I was in Las Vegas a few weeks back and did a training and nutrition video with someone at the fitness conference.

The person I interviewed was John Romaniello.  John is a personal trainer based in New York and does a lot of online training.  One thing that he is heavily involved in with his online clients is nutrition.

As you know, I have been exploring more when it comes to the nutrition side of things.  If you read EFI, you know I focus on the exercise side of things when it relates to injuries.  After doing more reading, talking with my clients and  fitness professionals, I am keeping myself open to nutritional concepts and how nutrition relates to aches, pains and injuries.  This is one more interview from that journey.

Now back to John.

I asked John if he could share some reasons why a fitness professionals must be involved in their client’s nutrition.

Why it is Important for Fitness Professionals to be Involved in the Nutrition of their Clients with John Romaniello:

In the above interview, John shares with you:

• Why training and nutrition are not separate things.
• Why a trainers is one of the best people to provide nutritional guidance for their training clients.
• What to do about the fear of providing nutritional advice to your clients.
• How to find out the boundaries that a fitness professional has when it relates to training and nutrition.
• Why the learning never ends for a fitness professional who wants to be the best.
• A few nutritional certifications that John recommends.
• Who John Romaniello is
• John’s take on the Paleo diet and intermittent fasting
• Lastly John talks about what is “Fat loss Forever”

Thanks John or as his friends call him, “Roman”.

Remember, earlier this week, I did another nutritional interview with Brian St. Pierre that may also interest you.

Rick Kaselj, MS

P.S. – Here is an interview that I did in the past with Dan Go on Intermittent Fasting, that may interest you as well:

One last thing:

Okay, nothing more to say.

Have a great day and talk to you soon.

Rick Kaselj, MS

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One thing I have not done a good job about talking about on EFI is nutrition.

That all ends today.

Today, I start the day off with an amazing interview with Brian St. Pierre.  In our content-packed interview Brain brings the research and practical experience of many popular nutritional topics.

CLICK HERE to listen to the interview.

In the Nutritional Interrogation with Brian St. Pierre we share with you:

• What is the best eating frequency
• When is the best time to take supplements
• Important considerations when taking supplements
• The effect of time of day when it relates to fat loss
• What is the  intermittent fasting diet
• A history plus pros & cons of intermittent fasting
• What happens in the body during long bouts of intermittent fasting
• What is the good, bad and ugly about nutritional bars
• Recommendations for a really good nutritional bar
• Specific nutritional bar recommendations from Brian
• The pros and cons of coffee when it comes to nutritional benefit and fat loss
• Brian’s thoughts on breakfast cereals and what he thinks about the cereal that I had
• How does Brian manage being a dad and feeding good quality food to his child
• What kind of baby food does Brian recommend
• Environmental factors that affect ones cancer risk
• Who is Brian St. Pierre
• Brian’s best nutrition tip for real people

CLICK HERE to listen to the interview.

Brian St. Pierre is a nutritionist, coach, blogger, dad and the creator of the Nutrition Guide for Show and Go.

Rick Kaselj, MS

Here are some other articles that may interest you:

• Intermittent Fasting Diet with Dan Go
• The Ultimate Training Guide for Cancer Survivors Update
• Stress Free Diet Review with Kevin Yates
• Video on explaining how to download the interview recording

Nutrition Interrogation with Brian St. Pierre [ 30:03 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

I got a little lost with this interview.

The interview was with Elliott Hulse.

CLICK HERE to listen to the interview.

(To listen to the interview, scroll down to the bottom of this page and click the play button.  If you do not have time to listen to it right now, just click the “download” button and download it to your computer.  Then you can listen to it on your computer when you like or subscribe to the itunes podcast.  Enjoy!)

Thinking Beyond the Physical

• He talks about how he went from strength training and into strong man competitions
• Different techniques he has combined into his training
• How his biceps injury expanded this thinking when it comes to training and lift
• Elliott give a little background on who he is
• Talks about how he tore his biceps
• What it looked like when he tore his biceps
• What not to do if you tear your biceps
• How an injury forces you to slow down and look back at your life
• The overlooked yin and yang of an injury
• How the autonomic nervous system affects ones injury recovery
• The yin (parasympathetic nervous system) and yang (sympathetic nervous system) when it comes to training and rehab
• We focus to much in the yang so how can we stimulate the yin
• Exercises and movements that stimulate the yin/parasympathetic nervous system in the body
• He focused on more than just the physical side of his biceps injury
• How his injury has changed how he organized his new gym
• Some references on where to get information on these exercises and movements
• One quick test to see which part of the autonomic nervous systems is being stimulated in yourself

CLICK HERE to listen to the interview.

Elliott Hulse is a strength coach and personal trainer in Florida that does a lot of unique things when it relates to helping people get stronger.

Here is a photo of Elliott and I at a conference in California last year.

