Mr. Robertson,

I’m writing to ask your advice about which of your products to buy.  In the first place, I have some knee pain, so I’m considering Bulletproof Knees.

I also train with weights and am having some twinge-y pains in my biceps muscle, and in my thumb, not to mention low-back pain (on and off).  These lead me to think that I should get Magnificent Mobility.

As I also have a pretty keen interest in anatomy and biomechanics, I was considering Assess & Correct.  But, A&C seems to cover some of the same info as Magnificent Mobility.  Would you recommend one over the other?

And there’s also the 2008 Indianapolis Seminar, and Building the Efficient Athlete, both of which seem to include info from Bulletproof and Mobility.

Bottom line, I want to understand what’s wrong with my knees/bicep/thumb/back, understand how to improve my weight training, and learn how to enhance a kind of robust good health, without duplicating a bunch of information.

Would you be so kind as to advise me on which of your products would best serve my needs?

Many thanks.

Rhodes

I’ve gotten at least a half dozen Q&A’s over the past week regarding which product to purchase, so I’m going to devote an entire blog post to the topic.  If you are interested in any of the products I mention below, you can check them out on our Products page.

Obviously, there’s some overlap between the products.  However, that doesn’t mean that each isn’t powerful, or doesn’t have a place in your library.  Like most things, it’s all about prioritizing what you want.

Here’s a brief rundown of each product, in the order that it was released.

Magnificent Mobility – Eric Cressey and Mike Robertson

This was our first work.  This DVD is focused on warm-ups and dynamic stretches for the lower body and hips.  While there’s a ton of great information in here (as well as exercises we still use), it doesn’t afford you the progressions or customization that other products do.

Inside-Out – Bill Hartman and Mike Robertson

After MM was released, Bill and I had a discussion about how little upper body warm-up material Eric and I had included.  In all honesty, this wasn’t on purpose!  However, we knew something was missing, so we essentially created Inside-Out to “fill in the gaps,” so to speak.

Being our second product, I think there was a better “flow” to the DVD/manual, as well as a specific progression to work through.  Again, no testing or customization was really available.

Yet.

Building the Efficient Athlete – Eric Cressey and Mike Robertson

This was a 2-day seminar that Eric and I gave in New York City.  This presentation covered functional anatomy, static assessments, dynamic (or movement) based assessments, as well as coaching of over 30 exercises.

While this is geared towards trainers, strength coaches, etc., we’ve had a ton of more general fitness enthusiasts who have purchased this product and loved it!  If you are interested in how your body moves, this is a great resource.

Bulletproof Knees – Mike Robertson

This details the exact program that I use with clients/athletes to get their knees healthy.  I cover the anatomy of the knees, how the joints above and below influence knee function, as well as why many people are getting horrible advice to fix their knee pain.

Side Note: One question I get all the time is about the bonus DVD that is included here (also on the Indy Seminar Series DVD set).  This DOES NOT cover everything in the manual!  It’s simply a quick overview of the program as a whole.  It is not a replacement for the manual.  Plus, this was only like my second or third time presenting live, so please don’t hold that against me 🙂

The Indy Seminar Series DVD Set – Bill Hartman and Mike Robertson

If you are interested in how Bill and I train people at IFAST, this is the set for you.  This DVD set covers our views on upper and lower body training, assessments, flexibility, program design, etc.  It’s a pretty all encompassing program, and gives you a lot of insight as to our thought processes when designing programs.

Side Note #2: Another question I get all the time – is the presentation the same between the DVD in the Bulletproof Knees manual and this one?  Yes, the PowerPoint slides are the same but the content/flow/delivery are much better.  I may not be Alwyn Cosgrove when it comes to public speaking, but I got a little bit better over these 2 years!

Assess and Correct – Eric Cressey, Bill Hartman, and Mike Robertson

I feel that this product is possibly the most well-rounded, and the most-powerful of anything we’ve created.  After all, our first tries were definitely above averague, but I think this program had even more to it:

• An individual assessment you can take yourself through to figure out what’s working right, and what isn’t.
• Specific exercise recommendations based on the results of your tests.
• Specific progressions for you to work through to improve your performance.

This program gives you the power to figure out what’s not working right within your body, as well as how to improve upon it using your warm-up.

I’m not sure if I answered your question or not, but hopefully that gives you some insight as to the various programs and what they have to offer.

Good luck and good training!

MR