No obstacles, no difficulty, no excuses. Just a seamless, non-intimidating, and empowering experience.
In 2018, we stepped in to break down barriers and foster a healthier world. The concept was simple. Enable users to visit gyms across the country using their phones and only pay for the time they spend working out. No tour, no paperwork, no need to wait on the phone, no need to speak to anyone on the way in. We launched in 2019, and the idea quickly took off with users taking advantage of the platform across the United States.
Fast forward to 2020, when we discovered the key to carrying out our mission in an even bigger way - bringing the gym to our users through Virtual Personal Training. We created the first tool that allows users to book and train with personal trainers from their phones, laptops, TVs, and tablets. This allows us to provide access to fitness and connect people not just across the country, but around the world.
Our mission doesn’t stop there. With Connected Training™, FlexItPRO™, FlexItNOW, and FlexIt Nutrition, we leave no stone unturned in our mission to improve our clients’ wellbeing. We’re always growing, always innovating, and we’ll never stop.
"StrengthCoach.com has helped me tremendously since its inception. The articles and videos continue to be really helpful in learning what's currently going on in the Strength and Conditioning profession. However, what I find most valuable is the ongoing forum discussions which feature dialogue between some of the best people in the business. You get an insight to what people are doing with their clients/athletes."
Sean Skahan, Strength & Conditioning Coach, Minnesota Wild
HERE'S THE TRUTH
MOST TRAINERS AND COACHES FIND THE
INFORMATION IN THE STRENGTH and CONDITIONING INDUSTRY OVERWHELMING
You want to learn, network and grow as a professional.
Is it even possible in such an intimidating environment filled with so much conflicting information?
It's Overwhelming Out There... Anthony Renna, host of The Strength Coach Podcast
I can remember when I first started out as a trainer, I couldn't believe how much conflicting information there was about Strength and Conditioning and Personal Training!
I was trying to absorb as much information as I could but it was pretty confusing, I wasn't sure who to believe or who I could trust. The internet was (and still is) filled with snake oil salesmen padding their resumes (amazing how many people claim to have worked with pro athletes and Olympic champions) trying to make a buck selling “magic” training formulas.
The peers I had been working with in my big box gym seemed to be mostly concerned with their own bodies, and trainers who had been there the longest were not interested in teaching anyone that might be their competition.
They certainly weren't interested in learning anything new. I wasn't sure where to turn.
A lot of trainers face the same problems:
Overwhelmed by all of the information on the internet
Waste too much valuable time searching for answers to questions
Take a chance and overpay for DVD's that end up over-promising and under-delivering
Get books that are outdated with authors that you can't get in touch with for questions
Have no one to connect with to talk about industry topics
Can't find good mentors to help with advancing in their career
It's frustrating!
According to many sources, the career "life" expectancy for trainers is anywhere from 1-3 years.
They end up leaving the business for good.
I know, I was at that point.
I really felt all alone in my pursuit to become a better trainer.
Enter the MichaelBoyle.biz forum.
Coach Boyle was someone who had been already been working in Strength & Conditioning for 20 years, working with all kinds of athletes at Boston University, the Boston Bruins, the US Women's Soccer and Hockey teams and lots of pro football players.
He was still in the trenches, which is important for me when I am looking to learn from someone. Fitness business expert and StrengthCoach.com frequent contributor Alwyn Cosgrove likes to say, “Been There, done that, still DOING it”. That's Coach Boyle.
I had just read his first book, Functional Training for Sports, and his philosophies and methods really resonated with me. His work made sense.
Coach Boyle started his own forum to be able to answer so many of the questions he was getting and it was filled with strength coaches who had been working in high schools, colleges and the pros. There was so many amazing discussions about every topic and situation imaginable in S and C. It was incredible.
I found a home...
A Place to
Learn From, Network and Connect with
a Community of Trusted, In-the-Trenches Coaches
World Renowned Strength Coach Michael Boyle (Boston Red Sox, Boston Bruins, USA Women's Hockey and More!)
Coach Boyle has created the Greatest Community of Strength Coaches in the World from:
Miami Dolphins
Minnesota Wild
Canada Basketball
USA Hockey
Seattle Sounders
Arsenal FC
AS Roma FC
Seattle Seahawks
St. Louis Cardinals
Quinnipiac Univ.
Univ. of Mass. Lowell
Union College
New Jersey Devils
San Jose Sharks
Anaheim Ducks
and so many more!
This is the BEST place to learn, grow and network with the BEST Strength Coaches in the World.
So many coaches complain about not having a weight room, not having a strength coach, not having equipment etc. My feeling is instead of complaining, find a solution. There is a quote I love that sums this up.
“Better to light one candle than to sit and curse the darkness”
The truth is you can actually get a great workout in with only one dumbbell. You can get your entire team training for less than $500 in most cases.
To start, pick a dumbbell that will be challenging for Dumbbell Rows ( challenging but, not the heaviest you could use, think 80%) and then do the following
First, do your power movement for three sets of 5 reps. We use the Dumbbell Snatch but, you can use Jump Squats if you are not comfortable teaching the Dumbbell Snatch.
The key is to do a power exercise. Power and strength are not the same, power exercises are done explosively and are designed to work the nervous system more than the muscular system.
