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:
- Functional hypertrophy training is a program that helps people to build muscle while also focusing on keeping them from getting hurt.
- Dr. Rusin offers a certification in his pain-free performance training, and over 100 courses were slated to occur in 2020 before Covid-19.
- 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
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