The biggest change I made to my career as a trainer was changing my philosophy with exercise to be “movement focused” as opposed to strength or fitness focused. The reason I changed my entire way of thinking and programming with exercise was because it was not working. Sure, there were many clients who achieved great results from the muscle approach I was using but there were many people who never improved, and some who got worse! My desire to find out answers to the reason I was failing led me to the functional movement approach where many of the world’s leading practitioners were practicing these type of methods. At first it appears this approach is too aggressive or even risky, especially when dealing with injury and dysfunction, for the exercises seem too complex. However, once you understand many of these exercises are fundamental patterns we use in daily life, you appreciate how effective and absolutely necessary they are to teach people. For one thing is for certain, they are going to move with these patterns the minute they leave the gym anyway. If the only way they know how to move is dysfunctional, they will continue to create damage to their body for it knows no other way. The sooner you learn how to use a more efficient and effective way to move the better, and this will prevent weakness and pain taking over your body. I must state that it is not only injury prevention that is of importance with learning to move efficiently,  for strength, fitness, and sporting performance can never be truly achieved without these skills. Therefore, the rules of functional movement apply to all of us. The degree of difficulty will vary from person to person, but the fundamentals will always remain the same.

We all know that exercise is great for our body and staying in great shape can effectively help prevent the onset of deadly diseases like heart disease, diabetes and cancer.  Most people associate activities like running and cycling as the best way to improve fitness and heart health, while strength training is looked upon as the best method to improve muscle mass. What people fail to understand is that there are a multitude of health benefits with strength training that are far superior to endurance training, and that you can improve your cardiovascular fitness lifting weights. Anyone who says to me you cannot get fit lifting weights is not doing it right. While cardio is still good to use it works best in combination with strength training to maximise the health of the body. In this article I will show you why strength training is the preferred option and also how to do it correctly to improve your fitness at the same time.

There is so much confusion and conflicting advice surrounding health and fitness these days it is no wonder so many people resort to fad diets and extreme measures to get results. There is more information available at the touch of a keyboard, more health therapists, specialists, personal trainers, and people to help people with health than there has ever been in history yet the health of many people is continuing to decline. For over 16 years I have specialized in working with people with injury or disease and helping them to restore their health and vitality to enjoy a life of quality. Over this time I have discovered many new and exciting methods, exercises, and strategies to help people, but the one thing that has never changed during this time is the foundation that good health is built upon. Just like building a house, you need a strong foundation before you worry about doing anything else. In this article I will show you that there is 8 pieces to this foundation you need to know in order to have a strong and healthy body.