How fortunate I was to be able to attend this incredible summit that was sponsored by Perform Better. The best fitness professionals in the industry were on site to present their own training systems. For example, there was Juan Carlos Santana – a fitness rockstar (not Carlos Santana), creator of the J/C bands, energetically demonstrating how to use his bands for great training efficiency. As usual, Santana rocked the house full of trainers, coaches and physical therapists.
Then there was Gray Cook, inventor of the “FMS or Functional Movement Screen,” which I learned is a simple and no nonsense way to assess clients by watching them move through a series of five to seven carefully sequenced exercises. This program gives trainers a snapshot of their clients and enables them to address the weak links in their system. Yes – we all have weak links as I discovered while doing this screening.
Clearly functional training is where it’s at! I’ve known this for quite some time. We don’t train or isolate body parts. We train the person – you, me, your mother, father or your great grandmother. We don’t train your mother’s triceps so they won’t jiggle. We train the whole system – all the joints and muscles as a unit.
It takes brains and knowledge to do this for each client and humor and compassion of course! All of the presentations at the summit gave me plenty of tools and resources to process and to utilize in client programming. After all, I want my clients to be healthy and fit. I want them to enjoy life by making them stronger, more flexible, resilient – the list goes on.
I noticed a common denominator at this summit – every presenter and trainer I encountered was humble, smart, and had a great sense of humor. There was no ego. There was no hype or fluff. It was the real thing – training is not about hype and fluff! I highly recommend this summit and hope to be there next year. I love the energy and vibe of a room full of fitness professionals. This summit is not for the faint of heart – trainers are hands – on, they experiment, they try it on – they laugh at themselves lifting heavy kettlebells, squeezing a huge med ball between their thighs or losing balance in a one legged squat. What the hell – we all want to perform better so it’s functional for the sport of real life!
