origins Archives - Personal Training, Sports Performance, Weight Loss, Continuing Education, CEU Provider

Primitive Initiative™- Laying a foundation

April 9, 2015 By Garrett

As we age, as we become more sedentary, and as we become more specialized in our movements we develop restriction patterns. Over our lifetime certain muscles may get tight while others get weak. We start to compensate in our movements and those compensations perpetuate this cycle of tight and weak muscles. Eventually there is break down in the system of movement. When there is break down inefficiencies and injuries occur.

Before entering any program, one should be properly screened. This may be even truer for the Primitive Initiative® because the program is designed around normal human movement patterns. Movement patterns that potentially have not been done since a person was a child. Not only do we have to be concerned with someone’s ability and preparation for such movements, but we must also be concerned of what a person just physically can’t do. If a person is restricted they are unable to move normally. It’s an issue of can’t and not “this is hard because I haven’t done this in a while”.

Because of this we must first eliminate restrictions of movement and teach the Primitive Initiative® training in a progressive manner. I call this the foundation phase, or a more familiar term to most will be the General Prep portion in the Preparatory Phase of a Periodization scheme. Regardless of what we call it the goal is the same: to prepare the body for the work ahead. To lay a solid foundation so that when higher intensity training is added the body will be able to handle it.

To start this we should do a functional assessment. I can’t emphasize enough how important a functional assessment is before beginning a program (see my previous blog “The Value of Functional Assessments). Movement screens will help identify areas of dysfunction. Exercises will then be given to help eliminate such areas. The number of restrictions a person has will dictate the length of time they dedicate to these exercises. The more restrictions the longer this phase of training will last.

While the largest part of eliminating restrictions will take place in the foundation phase, these exercises will always be a part of the training at varying degrees. To have quality movement, one must continually maintain corrective exercises. These can be a part of the warm-up, as their own circuit, or added throughout the workout.

Outside of eliminating restrictions we must prepare the body to move like it hasn’t done in years (because it probably hasn’t). We will work a lot with isometric holds, slow eccentric contractions, and stabilization, balance, mobility and core exercises during this phase. Teaching technique of movements and what the body should be doing will be crucial. Moving slow to fast will help this, as well as knowing/teaching the proper progressions of the 14 fundamental movements.

Without a solid foundation, a million dollar home will collapse. This is true of any training program (cliché I know….but it is pretty much law at this point). The Primitive Initiative® aims to add human movement patterns back into exercise to extend peoples quality of life. If the body isn’t used to human movement patterns and they are introduced too quickly we risk the potential of reducing quality of life. If we don’t prepare the body, then the body will break.

Primitive Initiative™- The Movement for movement!

March 18, 2015 By Garrett

In my near two decade fitness career I have had the pleasure of working with many clients of varying ages, abilities, dysfunctions, and goals. In that time span I have worked with many Collegiate Athletes, budding youth athletes, obese and overweight populations, post-rehab/surgical clients, elderly populations, medical populations, the generally healthy, and even an Olympic athlete. With this wide spectrum of clients I began to find one common problem within each demographic: the lack of movement within their training programs.

I am sure that it is not a surprise for some of these groups, but it may come as a surprise for other groups. In my experience modern life has made us less and less likely to move. As the human race has evolved we have developed lifestyles of efficiency. Unfortunately this efficiency of life has made us inefficient operators of our bodies.

When we are brought into this world we are a blank slate, ready to absorb as much as we possibly can. Everything we learn is through experimentation and exploration. It is trial and error. The more error there is the quicker we learn. It is an amazing time in our lives. Everything is a new experience. We learn to smile, laugh, talk, crawl, walk, and run. We learn to interact with others. We learn to interact with and manipulate objects. We learn to play. Our play is wide and vast, almost limitless.

At some point in our lives we take one of two tracks. We either become sedentary or we become specialized. We may choose to play video games and watch tv instead of going outside and running around playing. We may choose to play organized sports. If we do play sports we start to specialize very early. Many sports have become year round with the school season sport, AAU sport, Travel leagues, and sport specific training. Our wide and vast movement patterns that we once had begun to disappear.

As we grow even older we go to college and take jobs that have us bound to a desk, hunched over a computer. If we have the time and motivation to go to the gym, we pick select exercises that are inefficient and may cover only a very few of the movement patterns that are woefully missing from our lives.

