During this second episode of Vital Metabolic, James Wheeler and John Parker speak with Dr. John Rusin, physical therapist and a leading expert in the pain-free performance training model. Dr Rusin describes his functional hypertrophy training, which combines increasing muscle with decreasing stress on the body. Dr. Rusin also talks about his pain-free performance system, and what he sees for the future of strength training and coaching.

Episode Highlights: 

• Dr. Rusin played multiple sports growing up.
• Was it football that brought you into the world of strength and conditioning training?
• Dr. Rusin tells a story about his first exposure to using weights and strength training, and how it put him off going to the gym for 2 years.
• Dr. Rusin has his doctorate in physical therapy.
• How has the field of physical therapy changed since you first went to school?
• Dr. Rusin does not practice traditional physical therapy, and so is a little “out of the loop.”
• Dr. Rusin looked into the difference between prevention and reaction.
• Dr. Rusin spent time in China training olympic athletes.
• Dr. Rusin developed a program called functional hypertrophy training, which focuses on helping people build muscles while sparing their joints.
• How do you talk to people about functional hypertrophy training and building muscle mass?
• Dr. Rusin believes that slight variation in training keeps it fun and makes it more motivating to keep training.
• Do you take on one-on-one clients or how does client structure work for you?
• Dr. Rusin does a one-on-one online coaching program, which allows him to continue working one-on-one while being busy and traveling.
• Dr. Rusin stays within his expertise when taking clients.
• When did the pain-free performance system start? How did it start and how has it grown?
• Dr. Rusin explains how the system went from him lecturing to a small group of people to a full course with certification.
• What are some of the things you see that are taking away from people getting where they want to go, and what don’t you like about the industry right now?
• Personal trainers are not unified or licensed as professionals, even though people need them now more than ever.
• From your perspective, what does the future of the fitness industry look like post-pandemic?

3 Key Points:

1. Functional hypertrophy training is a program that helps people to build muscle while also focusing on keeping them from getting hurt. 
2.  Dr. Rusin offers a certification in his pain-free performance training, and over 100 courses were slated to occur in 2020 before Covid-19.
3. Personal trainers and coaches need to be more unified as a profession and increase their credibility, especially with the health needs the world is currently facing.

Tweetable Quotes: 

• “The thing that really works well for us is giving people what they need but also what they want. And we achieve this with slight variation.” -Dr. Rusin
• “If you’re not having fun it’s not challenging you.” -Dr. Rusin
• “Fitness has a bad reputation...and one of my missions with the pain-free performance certification is to professionalize the workforce of the fitness industry.” -Dr. Rusin
• “What do people value? When you think about that question, that’s what you need to be delivering.” -Dr. Rusin

Resources Mentioned: 

• James’ Facebook Instagram Twitter
• John’s Facebook Instagram Twitter
• John Rusin’s Website Instagram Facebook

During this first episode of Vital Metabolic: The Art and Science of Strength, hosts James Wheeler and John Parker get to know each other and explain the personal histories and what brought them to fitness and training, how they individualize trainings, the importance of picking the right trainer, and what they think fitness will look like going forward.

Episode Highlights: 

• 1:35 - The lifestyle behind strength and training is the critical component that many people are missing.
• 2:06 - What got you (James) into strength and conditioning?
• 3:02 - James wanted to work with athletes because that related to his personal history.
• 5:13 - James and a friend started Locomotion Athletics in 2016, and they opened a brick and mortar location in 2018.
• 5:50 - What positions did you (James) play in football and basketball?
• 6:54 - Did you (James) play any sports outside of the organized sports?
• 7:55 - John tells about his history in organized sports
• 10:15 - John talks about how he got burnt out on sports by his senior year of high school.
• 11:11 - John went to school for history and Spanish literature while working towards his CSCS.
• 12:45 - The strength and conditioning industry is still fairly new and everyone in the industry is still learning.
• 15:44 - James explains how he differentiates training for people who are not very active and people who may participate in other sports within the same groups.
• 17:50 - John also explains how he approaches groups when training his clients.
• 20:50 - There is a spiritual element to strength training, especially in the discipline of it.
• 25:10 - With strength training, you will get out what you put into it, especially with your trainer.
• 26:57 - Make sure you hire someone with experience who can help you reach your goals.
• 28:11 - The STRONG acronym stands for Simplification, Training, Rest and Recovery, Optimization, Nutrition, Grounding
• 30:15 - John gives a personal example to describe “grounding.”
• 32:48 - James talks about how our brains can only absorb so much information, and now that we always have so much information at our fingertips, getting outside is all the more important.
• 34:30 - What is going on with Locomotion Athletics and how do you see us getting out of lockdown?
• 39:06 - John explains why he prefers to work out at home.
• 41:50 - Make sure when you are going to a gym that you are always washing your hands after touching gym equipment.
• 42:19 - John converted all his clients to Zoom sessions when lockdown started.
• 45:07 - John and James answer rapid fire questions.

3 Key Points:

1. The discipline of strength training can carry over to other aspects of your life.
2. Hire a trainer who is a good fit for you and the goals you want to achieve.
3. James and John explain what they think gyms will look like in the future.

Tweetable Quotes: 

• “We want to get to the nuts and bolts of what real strength training is and what it means to you, how much intensity you have to put forward. How many times per week you have to do this, and what your real focus should be on a day to day basis.” -John Parker
• “Our goal is to help you streamline a lot of this information and a lot of these practices so it’s available to you.” -James Wheeler
• “Once your body starts turning on you from training too hard, you have to readjust.” -John Parker
• “I can’t wait to expand on this platform more to help people...Life is limitless and it all starts with your physical wellbeing.” -James Wheeler

Resources Mentioned: 

• James’ Facebook Instagram Twitter
• John’s Facebook Instagram Twitter
• Locomotion Athletics