My First Legitimate Interview

2 weeks ago I met up with my buddy Aaron Brooks at his Perfect Postures office in Woburn, MA. If you have ever been to our studio then you have heard Kevin and I talk, talk, talk, about Aaron. We love the guy and send countless clients his way BECAUSE HE IS AN EXPERT, oh and it doesn't hurt that he's good looking too :0

When I met Aaron, he changed the way I thought about training.

Currently Aaron is working on the launch of MYOFORCE and his product VERSUS.

As in, ME VERSUS YOU ;)

If you have come to the studio lately, you have been one of the lucky few to experience it. And if you have watched our recent videos then you have seen VERSUS in action. Trust us, there is NOTHING on the market that is going to activate the core like this!

Now onto the interview. (It's a little all over the place, but there is so much to talk about, I couldn't help it!)

Me: What brought you into the industry?

Aaron: When I was a kid I used to look through my mom’s medical encyclopedias. They had these clear overlays that built up layers of the human body. The encyclopedias had a skeleton layer, a muscle layer, a nerves layer and so on. I would constantly look at these pictures and quite honestly found them fascinating. Looking back it amazes me to think that at such an early age I found my passion - working with the human body. I had always played sports and eventually went to school for Exercise Science.

After graduating college I went to work at a small personal training studio as an independent contractor. I loved to help people and I consider myself a people person so it was a perfect start. After a couple of years I moved to San Diego with a good friend of mine. While in San Diego I met my soon to be business partner at the local gym. He told me about this facility, the Egoscue clinic, where he worked and told me that they developed corrective exercise routines for people to correct muscle imbalances. I was very intrigued so I asked if there were any job openings. Here I began looking at the body in a different way, looking for the cause rather than just trying to treat the symptoms. I worked there for about a year. I am grateful for that opportunity but I knew that I could take this philosophy to a new level. So Anthony and I formed Function First in 1995-96. In 2004 Anthony and myself parted ways and I formed Perfect Postures, Inc. I know you are probably thinking are you and Anthony still friends. Yes we are still very good friends. We just took different paths. In 2005 I moved back to the east coast to be closer to family and to enjoy the changing of the seasons. No I am not crazy moving from San Diego to New England but thanks for asking. I still travel back to San Diego about every six weeks to work on clients. So here I am in Massachusetts continuing my passion, which is helping people live pain free and more productive, lives.

Me: Other than the individual’s mentioned above, who do you credit for being your biggest influences at the start of your career?

Aaron: Dr. Janda and Elizabeth Kendall McCreary

Me: How important is Posture in injury prevention?

Aaron: Posture is of the utmost importance. It is an unconscious state of being. Your mom or teacher can tell you to sit up straight or stand up tall but nothing will change. Say for example there is a deviation from left shoulder to right shoulder, the muscle tension in both sides cannot be the same. Therefore the individual is not moving equally when in motion. This imbalance is setting them up for premature injury. When people get into extreme workouts they are in fact strengthening the problem. Their bodies are becoming STRONGER in the WRONG position.

Me: How do you fix this?

Aaron: Implement specific corrective exercise and strengthen the positive. Practitioners cannot change stress, work habits etc. But we can continuously change the stimulus to keep getting clients better. The goal is to get people closer to what they should be, NOT PERFECT.

(Dare I say Progress not Perfection ;)

You have to remember that these issues did not pop up overnight, so they will not disappear right away either.

Me: Do you have a particular clientele?

Aaron: I see everyone from kids to the senior adult population; anyone from the weekend warrior to the professional athlete. Although I have a growing number of young clients and this concerns me.

Me: Why do you think this is?

Aaron: Kids nowadays have a crazy sedentary lifestyle and then are expected to be really really good at one sport. They play it all year long summer league, travel team and then indoors as well. When I was a kid I would climb trees and run through the woods and crawl on the ground, and do all kinds of activities other than just one sport.

Me: Does it have a lot to do with diet as well?

Aaron: I think it is more the activity level. I used to eat poorly as a kid but I was active, but now kids eat poorly and are sedentary to boot. This causes TONS of problems.

Me: On to something more positive :)

Who do you hope to help with your newest product, VERSUS?

Aaron: Everyone from the general population in a rehab setting to hardcore athletes. I imagine strength training clients and adding corrective exercises with VERSUS in between. VERSUS brings a whole new dynamic to Partner Training; I can see it becoming an International Trend in the Fitness Industry.

I can say for certain that if you like kettlebell training, you will LOVE the dynamic that VERSUS brings to the table.

Simply ingenious.