WASHINGTON BASED PHYSICAL TRAINERS AND ENTREPRENEURS ROMMEL ACDA AND BELTON LUBAS SET NEW STANDARD IN THE
HEALTH INDUSTRY—PROVIDING BOTH HOPE AND RELIEF

By Vanessa Van Petten

Rommel Acda and Belton Lubas have dedicated their lives to bringing health and fitness directly to people in need with groundbreaking programs that address both weight loss and medical needs.

Acda and Lubas’ gym, Element 5 Fitness Training Center, which is nestled in Kirkland, Washington, has become a hub for hundreds of clients in need. “We have helped every kind of client from professional athletes to recovering patients to dancers, pregnant women and even grandparents come to us for help,” says Rommel Acda, one of the gym’s co-owners.

Element 5 Fitness training center also hosts a variety of certifications from teaching coaches how to effectively work with kettlebells to Muscle Activation Techniques (MAT). They are also the only training facility in the United States that is licensed as an Underground Strength Coach facility under world-renowned strength coach and creator, Zach Even-Esh. Some of the other top rate certifications they host include Z-Health Performance, which is a movement restoration system and cutting-edge exercise program that helps clients improve their health, alleviate their pain, and maximize their athletic performance. Acda is also a contributing author of the best-selling book, 3 Steps to Your Best Body, which has reached thousands of people seeking guidance on health and fitness.

Lubas and Acda’s road was not an easy one. Starting out as mutual acquaintances in Guam, both men had a love for sports. Acda, a self-proclaimed ‘sports and fitness nut,’ originally worked in his family’s sporting goods store and was convinced he would do something in athletics later in life. At age 16 Acda’s father had a minor stroke. “My father’s stroke shocked me to the core. I didn’t understand it because my father was really fit and so I wondered how he could look so good on the outside, but have problems on the inside.” His father’s stroke, paired with his mother’s diabetes, opened his eyes to the idea that health and fitness were deeply connected.
Lubas also grew up watching family members struggle with debilitating illnesses and ailments such as diabetes and high blood pressure. This sparked his desire to help people take charge of their health and their life. “I grew up seeing needles every morning because my grandparents had diabetes. My grandma told me that when I grew up I needed to find a way to fix her,” said Lubas. On the small island of Guam, diabetes and poor health are rampant. Belton explained, “Once the American lifestyle came to Guam many islanders became less mobile and ate more fast food. I myself was a hefty, but athletic kid. When I watched my grandparents wither away from diabetes I knew I had to go into a health field.”

Independently, both Lubas and Acda ended up at Oregon State University to study exercise science. They quickly became roommates, close friends and then through hard work, lead trainers at Oregon State University. While working in large fitness chains, both men became disgusted by the restriction of insurance protocols, corporate bureaucracy and obsession with the bottom line. “I wanted to train people and make a really big difference. In some of these corporate gym chains everyone was more focused on the dollar sign and not on their clients,” said Acda.

Lubas was also seeing that many of the principles and techniques being used at the corporate gyms were ineffective. “I got in trouble for running a free seminar on health because I didn’t sell anything! That’s when I knew I had to get out of there and start something on my own.”

In 2007, Lubas and Acda started Element 5 Fitness. One of the major factors driving the partners was their desire to create effective exercise systems that were not limited by a strict, inflexible corporate structure. Most importantly, they wanted to be able to integrate the latest cutting edge information and resources in their work. “We wanted to be way more in touch with people and not just focus on the money,” said Lubas. Acda and Lubas used their expertise as martial artists and fitness coaches, along with their experiences in various movement programs such as Underground Strength Training, Muscle Activation Techniques, Z-Health, Kelly Worden’s Natural Spirit International, and the Iron-Core Fit Kettlebell system to create integrated programs for optimal health.

During his time working in a corporate gym, Acda realized that although he was unable to do group training programs, they were highly successful. “I saw so many benefits to specialized group training and that is why we have really implemented it at Element 5 Fitness—clients save their money, we save time, people find the group of peers incredibly supportive. In fact like minded people with similar goals definitely get better and longer lasting results because of the camaraderie of group training and the accountability of not wanting to let each other down,” says Acda. The partners have created what they call a ‘fitness tribe’ in their gym.

