MY MISSION
My intention with Movement Martials is to push out as much free information as possible as a bridge for those who don’t know where to turn in their fitness journey. Goals change and we exist to help you achieve them. I was in your shoes once, and I wish I had the guidance.
I’ve trained like an athlete, competed as a powerlifter and I am currently training like a modern meathead body builder (With hopes to compete in powerlifting at a heavier class). I also train on and off as a washed up soccer player.
I hope this page can be a resource that can be referred to time and time again.
My information is opinion based, rooted in science literature and agreed upon by many. I try to stick to the facts but understand that anecdote IS important. I will encourage challenge and debate on this page because that is how we push forward! Please ask questions about different models and theories I present if something does not quite click.
In the end models and theory are simply tools that we have available for use, but we as individuals make the judgment of how and when to apply said information. I might interpret something one way and Kick another.
“We question all of our beliefs except for those that we truly believe and those that we never think to question”
- Orson Scott Card
I AM THICK— In short
My time at school is my foundation. College certainly isn’t for everyone, but it helped me develop a deep understanding physiology and is the reason I became interested in biomechanics and strength training. It also taught me how to analyze literature and gave me time working in research lab, things that sparked my interest that I wouldn’t otherwise have had the opportunity to do.
I have a Bachelors in Exercise Science and a Masters Clinical Exercise Physiology (CEXP). Sounds fancy, but to break it down my expertise is the effects of exercise on the cardiac & pulmonary systems metabolism, skeletal musculature and telemetry (reading EKG’s).
A CEXP specializes in working with patients with chronic disease to reverse or reduce symptomology can work in a variety of settings but they range from exercise research, cardiac rehab, pulmonary rehab, development of medical devices, exercise stress testing, nuclear stress testing and so many more. The title is versatile and requires a wide range of skills.
I respect the work, It just wasn’t for me— I was a full-time student, working internships and decided to take on two more jobs. One as a graduate assistant coach of a successful college soccer team, and the other as a S&C Coach for a friends facility where I coached kids to college athletes and did standard personal training.
I burnt out, the idea of sitting in hospitals for 8 hours a day was draining in and of itself.
I don’t use a lot of these very specific skills anymore, and felt I could better help spending directed time with individuals and teach them how to take care of themselves through exercise or at least guide them in a way I saw fit.
Now I mostly train general population, with some athletes and strength athletes sprinkled in.
I spend a lot of my time trying to learn, either through literature, experience mentorship, and seminars.
Learning new things is definitely in my bag.
I was always pretty quick to pick up and understand a sport enough to be just above average, but I wasn’t exceptional at anything.
Later in high school running became my niche, specifically middle distance. BUT I was TINY— 5’8” 120lbs soaking wet.
I was recruited to run in college, but stopped altogether in my second semester.
No longer an athlete, I compared myself to others and like most insecure teenage boys I was insecure about how small.
I took on lifting as the solution. What a LONG trip it has been.
From training under a strength and conditioning coach as a runner, to finding ways to rehab an ACL I tore in a different sport (Still don’t have one), then training for a COMBACK to sports in general, to deciding to take a 180 and take on a new sport in powerlifting, and now completely changing focus to a dedicated massing phase my training has changed over the years.
In my eyes the journey of exercise is never ending.
That’s the beauty of it.
I never realized that it was all in my control until everything clicked and I achieved a goal that was seemingly impossible.
Then I was hooked— chasing goal after goal and surprising myself along the way.
I’m still in a loop chasing outlandish goals that I know I’ll reach one day.
I want to pass on that same feeling to you all.
With consistency, effort and now KNOWLEDGE???
What’s stopping you?
—Thick