Welcome to the new and improved Robertson Training Systems (RTS).

I’ve been meaning to write this for a few weeks now, but unfortunately, things have been truly hectic and this is the first time I’ve been able to sit down and put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard!).

One of my most popular posts of all time was my manifesto and personal mission statement, but it’s a little bit dated and I wanted to get my current thoughts out there.

With that being said, let’s get right into this.

What is Robertson Training Systems?

Robertson Training Systems is a business designed to help athletes, trainers and coaches take their performance, physique and knowledge-based to the next level.

The readers at RTS are primarily strength coaches, personal trainers, or high-end fitness consumers who are focused on one (or all) of the following goals:

• Getting (or staying) lean,
• Developing athleticism,
• Getting strong(er), and
• Doing it in the smartest (most efficient) way possible.

Whether you’re an athlete or coach, every person who visits my site wants to achieve one (or all) of these things.

And today I want to talk about each of these goals.

Why they’re important.

And why I’m the guy who can help you get there, safely and effectively.

Getting (or Staying) Lean

This is one of my favorite quotes of all time:

“Look good, feel good, play good.”
– Joe Kenn, Carolina Panthers

The premise is simple – if you look and feel good, you will play better as a result.

If you are lean, you feel better about yourself.

You’ve got more swagger.

More mojo.

And while you may not aspire to be 5% body fat (killing yourself in the process), I firmly believe being lean will help you feel better about yourself.

More confident in your own skin, if you will.

There are probably thousands of methods and modalities out there to help you get lean, but very few are efficient or healthy when used for months (or years) on end.

Now there are some people who read this that want to get bigger – I haven’t forgotten about you.

I’m definitely not opposed to helping someone put on muscle mass and getting jacked, but I feel as though very few people who come to my site want to get big and sloppy.

Sure, there’s a time and place for getting flat-out huge, but most want to get bigger while staying lean.

So being lean is one step in the process. What else is there?

Developing Athleticism

I have a firm and resolute belief that everyone is an athlete.

18 or 85 – doesn’t matter.

We’re all athletes in the game of life.

Some of us play our sport at the highest levels. I’m blessed to work with professional and Olympic caliber athletes, and working with them is incredibly rewarding as it allows me to use all the tools in my coaching toolbox.

But there’s also something incredibly rewarding about helping someone who will never play a “sport” competitively, and helping them feel more athletic.

Athleticism is similar to being lean.

You know how someone has a little bit more swagger when they’re lean?

When you look and feel like an athlete, you’re more confident and feel better about yourself. Period.

Whether you ever “lace ’em up” and get on the court or field is irrelevant.

The goal is to help you develop the physical tools of an athlete, with the belief that you will feel more awesome about yourself as a result.

So how do we feel more athletic?

The goal is to focus on more than just strength. The best athletes in the world also possess the following physical characteristics:

• The mobility necessary to move efficiently,
• The ability to demonstrate strength quickly (i.e. power), and
• Conditioning to help them outlast their opponents.

While strength is a cornerstone for being a solid athlete, it’s not the only physical quality. A more balanced “wheel” will keep you performing at a high-level for as long as possible.

Getting Strong(er)

As soon as my career as a competitive team sport athlete was over, I quickly transitioned to the individual sport of powerlifting.

It was a match made in heaven.

With powerlifting I got to take my love of strength training, and give myself a continuous and evergreen goal of getting stronger.

For me, the competition of powerlifting was rarely (if ever) against the other people on the platform that day.

Instead, I used powerlifting to help gauge my training progress for the previous 5 or 6 months. It gave me a goal, and forced me to continue pushing my own mental and physical limits each and every day in the gym.

Strength is the cornerstone for so many things we do. Too often, we try to develop power or endurance, without first giving ourselves a strength foundation to build upon.

Now here’s the catch: Powerlifting as its own end goal is fine, but I think we can take this a step further.

Getting stronger is awesome, but it’s not just strength for the sake of strength.

Instead, if we combine strength with athleticism and a lean physique, you have a strong, confident individual both in and out of the gym.

Furthermore, I want you to get as strong as possible, but hedge your bets along the way to make sure you stay healthy and do it the right way.

Smart programming and coaching can help you push your physical limits, will limiting your exposure to injury. This will always be a cornerstone of what we do here.

Doing it Smart

Last but not least, there are numerous other places on the internet that can help you get lean, strong or athletic.

While others will focus on bravado and “training like a badass” or “getting after it,” I want us to be smarter in our approach to fitness.

To do things in the most efficient and effective ways possible.

Train like a badass and get after it? Absolutely.

As long as it’s within the scope of our current ability.

It does us no good (and often detracts from our fitness) if we’re constantly performing a bunch of exercises that we aren’t qualified to do.

Our goal at RTS is to find ways in which we can push our mental and physical envelope, while simultaneously minimizing our risk of injury.

The key here is learning and understanding the human body.

To do this, there are at least three key areas we need to focus our learning:

• Anatomy,
• Physiology, and
• Biomechanics.

The better (and deeper) our understanding of anatomy, physiology and biomechanics, the better we will be able to assess, program and coach for ourselves or our athletes.

Lifting heavy things, developing athleticism and getting lean are all awesome goals. But I have one other personal goal that I think you’ll probably agree with:

I don’t just want to do this now – I want to be lean, strong and athletic for as long as possible. Call me crazy, but I want to see just how long I can stay in great shape, doing my best to ward of Father Time.

If we maximize the depth of our understanding of the above three areas, this will not only keep our minds sharp, but our body’s in the best condition possible as well.

Summary

So there you have it, the state of the RTS union, if you will.

I’m really excited about the future. I’m constantly pushing my own limits, and I’m excited to have you here with me for the ride.

I have no preconceived notions of becoming the most important name in fitness, or having everyone decide that I have all the answers.

But with people like you to keep me focused and motivated, I have no doubt we can collectively raise the bar throughout the entire fitness industry.

All the best

MR