In This Issue
– Indy Seminar Recap
Indy Seminar Recap
We’re going to deviate from our usual format this week so that I can give everyone a brief recap on this past weekend’s seminar!
This was my first attempt at a “larger” seminar – I’d done smaller, in-house deals before but this was my first crack at pulling something bigger off. Overall, I was quite pleased with how everything came together.
The event was held at the Omni Severin in downtown Indianapolis. My lovely wife Jess and I got to the hotel around 7 pm Friday night to unpack all the goodies that Perform Better and Biotest had sent us. I really need to thank both Chris Poirier from Perform Better and TC from T-Nation for sponsoring the event; I think everyone was pleasantly surprised to walk out with some free schwag in hand!
We started the event at 9 am and essentially ran six, one-hour sessions. The crazy thing is somehow, someway, we actually stayed on time throughout the whole day! Here’s a brief recap of the various sections:
Introduction and 21st Century Core Training
I began the day with a big shout out to our sponsors, as well as mentioning the four words that kept coming up throughout my presentations. Very simply, I believe every trainer/coach should be focusing more on their rationale, using intelligent training progressions, movement efficiency and promoting symmetry in their programming. These items are really core to my philosophy.
In the core training presentation, I did my best to outline why old-school methods of core training are incorrect, especially when we examine the functional and joint anatomy surrounding the area. We also covered various assessments that can be used to determine the current stabilization methods of a client.
Finally (and probably most importantly), we discussed methods to take someone through the various stages of core training. Whether their need was to improve endurance, optimize pelvic alignment, or to prepare them for the speed and power involved in high level athletics, I tried to discuss how the entire program could transition seamlessly from phase-to-phase.
Developing an Effective Assessment
In Bill’s first presentation, he discussed how important a good assessment really is. If you took anything away from this presentation, I think you now understand the need for SPECIFICITY in your assessment. Just because someone can execute a movement properly in ideal conditions doesn’t mean they’ll do it correctly under different circumstances!
Bill went on to discuss how he starts with a general movement assessment, and then progresses to more specific or isolative tests from there. Once an athlete is evaluated, he would examine their current levels of performance vs. the “ideal” athlete in that sport, and determine their needs accordingly. All in all, this was a really cool presentation.
Optimizing Upper Extremity Biomechanics
This was the final AM session, and I wanted to outline all the various stages of upper extremity training. I think far too often we look at things in isolation – what’s going on at the T-spine, what’s going on at the scapulae, what’s going on at the rotator cuff, etc. Instead, we need to understand that they all work together. If one part of the equation isn’t doing its job, then other parts of the kinetic chain will be at an increased risk of injury.
My approach to training the upper extremity is no different from the warm-up; quite simply, I use an Inside-Out approach. The three critical areas we need to focus on are the thoracic spine, the scapulae, and the gleno-humeral joint/rotator cuff.
Bulletproof Knees
This is my staple presentation, and I think at some point in the near future it may need to be retired as everyone will have heard it! I know my good friend Craig Rasmussen has probably heard it at least two and maybe three times now. However, I’m always refining my approach, so the presentation is always a little bit different.
This presentation discusses my approach for taking an athlete/client with knee pain from a post-rehab state back to high level performance. The whole “Bulletproof Knees” idea started with an article for T-Nation, which turned into a presentation at the LA seminar, and then I finally created a manual to pull all the pieces together and flesh it out into an entire training protocol. At some point in time, I’d like to have a two day hands-on, intensive seminar to cover all the topics in depth.
Regardless, the bottom line is this – if you get your symmetry back between sides, you’ll be much more likely to get and stay healthy. Symmetry is important throughout the body, but especially when we examine someone with knee issues. Focus on re-gaining mobility, motor control, and strength and you’ll be well on your way to healthier knees!
Selecting the Optimal Method for Effective Flexibility Training
For me, this was the most informative presentation of the day. Bill has a great grasp of the various flexibility methods, and the most optimal time to include each one in a training program. Unfortunately, I’m going to need to see this one again as I had some things to do throughout his presentation!
Bill did an excellent job of destroying some of the dogma regarding flexibility training. As well, he went on to discuss the difference between “stiffness” and “shortness,” and how to address both issues via stretching. I wish I could give a better synopsis here, but it really took Bill the entire hour to pull it all together.
Program Design
My final presentation of the day was geared towards helping trainers/coaches think about the long-term approach to training. I get irritated when sports performance facilities and trainers try and sell in 6 week packages; if we want to develop long-term results with our clients and athletes, we need to apply that perspective to their training from the start.
I wanted to discuss the various components of any training program (soft-tissue work, flexibility, strength training, etc.) and how they fit into a program. More importantly, I wanted to discuss how the various components would change or progress over time. We all know that a beginner and advanced athlete don’t need the same program, but why not? And how does the programming change to reflect that?
Recap and Notes
Overall the seminar was a huge success, in my somewhat biased opinion. We had over 40 people turn out for the day, which isn’t bad at all considering I got started on promotions a little bit late. Ideally, this will become either an annual or bi-annual event in the future. I got a lot of great feedback from the attendees as to what they’d like to see in the future.
We finished off the evening with a beer at the lobby bar and a nice dinner at Ruth’s Chris steakhouse. It’s rare that we get a big group of friends together like this, so it’s nice to sit down and enjoy a nice meal after a hard day’s work. The steak was a little undercooked (which was disappointing), but the carrot cake at the end made up for it. I need to get back to my regular eating regimen now 😉
One final thing I wanted to mention was with regards to recording the seminar. The world’s greatest audio visual guru, James Dunn, was in attendance and recorded the entire seminar for us. It’s going to take some time with regards to post production, but in the coming weeks the entire seminar will be available for purchase on our website. If you’re interested, please stay tuned. It may take a little longer than usual because James is going to insert all the PowerPoint slides into the video, but I think it will increase the value of the final product. Stay tuned!
Again, thanks to everyone who was involved for coming out and supporting us in our first big seminar. A few final words of thanks:
– Chris and TC for their sponsorships
– Maureen Bollanger and the Omni Severin staff for being so hopeful
– All the attendees for supporting us and, more importantly, wanting to take themselves and the industry to the next level
– Bill for his great presentations
– Chris Moran for running our projector when we had some “technical difficulties”
– Justin Ware and the lovely Jessica Robertson for checking everyone in and all their help throughout the process. I couldn’t do it without you guys!
We’ll be back to our regular format next week. See you then!