Jake Holmberg
WPM's Personal Trainer of the Month - December 2011
Interviewed by: Mike Hall
Nominated by: Anna Joyce
Jake Holmberg has been obsessed with working out since he was 14 and as he entered college, he realized he didn't want to do anything else with his life. He wanted to consume his life with his passion. His addiction grew to the point where he would skip class to go lift. It had definitely become his first priority. Once he got his foot in the door of helping others reach their health and wellness goals his addiction grew even more. "The feeling you get by helping someone change their life and lose 50 pounds is unmatchable. Add the fact that you get to do it in your favorite place, the gym, makes it impossible to see myself doing anything else", says Jake.
Since then, he has committed to making himself a test dummy and fully indulging every aspect of my life to fitness and in specific CrossFit. He is now a owner of CrossFit Blur gym in AZ.
"...I feel like my biggest strength is my love for fitness and health. I eat it, breathe it and sleep it. I also love helping people so the career could not be a better fit. I really never clock out. I am always thinking of a new workout to try, how to boost someone over a plateau or a PR I am attempting that week."
WP: You are our Personal Trainer of the Month. What is your educational background? What are your certifications?
I am certified in these: Marketing Degree, AFAA certification, CrossFit Cert. Attendance (missed by one stinking question but retaking in near future), TRX Certified, Kettlebell Certified, and CrossFit competitor.
WP: How long have you been a personal trainer?
I started personal training when I was 19 and have not stopped since. It has been a little under 5 years. I am so blessed to have found my passion at an early age. I have been a crossfit trainer for a little over 2 years now and I just opened up my own gym with my best buddy, Justin, in Scottsdale AZ called CrossFit BLUR two months ago.
WP: What do you feel sets you apart from all other personal trainers out there?
I do not mean to toot my horn but, I feel that a genuine passion for fitness and a genuine passion for people are missing in the fitness industry. I truly love and care deeply about each and every one of my clients. Building a report is crucial for their success. They need to feel comfortable with you and have trust in you as a trainer. I love messing with my clients before and after the session because they know once the clock starts it game time. Before and after, although I try to create a fun environment. Let's face it, the majority of Americans do not enjoy working out so when you create this environment and relationship, it makes it 100 times easier for that normally discouraged person to stick with it. Before you know it, they are hooked!
I also feel like walking the talk sets me apart. How do you continually progress as an athlete (anyone who works out is an athlete at a crossfit gym)? Constantly varied functional movements performed at a high intensity. I know so many trainers stuck in monotonous routines and are not well rounded because of it. I always challenge my body to new limits when I work out which I pride myself in doing religiously. I also am OCD about my meals and diet overall. If you are going to tell someone to do it, you dang well better be doing it yourself. I feel guilty as a trainer if I do not.
WP: Where do you train your clients? You own your own gym, right?
Yes, I do. I train them at my gym CrossFit BLUR! (www.crossfitblur.com) Oh yeah, I just plugged my gym. Check us out on facebook as well. I also do some in home training as well.
WP: You are allowed to do that here. Ha-ha. Do you believe in high-intensity or low-intensity?
ALWAYS high intensity. Our motto actually is, "Intensity equals results" along with "Taking the jiggle out your wiggle". High intensity workouts make you better. When there is a clock running and/or reps being counted you go harder increasing your work capacity and strength. I often think I'm bias because I've drank the crossfit Kool-Aid and then it hits me why because it is, without a doubt, the most efficient way to build an amazing FUNCTIONAL body. All of that together takes the jiggle out of your wiggle.
WP: What are you goals?
I have a million goals both personal and professional.
In general, I just strive to be a better person daily.
WP: What future projects do you have planned?
We are doing a fundraiser this December for a little girl with Leukemia in hopes of raising her family some money. I am super excited about that! Besides that just continuing to make CrossFit BLUR THE place to get your workout on in Phoenix!
WP: What have you overcome in life that you are proud of?
I have been extremely blessed in life with my family, friends and opportunities. Sure I have had tons of struggles, but everyone does and continuing to move forward and striving to better myself every day is all I have control over.
WP: Do you also compete in CrossFit competition? Tell us about it. How well did you do?
Yes, I am a CrossFit competitor. I am fairly new to the competition end of it, but we are currently training for the CrossFit Open this winter. I love it! The beautiful thing about it is that there are tangible ways to judge it.
How much work can you do for time go! There are heavy weights, cardio movements and gymnastics movements all rolled up into one. So when that guys says, "Yeah, I squat 800 pounds" and then the other guy rebuttals with, "Yeah, but I can run 26 miles", who's the fitter person? What if you combined them to create the complete athlete? Let's say for a competition we see what your max squat is for the first part. Then, the second part is a workout where you run 800m, deadlift 225 for 15, do 20 box jumps and 25 pull-ups for 3 rounds for time. Then, the third part is a 2 mile run and a 400m swim. Tally all those together and that is the "fittest" man and that is CrossFit. You should be strong and you have cardio strength as well.
WP: Sounds interesting. What would you change about the judges in the competitions?
Count my reps out loud all the time! I cannot think or breath. I need to hear them.
WP: From your past competitions, what have you learned you need to correct or work on for the physique you are aiming for?
Well, not from a physique stand point because these workouts give you that regardless, but some of my skills still are pretty raw (hand stand walks, double unders, pistol squats, muscle ups). So, continuing to work on the flaws in my game is what I take from the contests.
