Reform Health & Performance

Our client successes come from the integral approach to the human body and to healthcare that we take. No one solution is the same; no one size fits all. There is not a “shoulder exercise program” we assign each person who brings their shoulder concern to us. And yet we follow the same process with each of them. And that process begins with this one question:

How do I know what someone needs to get pain-free, healthy, and strong for life?

The Answer

The issue with so many health improvement frameworks, therapies, and systems is that they teach to the ideal. They teach to the word “should”—what you should eat, how you should exercise, and so on. It’s all done with the assumption that you’re going from good to great.

The issue is that most people aren’t going from good to great—they’re going from inadequate to average. They want a problem solved, not information on the problem, or some complex program to optimize their gains. They’re coming because physical therapy hasn’t been working. They have injuries that rehab isn’t dealing with. They can see individual problems, but they don’t see how all the problems link together.

That’s where we thrive - solving problems where specialists have failed

An integral approach to programming, coaching, and working out that makes becoming pain-free, healthy, and strong for life achievable for all

“Where does it hurt?” “Here.”

“That doesn’t make any sense.”

I was in pain. Not one medical expert knew what to do about it. I’d seen an orthopedic surgeon. He checked me out. Said nothing was torn.

“Get some rest. Ice it. Some anti-inflammatories. Here’s a prescription.”
Then a neurologist.
“There’s no obvious damage. No nerve or neurological disorders either. Just super tense.”
He suggested injections to kill the pain.

Next in line, a physical therapist.

“You’re so stiff. You just need to be stretched out for a bit.
You’ll be fine.”

Then an athletic trainer. I told him that my hip was hurting.
So he checked both legs. Did his thing. No pain. But when he touched my hip, I lost my breath.
I told him where it hurt. That’s when he said it.

"That doesn’t make any sense."

Let me give you some context:

I was nineteen years old, kicking for the University of Alabama football team. Guys like me did more stretches of more body parts for longer periods than anyone else on the squad.

And there I was, tense and stiff. Just need to ice it. Stretch it. Painkill it. You’ll be fine.

I wasn’t, and I hadn’t been for a long time. I’d been in special teams since middle school, kicking and punting through my senior year. In my early teens, I’d also started for both basketball and soccer, but at that age, every kid has their thing. Mine was placekicking. So I quit everything else, and it showed. My field goal make percentage was 90 percent (that’s comparable to NFL kickers), and I never missed an extra point (which NFL kickers do every Sunday, many Mondays, and the occasional Thursday). I loved football.

But when passion becomes obsession, there are consequences. Mine was pain. As early as my freshman year, I remember it hurting to kick. Not all the time, just sometimes. Enough to notice it. And do something about it...

Find out what I did about it for myself then and what I've been doing about it for others. Check ou my book Forest for the Trees: A New Paradigm for Health, Performance, and Longevity available on Amazon - link in bio/comments

Why Small Group Personal Training Is Better Than Private Personal Training

I’ve done every type of session from clinical rehab 1:1 to large-group fitness with 30 people tossing barbells around at once

I landed on the ratio of one coach to up to four clients as the sweet spot for personal training. But why?

It’s obvious why small group personal training is better than the chaos and undue risk of large group training (I wasn’t exaggerating about 30 barbells flying at once), but why is working out with a small group better than working out with no one?

Here’s why small group personal training is better than 1:1 private training.

-Energy You feed off other people w/ likeminded goals & they feed off you. It’s not about becoming best friends with your workout cohort, though that happens often. It’s about coming together w/ others just as committed as you are to self-improvement

-Accountability It’s tempting to dismiss your private personal trainers as having unrealistic standards for your health behaviors. Easy for the fitness professional to say! However, it’s difficult to find reasons you “can’t” when three other people who aren’t fitness professionals are working alongside you to improve their health. If you miss a session, it’s not just one trainer asking where you are; it’s your entire cohort

-Workout Quality Everyone gets more out of their workout when others are doing the same or similar exercises. Healthy competition makes people push each other. This gets you lasting results faster than you would on your own or even w/ a private trainer

The key to delivering elite small group personal training experience is selecting appropriate exercises for each member in every session. Proper set-ups preserve 1:1 quality for everyone’s programming. Small group atmosphere adds all the benefits described above. Small group personal training done well is win-win

-Michael