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Body Works
SHAPE IT UP
HIS FAVORITE EXERCISE?
Sprints. “The amount of force it puts on
the body is equal to bouts spent in the
weight room, they really can develop
your physique.”
Back to Basics for Real Results
By Bob Fernee I Photogrpahy by Will Dickey
COMPOUND LIFTS
Decker is a believer in the tried and true compound
lifts. Here are some of his favorites:
The world is full of gimmicks and false promises. Nowhere is this more
evident than in the fitness business. A new “innovation,” contraption or
“sure-fire” method is always being touted.
Squats:
With the barbell across the back of the shoulders,
bend the knees until top of thighs are horizontal
with the floor, then return to the upright position.
Repeat 10 to 12 times for two sets. This can also be
done with dumbbells held at the sides of each hip.
Upright Press:
Holding barbell across the front of the shoulders,
push the bar overhead until arms are straight, then
return to starting position. Repeat 10 to 12 times for
two sets. This movement can also be performed
with dumbbells.
Bicep Curl:
Hold the barbell with an underhand grip at front
of thighs. Leaving elbows in place, curl barbell
upwards until it reaches the shoulders. Repeat 10 to
12 times for two sets. If preferred, use dumbbells.
For more information visit titanupfitness.com
That is not the way at Titan Up Fitness,
where owner and trainer, Andy Decker,
takes things back to the basics. Since
2012, he has brought his clients results by
relying on what really works.
Now 36 years old, Decker has been
a fitness buff since he was 14. Four
years ago, he turned his avocation into a
vocation when he quit a corporate career,
bought a failing gym in Jacksonville
Beach and began a new life. Corporate
life taught him the value of a brand name
and he came up with Titan Up Fitness. He
relaunched the gym with his own training
philosophy and methods.
In regards to the fitness business,
Decker says, “Everyone is trying to
reinvent the wheel with complicated and
conflicting methods. People have forgotten
the basics and the proven methods.”
Although Decker adheres to the timetested
strategies, he uses them in an
original and refreshing way. There are no
elliptical machines, stair steppers or other
contraptions in Decker’s gym. Just six or
so “pods,” as he calls them, that act as
stations with benches, weights and other
fundamental equipment. Clients progress
through the pods as they gain experience
and improve.
Workout sessions last one hour and
beginners, for example, are in a group of
about four people, training together but
overseen by a certified personal trainer.
In this environment, a client gets personal
training and works out in a social group.
Decker has found that group training
helps to keep individual motivation high.
Clients finish off with cardio work. They
sign up for a 13-week course and do
different exercises every week.
“When you do the same things every
week the body adapts and then it will
not change. I do everything I can to
avoid adaptability, and I always make the
workouts progressive,” Decker says.
18 First Coast Health Source August 2016