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"You've got to be pleased!" there was Matt again with his wise knowledge, confident tone and a very pleased smile. That comment had just been said for the very first time and it could only mean goodness. That day set the tone for the next level of training I thought I would never see.
Only 4 months have gone by since my last posting and so much has happened to me since then. By the end of July my weight dropped to 133 Lbs. My size 2 clothes fit me a lot better; some of them are even loose now. My whole body has shrunk somehow that it makes me look lighter than my own weight, not to mention all the comments and looks that I get from people I don't even know.
There have been numbers of comments about my arms and my shoulders and some others from people who know me talk about my "flabby-bye-bye arms" gone for good! Another comment sounded like this: "but honey look at her legs, it is a total transformation"! I could only feel proud since my legs have traumatized me all my life for being so thick and unshaped. My worst judge in my home town in Mexico (he has always criticized me for gaining so much weight) was very impressed by my new look that he even said I look much better...
 Judith Galvan
 I started proprioceptive training with Matt Eyde in November of 2006. When I walked into his studio I weighed almost 300 pounds. The weigh-in was a shock to me as I had been an athlete in High School and had rigorous physical training at Tisch School of the Arts while obtaining my Acting Degree. Years of neglect had left my body, and to an extent my spirit, sedentary.
Matt saw my expression at the news of my condition and gave me a big grin - "We can get this done," he told me. Though I didn't believe it at the time, he was right. I have lost 46 pounds and feel better than I have at any other point in
my life.
And I'm just getting warmed up.
Making this transformation hasn't always been easy. When I started I was so embarrassed by my weight, I dreaded going to the gym. Matt kept me calm and focused until I found my rhythm. I now look forward to going to the gym, and as Matt promised, my consistency has made all the difference.
I didn't really know what to expect from a trainer when I started with Matt. I had worked with personal trainers on and off through the years, and they always seemed bored and disinterested in the work. By the time they were insisting I buy an energy drink at the gym's juice bar, I was deciding to put off getting back in shape another year. Matt is unlike any of those guys. He is so enthusiastic about me and my goals. He is fully engaged while we work together, and even checks in on me mid-week to make sure I stay on track. Matt's genuine and easy-going style makes working with him a pleasure.
I wasn't really sure what a "plateau" was when I started training at Threshold, but Matt was preparing me for them mentally from the very beginning. So when I lost my first ten pounds and then stopped losing weight for two or three weeks, I understood what he had been preparing me for. Discouraged, Matt smiled and said "I told you so. This is what a plateau looks like. You have two options right here. You can give up, and cross this plateau the next time you decide to get in shape, or you can stay consistent and we will be to the other side in no time." About one more week of consistency, and I had lost another five pounds. I hate to say this where he can read it, but Matt is pretty much always right.
He seems to always be one step ahead. He prepares you for the challenges that come with physical training and he equips you with strategies to succeed. The discipline Matt has helped me bring into my life has changed me in profound ways. I find myself eager to tackle obstacles in front of me, whereas four months ago I would have put them off for another day.
Matt's help has also made a significant impact on my career. Every casting office I go into now flips out when they see how transformed I am physically, and they are calling me in for bigger parts. I booked a recurring role on a hit show, and the presence of my new physique was a key element in getting that plumb job.
As I said, I'm just getting warmed up, Matt Eyde has giving me so much already, but the most important thing is I now believe Matt's comment on the day I started training with him - "We can get this done."
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I believe Matt is the best in the business, and I am proud to be one of his first clients at his new gym. I cannot recommend this man highly enough.
Thank you Matt, for everything. I'll see you for the weigh-in on Wednesday.
Benjamin Byron Davis
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I am 65 years old, and I've been training with Matt for almost two years. I've seen a significant improvement in my flexibility, balance, and especially in overall strength. I seem to be getting stronger each week. During a recent session, I was able to do a bench press set with my age, in weight, in each hand.
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Matt has a very balanced approach to strength training and conditioning. He keeps it interesting by regularly varying my routines.
Art Cragnotti
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I was a scrawny little weakling before I met Matt Eyde. It took me a while to work up the nerve to approach him to be my trainer. I saw how he worked other clients and knew that he would expect me to stay committed. That was two years ago. |
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Since then my workouts have had their highs and their lows. Days when I've felt invincible and days when I've wanted to throw in the towel. It's the latter that are the worst, when you hit a plateau (mine was 150 lbs on the bench press) and you think you're never going to move up that's when Matt's at his best. He keeps you motivated and switches things up, reinventing the routine so it doesn't become, well, routine. He keeps you climbing despite your own self-doubt. If I ever get an award for something, I'll be thanking Matt Eyde for keeping my in shape and feeling good.
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Chris Cragnotti |
Arthur Karapetian
As a child, I did not have an understanding of exercise. All of my friends joined soccer and basketball. It all seemed pointless to me. I used to be 5 feet tall and 210lbs, which is hard to believe to this day. I started to grow older (I was 14) and I realized that being overweight became embarrassing. My mother saw that I was getting lazy. It was time to lose some fat and get off of the computer. She decided to take action and hire a fitness coach.
