Work The Funk Out

I’ve watched my body change shape over the past 16 months of working with Mark. And at first I didn’t expect it…
For most of my life, I thought that a «good workout» was spent huffing and puffing through painful, non-​stop reps punctuated with a few cardio intervals. If you weren’t about to faint, you weren’t doing it right. Needless to say, I dreaded going to the gym.
Mark has helped me understand that a truly effective workout has more to do with engaging muscles with uncompromising form, increasing mobility, and honoring your recovery time. Amazingly, I actually *enjoy* going to the gym now.
I was skeptical… How can I get results if I’m not about to faint at the end of my workout? But last week while I was wearing a crop top, someone said «nice abs» to me for the first time in my life.
Mark has encyclopedic knowledge of the human body, and he will gladly explain the «why» behind everything you’re doing. Even after 16 months, he’s constantly introducing new exercises to challenge my body and keep things interesting.
If you’re considering giving Mark a try, go for it!

I’ve been working out with Mark for over a year and a half now, and am really glad I found him.
Prior to starting to work with Mark, my workouts were sporadic at best, and usually a somewhat haphazard routine of dumb-​bells, what I thought were push-​ups, and some other weight work. A year and a half later, and my mobility is leaps and bounds beyond where it’s been since I was a kid, my form has improved across the board, and I’ve gotten into a regular exercise cadence.
What makes Mark a great trainer:
— He cares deeply about form, stability, and core strength. Which means that you might not emerge from the first few months looking «ripped», but instead you will have changed how you stand, how you interact with things throughout your day, and how you think about your body
— He’s very knowledgeable about the latest research on training, muscles, breathing, and overall body health. If you have a question about why something feels a certain way, or what’s going on when you’re doing a certain motion, he’ll have his iPhone out a second later showing you exactly what part of your body is being activated by a particular exercise.
— He’ll tailor workouts for either individuals or couples; we do one each a week.
— He’s pretty damn funny, and lets us rock Hall & Oates when we train.

Working with Mark, the trainer behind Work the Funk Out, has been an excellent experience. He is this great combination of an honest, down to earth, compassionate, thoughtful person and a complete fitness freak.
It is clear that he is dedicated to understanding his craft and continuously learning, expanding and improving his own abilities as a trainer. Despite this level of expertise, he is fun and easy to talk to, regardless of your baseline level of knowledge or fitness. Also important, he is very professional– always prepared, organized, prompt, and communicative.
What that means for you as a client is that you’re going to get:
— Workouts tailored to your specific goals and needs
— Your butt kicked in new and exciting ways as you make progress toward your goals
— A lot of education– why these are the exercises he recommends, how to do them safely and properly, how you might go about setting up workout routines for yourself at home, etc.
I feel really lucky to have found Mark in the turbulent sea of personal trainers available in the Bay Area. 6 stars!

Mark has a talent for meeting each client in the middle. Having been athletic my whole life, I never thought I had much to work on because I felt like I was always in pretty good shape. However, from the very first assessment, Mark was able to point out my weak muscles from my stronger ones and told me the effect they were having on my body. This opened me up to a whole new aspect of my fitness, form and function.
One example: I realized that my hip flexors (the front part of my hips) are extremely tight. Without knowing it, that naturally put a strain on the way that I walked and also caused me lots of problems around my legs. (I always just thought they were sore from running or cycling). Since I started training with Mark, I’ve learned how to stretch, open and foam roll my hip flexors, which has also helped me manage the pain in my upper legs.
Besides the various new things I’ve learned about my own skeletal system this past year, I feel like my work out sessions with Mark are more like hang outs. He’s great about paying close attention to my form, while synonymously sharing life stories. That makes me look most forward to our work out sessions each week. I feel Mark has been an essential resource to me when I felt like I had nothing else to learn about my fitness — and by the stories I hear, I’m sure he’s the same type of effect (and connection) with his other clients too.

I’ve been working with Mark for just about a year, so that puts us at around 50 sessions. I’ll try to keep it brief.
I like Mark for the following reasons:
* He is uncompromising — if your form is off, he’ll let you know. If he thinks you’ve got a few more reps in you, he’ll let you know. You are going to work when you’re training with him (and you’re going to do it with good form, damn it). This uncompromising attitude is a huge plus for me, but may be uncomfortable for some.
* He focuses on practical strength in the areas you need it. You’re not going to get formulaic, straight-​from-​the-​textbook workouts with Mark. Instead, you’re going to target the areas your body you need work on to get close to neutral.
* Mark lives fitness and healthy behavior. While he’s certainly more extreme than I am, I appreciate the fact that he lives his beliefs, and goes beyond «just doing his job» — healthy living encompasses his life.
If you want to be baby-​sat, I’d recommend an inexpensive trainer at 24 hour fitness. If you want achieve higher-​order fitness, talk to Mark.