Lubas explains what makes their center totally different from any other gym, “Many people do not think much of boot camps or group personal training. We raise people’s expectations because we actually deliver incredibly high quality help and program design that is tailored to each client so they get the depth of one-on-one but the accountability benefits of a group.” One client, Nate Johnson, raves on their website, “I have lost over 20lbs of body fat, increased my muscle mass & strength, and lost over 14 total inches in just 8 weeks with Element 5 Fitness!”

However, their system is also about more than just weight loss. Element 5 Fitness also focuses on corrective exercise mainly through Muscle Activation Techniques (MAT) and Z-Health Athletic Performance System to help clients improve overall function and decrease injuries. Client Karen from Bellevue, Washington says, “My rotator cuff feels great thanks to Rommel. When I think of the 14 or more sessions of physio-therapy for my rotator cuff last year, and yet after maybe 3 sessions of Muscle Activation Techniques I feel so much better.”

The partners have worked with clients who thought they were beyond help, bringing relief to old injuries and helping people lose weight who originally felt hopeless. “People are sometimes baffled when they see the results because they thought they couldn’t be fixed. We work with a diverse variety of people and whatever their goal we always use creative edgy techniques—even if they are not typical.” Acda and Lubas admit they have seen every kind of client, everything from clients just out of rehab, to amateur wrestlers to dancers to patients with fibromyalgia, post-partum women, and a contestant who didn’t make it on NBC’s The Biggest Loser, but still wanted to lose weight. One client, Will Hammond says, “I was 39 years old and had not had a pro mma fight in 5 years… It was then that I found Element 5 Fitness, and coach Belton Lubas.  Within 3 months my weight was down 30 lbs, my strength was up throughout all muscle groups and I was back in the cage competing, and beating, guys 10-15 years younger than me.  If it’s possible to be addicted to training, then I am now.  Thanks Element 5 and my man Belton Lubas!

Acda and Lubas approach has resonated with more than just happy clients, but also other trainers. The certifications hosted by Element 5 Fitness attracts hundreds of other trainers. Lubas and Acda also host seminars and workshops for the public. For clients outside the Washington State area, Element 5 Fitness offers them a variety of online resources from videos to eBooks. Acda’s latest fitness system, “Fit In A Hurry”, is a culmination of his daily work with his busy clientele who often have to juggle an extremely packed schedule. Acda also balances running his business and being a new father. Knowing the need for quick and effective exercises, Acda began by identifying what is crucial for a ten-minute workout and then mesh specific fitness protocols to maximize his clients’ results in minimum time. On the website, Acda explains, “For my system I’ve been experimenting with various short workout protocols in order to maximize my time due to my busy schedule, and in several weeks I discovered I was achieving the same, if not better results in my “mash up” of workouts than with the traditional hour-long workouts.”

Acda and Lubas work to challenge traditional knowledge of health and fitness that is accepted, but end up ineffective after real-world application. Acda quotes a study published by the North American Association for the Study of Obesity that demonstrated over 300 hours of aerobic exercise resulted in an average fat loss of only 4 pounds for women, and 6.6 pounds fat loss for men. He challenges that there is a better way to lose weight and it is through their breakthrough circuit training protocols. Their blog and website, Element5Fitness.com is loaded with resources, videos and constantly updated articles with helpful information for clients. Briony Stow shares her experience working out at Element 5 Fitness after having her first baby; “Rommel helped me lose 26lbs of post-pregnancy weight and get my flat stomach back. I lost 3 inches off my waist, and finally was comfortable in my own skin again. I recently vacationed in Hawaii and was actually excited to show off my bikini body that I worked so hard for! Rommel has changed my outlook all together and now I love working out, staying toned, and looking and feeling great. Thanks for everything Rommel, your program is great!”
Lubas and Acda have more than reached their goals of changing people’s lives for the better. The trainers have developed innovative programs to get people in shape and change their lives. “We do more than just help people get fit, we change their entire lifestyle with corrective exercise that improves their overall function and health. We learned that when you feel good about your health, you feel good about yourself,” says Acda.