Do you have goals to lose X amount of pounds, gain X amount of lean muscle, or be stronger? Those are great long term goals. Make sure to set up your short terms goals accordingly.

As a personal trainer in Little Rock I meet with many clients who have goals of wanting to lose 10, 20, 30, 50+ pounds or gain muscle mass or increase their strength. These are great to have and absolutely something they can accomplish.

But when many find out that it may take 6-8 weeks before they start seeing progress they get discouraged and always ask if I know of a faster way or anything we can do to speed up the process.

Here is my strategy…3 weeks after your assessment your stamina improves, 1 week after that your balance will improve, 1 week after that your strength will improve, 1 week after that your weight will change, and 2 weeks after that your body composition will change.

These successes as we go build confidence and consistency while making the 6-8 weeks towards progress seem much faster.

I always suggest making your short term goals have higher success rates, which in turn will lead to a better success rate in your more challenging long term goals.

Clients who train with me always are making 2-3 short terms goals and 1-2 long term goals and updating these regularly.

Your training sessions should match your goals and nutrition. If all three are not aligned, then your progress is not maximized.

Many clients I have worked with over the years that have been training alone or with a personal trainer and seeing very limited results have missed a key connection with training, nutrition, and their goals.

Your training style should match your goals. 

Your eating should match your goals. 

Your training style should match your nutritional intake. And vice versa. 

Now there are many many ways to adjust these to all align. But think of these examples. 

If your goal is weight loss. Nutritionally you need to be in a calorie deficit. Training sessions should be created to assist in creating the best/biggest calorie deficit (within reason). 

If your goal is changing body composition. Nutritionally you need to prioritize protein, carbs, and fats correctly. Training sessions should be created to make the most adaptations to the muscular system. 

If your goal is to be stronger and faster. Nutritionally you need to be in a protein surplus, calorie surplus (possibly), and balancing macronutrients. Training sessions should be created focusing on central nervous system training and increasing neuromuscular signaling. 

If your goal is to be stronger. But nutritionally you are in a calorie deficit and limiting fats and proteins. Then your training sessions focus on creating a calorie deficit. These are not aligned and those strength gains will be painfully slow. 

When trying to achieve these goals make sure you know the differences or find someone that can explain them to you. 

Everyone starts with a fitness goal, workout plan, nutrition plan, and motivation. What happens when 1, 2, or all of those don’t go as planned? This can be the difference between short term success and long term changes!

As a personal trainer I see people struggle with this all the time. They get excited about a new goal and a new challenge. Then…

Something in their life has boosted their motivation and they are excited and ready to get started or achieve a new goal. But eventually that motivation will fade or some days that motivation won’t be there. Now what?

They really want to lose some weight and have a great nutrition plan to follow. But eventually something in their life changes or stressful work days add up and they struggle with a very restrictive diet. Now what?

They really want to gain strength and lean muscle mass so they have a great workout plan to follow. But eventually they get a little extra sore, travel, or have a minor injury. Now what?

If you are truly making life long changes these are inevitable. This is when consistency, discipline, and professionals with experience can progress you through those down moments. Fitness professionals should be able to not only help you during those inevitable road blocks but also teach you different ways that work best for you and your life.

“Jeremy was recommended to me for his thoroughness with clients. His assessment was awesome and exactly what I needed”

Many of my new clients referred to me with past or present injuries and limitations. It does mean the process starts slow and takes time to build. But when clients understand that, it is really cool to see how encouraged they get. First feeling more confident in their daily physical activity, then feeling better with less pain/discomfort, and then feeling stronger while changing their body composition as well. Unlike many others, my fitness assessment is not free but it is also not just a way to get someone in the door for a sales pitch. Unlike many others, my assessment is not intended to make you exhausted or really sore just to say “clearly you are unfit and need me”. My assessment is so I can provide you with information about your own body, collect information so I can be more prepared for future workouts with you or exercise program building, and lastly data we can track together so we know your progress. From that assessment my clients make the decision on what plan or style of training is best for them!

“Jeremy has made me feel stronger and more confident. Training with him has also made my knees feel better. I brag about him to all my friends!”

This review came from a client who has always been active but never did any resistance training. Her doctor a year ago told her to start adding some 2-3 days a week for her overall health.

When we first met she was nervous about having no gym experience and she was scared how her knees would feel.

From there we sat down and created a 12 month plan. 4 months of building a foundation, increasing her coordination, getting her comfortable lifting weights, and mixing in some basic rehab exercises for her knees. Then 6 months of gradually increasing her intensity and focusing on some overall strength, hypertrophy, and continuing knee rehab. These last 2 months the workouts remained the same but we slowly transitioned her into working out alone and less with me.

She has reached a goal weight and now her knees are pain free. Her confidence and accountability working out alone are great and now our plan is to continue with sessions only 1-2 times a month to check in.

To me as a trainer not every client needs to have sessions multiple times a week. Teaching my clients how to maintain their success on their own with some occasional assistance is just as exciting as clients who work with me every step of the way to reach their goals.

Check out more success stories, diet and workout tips, and training motivation on my Instagram account @jeremy_paprocki_

“Since getting back on track with Jeremy I have lost 12lbs. Even better the herniated disc in my back never gives me any problems anymore.”

This review was submitted by a client I started working with over 5 years ago. Together we were able to get her into amazing shape. Then like many fitness journeys she hit some struggles during covid. After that her mother became very ill and she was the one who took care of her. During that time her nutrition and physical activity was getting worse and worse. Unfortunately, her mother passed and then my client went through months of depression while also having to move all of her mother’s belongings. To make things worse she then herniated a disc in her back moving boxes nightly after work.

Once we were able to reconnect and create a new plan we started very slow. Shifting our focus to improve her back pain and strengthen that area, with mixing in some things to aid her weight loss goals again.

Now she is back lifting more weight than ever before, her nutrition is great and balanced, she is walking her dog nightly, and has no more back pain!

Check out more success stories, diet and workout tips, and training motivation on my Instagram account @jeremy_paprocki_

“You have helped me track my weight, track my diet, and focus on getting my bra fat smaller”

This was a new successful client goal for me to check off.

Typically with clients I do not ask them about specific spot reduction areas they want to improve on their bodies. (Too unpredictable and doesn’t make much sense).

But of course after seeing them weekly for months and as they start to hit some short term goals I learn more about how they view their bodies and changes they want to see.

They all know before even telling me they want to target their belly, or hips, or chest, or arm “fat” that it doesn’t work that way. Once I know they have a healthy diet and workout routine I do let them start discussing these specific areas and it is always interesting to hear where and why they are focused on such specific spots.

I must say, this was a first. But the smile she had on her face after weeks of telling me her weight was dropping but that “one spot” was not changing was still great to see. If those realistic small changes keeps her motivated and progressing I am all for supporting her fitness goals.

Check out more success stories, diet and workout tips, and training motivation on my Instagram account @jeremy_paprocki_