Fitness has been important to me for most of my life. I am either in the gym or doing some kind of physical activity at least 5 days a week. Although I was dedicated, I knew I needed some guidance in some particular areas. This is why I went to Mark.
Mark helped me immediately target my weak spots: core, form, and flexibility. After working with him for just one day a week for about 2 months, my posture is better, my form has improved, and my core is much stronger. Mark takes the time to work closely on what needs improvement in my workouts and tells me what I should avoid altogether. He is against the average meathead workout mentality and more about good form and core strength. He has developed custom workouts for me, and he tracks my improvements with a spreadsheet I can access for «homework assignments». He also offers advice on nutrition, which I find is just as valuable as the physical aspects of his services.
If I can stick with Mark’s routines, eat the right foods and avoid alcohol (this is the hardest part for me), I’m sure I can have that 6-​pack I’ve always wanted.

I signed up for the NorCal Tough Mudder 2012 this year as a way to motivate myself to join a gym, and joined a gym thinking the membership fee would motivate me to actually go.
Well, this was all correct but without the proper knowledge the gym is a vast mysterious room with objects that look like tools of torture. A few months after joining my Tough Mudder team and a gym, I wasn’t doing anything more than my typical runs and yoga classes. Both great, but weren’t going to yield the results I was looking for. I realized that I had very little knowledge about strength training or proper form, both ESSENTIAL, and if I wanted to reach my goals I would need to ethier do some intensive research (and that is like taking on another FT job!) or enlist an expert.
Incomes Mark.
After a few months of having trained with Mark, not only can I say that I will be successful and have a ton of fun at my event, but I feel stronger, have better posture and even ride my bike to work! Now if [when] I can just conquer that one hill.
No gym membership fee or obstacle course will motivate or educate you the way working out with a personel trainer like Mark will. It is one of the best investments I have made for myself since my education.

I found Mark on the eve of my 49^th birthday — fat, unhappy and with a sore back (me not him). 8 months later i’ve lost a load of weight, massively improved my nutrition, gained muscle, improved posture and have my bubble butt back. I still drink too much — but at least its red wine.
Mark is prepared — the exercises we do are customized to me and well thought through. He worries about avoiding injury and takes care to keep me out of harms way.
At our first session we talked about goals — lose weight, look good in a polo and feel better — he added agility to the list and we were good to go. I always thought agility was for dogs — but he convinced me that i might, one day, have to leap out of the way of a speeding car, so now i am a fan of agility.
Mark always has a hot tea and a WTF on offer when workouts get tough — which they often do.
You should try him. Glad i did.

Mark is a total gem. A genuinely nice guy who cares deeply about his clients and providing the highest quality training services. He is always learning new exercises, staying up to date on the latest developments in health and fitness, and investing in the people he works with — whether its adjusting their routine, giving new healthy eating tips, or providing some much needed encouragement and support.
I started training with Mark nine months before my wedding, with the hopes of getting (back) into shape after slipping a bit on my routine. By the time my wedding day rolled around, I not only felt good about how I looked, but I had a self-​confidence that surprised me.
Mark always keeps things interesting and fun, while challenging. I’m most impressed with his continual quest to be a better trainer, which is a huge benefit for all of his clients who get better with him. He’s never satisfied with the status quo.
I highly recommend Mark if you’re serious about taking a holistic approach to health and are not just in it to drop a certain number of pounds.

YESSSS! Dream come true.
Here’s the thing about Markie: He’s not a «physical trainer» like the ones at the gym who yell at you while you do pushups and lunges. What he does do is TRANSFORM your entire physique from the mangled, lop-​sided gem you know and love to a self-​aware and efficient model of functionality and sexiness.
Your first session is an assessment, and then you’ll regularly do exercises that build muscles your body ignores while taking attention away from ones that you are over-​using. Example: I don’t use my butt muscles too much, using my Tensor Fascia Latae instead, and as a result my posture is off, I get back pain, and my butt is weak and not so toned. Markie to the rescue. His knowledge of muscle technicaldom is better than that of any chiropractor I’ve ever known.
All this during sessions that are unpretentious, honest (he has no problem saying WTF ARE YOU DOING if you slack off), and with funky music and hot tea.
Bonus:
Are you flat-​footed and under the impression you have to wear hideous «motion control» shoes for the rest of your life? That’s what shoe stores tell you. Markie may tell you otherwise. Someone give him a medal please.

