Dr. John Rusin: The State of the Fitness Union

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

 

Resources Mentioned: 

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