By Michael Hering, LMT
At the beginning of October I took a week-long trip to Las Vegas. No, I did not go to gamble, party or get lost in the spectacle of lights and sounds. I went for a certification course in functional training. From October 4-7 I spent the day in a gym space alongside at least 30 other people from around the world to be taught about biomechanics and how to use that knowledge to correct not only our own bodily dysfunctions but those of our clients as well, to ultimately graduate that week as a certified functional trainer.
At this point I am sure you may be wondering "but what is that". It's a training system developed by a long time exercise fanatic in the realms of traditional weight lifting, MMA and dynamic movements, he had a particular gift of observation. One thing he noticed the most through all traditional and existing forms of exercise at the time was that they all had incredibly high percentages of injury to people worldwide, regardless of teacher, form or style. It was through this and his research into Anthropology and the development of the human body over hundreds of thousands of years that he came to a greater understanding of our physical needs and requirements in this world and how to optimize ourselves by training solely around our gait cycle (how we stand, walk, run and throw).
In this course, we went deeper into learning about how to apply this training methodology to literally any person and physical dysfunctions they may be dealing with to help them regenerate and become the naturally athletic human being we were all put in this earth to be. And through this deeper understanding of the body and how to locate the sites and methods of dysfunction in a client's body and life I've been able to apply this knowledge and principle into my massage work to help my client better understand themselves, why I do what I do during a massage and what they can do in their life to better themselves and even as far as heal themselves!
Looking into this system and how it addresses people's issues, aches and pains a lot of people view it as some hip new thing or an exercise fad. But when looked at from an anthropological view, biomechanics training is teaching the most ancient and natural things a human can and has ever done and making them look spectacular as they do it with no pain at all. A truly regenerative exercise system, as it should have always been.
Michael Hering, LMT, specializes in Sports Massage and myofascial release. He is also a Certified Functional Trainer.
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