I am now 17, 165lbs, and 10% body fat. Since I have a fondness for cars, I will use this example. In three years, I have been able to transform myself from a Ford Festiva to a Ferrari 360. I eat more than I did when I was younger and I don’t gain a pound because I’ve been able to maintain a high anaerobic threshold. Working with Matt is the highlight of my day because, not only do I get to better myself as a whole, I also have a better time than I thought I would ever have. After training, I find myself in a state which is undescribable, unlike any high that I could feel. Exercising helps me to cross plateaus, and helps me feel like I bring out my full potential. I work out religiously now because it points me in the right direction in every way. When my conditioning level is high, I can feel a difference when I eat poorly. I could compare it to putting 87 octane gasoline in a high performance engine like a Ferrari or Lambourghini. The car will operate at only 60-70% efficiency.
Working out at the intensity that I do feels like I can have all of the good and bad choices laid out in front of me. I can choose to point myself in the right direction. In a way, I feel that it helps me to strive to be a successful human being because it allows me to concentrate on what is most important and let go of the bad influences.
I remember when I had suffered from mononucleosis. I remember coughing chronically and not quite feeling 100% for a long time. There was just something missing. When I went back to Matt, I wasn’t firing on all cylinders. After
watching me through a pattern of average workouts, he decided to jump in and pace me to show that I had another gear that I hadn’t been using (the 6th gear). I now do these high intensity routines which get the most out of me, but has left me more healthy than I have ever been. I haven’t been sick in over a year and I feel like a Sherman Tank. The toxins have been pushed out of my body. He was right in saying that my body would operate like a finely tuned machine.
I have also noticed that my sleep patterns have improved. I no longer wake up late and go to sleep late. I now feel like I am on time and get three times more done on a given day than I would have before I started exercising. And since I found my 6th gear, I am able to give 100% to everything I set out to do.
Having a Strong Body and a Sound Mind has enabled me to enjoy the simple things in life, such as Sunsets, relationships, and people. It’s just a few hours out of the week, which is very little. It makes a difference in my life, and that makes me proud of myself. It makes me want to go for the best in everything. After giving 100% in the exercise room, I feel the difference between myself and others who seem uncertain about what they want to accomplish.
In conclusion, we all seem to be missing our opportunity to be our best in many different ways. With just a few hours a week, and with the right routine, we could all be Ferrari’s. Quick, rare, and highly appreciated in society for being unique and above standard.
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Arthur Karapetian |
 Luis Guzman
I’m the type of person that enjoys challenges and welcomes change. A spark went off regarding my exercise routine with Matt. I started re-thinking my exercise routine, which was: cardio warm up, weight lifting, cardio wrap up. I thought there had to be a positive and safe way to combine these three exercise elements and also incorporate one of my all-time favorite exercises, step! I explained to Matt that I wanted to combine balance and breathing (think Thai Chi), speed and coordination (think Step) with my weight training (think Hercules – LOL). I gave Matt a challenge of coming up with a routine that would make me sweat, use stability, engage my core, keep me focus and make me stronger…and regain some of my mobility I had recently lost due to a lower back injury…and age.
Turns out that what I was seeking is called PLYOMETRICS! Matt introduced me to plyometrics, which one of its key elements is the use of the BOSU ball. With plyometrics, my flexibility has increased, eye-to-hand coordination has improved, my breathing and concentration are relaxed and my over strength has increased – upper and lower body. After a 60-minute workout incorporating plyometrics and other “sport type” of exercises – I’m focused, refreshed, stronger and definitely sweaty!
G. Halsey Wickser
 I started using a personal trainer about five years ago. At that time my goal was to lose weight and body fat. Those early years never really yielded the results I wanted. I also remember dreading my workouts as being arduous.
Three years ago, just when I was seriously considering dropping personal training, Matt Eyde took over. I immediately noticed a difference in working with Matt due to his particular personable training technique, and actually started looking forward to workout sessions. In addition, I really started to notice a change for the better with respect to my goals.
Since working with Matt, my body fat percentage and weight are way down. Also, my overall muscle strength and definition have improved. Another great difference I’ve noticed is not only am I able to keep my weight off, I find myself continually getting leaner and stronger. I am now routinely complemented on how much more fit I look.
I still have a ways to go before I reach what I consider to be my ideal situation, with respect to my weight, body fat, and overall strength. For the first time I feel confident that, with Matt’s support, I will attain these goals.
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G. Halsey Wickser |
Craig Peterson
 On this the day of my 57th birthday, I reflect back on the past 10 years of exercise and training I’ve done. I’ve worked with three trainers in four different gyms. What is it that’s kept me going for 10 years through all of my aches and pains?
I’m a Clinical Psychologist with one of my specialties in Geriatric Psychology. I see very elderly patients in nursing homes and rehabilitation centers. I also see some younger people on disability in my office. What is the overwhelming thing in common that I see with all these people? Without a doubt it’s simply that they don’t take care of themselves properly. Of course, there are exceptions like the stroke or accident patient or the 97 year old who’s just now come to the nursing home, but otherwise it boils down to poor or inadequate self-care.
