1-on-1 coaching is a comprehensive health and wellness service that includes a personalized fitness, nutrition, and lab/hormone optimization plan, with day-to-day access to Dan, as well as monthly check-in calls. With group training, you’ll only have access to a monthly fitness program. Which coaching package is right for you depends on the level of support you need to reach your goals. If you’re just looking to get jacked and get stronger with a proven program and not experiencing any type of chronic pain, your nutrition is dialed in (most people get this part wrong), and your hormones and metabolism are well-optimized (increasingly rare these days), group training will give you most of what you need for a bargain. If you need help with any of those other factors, however, or if you’re dealing with any ongoing health issues in general, we highly recommend 1-on-1 coaching. Every aspect of your overall health and wellness will be taken into consideration, evaluated, and then systematically optimized, and guys who work with Covert Fitness & Wellness routinely discover hidden bottlenecks preventing them from feeling and looking their best, including those their healthcare providers commonly miss.

I recommend every client has access to a full gym (something at least a step-up from Planet Fitness, such as a Crunch or LA Fitness, if you’re in the US). This doesn't have to be anything fancy, as we seldom even use machines, but basic free weights found in any standard gym are non-negotiable, such as an adjustable bench, a power rack, barbells and plates, dumbbells, kettlebells, a cable station, a pull-up bar, plyo boxes, etc. If possible, I also recommend having access to some supplemental equipment, such as a trap bar (or “hex” bar), resistance bands, a foam roller (if not, no worries - we will get you setup with one regardless at the beginning of your program), and a dowel or PVC pipe, all of which most gyms will have these days. For any additional pieces of equipment we may opt for to best serve your individual needs, these will be cheap, simple investments easily purchased online via vendors like Amazon. One piece of equipment that virtually all of my clients are recommended to invest in is a peanut massager, which can also be made by simply duct-taping two lacrosse balls together.

Although the term “bodybuilding” is usually applied to those who want to get jacked, bodybuilding programs are, at best, inefficient (and at worst, counterproductive) for the vast majority of natural guys with average muscle-building genetics. This is because these types of programs are passed down from guys who are professional-level bodybuilders, and as a result of even being able to reach that level, it’s implied that these individuals have incredible genetics for building muscle and often take extraordinary amounts of performance enhancement drugs. The same type of difference exists when it comes to you and your favorite athlete in the NFL or the NBA; no amount of training like them will get you there, and most people understand this intuitively. For some reason, the same logic rarely applies when it comes to lifting weights to try to look like Arnold. Given an elite bodybuilder’s exceptional ability to recover and grow muscle, their programs typically feature a ton of volume (exercises, sets, and reps) and isolation movements (single-joint exercises such as lateral raises or leg extensions) in the context of individual body-part splits (where Monday is “chest day”, Tuesday is “back day”, etc.). When it comes to regular, natural guys, frequency (how often you can train a muscle group, recover, and hit it again) is superior to volume, and compound movements (multi-joint exercises like presses, pulls, squats, deadlifts, etc.) are superior to tons of isolation exercises. While some people, including some “experts”, will cherry-pick exercise science studies in an attempt to support the argument that any program and exercise selection can effectively build muscle mass all the same, anyone who started with less-than-favorable genetics and has successfully transformed themselves as well as hundreds of others knows the truth. There are various reasons for this that I won’t go into here, but when it comes to individual health, the best coaches and providers know that practical experience outperforms data every time. What actually works is a proper strength training program, since growing muscle is a result of the exercise science principle known as “progressive overload” - getting progressively, measurably stronger (in specific rep ranges, while taking in a slight caloric surplus). Compound movements provide the greatest return on this effort. The term “functional” takes strength training a layer deeper, where specific exercises are chosen not just for having the highest potential to build muscle mass, but also to promote optimal joint health by using joints in the way they function during the demands of life. Simply stated, when it comes to getting gains and feeling your best, not all exercises are created equal. Since joint pain is a common hindrance to progress in the gym as well as overall quality of life, exercises are chosen accordingly. Using these methods, I routinely take guys who have had years of chronic joint pain and help them get rid of it in their first month or two of training with me.

In short - it depends, and with some background information during our consultation call, I can help determine the answer for you personally. That said, most men (especially those over age 30) are almost always deficient in one or more of several key vitamins or minerals, with many also at least functionally compromised when it comes to certain hormones as a result of the modern world and the numerous ways in which it wreaks havoc on our bodies. This is often the case even when clinicians and lab reference ranges insist otherwise. Most people are unaware that lab reference ranges are derived by compiling the average levels for a given lab value across the entire population, age 18-88. When it comes to measuring testosterone, for example, common sense would (hopefully) tell us that an 18 year old should have a much higher level than an 80 year old, yet this isn’t accounted for in these ranges. As an aside, it is also no measure of health to be “average” in a profoundly unhealthy society. What I can say for certain is that the lab panels I call for are the most comprehensive tests anyone is likely ever going to call for you, and thorough testing is a good idea to have done at least every few years as an adult, even if everything seems to be working and feeling well. I have been analyzing labs for years, and frankly, I’ve never seen a doctor call for a complete panel, even when making critical diagnoses. Often, the panels doctors call for to make such diagnoses aren’t even the proper tests, so the values aren’t even reliable. I see this particularly often when it comes to the testosterone and estradiol panels the vast majority of men are screened for when assessing for hypogonadism (i.e. low testosterone), for example. Most of the time, inaccurate testosterone panels are relied on, and the most commonly-used estradiol test only detects levels accurately in women. Many people are shocked and appalled to learn just how poor the quality of healthcare they’re receiving actually is - I know I was. I have personally interviewed several healthcare professionals over the years in attempting to determine the reason for this, as most providers are obviously well-meaning and want to do right by their patients. Unfortunately, the clinicians themselves will admit that it usually comes down to lack of training, time, and money (typically in that order, with the latter two being a product of how stifled providers are by insurance companies). Before a man begins a lifelong treatment such as TRT, having a comprehensive and highly-accurate picture of his overall health would seem like quite an obvious thing to do, since hypogonadism can have several different causes and sometimes be solved with more conservative measures.

Covert Fitness & Wellness is happy to work with other providers whenever necessary in order to help you get the best results with the most efficiency. That said, some providers are unable or unwilling to engage in this type of communication or change their approach. In these cases, our licensed provider, Dr. Dusty Narducci, MD, is able to work with patients via telehealth and prescribe when necessary in most U.S. states, in accordance with each state’s medical laws. During your consultation call, we’ll make sure we’re able to work with you when it comes to prescribing hormone replacement therapy, if needed.