I continue to be beyond impressed by Mark as a trainer, and I had to share this nugget from a recent session that demonstrates his general awesomeness.
I had graduated from regular split squats to Bulgarian split squats, which is where you put your straightened back leg on a bench and then squat with your front leg. These things are hard… and they make your booty muscles feel like they’re en fuego. On the last set, I was really struggling to make it through, and to keep me going, Mark offered to do them with me… while he was wearing skinny jeans. As a wearer of said type of pants, I know how difficult mobility can be, but he plowed through the squats with me like it was nothing and even held the squats for a few seconds to make sure my form was correct. He truly took one for the team here — Mark will stop at nothing to make sure you’re successful, and I can’t express my appreciation for this commitment enough.

Mark, the trainer behind Work the Funk Out, is AWESOME! He totally customizes your work out to fit your needs, and even provides exercises to do on your days off. His training isn’t just about hulking out; it’s also about flexibility, posture, and being healthy. Mark isn’t an average ‘meat head’ trainer — he’s a vegan (but doesn’t force you to be one) and encourages good nutrition to balance with your training. He’s very motivating, kind, and thoughtful but at the same time will push you to your limits. Every time we train we do something different, so it never gets dull. I honestly never thought I’d see a personal trainer, but dishing out the dough for a sexy bod makes more sense than spending all your money on fancy burgers. So shut up and work the funk out!!!

Posting this for a friend who’s a non-​Yelper:
Mark is an exceptional trainer. Both my brother and I went to Mark two
months ago explaining that while we have very busy lives, but we’d
like to get in better shape, build strength and learn workout routines
that we can eventually do on our own. After completing a comprehensive
evaluation of both of us he determined we had very different needs: I
had absolutely no core strength and my brother lacked flexibility and
had a slight muscular imbalance. With this insight, Mark created
personalized plans to meet our goals.
I cannot say enough about Mark’s patience, good humor, knowledge base,
and creativity. In addition, Mark is really approachable and unlike
other macho, meat head trainers I’ve encountered, is willing to adjust
my workout so that if I’ve had a hard day at work (or am just feeling
a little fussy), I will not end up feeling defeated halfway through
our session.
I should note that I’m a whiner, and grew up eating too many pastries
and with a lot of aversion to «outdoor activities.» That’s all over
now. I have my own foam roller, weights, and try to do at least 20
minutes of physical exercise a day. Even though it’s only been a
little while, I can already see an improvement in my strength and
endurance.
I meet a lot of people who say «Well, I’m just not athletic» or «I
wish I wanted to exercise more,» I really believe you simply need the
right person to introduce you to your practice — to show you how to
properly lift, channel your efforts, and work hard so you get results.

I’ve trained with Mark for nearly 2 years and, knock on wood, will continue to train with him for another 2+ years. I like to think of myself as an active person and have been in and out of gyms for many years so I know, all too well, the mind games one plays in pursuit of getting into shape.
Mark’s unique knowledge about personal training and strong personality gives you the tools you need to reach your goals and then some. My dedication to the gym is a sad… sad thing to witness. Mark has provided the drive I’ve needed to stay on course and be in the best shape of my life; and his functional training work muscles I didn’t know I had. Between the many different Kettle Bell exercises, cardio drills, core strengthening routines, and using your body weight to hold poses for what seems like ungodly amounts of time; his techniques always keep you on your toes and the work out fresh.
Mark’s also knowledgable in corrective exercise as well. After I injured my back on the slopes, we almost had to start over. While I saw this as a defeat, Mark knew this only as a challenge. Working in conjunction with my physical therapist, he modified my workout to exercises I can handle and the progress began again.
The mans got more letters — training certifications — behind his name than any doctor I’ve ever seen and a thirst for knowledge that puts my cravings for chocolate to shame. The important point is he’s got the knowledge and passion to see you through to your goals. Where’s the sixth damn star on this thing?! :-D