WP: What are your strengths and weaknesses in this industry?
I feel like my biggest strength is my love for fitness and health. I eat it, breathe it and sleep it. I also love helping people so the career could not be a better fit. I really never clock out. I am always thinking of a new workout to try, how to boost someone over a plateau or a PR I am attempting that week. I believe my biggest weakness is being to kind. I often find myself (I have gotten a lot better) not valuing my own time. I have had clients that repeatedly cancel or not pay me for sessions and sometimes it is hard for me to be assertive and let them know my time is valuable. It has not been a problem as of late (crosses fingers). I have gotten better at making my clients realize that everybody is busy, but that you have to make this a priority for it to work.
WP: What keeps fitness interesting to you?
There is no destination! It is a lifelong journey that never ends and is always challenging! What is not interesting about it? I am always striving to beat my prior times, weights, reps in workouts. The measurable goals we have at CrossFit BLUR give you something to always shoot for, whether it is upping your PR on a clean and press, or improving my Fran time. When you throw the competition aspect into fitness it really takes the interest to a whole new level beyond thinking about how good or bad your abs look or how much your delts are popping.
WP: Tell me something about yourself that no one else knows. It’s just between us, no one else will know. Ha-ha.
I was the elementary school hop scotch champion 3 years running. I am deathly afraid of ninja turtles with high karate skills. When I was a little boy, just so high, Daddy took a big stick and made me cry. Now I am a big boy daddy cannot do it, so I take a big stick and hop right to it.
WP: You are a poet and did not know it. Ha-ha! How have you changed over the years?
I feel like especially in the last 2-3 years I have grown so much as a person in just realizing that life is about finding your passion and chasing it. Along with that treating everyone with respect and just having fun! I am never going to grow up and I love that! I try to find the happy balance of working hard and playing hard. Life is too short not to enjoy the heck out of it!
WP: Any shout outs?
(In gangsta rapper voice) Yeah, I would like to give a shout out to my main man Ray Ray! Ha-ha! Yes, I would! Mom, I love you with all my heart. You are the most selfless, genuine, purist person I know. You have the heart of an angel and every day I strive to make you proud.
My whole family! My dad; the energetic goofball, who always dropped everything on a dime for me and showed me how to really enjoy life. He was the dad in the football stands screaming, "That's my son!".
My step dad who did not have to take me in and raise me, but did and put all his heart and efforts into raising a good man. Although sometimes it was tough love, he showed me how much hard work pays off and what it takes to survive in this world. It was definitely a battle growing up but looking back, I cannot get over how much I have taken from you.
My grandparents who spoiled me and made me feel like the most special person in the world growing up. When I was a kid, my family never missed any of my games. They always supported me in anything and they always encouraged me to reach for the stars. My parents always stressed that if you want anything bad enough, you will get it. I would not be anything without my family. I love them all from the bottom of my heart
WP: Detail out your workouts to me.
I usually begin my workouts with the strength aspect. I will hit my Olympic movement for the day whether it is OH squats, deadlifts, clean and press, or bench. I will bounce back and forth from heavy days to higher rep days.
After that I will incorporate some gymnastic movements (pull-ups, ring dips, hand stand push-ups, etc.) or work on deficiencies that I may have such as pistol squats, muscle-ups, and double unders. It really all depends on the day to be honest.
I, then, will hit a crossfit that has a focus on the body part I somewhat isolated that day. For example; let us say I hit chest. I do my bench sets and maybe hit some heavy dumbbell sets. Afterwards I may do a WOD of 25 ring dips, 15 pull-ups, 5 handstand push-ups, 500m on the Rower for 3 rounds (for time). It is all a crapshoot because the goal of working out is muscle confusion, so it is never the same. I have certain benchmark workouts that I come back to every other month or so but for the most part it is constantly varied functional movements performed at a high intensity (CrossFit's definition).
WP: What is your diet?
I do the Paleo diet with a slight twist. CrossFit lives and dies by the Paleo diet and I do for the most part. I just throw oatmeal and brown rice into the equation to hold my weight. I am naturally a smaller framed guy, so holding 225 is a struggle without complex carbs.
WP: What were you like in high school?
I loved football, lifting, drinking and chicks! Ha-ha! I guess it is about the same now with about 100 times more work drive.
WP: What plays on your iPod?
I love all music! It really depends on my mood. I go on spurts as well. Every morning when I am cleaning the gym and getting ready for the day I play "Watermelon Crawl" station on Pandora. Start my day off with some 90's country (no better period for country music, yeehaw!). As the day progresses we are always switching it up from Buckcherry style rock, LMFAO style music, House music, etc. On my own time, I really enjoy peaceful reggae style music as well. I am all over the place! Ha-ha.
WP: What are your hobbies outside of fitness?
I love sports! I m a huge Vikings fan (They are killing me this year) and overall, I would just like to think I am an enthusiast of life! I am an adventure seeker and live life like I stole it.
WP: What supplements do you take?
I take Dymatize protein (super smooth), Max Muscle Glutamine, several digestive enzymes, multi- vitamins, fish oils, and Jacked Pre-Workout.
WP: What are your future projects?
My future and current project is my baby CrossFit BLUR. Justin and I plan to keep making this baby grow and make a positive impact on tons of lives in the Scottsdale area.
WP: Anything you would like to mention before we close?
I am truly honored to win this award and will always do my best to uphold this title. Thank you so much!
WP: It has been a pleasure interviewing you!
