Movement Strength Training to Unlock Fitness

I had strength all figured out! Even in my mid-20’s I had been going to industry educational programs since I was 16! During that time I had interned with many of the “big names”, had a degree in the Exercise Physiology field, and had worked with a pretty diverse clientele list. At this point I had been through many “phases”. Now, I got it, it all made sense to me, or at least I thought!

It has been great to present and share with some of the best in the industry! Yet, my biggest lessons have always come from the gym.

What I would learn is what most of good coaches realize……

“The more we know about the body, the more we realize what we don’t know!”

I had failed to understand this as well, I was in my mid-20’s of course. There had been time I had been through the bodybuilding phase, then I had gone through the corrective exercise phase, and then I had entered EVERYTHING is fixed by lifting heavy things phase. 

For me, admitting such a process I have gone through helps people understand a few things. The first is that most of us have thought at one point or another we have figured “it” all out. Heck, right now you might be at that point and that’s okay. The worst thing you can do is put your head in the sand and not continue to learn and keep believing you got it all. Another important point is that our philosophies aren’t probably shaped by one all or nothing governing philosophy. I know, we are in the social media age where people are gonna come at you strong that you are “weak”, not smart, not as good as them, unless you follow THEIR routine!

What happened to my last phase of “heavy fixes all”? Well, I used that philosophy for myself and my clients. For a few months it worked, by worked I meant people were lifting heavier and I thought that was the be all. Looking back, not that shocking that lifting heavier made people that hadn’t lifted much, lift heavier better! However, there was another side effect that I and my clients started finding more and more. 

Now, you might expect me to launch into a dissertation on how lifting heavy led to issues that would be unusual otherwise. My real point is that that lifting heavy phase for me, demonstrated the same problems that pretty much every other philosophy/program ran into as well. That was they weren’t really systems based on principles. Sure, there were always some good ideas, but when it came down to see how these ideas were represented in an encompassing program, I was always left quite a bit disappointed. 

No, no one program is perfect, but there would be so many issues! Like what? 

-Programs were often touted as good for anyone but they would often either be too intense for a beginner, or not addressing the whole for the advanced. 

When people perform and use our DVRT movements with the right intent, it is exciting how the lightbulb truly lights up brightest.

-They were largely based on exercises, not really principles of movement. Sure, we love exercises, but rarely are they constructed from what we know about the body. They are largely just based on “what has always been done” and that is why you see few changes at the heart of many programs. The way we look at exercises is that they are constructed from what we understand about movement, not the other way around. You don’t have to do any ONE exercise, but you do have to understand good movement and how to use your body properly to perform quality movement. 

It doesn’t matter whether we are working with the U.S. Marines or people want to achieve a better quality of life, it all goes back to principles and concepts of movement. 

-Movement isn’t a novel or highly complicated concept. Okay, well it CAN be a very complex, but to give most people a solid understanding of foundations of good movement isn’t difficult. Nor, do we have to look to novel or “out there” exercises and call them movement. Whenever people say “this” exercise is about movement, I ask, “what part of movement are you teaching?” 

-Tools aren’t magical, yes, the Ultimate Sandbag guy says that! However, unlike many people that have created tools or endorse specific tools, I’ve never laid claim that our Ultimate Sandbags are magic. Instead, what we have tried to teach people for almost 15 years is how tools can be a great assistant coach in helping a person understand how to use their bodies better! Most people don’t think of tools in this manner, but it can completely change not just how you use tools, but how you view them as well!

Tools don’t make people better, great craftsmen/women do!

These were largely the motivations in my writing our L.I.F.T. (loaded integrated functional training) certification. I wanted people to realize how accessible good movement strength training could be and how transformational to people it can create results for that need it the most! 

I laugh as I knew when I took on this project there would be days that I would hate myself. As we are winding down to the final installment of L.I.F.T., I knew that the already almost 700 pages and 20 hours of videos would be tough, it is! However, seeing how people are using these techniques, more than exercises, to help people, YOU guys are making it all worthwhile!

That is why I am happy to announce two of my favorite modules (because they are the least discussed in depth) Rotation and Lunging that really opens the playbook to better movement and fitness! Of course we got some special gifts for you too!

Now you can get our DVRT Foundations and Principles, Lunging, and Rotational modules, PLUS, DVRT Master Cory Cripe’s with over 300 videos and all levels of workout programs. That’s not it! Also get our Ultimate Core Strap and Superband so you can immediately apply these powerful concepts for 25% for a VERY limited time with coupon code “rotation” HERE

Yes, the TWO possibly most important but poorly misunderstood movement patterns we break down in depth like never seen before. Not to give you more exercises, but better solutions!