Get Strong With Matt

Jun 2019

This review is long overdue. I started training with Matt in late 2016. I tore my right achilles tendon playing basketball in my mid-late 30's in 2015 and went through 2 surgeries and a year of rehab. During that time, I put on a lot of weight and had limited strength and mobility in my right calf. I looked around on the internet to find a personal trainer as I had an "ah-ha" moment when my sister in law told me to my face that I got really fat and I needed to do something. I found Norcal Functional Fitness and gave them a call. I gave the owner my story and he connected me with Matt as he said that Matt was an ideal trainer to help me rehab from my injury and gain both strength and mobility. I started training with Matt 2 days a week in the beginning. As my strength and conditioning improved, we then moved this to 3 times a week. Long story short... Matt is an awesome trainer. He is knowledgeable and personable, but the thing I admire the most is that he is continually learning about his craft. In my profession, I take hundreds of hours of CE a year and thus I have an appreciation for other people that are dedicated to their profession. I love hearing about the things that he is learning as it helps his clients gets healthier and I get to try new things in the gym. In my journey with Matt... the first year I was able to get a solid foundation of both strength and knowledge about different styles of training (Powerlifting, TRX, Mobility, Functional, etc.). To me, I was interested in strength and my strength gains were awesome for a guy entering his 40's, but I did not take my nutrition seriously despite the efforts that Matt made. He even sent me a custom meal plan, etc., that I did not appreciate at the time. My weight jumped to 268.5 at the peak (Which was March of 2018). This was a fun time though as I was repping 315 on the bench and eating everything I wanted, but I knew something had to change. I talked to Matt and let him know that my goals have changed. I was turning 40 in the next year and wanted to be healthier and was ready for not only a more rigorous training program, but also start listening to his nutrition advice. He had talked to me about intermittent fasting, but at that time, I was not ready for that lifestyle. I went lower carb and was able to drop about 10-12 lbs in a few months. In January of 2019, I was invited to join a 60 day weight loss challenge. I talked to Matt about it, and he was excited for the challenge as he knew he had to change my training, and more importantly, change my eating. It was at this point that he convinced me to try intermittent fasting. I started on the 16:8 program and in the first month, I lost 10 lbs. Matt had me off the heavy weights and doing a lot more conditioning. By the end of the challenge, I lost 20 lbs, in which 17 lbs were pure fat (We did hydrostatic testing) and I won the challenge! Since then, I have stayed on the intermittent fasting lifestyle, as coached by Matt, and have lost a total of 45 lbs! I feel better now in my 40's than I ever did in my 30's. I thank Matt for his knowledge and encouragement. My only regret in this whole process is that I did not listen to him about the nutritional aspect when we first started. I mentioned earlier in this post that I appreciated his knowledge and the continuing education he took... But I did not fully commit myself to the process despite that. So for anyone looking for a trainer, I highly recommend Matt! He is easy to get along with, makes custom workouts for you, and you will never get bored with your training. He also gives you great nutritional advice and I would recommend that everyone that trains with him, takes the nutritional part just as seriously as the training portion. In the end... my journey of my torn achilles brought me to train with Matt. I honestly think that I am in better shape now than I would have been if I did not tear my achilles because I was able to train with Matt and change my nutrition. Thank you Matt for eve

