So I am writing this post on my blog because of a statement to me this week by one of my co-workers. If you do not know me or who I am, it is important to at the very least you know that I work at a large fitness facility in Omaha, Nebraska. We currently have on our staff 25 personal trainers with education levels that range from experience in the field to College degree’s plus multiple certifications. It is because of these different education levels it becomes a melting pot of sorts for us as fitness professionals to sharpen our blades and continue to grow as professionals. I happen to be one of those fitness professionals who has multiple degrees and certifications and it is because of two of those certifications I am writing to everyone about this one statement by my co-worker. The two certifications are my RKC Level I and my FMS Level I certifications. It is because of these two certifications that everything I have known about training has changed. I changed the way I train my clients and how I train myself. If you are a fitness professional you should take some serious consideration enrolling in both of these certifications.
So what was the statement that has me here speaking my mind? The statement was during one of my own training sessions and was actually a series of statements back and forth. I will call this individual Larry and this was the conversation:
Larry: Jason, that looks like the most boring workout ever.
Me: That is because you do not understand it. That is the problem with or society when it comes to exercise, everyone wants to be entertained and doesn’t train for the purpose of functionality.
Larry: Well, I think I would rather be entertained.
So what exactly was it that I was doing that was so boring to Larry? I was working on mobility and improving how my body moves. I was not moving around all over the place, jumping , kicking or pressing something that my body wasn’t ready to handle. I was working on improving the quality of my movements with a mobility practice session, that was giving me an incidental workout. In the RKC, we practice – not workout. This means we apply principles to improve our quality of movement, tension and relaxation. This is done so our body can learn (or re-learn in some cases) how to apply that skill and forge strength and better movement quality.
The FMS system is a ranking and grading system that gives us the necessary information on what movements need to be improved. If you have ever heard the old saying, “your only as strong as your weakest link” it applies to the human body and strength. In the RKC we speak about leakage, meaning something causes you to loss tension and the ability to move or move something the way you want. Leakage is a weak link in the body. I have weak links due to a shoulder mobility issue, most likely caused by a long baseball career. However, I also had many ankle sprains when I was younger which most likely lead to the torn meniscus and torn (non-repaired) ACL. The FMS has guided me to my weak links so I can address them and correct them to improve my movement quality. Dan John who is a Master RKC that speaks about training for the goal. My goal is to press half my body weight – 88 lbs (40KG) and do a pull up with 53 lbs (24KG) and pass RKC Level II. If I do not fix my weak links associated with my shoulder mobility score and re-learn (not re-teach because it is re-learning a lost skill it once had) how to move there is not a chance in h*ll that I will be able to accomplish these awesome feats of strength. Being able to press half my body weight and proving that I have absolute strength is my form of entertainment!
