Today we’d like to introduce you to Jim Karas.
Jim, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Over thirty years ago, a teacher didn’t show up to a high impact aerobics class on a Saturday morning at a big box club. After waiting 15 minutes, I raised my hand out of frustration and said, “look, if someone has the music tape, I will teach” as I had memorized the exercise routine. FYI, you NEVER want to memorize and exercise routine.
After class, the manager of the club asked me if I wanted a job. Since I already had one, as a private portfolio manager, I casually said, “I don’t know, what do I get paid?” The manager said, “$4 an hour and a free membership” and I don’t know what prompted me to say it, but I said, “I’ll take it.”
From there, a student told me to go downtown to the then Chicago Sweatshop where they paid $18 an hour and then one days, a woman raised in Beverly Hills asked me, if I would be her personal fitness trainer and said she would pay me $30 an hour. Once again, I responded, “I’ll take it.”
This was 1987 and I was one of the first personal fitness trainers in Chicago.
As I quickly became busy, I realized I needed to make a branding decision and choose to become a premium brand. That’s the position I took thirty years ago and the one that we still hold today.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
The biggest struggle was and continues to be fads (Thai Bo, really?”) celebrity endorsed weight loss methods, “The Biggest Loser,” which is a disaster as you don’t pound on obese people and humiliate them and overall bad advice.
It’s also very confusing to most people as there is another “miracle” plan every other day.
We stick with the research and what we know works with regard to all the variables required for success, exercise, nutrition, hydration, sleep and stress reduction.
Please tell us about Jim Karas Intelligent Fitness & Wellness.
In 2007, I wrote my third book, “The Cardio-Free Diet.” My firm continues to stand behind our belief that strength training is the most important type of exercise if your goal is enhanced body composition, not just weight loss but fat loss and most importantly, keeping the weight off.
Depending on the research, there is only a 2-3% success rate after fie years at weight loss. The reason for that is muscle loss. Here are some facts:
- If you diet without strength training, you will lose 50% muscle and 50% fat.
- If you diet without strength training and you are sleep deprived, you will lose 75% muscle and 25% fat.
This is critical to your long term success as muscle is the most metabolically active tissue and burn three times the calories of fat. If you maintain your muscle, you maintain your metabolism and you keep the weight AND the fat off.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
I would only sell 12-week programs that required you to exercise three times a week. From my many years in this industry, I can tell you results are very difficult to accomplish without consistency. Three times, on average, each week gets the job done. It also would motivate clients to reschedule sessions since they have made the financial commitment, it only makes sense to follow through.
If after 12-weeks, you realize this is not the program for you, then you may opt out and I may give another person the opportunity to experience what we have to offer.
NOTE – We do try to assess, during our initial consultation, if a person is ready for a program. Sometimes we say, “I really don’t believe you are ready,” as, once again, you have to psychologically commit before you can physically commit to the comprehensive program.
Pricing:
- Prices start at $125 and hour, in studio, and $150 an hour, in home.
- We also now offer the Karasmatic Flow, which is a remote, habit based program for people all over the country. That program is $300 a month for unlimited email and text communication and a 30-minute phone call each week.
Contact Info:
- Address: Primary address:2669 North Lincoln Avenue
Chicago IL 60614 - Website: jimkaras.com
- Phone: 773-244-0123
- Email: info@jimkaras.com
- Instagram: jimkaras_intelligence_matters
- Facebook: Jim Karas Intelligent Fitness & Wellness and KarasmaticFlow
- Twitter: jimkaras1
Image Credit:
Maria Ponce, Mark Brown and Mary Carol Fitzgerald
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