Due to this slippery slope of non-movement, as we age we are unable to perform certain tasks efficiently. Picking things up off the ground, reaching for a seat belt, getting up off the floor all become arduous tasks. Our joints begin to get immobile, sore, swollen and broken down. Sudden movements become risks of severe injury. If an injury occurs it will take nearly two to three times as it once did to recover fully from it, if at all. Chances are there will always be a limitation from the injury which ultimately will cause a compensation pattern. This will put undue stress upon another system or joint until there is another injury. Once this injury cycle is entered into it is hard to escape. Quality of function and ultimately quality of life is severely diminished.

It has been said that exercise is the only singular thing that reduces the risk of every known disease and illness and prolongs life. I submit that movement is the only singular thing that will enhance and extend functional capacity, reduce injury, and increase quality of life. My aim is to add movement back into fitness and into people’s lives.

Because of this I have created the Primitive Initiative®(notice the that I trademarked it! That’s how strongly I believe this is the direction that the field should be and is going). The Primitive Initiative® is a movement oriented training model based on 14 fundamental movement patterns arranged in a specific sequence to maximize results. It combines biomechanical training with energy system sequencing to provide real life fitness for real life movements. Whether you call it athleticism, mobility or functionality, Primitive Initiative® enables the human body to operate in all planes of motion, in all positions of center of gravity, at all levels of intensity, in varying bases of support with efficiency and proficiency. The Primitive Initiative® aims to add real human movement patterns back into fitness and exercise. This is the movement for movement, and I am excited to share this technique with you over the next several blogs!

It’s All About Those Pants

December 31, 2014 By Garrett

This is my first blog of many to come. I feel that it would be fitting tell you a little bit about how I ended up in this field. My personal story is very common amongst fitness professionals. I once was sedentary and overweight.

As I grew up my parents owned a pizza shop, which we also lived above. Can you imagine! Unlimited supply of pizza and subs all day long! Sounds heavenly doesn’t it? Well, I won’t lie…….it was. Unfortunately, the combination of this amazing food (I still can’t find a pizza that can beat it!) and an inactive lifestyle (my big weekend plans consisted of a large pizza, a couch and a tv) caused the inevitable. My weight began to balloon. Heck, my sister called me curtain butt on the account of how my shirt draped over the old gluteus!

It wasn’t until my 8^th grade year that I decided to do something about it. Sadly, I will admit that it was to fit into a pair of pants for the 8^th grade formal. Those Dockers were pretty sweet! You should have seen them, pleats and all! Unfortunately, they didn’t have them in my size but I just had to have them. I vowed that I would fit in them for the dance…and…you know…actually be able to move in them without busting out the seams. So I started to run. I basically did a Couch to 5k, before Couch to 5k existed (I should be a millionaire!). I ran a little, walked a little. Each day I ran further and further until I was able to run 2 miles without stopping. With each step I took, the curtain became less and less prominent! My sister eventually had to find something else to make fun of me (don’t worry, she had plenty to choose from!). And then it happened. I decided my progress warranted a dress rehearsal to see if I met my goal. I slid on those sleek, pleated, Kahki Dockers and to my surprise, they fit like satin Isotoners! (ask Dan Marino how good those feel!). Not only did they fit, they were a little loose! I tucked my stonewashed jean shirt in, put on my leather braided belt and pegged up (tight rolled for you Midwesterners) my pants. Damn…….I looked good! I was ready!

Something that started out as an aesthetic mission, actually turned into an athletic one. You see, I was never blessed with amazing athletic coordination (don’t believe me, throw something at me and see what happens). As it turns out, I was ok at running. Never great, but good. At the end of my 8^th grade year, after I rocked it out on the dance floor in my pantaloons, I went out for the summer track program. I also started to lift with those old plastic encased cement weight sets in my basement. I started to feel capable and confident. I went out for the cross country team and track team in high school. In college I ran track and power lifted. In grad school I was a graduate assistant coach for the cross country and track team. I also started to work at a local gym as a fitness instructor. I wanted to learn more about helping people reach their potential. I became a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist and then have amassed multiple other certifications and specializations. I pursued a professional career in the field and have been here ever since, learning, exploring, and evolving so I can better serve my clients. It was like a domino effect. One thing led to another and my path to my career was laid out. It’s funny, I owe my career to those pants!