Friday, November 28, 2008

Trainer review: PKCO

I had the opporunity to meet and talk with trainers from the Police Kinesiology Company (PKCO) this week. (Kinesiology is the study of human movement.) I had the pleasure to converse with trainers James DiNaso, Brian Marvin, and Dave Lewis.

PKCO teaches curriculum for injury prevention, performance enhancement, and skills development.

All the PKCO trainers are extremely passionate about their methods and philosophies. They pride themselves on using science to develop efficient training drills and programs. These are NOT the type of guys who took a measly home-study course just to get a trainer certificate!! They continually study fitness, training trends, and methods to make sure they're doing the best for their clients.

While some of our discussions could be classified as "debate," I thoroughly enjoyed my time with them. We definitely do NOT see eye-to-eye on some training programming issues. They each hold some dislike with some of the movements and training I have been advocating lately. But hearing their arguments has made me re-examine everything I do. After doing two workout sessions with them, I did see that I was already doing many of their movements as part of the Prison Workout. Anytime I can agree with educated folks, it makes me feel good.

One thing I will immediately integrate into my personal program is their dynamic stretching routine. I have long known of dynamic (or ballistic) stretching, but I learned some new stretches from PKCO. For some muscle groups I was still doing static stretches by holding a pose for 20-30 seconds. With these newly learned dynamic stretches, I can abandon some static stretching and instead weave together warmup and stretching.

It's easy to surround yourself with those who think and believe the same things as you. But that sort of inbreeding is unhealthy. I had the opportunity to dissect some issues with those who think and believe differently than I do. I proudly put my differences aside to see what I could learn. Only good can come of it!

Thanks James, Brian, and Dave!

1 comment:

Brian said...

Lou,
I enjoyed our discussions and debates concerning law enforcement specific training. I truly respect and admire what you are doing in this area and your passion.

We both share the same goals, to help our brothers and sisters make it home at the end of their shifts.

A trainers #1 responsibility is to provide the make efficient and effective tools to their students, regardless of the trainers own personal preferences. Your willingness to be open to differing viewpoints speaks well for you in this regard.

I look forward to future discussions(and debates)on law enforcement specific fitness with you.

Take care my friend,
Captain Brian Marvin (retired), Police Kinesiology Company Lead Instructor