5 Questions: Jonathan Fass
I “met” Jon a few years ago via a message board discussion. I don’t remember what it was about, I even tried to look it up. To no avail I couldn’t find it, but what I do remember is Jon delivered a knowledge bomb and won me over. From that moment on I would keep an extra eye on what he said. I was constantly impressed with his knowledge.
Flash forward and now most weekends I get to share some talk time with Jon while recording the Fitcast show. On or off air, Jon is one of my favorite people to talk shop with. I don’t use the term “brother” much because it invokes a image of hulk hogan ripping off a t-shirt. I hate the word “colleague” because that makes me think of a stiff guy in a sweater I would never want to go have a drink with. I will go with “Brofmance.”
Brofmance: The term for a male and female platonic connection of high proportions.
Question 1: A lot of personal trainers want to act like they are physical therapists these days. As we spoke of recently, it is the “hands on” aspect of a physical trainers job that can take it to that next level. How important would you say getting hands on is for your work? Do you feel this is a oversight of importance both by trainers and therapists themselves?
Jonathan Fass: We are able to convey, and in turn receive so much information through our hands that I really can’t understand how anyone could possibly practice effectively while keeping their hands in their pockets. It makes about as much sense as performing single leg squats on a Bosu ball while swinging a kettlebell around like you’re trying to break an invisible Pinata and labeling it “functional training.” It makes no sense.
Honestly, it’s pretty simple: If a trainer, coach or therapist isn’t physically interacting with his/her client, athlete or patient, either by correcting joint position, providing biofeedback for proper movement and proprioceptive awareness, or utilizing a manual technique for improved function (i.e. soft tissue work, mobilization, etc) during at least part of the time with the trainee, then that “professional” simply isn’t doing his/her job. Period.
That’s also the major problem with online training. Without being able to physically guide a client through their movement, there is a major aspect of the trainer-client experience that simply isn’t included.
Of course, you and I and a wealth of other excellent trainers offer online services, too. After all, there are many important reasons for an individual to choose a distance program from an educated and experienced trainer vs. an in-person, local trainer (like, oh, I don’t know…most gym trainers suck?). So how do we improve the quality of the training experience while minimizing its obvious flaws?
We can overcome many of the drawbacks inherent in distance training creatively through the use of videos, various types of communication and feedback, as well as very detailed forms of analysis in order to maximize the value of these services. We are also very particular with exactly who we choose to accept as a distance client, as well, and only choose clients that we believe will be suitable candidates for a distance training program. Even then, there are times that we have all advised certain clients to seek additional support, either with a few appointments with a trusted local professional, or even requesting that the client take a trip to see us personally.
The personal interaction between trainer/coach and client and the manual skills that go along with that simply cannot be replaced.
Question 2: Do you have any personal tricks or movements of getting those problems with the body to jump out at you better when assessing someone?
Jonathan Fass: Fatigue changes everything. It’s one of the first pieces of advice that Bill Hartman gave to me when I first got to work with him at his clinic, and it’s still one of the best. Often, you’ll find an individual that might present very “normally” at first, but ask them to perform a repeated motion (such as raising their arms above their head 10-20 times, or perform a set of pushups or glute bridges) and you’ll see that what originally looked like good motion and positioning becomes altered due to a weak synergist becoming fatigued.
For instance, in the first example a poorly functioning serratus anterior might be strong enough to stabilize the scapula in upward rotation when a client/patient raises his/her arms a few times, but once you require repeated activity, an already compromised serratus won’t be able to function properly and you’ll be able to clearly see the scapula start to wing and “stutter” as it moves. That’s something that you would have missed if you only asked your client/patient to move once.
Also, I listen very carefully to what a client or patient tells me about their daily activities. For instance, if I work with a female office worker, along with checking the “basics” like hip flexors and glute activation (sitting all day has a way of wrecking a person’s hips, of course), I’ll ask questions like “where is the phone located on the desk?” (constantly turning in one direction or holding the phone on the same shoulder over time can create imbalances in muscle activity and stiffness in the shoulders and trunk, and can lead to asymmetries in activation and potentially injury when performing a heavy lift), or which shoulder she might hold her purse on (which could create differences in shoulder positioning and muscle activity). Sometimes it’s not a manual or physical “trick,” but simply putting clues together like a detective in order to lead your evaluation to the small but important details that might have otherwise gone unnoticed.
