There’s an old saying that you can’t sit by same river twice, and until I bought a farm on banks of our river, I used to think that was a crazy statement. But I don’t anymore. In years since we moved here, I’ve sat on bank hundreds of times, and it not only seems different every time, but I've learned many valuable lessons from our river. In spring and early summer, a thick fog often hovers around river, shrouding it from view. But I find sitting on bank a great way to collect my thoughts and get new ideas, so I still make my way there nearly every day.

One morning, fog was very thick and river was totally obscured. Yet I knew approximately where it was, so I set out to find my favorite spot on its bank. I couldn’t see river at all, but I knew it was there, in fog somewhere, so I kept my thoughts focused on my goal of reaching it.

I began teaching Facial Exercise in 1976. At that time, Isometrics were only form of facial training known to public. A year later, still teaching Facial Isometrics, I became interested in weightlifting and soon after stepped into competitive bodybuilding. This move called for a marked reduction in body fat. Consequently, this loss of fat had an aging effect on my face. As a Facial Trainer this was not an acceptable trade-off!

I had no intention of giving up bodybuilding, but determined to remedy my dilemma. On a hunch that resistance training could add fullness to my face in same way it did to my body, I decided to convert each Isometric exercise into an exercise using resistance. This was beginning of 'Facial Resistance Training' Est.1979

Knowing what it took to increase muscle density (fullness), I knew resistance training would be far more aggressive than facial training I had been doing. This took a lot of nerve on my part since I, too, had been duped into thinking any handling of face could prove detrimental. When I described my new training technique, which I later dubbed ‘FlexEffect’ as ‘an extension of bodybuilding’ or ‘facialbuilding’, fellow trainers thought I was out of my mind. Frankly, I wasn’t so sure they weren’t on to something.

Much to my relief, my hunch paid off. A very short time proved facial muscles to be every bit as responsive to resistance training as rest of body. My face was still thin, but with extra lift and firmness, I went from gaunt to a healthier more athletic look.

Who would benefit?

Everyone. A better question would be: who would get most out of it? The answer to this question is person who starts early, before signs of aging set in. For them, time stands still. However, majority of testimonials reporting excellent results are not from early birds; they are from late starters -- men and women ages 45, 50 and up.

Would you say FlexEffect is better than a surgical face-lift?

FlexEffect is not a magic bullet. There are those with such sun damage and advanced facial aging that they may never be able to achieve all they hope for in training. But that doesn’t mean they can’t get all benefits that only training can offer.

Cosmetic surgery can alleviate lines and sag but it cannot replace fullness of face. In most cases surgery flattens face, which is why so many women have cheek implants inserted at time of their surgery. The exact opposite is true of facialbuilding. FlexEffect does a beautiful job replacing fullness, considered to be most youthful feature of face.