After doing three sets of your power exercise, it is now on to strength. I like to alternate an upper body exercise and a lower body exercise. For this program, we want to choose exercises that can be done in a with one dumbbell or no equipment so we will use some type of Split Squats or 1 Leg Squat and Pushups as our first two. Do your strength exercises for ten reps
Next, pair up a 1 Leg Straight Leg Deadlift progression with some type of row, again alternating from one to the other.
Scene: A courtroom near you. Dogma is on the stand with Maximum Velocity questioning.
Maximum Velocity: Is it true that on October 29, 2018, you stated, “Maximum velocity is a parameter that rarely needs to be addressed” in regards to training basketball players?
Dogma: Yes.
Maximum Velocity: Is the reason for this because athletes do not reach maximum velocity while playing basketball?
Dogma: That is correct.
Maximum Velocity: So if an action is not performed during gameplay, it doesn't make sense to address it in training?
Dogma: Yes.
Maximum Velocity: Do your athletes perform barbell squats in training?
Dogma: Of course! Ass to grass baby!
Maximum Velocity: Have you ever seen a barbell squat take place in a game of basketball?
Dogma: Well, uh, no...but…
Maximum Velocity: So you are fine with addressing a barbell squat in training when it does not occur in competition, but you do not extend the same courtesy to sprinting until maximum velocity is attained?
Dogma: Well, players squat during competition. Bilateral jumps occur all the time, and squatting is a precursor to that.
Maximum Velocity: Are you saying that basketball players don't sprint in competition?
Dogma: Well, uh, no….They sprint, but they don't attain maximum velocity.
Maximum Velocity: When you train athletes in the squat, do you try to maximize the load they can move?
Dogma: Absolutely! The more they move, with quality technique of course, the greater the training effect!
We are seeing the future and in some cases it's not pretty. On one hand we are seeing the highest salaries ever paid in the field of strength and conditioning. On the other hand we are seeing the same trend we see in many industries, older employees being replaced by younger employees.
Unfortunately many strength and conditioning coaches have not planned for the inevitable and the inevitable is that you may not go out on your own terms.
Many of us started in this profession 30 plus years ago and never thought about the end game. Retirement? We'd coach forever, die with our boots on like in the old western's.
Sadly, that's not happening. Suddenly strength coaches are finding themselves in their fifties with no pensions, not enough money saved and sometimes no job.
My advice? Start planning now. As with many professions, you will age out even if you never planned to.
I was talking about this to another veteran strength and conditioning coach, Bob Alejo, and he had a great observation;
“ have you ever been to a retirement party for a strength coach?'
Now think about the flip side. Have you seen a strength coach in his fifties suddenly get let go, reassigned etc?
Check out this advice from Bob - Four Words: Four-Oh-One-Kay
My first big job was at UCLA in August of 1984. And, as I was receiving what I thought was a million dollars ($11,500 full-time), I didn't put a nickel in my 410k…not a cent! I was saying to myself, why wouldn't I take the entire paycheck and use it all! Twenty-seven years old and a Wall Street savant I was not. Big mistake. At the same time there was really no tutoring on the subject either. Had I known you didn't have to invest butt-loads of money to gain on a working-lifetime investment, it made no sense to me. Since, I've certainly learned my lesson but like some of you will, I learned too late.
Certainly this is not a financial lesson here, but the simple construct of a 401k is tax deferred money, compounding interest (look it up), in many instances institutions/organizations will match your contribution to the account (ex., you contribute $1.00, they contribute $.50) and surprisingly, automatic deposit (taken as a deduction from your paycheck) can be chosen which has been proven to be much more effective and committal to saving money or any kind. Join StrengCoach.com today to read the full article and more.... http://bit.ly/StrengthCoachD
First it was Romanian Deadlifts and Russian Twists
Then it was Bulgarian Lunges and Turkish Get Ups.
I thought we were done but along came Nordic Leg Curls.
But, now we have city's claiming exercises with Copenhagen getting it's own Adductor Exercise.
Much like it's geographical predecessors the Copenhagen Adductor exercise is now the current cure-all for groin strains. What is it with geography and injury prevention claims?
In case you are not familiar, the Copenhagen Adductor exercise is a modification of a side plank designed to create both concentric and eccentric stress on the adductor muscles.
There are a number of modifications but, the video below describes a safe and relatively simple use of the exercise. I don't love this setup though as it requires a coach or a partner.
To be honest, it was better than I thought. My initial impression upon seeing the video above was that I would be worried about the valgus stress on the knee if you tried the non-partner version we filmed. However, a bunch of us tried it and no one complained of MCL pain/ discomfort so, that's one hurdle down.
My only other complaint/issue is that much like a multi-hip machine this is a long lever, frontal plane adduction. The reality from a functional anatomical sense is that adduction is much more of a concept than an actual movement.
Pure frontal plane adduction never occurs, particularly with a straight lever arm. Adduction is actually a combination of either flexion and adduction or, extension and adduction. In other words they never really happen. All true adduction involves either a flexion component or an extension component. In the Copenhagen Adductor exercise the stress is non-functional nature.
The video on the site is a Pilates Ring Adduction done at both 90 and 45 degrees of hip flexion, probably slightly easier but, more functional from an adductor standpoint.
The Boston Celtics' offseason has been somewhat
interesting in that they've been pretty inactive. Linked to Kawhi
Leonard in trade talks, it seems that possibility has come...
Insert Derek Jeter face palm GIF here. With his
Miami Marlins up 9-0 in the fourth inning Thursday evening against the
division-rival Washington Nationals, Jeter had to...
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