Question 3: You are on a reality TV show competing with 7 of the top PT experts in the country. You are presented with a challenge of having to go to a clients house to get them through a PT session. You have no idea what the problem is, only that they are mild cases. You can take 3 items with you, what do you take?
Jonathan Fass: My eyes, my ears and my hands. Ultimately, these are not just the only things that a good practitioner truly needs, in the end I think that 90% of the time a clinician’s skills in observation and manual treatments are the only things that a therapist (or a trainer) really should be using.
Speaking from the physical therapy standpoint, my patients will show me their problems through their movements, and they will tell me what they are feeling through their descriptions of their injuries and with the verbal feedback that they provide throughout their treatments. I will verify their issues through the use of my hands, and I will also be able to help to improve their condition by using my manual techniques. All I need to do is see what they are already showing me, and to listen to what they are already telling me in order to choose the right intervention in order to help them.
Healers have used these simple “tools” for thousands of years to improve the function and health of their clients. We have made amazing advances in our ability to understand the human body, how to evaluate it and how to heal it, but at the end of the day a successful treatment is still based on the quality of the practitioner, not just the toys that he or she uses.
There are many items that can potentially enhance these natural tools, but there is nothing that can replace them. Therefore, there is nothing else that I would ever truly need.
Question 4: What is some of the training you are doing right now for yourself? I know you have a history of martial arts training correct? Is any of that involved in your day to day training still?
Jonathan Fass: I have used some of my martial arts background with my Rugby and Lacrosse players (tackles and takedowns, Mongolian Wrestling, etc), but in general I haven’t used those techniques in my own programming in a long time. Why not? Because I haven’t been a martial artist in a long time! Right now, I’m doing a simple upper/lower split with focus on corrective work for a right shoulder that has been causing me a few issues. It’s a matter of specificity: Although I loved to train like a martial artist in the past, I have no reason to do so now because it really has nothing to do with the qualities that I want to improve (strength, body composition and functioning).
I think that’s a good point to make, too: I often see people chasing too many goals at once, and their exercise prescription looks more like a laundry list of “cool stuff to do” instead of a thought-out, properly planned program (say that 3-times fast!).
Don’t get me wrong: it’s ok to experiment a little in the gym and add one or two unique or challenging exercises to keep things interesting and fresh. However, there’s a limit to this, and too much jumping between workout plans, exercises or techniques for the sake of variety (a.k.a. “exercise ADD”) will get you nowhere fast.
No matter what kind of exercise you choose, or which routine you follow, anything that you do in your training will be more effective if you know why you’re actually doing it! Understanding the role of an exercise, the training effect of a technique, and the influence of any one or two exercises on the rest of your program is an important detail that seems too often to be missing from the routines of both novices and even “professionals” alike. Unfortunately, without that knowledge, a Laissez-fair program design with too many exercise “distractions” will make it more difficult for you to achieve much of anything.
Question 5: What is the last…
Book you read:
Album/Single you got:
Film/Show you watched:
Jonathan Fass:
Books: The Last Lecture – Randy Pausch; Athletic Bodies in Balance – Gray Cook (I’ve had that one sitting on my shelf forever but finally got around to reading it); The Elegant Universe – Brian Greene (This was a re-read from a few years ago, actually. In another life, I was a quantum physicist). Other than that, it’s mostly text books and research papers, honestly.
Singles: My last 3 downloads: Everybody Knows – John Legend; Watch me Wine – Tami Chynn; Legal Riddim – Tami Chynn.
Film: I went to see “Slumdog Millionaire” (brilliant filmaking…easily one of the best films of the year) and caught “Burn after Reading” (hysterical) and “The Visitor” (fantastic performances, thought-provoking script) on Netflix.
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You can find out more on Jonathan Fass at his site Accelerated Strength or his Blog.
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