Jun 2019

This review is long overdue. I started training with Matt in late 2016. I tore my right achilles tendon playing basketball in my mid-late 30's in 2015 and went through 2 surgeries and a year of rehab. During that time, I put on a lot of weight and had limited strength and mobility in my right calf. I looked around on the internet to find a personal trainer as I had an "ah-ha" moment when my sister in law told me to my face that I got really fat and I needed to do something. I found Norcal Functional Fitness and gave them a call. I gave the owner my story and he connected me with Matt as he said that Matt was an ideal trainer to help me rehab from my injury and gain both strength and mobility. I started training with Matt 2 days a week in the beginning. As my strength and conditioning improved, we then moved this to 3 times a week. Long story short... Matt is an awesome trainer. He is knowledgeable and personable, but the thing I admire the most is that he is continually learning about his craft. In my profession, I take hundreds of hours of CE a year and thus I have an appreciation for other people that are dedicated to their profession. I love hearing about the things that he is learning as it helps his clients gets healthier and I get to try new things in the gym. In my journey with Matt... the first year I was able to get a solid foundation of both strength and knowledge about different styles of training (Powerlifting, TRX, Mobility, Functional, etc.). To me, I was interested in strength and my strength gains were awesome for a guy entering his 40's, but I did not take my nutrition seriously despite the efforts that Matt made. He even sent me a custom meal plan, etc., that I did not appreciate at the time. My weight jumped to 268.5 at the peak (Which was March of 2018). This was a fun time though as I was repping 315 on the bench and eating everything I wanted, but I knew something had to change. I talked to Matt and let him know that my goals have changed. I was turning 40 in the next year and wanted to be healthier and was ready for not only a more rigorous training program, but also start listening to his nutrition advice. He had talked to me about intermittent fasting, but at that time, I was not ready for that lifestyle. I went lower carb and was able to drop about 10-12 lbs in a few months. In January of 2019, I was invited to join a 60 day weight loss challenge. I talked to Matt about it, and he was excited for the challenge as he knew he had to change my training, and more importantly, change my eating. It was at this point that he convinced me to try intermittent fasting. I started on the 16:8 program and in the first month, I lost 10 lbs. Matt had me off the heavy weights and doing a lot more conditioning. By the end of the challenge, I lost 20 lbs, in which 17 lbs were pure fat (We did hydrostatic testing) and I won the challenge! Since then, I have stayed on the intermittent fasting lifestyle, as coached by Matt, and have lost a total of 45 lbs! I feel better now in my 40's than I ever did in my 30's. I thank Matt for his knowledge and encouragement. My only regret in this whole process is that I did not listen to him about the nutritional aspect when we first started. I mentioned earlier in this post that I appreciated his knowledge and the continuing education he took... But I did not fully commit myself to the process despite that. So for anyone looking for a trainer, I highly recommend Matt! He is easy to get along with, makes custom workouts for you, and you will never get bored with your training. He also gives you great nutritional advice and I would recommend that everyone that trains with him, takes the nutritional part just as seriously as the training portion. In the end... my journey of my torn achilles brought me to train with Matt. I honestly think that I am in better shape now than I would have been if I did not tear my achilles because I was able to train with Matt and change my nutrition. Thank you Matt for eve

Jun 2019

This review is long overdue. I started training with Matt in late 2016. I tore my right achilles tendon playing basketball in my mid-late 30's in 2015 and went through 2 surgeries and a year of rehab. During that time, I put on a lot of weight and had limited strength and mobility in my right calf. I looked around on the internet to find a personal trainer as I had an "ah-ha" moment when my sister in law told me to my face that I got really fat and I needed to do something. I found Norcal Functional Fitness and gave them a call. I gave the owner my story and he connected me with Matt as he said that Matt was an ideal trainer to help me rehab from my injury and gain both strength and mobility. I started training with Matt 2 days a week in the beginning. As my strength and conditioning improved, we then moved this to 3 times a week. Long story short... Matt is an awesome trainer. He is knowledgeable and personable, but the thing I admire the most is that he is continually learning about his craft. In my profession, I take hundreds of hours of CE a year and thus I have an appreciation for other people that are dedicated to their profession. I love hearing about the things that he is learning as it helps his clients gets healthier and I get to try new things in the gym. In my journey with Matt... the first year I was able to get a solid foundation of both strength and knowledge about different styles of training (Powerlifting, TRX, Mobility, Functional, etc.). To me, I was interested in strength and my strength gains were awesome for a guy entering his 40's, but I did not take my nutrition seriously despite the efforts that Matt made. He even sent me a custom meal plan, etc., that I did not appreciate at the time. My weight jumped to 268.5 at the peak (Which was March of 2018). This was a fun time though as I was repping 315 on the bench and eating everything I wanted, but I knew something had to change. I talked to Matt and let him know that my goals have changed. I was turning 40 in the next year and wanted to be healthier and was ready for not only a more rigorous training program, but also start listening to his nutrition advice. He had talked to me about intermittent fasting, but at that time, I was not ready for that lifestyle. I went lower carb and was able to drop about 10-12 lbs in a few months. In January of 2019, I was invited to join a 60 day weight loss challenge. I talked to Matt about it, and he was excited for the challenge as he knew he had to change my training, and more importantly, change my eating. It was at this point that he convinced me to try intermittent fasting. I started on the 16:8 program and in the first month, I lost 10 lbs. Matt had me off the heavy weights and doing a lot more conditioning. By the end of the challenge, I lost 20 lbs, in which 17 lbs were pure fat (We did hydrostatic testing) and I won the challenge! Since then, I have stayed on the intermittent fasting lifestyle, as coached by Matt, and have lost a total of 45 lbs! I feel better now in my 40's than I ever did in my 30's. I thank Matt for his knowledge and encouragement. My only regret in this whole process is that I did not listen to him about the nutritional aspect when we first started. I mentioned earlier in this post that I appreciated his knowledge and the continuing education he took... But I did not fully commit myself to the process despite that. So for anyone looking for a trainer, I highly recommend Matt! He is easy to get along with, makes custom workouts for you, and you will never get bored with your training. He also gives you great nutritional advice and I would recommend that everyone that trains with him, takes the nutritional part just as seriously as the training portion. In the end... my journey of my torn achilles brought me to train with Matt. I honestly think that I am in better shape now than I would have been if I did not tear my achilles because I was able to train with Matt and change my nutrition. Thank you Matt for eve