My philosophy of training boils down to a couple key quotes that I would probably use in many of my sessions with clients:

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"If you strengthen a muscle, you should also lengthen it."

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Too often I've come across dancers with one of two issues. The first being they have above average flexibility but not enough strength to safely come in and out of the stretched position, leading to injuries and muscular imbalances. The second is dancers with a lot of strength, but not the flexibility to move through poses with grace and ease. My goal is to meet every dancer in the middle with the best of both worlds - to be strong and to be mobile. 

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In order to achieve this, it comes down to a dance. Literally, the dance of working the muscle to get a hypertrophic response (muscle gain), while simultaneously working the mobility using scientifically supported techniques like myofascial release, PNF stretching, and active flexibility training to get a person long term results. 

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However, the more flexibility a person achieves, the more strength that is required to hold the position and the more unstable the position is. Therefore, my programs are designed threefold: increase range, strengthen the range, stabilize the area. This way the math goes in favor of not getting injured, which keeps dancers in the studio, and athletes training.

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The amount of range a person needs is sport and lifestyle driven. Getting someone out of being uncomfortable and being functional is my highest priority, then I like to focus on getting to the standards of the sport or hobby to reach the maximum performance potential. A lot of my favorite workouts have unintentionally come from ideas from Knees over Toes Guy and my physical therapist's office (MVMT Performance & Rehab). The ATG split squat is by far one of my favorites, and many of his ideas (along with some specific exercises for me) got me my full range of motion squats.

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To get the best results, this kind of training is a long-term, dedicated, and sometimes frustrating journey. My goal is to take as much of the frustration out of the process, but that doesn't mean it will be quicker. I'd rather have slow and steady progress with safe and effective movement patterns, than quickly rush a client through movements the body may not be ready for. 

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"The more range of motion you can achieve, the higher the muscle growth potential."

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I believe in the principle that the more a muscle is challenged in the stretched position, the greater the muscle growth response. This is backed by research on many high performing athletes. Therefore, the greater the range of motion you can move a muscle through, the longer the time under tension, the greater the stretch on a muscle, and the greater the chance of a hypertrophic response.

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A great physique comes down to solid proprioceptive conditioning, muscular gain, and fat loss. Not all can optimally be achieved at the same time but what can be done is periodization that focuses on each specific area of a great physique, one at a time. For most people, a great foundation of an effective strength training program and moderate cardio will do the trick. However, I focus on exercises that challenge the flexibility of a muscle along with eccentric control of the muscle to not only improve the range of motion to get that targeted muscle growth, but also strengthen an athlete's ability in that range actively and passively. This is a major foundation of all my strength training programs.

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"If you train one side of a muscle's ability, you should also train the opposite."

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Something clients will see a lot in my programming is balance. Balance not only in balance exercises, but balance in a way a muscle group is trained. So this can be in the form of doing a flexion ability to an extension ability, doing a push ability as well as a pull ability, and/or doing the front side of the body and the backside of the body.

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An example I like to use to explain this is working the chest. For most people, when we think of chest training we think of push-ups, we think of bench press, etc. But what is to the backside of the chest? Your upper/mid back. Often this area is weak and lacks sufficient mobility and range of motion, leading to shoulder pain when doing the bench press. Working on strength and range of motion in your upper-mid back will not only help stretch the chest to relieve some of that shoulder pain, but it will also help protect you from those moments that you fail.

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If you've ever been to a powerlifting meet, you would notice that athletes doing the bench press have a controlled arch in their back. This comes from a strong, solid, and flexible upper back (along with core bracing & stability) which allows them to activate as much of the chest as possible to get the most force production from their chest. This comes down to training the opposite. Something my clients will definitely not hear enough of.

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"Address the high priority issues in your movement patterns first, then everything in your program will get significantly easier." 

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Something I have learned along the way is that the best athletic gains not only take time, but also come down to dealing with the pressing issues first. So if your back is stiff and uncomfortable, that is priority number one. Then the focus comes down to working all the accessory areas of the body. Because what matters first is relieving stiffness from the body. This unaddressed can lead to long term pain as well as a significantly increased injury risk, so a tight/stiff muscle is something that I will be addressing first.

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Then we can start tackling the secondary priority items, and then the third priority items. A lot of times the training I've run into is teaching clients healthy movement behaviors as well as stiffness. Then it becomes a lot easier to progress movements and clients feel successful. To me, seeing progress, even if small, is the most important thing to me. If your split is one inch longer - we're doing something right. If your weight you loaded is 2.5 lbs. heavier - we're doing something right. If you can sit at your desk and not be tight - we're doing something right. These small wins matter, and they are a big deal. Tackling the high priority items makes this possible, and that's why I organize my programming and training this way.

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