I look at my own family of origin for even more relevant examples. Both my parents and my younger brother all have thyroid problems. My mother and brother are overweight and don’t even get any mild exercise. My father is a drinker and a smoker who can no longer walk more than a few feet before becoming winded. My brother is having trouble with his eyes and has already had a detached retina and developed a cataract. I decided that I would never allow this to happen to me. Why not live with a good quality of life to be 100 years old?
My early training sessions were started because I too was somewhat overweight and could not lose it, regardless of what diet changes I tried. Initially it went well and I lost 15 pounds but then it stopped. My training routines were not infrequently interrupted or minimized by low back/sciatica problems and left shoulder muscle spasms. My trainer had me doing the same exercises over and over and at reduced rates because he was afraid to injure me or have some of these more chronic symptoms flare up. After seven years I switched gyms and trainers. He’d been helpful for the initial basic work but it was time to move on.
For another year I worked with a new trainer. He was quite good and really approached training my body differently. I lost more weight and began to see some muscle strength increases, which surprised me. My physical problems diminished and did not flare up so often or cause the degree of problems they had in the past for me. Unfortunately, this trainer left the gym to start a new career so in stepped Matt Eyde as his replacement.
Our first sessions at the gym were, of course, just getting to know each other and Matt learning my strengths and weaknesses. Shortly after switching to Matt, he opened Threshold Fitness Studio and I transferred my training there.
It’s coming up on 1.5 years with Matt and wow what a difference. Since training with Matt I’ve lost 3% of my body fat so I’m down to 12% with just a little belly fat to go. May weight is actually up 7 pounds in the past year so it’s obvious I’m gaining muscle. We’ve really focused in the past 6 months on core strengthen. My abdominal muscles were always pretty weak but now they are the strongest they’ve been in my entire life. My arms actually show real muscle definition and strength. I can military press two 60- pound weights for 15 repetitions. I can do 15 reps of dumbbell rows at 80 pounds. With some of the cable exercises I can pull 240 pounds. My gains have been unbelievable.
I think part of the reason is attitude. When Matt says, “Do you want to try more weight?’, I always say, “Why not?” I figure that I might as well try and see what I can really do. The worst that happens is that I don’t do the full15 repetitions. I never focus on how much weight I’m “supposed” to do and I never am disappointed if I don’t do those 15 reps. I just focus on doing what I can and, if that’s a lot, great!
I think the other part of my success is Matt’s ability and knowledge. He really mixes up the exercises so my body doesn’t get used to a certain routine or weight. If I’m having trouble with some muscle soreness, we do some stretching and that often times takes care of the problems. My low back hasn’t “gone out” in a long time, thanks to the core strengthening. My posture is better. My energy level is better. And most importantly I feel good!
So at age 57 when my fellow baby-boomers are fat and lazy and starting to have medical problems, that’s not me! People think I look at least 10 years younger than I am! How great is that!
Thanks, Matt!
Craig Peterson
Zack Eisenberg
I never thought I’d be writing a testimonial but I never thought I would see the results I have from just two sessions with Matt Eyde. For my 33rd birthday present a friend, and a success story of Matt’s, gave me one session with Matt. I’d been going to the gym for years with very little satisfaction. Having never met with a trainer, I would use the aerobic machines and work some muscles I thought were important on the machines without any direction and achieving minimal results. For all the hours I was spending in the gym, the lack of results convinced me that either my body was too old for change or it would take radical dieting.
I finally met with Matt for one session. He gave me the routine I never realized I needed. It was an effective routine that I could achieve in much less time at the gym then I had previously been wasting. The routine incorporated parts of my body like shoulders and legs that I never considered as crucial to my shape and tone. I took that routine as well as an aerobic routine Matt gave me and applied it at my gym. Within a few months I had lost 4 to 5 pounds and was getting compliments from friends about my newly arrived muscles.
Then after about six months I went back for another session with Matt. He was very pleased and supportive of my progress. He gave me another routine, and that’s when the results had me singing his praises. It’s been 3 months since only our second session and, as my friends notice, the weight keeps falling off. I was never a big guy, just 5’6” and 160 with some trimming up room. I’m down to 148 as of yesterday and it keeps going. I never changed my diet, not even remotely, and I’m in the best shape I’ve been in since my early twenties.
I know I never could have achieved this on my own or with some average gym trainer. Matt understood exactly what my body could handle, what it needed, and when it was ready for more. His propreoceptive technique has given me so much more strength and focus then I achieved on my own with the machines or could expect from an average gym employee. I used to be intimidated by the weight room now I feel like I belong there.
It’s been a year of Matt’s guidance, and I feel like at 34 I have a world of possibility before me. My new physical and mental endurance has helped me excel at my physically and mentally challenging job like never before. I owe it to Matt and to myself and I can’t wait for the next session…though I know it will hurt like hell - but only till my next workout.
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Zack Eisenberg |
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