues that brought them to seek physical assistance. By challenging clients physically, a trainer tests their mental strength; when they see that they can accomplish certain exercises, they can take that confidence outside the gym.
And physically challenging it is. Mr. Godoy keeps his people moving about 90 percent of the time. In other words: There is no sitting. The workout begins with a dynamic warm-up and core work followed by training using a combination of hand-weights, cables and body-weight. The main portion of the workout consists of movement done primarily in the frontal and transverse planes.
Mr. Godoy, who can also be found at www.johngodoy.com, says this approach helps work against the postural imbalances that have occurred as a result of a life lived in constant flexion. “I encourage movement, even just slow pacing during breaks, as most clients are stuck sitting immobile at a desk all day,” he explains. “The one hour they spend with me should be spent moving.”
In addition to what training can do for you physically, Mr. Godoy suggests finding role models who’ve surpassed the insurmountable for encouragement along the way to keep your mindset positive, as well as reading psychology books like The Time Paradox, by Philip Zimbardo and John Boyd. “If their mind is not calling the shots, no matter how much they try, their actions will never succeed in health.”
Tagged as: Fitness Focus, health and wellness, John Godoy and exercise
Lisa Payne is a Writer, Personal Trainer and Group Fitness Instructor. After receiving her BA’s in Broadcast Journalism and Communications from the University of Iowa, she worked as a Writer/Producer at KCRG-TV, an ABC affiliate, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Lisa then moved back to Chicago to receive her Post-Baccalaureate degree and MFA in writing from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Lisa has since combined both of her loves: fitness and writing.
