5 Questions: Mike Robertson
If you happen to read this on the day it went live you will notice a Mike Robertson theme. Simply put we are showing a little love and deeming it MR day here at FLzine. What is to follow because he gets a whole day is not likely going to be a pretty thing. You can’t get this kind of love without backlash. I personally have a plan to unleash local pizza delivery every hour on the hour from all local restaurants until he becomes as fat as I am right now.
Truthfully it is easy to like Mike because not only is he a smart guy, he is a good guy. Rare indeed.
Question 1: What are you doing right now in your training? What are some of the physical changes you have gone through recently and plan in the future.
Mike Robertson: My training since coming back from Australia is a little sporadic, so I’m looking forward to getting back into a consistent routine.
I will be training for the RKC over the next couple of months, so that’s my primary goal at this point in time. I need to be able to snatch the 24 kg. kettlebell (53 pounds) 90 times in 5 minutes, so that should be a great time (note heavy saracasm). I would generally consider anything over 5 reps cardio, so I will be hating life the next couple of weeks.
Beyond the RKC, I’m starting to think I’d like to get back into powerlifting. Our current intern at IFAST, Nick, is a powerlifter and he’s always in my ear about getting back into it. I’ve got to admit, there’s something infectious watching him lifting heavy shit time and again. Time will tell, though.
Question 2: What are some of your favorite assessment techniques you use at I-Fast?
Mike Robertson: I think some of the best assessment techniques are also the simplest. These would include:
- Static posture
- Walking Gait
- Squatting
- Lunging
- Push-ups
Those basic tests can give you an incredible amount of feedback. While we run the gamut (static posture, isolated testing, integrated testing), I’m not sure there’s anything better than testing basic movement patterns to get an idea of somebody’s strengths and weaknesses.
Question 3: What were you like as a kid, did you see this at your future?
Mike Robertson: I was always pretty athletic growing up. Well, maybe athletic isn’t the word – I played a lot of sports growing up. Over time, I became more athletic.
When I was in high school, I started lifting weights and loved what they did for my strength, power and confidence. I knew going into college that I wanted to do something with exercise science, but it all really fell into place when I interned in the athletic weight room at Ball State University.
In that setting, I could merge my love of sports with my love of weights. For me, it was a match made in heaven.
Question 4: What is one lesson you want to beat into the heads of other fitness professionals?
Mike Robertson: If I could be the “anti-guy” for a moment, I would tell them to focus more time and energy on learning about training versus business. Like all things in this field (and life), the pendulum has swung too far – now you have entry-level trainers that are so focused on their business that they never learn how to train people!
Training is the foundation. If you can’t get results I don’t want to talk about Twitter, search engine optimization, or any of that other bullshit. If you can get results for a client, you’ll never have a shortage of clients waiting to work with you.
Quite simply, intelligent training drives your business. Don’t EVER forget that.
Question 5: What is the last…
Book you read: Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell, and Tribes by Seth Godin. Both are excellent. I’m a true believer in the 10,000 hour rule.
Album/Single you got: I’m in charge of all music for the IFAST facility, so I’m always digging into music, both new and old.
I had forgotten how good old Ozzy Osbourne was. I just downloaded several tracks, including Crazy Train and Mr. Crowley. The guitar solo in the latter gives me chills it’s so good.
Film/Show you watched: Unfortunately, I’m so far behind with movies it’s not even funny. I really enjoy them when I have time, though. On the plane back from Australia I watched the most recent James Bond movie, along with the remake of “The Day the Earth Stood Still.”
Editors Note: We have dedicated the song of the day to Mike. Go ozzy.
Comments
Trackbacks