As I get older, I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that I get jaded from time-to-time.
I see so many crappy fitness products on the market it makes me sick. In fact, there are a lot of times I’m actually embarrassed to do what I do, more as a result of what others are putting out there.
But when guys like Eric Cressey and Mike Reinold put something together, I’m reminded how kick-ass and awesome our industry really is, and how impactful we can be if we set out minds to it.
Mike and Eric were very gracious and allowed me to review their latest product, Functional Stability Training, a few weeks ago.
To say that it’s excellent would be an understatement. Here’s a quick review of the product – I hope you enjoy it!
Who Would Like Functional Stability Training (FST)?
The FST program is geared toward the same audience as this blog: Trainers, strength coaches, and what I call “high-end” fitness enthusiasts.
Basically, if you like learning more about the human body and how to train it for maximal function and performance, you’ll enjoy this series.
What is FST, and What Does FST Cover?
FST was a one-day seminar that Mike Reinold and Eric Cressey put on this past winter. Just like Bill and I host our Midwest Seminar every summer, I think this is quickly becoming the go-to event on the East Coast in the winter.
This seminar covers a ton of ground. Here’s a quick recap of the presentations, along with what each covered:
Presentation 1: An Introduction to Functional Stability Training (Reinold)
This is the primer for the whole course. Mike does a fantastic job of outlining his definition of stability, why it’s important, the mechanisms your body uses to create stability, etc.
Presentation 2: Functional Stability Training of the Core (Reinold)
In this presentation, Mike covers a ton of ground. Most importantly he talks about the mechanisms behind back pain and back injuries, his keys to proper stability training of the core, and something that’s near and dear to my heart: exercises progressions and regressions for the various areas of the core.
Presentation 3: Maintaining a Training Effect in Spite of Common Injuries (Cressey)
Nothing against the other presentations, but this may have been the most interesting to me. Eric talks about a ton of different injuries that he sees in the athletes that come into Cressey Performance, and how these specific injuries affect training.
Here’s a list of the injuries Eric discusses in this presentation:
- Spondylolysis
- Flexion Intolerant Back Pain
- Extension Intolerant Back Pain
- Disc Injuries
- Sports Hernias
- Femoroacetabular Impingement (FAI)
- Hip Labral Issues
- Anterior Hip Pain
- ACL Tears, and
- Anterior Knee Pain
I’ll tell you this much – this presentation ALONE is worth the price of admission. This is going to be a lecture I go back to and review numerous times in the coming weeks.
Presentation 4: Understanding and Controlling Extension in Athletes (Cressey)
Another really solid presentation, this time talking about why extension may be the new flexion with regards to back pain.
Quite simply, a ton of athletes are locked in extension and Eric talks about how important it is to get them out of this posture. There’s always quite a bit of functional anatomy thrown in there, which is always cool in my opinion.
Another thing that I really liked about this presentation is how Eric looks at the big picture – not just at the muscles surrounding the core and pelvis, but also how some of the more remote muscles obviously play a role in optimizing spinal alignment and stability.
Lab/Hands-on Sessions
This section starts off with a very thorough look at how Mike assesses and evaluates his clients. Beyond the standard core training tests, I enjoyed watching him cover provocative tests as well.
As trainers or strength coaches, it may not be our goal to rehabilitate injuries, but at the very least, we need to know when someone is too beat up to train with us and needs to be referred out!
After the assessment section, there’s a lot of coverage of the various core training progressions Mike and Eric use. The main areas they focus on are:
- Anterior Chain Core Progressions
- Lateral Chain Core Progressions
- Posterior Chain Core Progressions
- Rotary Chain Core Progressions
The biggest takeaway for me on these sections were the dead bug progressions. This is an exercise series I used to lean on quite a bit, but have gotten away from for some reason.
After reviewing these sessions, I’m going to start incorporating them back into my programming. Perhaps more importantly, I think I can coach/cue them even more effectively now then I could back in the day, so I’m really excited to see the results I get with my clients and athletes.
Last but not least, Eric does a cool hands-on at the end which covers a ton of his med ball progressions. He supersets these with mobility/activation drills, some of which were new to me.
I have a tendency to be vanilla, so I’m looking forward to throwing some of these into my workouts going forward. 🙂
Why Should You Pick up a Copy of Functional Stability Training?
Quite simply, these are two of the best in our industry, and this seminar is top notch. Whether it’s assessment, coaching, program design, or just little tips and tricks, I guarantee you’ll learn a ton from this seminar series.
Along those same lines, Mike and Eric are also offering up either a downloadable/streaming version, OR a hard copy version. This is a really nice option as I know more and more people want an online version to watch on their iPad or similar device.
Last but not least, this product is on sale through this Sunday, April 22nd at midnight Eastern Standard Time. If you’re serious about your skills as a coach or trainer, or you just want to become a better athlete yourself, the added bonus of saving some cash is never a bad thing.
I hope that helps you guys out. All in all this is a fantastic product and one I can’t recommend highly enough!
All the best,
MR
P.S. – Don’t forget: Friday at midnight EST the price jumps! Get your copy of Functional Stability Training NOW!