Rick Kaselj, MS

Here are some other articles that may interest you:

• Mental Tricks to Help Injury Recovery
• Video on explaining how to download the interview recording

If you are looking for a live course when I go through shoulder injuries, you can check this out:

• Exercise Rehabilitation of the Shoulder

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Thinking Beyond the Physical with Elliott Hulse [ 32:39 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Another interview for you today and it is on posture.

The interview is with Dr. Natalie Cordova.

Click Here to listen to the posture exercise interview.

 Big Posture Exercise Mistakes Fitness Professionals Make

In the interview Dr. Natalie Cordova shares with you:

• What a fitness professional should look at when it comes to the posture of their client
• Two ways that a fitness professional can help out their clients
• How you can use exercise to counterbalance the stresses of life
• Common postural issues people have
• Focusing on posture of pain reasons but also for health
• Muscles that need to be focused in on when it comes to posture
• Why we should focus on posture and not just on the spine
• Where her passion for posture started
• Who is Dr. Natalie Cordova

Click Here to listen to the posture exercise interview.

Dr. Natalie Cordova is a posture expert, chiropractor and health educator in Houston, Texas.

Rick Kaselj, MS

Here are some other articles on posture that might interest you:

• Posture and Scapular Muscles
• 3 Postural Exercises Your Clients Should Be doing

If you are interested in a course on posture and exercise, this is one that I put on:

Dr. Natalie Cordova - Posture Exercise Mistake [ 10:18 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Another great interview for you on medical referrals.

Specifically, how a fitness professional can get medical referrals.

I interviewed Cabel McElderry, who shares how he works with the medical community in order to help them with their clients.

(To listen to the interview, scroll down to the bottom of this page and click the play button.  If you do not have time to listen to it right now, just click the “download” button and download it to your computer.  Then you can listen to it on your computer when you like or subscribe to the itunes podcast.  Enjoy!)

3 Steps to Getting Medical Referrals

In the interview, Cabel shares with you:

• How the medical community plays a role in your fitness business
• Expanding on the medical release form to help medical doctors out
• Best approach to networking with the medical community
• Different ways of working with Doctors, Physical therapists, Chiropractors and Massage Therapists
• The professions that are the most receptive to working with fitness professions
• Creating “win-win” relationships with the medical community
• How to separate yourself from other trainers
• How to get in touch with medical doctors
• What are the professions in the medical community that you should start with
• Key systems that you should develop
• The importance of constantly communicating with the medical community
• Numbers that you must track in your fitness business

Thank you, Cabel McElderry.

Rick Kaselj, MS

P.S. – If you liked this fitness business interview, here are some other posts that may interest you:

• Online Fitness Business Lessons from Vegas
• Social Media for Your Fitness Business
• 3 Ways to Get More Injury Rehabilitation Referrals

Plus here is a video presentation that I put together when it comes to using social media to get medical referrals:

This is a little video on how to download the interview to your computer:

CLICK HERE to listen to the interview

3 Steps to Getting Medical Referrals with Cabel McElderry Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

A few days ago, I did an interview with Kevin Yates.

Well he did an interview of me.

Ya, me:

This is was what I (Rick Kaselj) go through:

• Biggest muscle imbalance issue in the upper body
• How our digital lifestyle is affecting our bodies
• The cascading effect of injuries in the body
• How to assess muscle imbalances in the upper body
• What people can do about muscle imbalances in their upper body
• A huge trend that is happening with clients in the gym
• Importance of addressing breathing in an exercise program
• How poor breathing can affect to muscle stress and pain
• Great example of integrating breathing with an exercise
• Where the idea of Muscle Imbalances Revealed came from
• What was covered in the lower body edition
• What is in the upper body edition
• Who I am

I hope you enjoyed the interview, let me know what you think or email me and let me know if there is someone I should interview.

Rick Kaselj, MS

One more thing.

Few Kind Words about MIRU:

Thoroughness of Info

What I liked about MIRU is the thoroughness of the info.

MIRU has given me some more insight into what I was already doing, and a bit of peace of mind that I was on the right track.

Breathing info made me aware I need to spend more time emphasizing this.

Scott Rawcliffe

Personal Trainer

Gold Coast Australia

One last thing.

This is a little video on how to download the interview to your computer:

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How to Address Muscle Imbalances in the Upper Body with Rick Kaselj [ 30:01 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Today I have an interview with an old friend, Kevin Yates.

Kevin has been on EFI before and was one of the contributors to Muscle Imbalances Revealed – Lower Body Edition.

Of late, Kevin has been looking into how nutrition affects injuries.  Below he shares some insight with you on the topic.

Rick: Kevin, I will get you to introduce yourself as some people at EFI might not know you.

Kevin: My name is Kevin Yates and I am a holistic health coach focused on helping people overcome chronic pain and weight gain.

I started in the fitness industry about 11 1/2 years ago as a personal trainer and at the time most of the clients coming in wanted to lose weight but were also active in recreational sports and had nagging injuries they were dealing with that their doctors couldn’t seem to solve.

They didn’t want to take pain medications for the rest of their lives, give up their active lifestyles or undergo surgeries. The problem was that most trainers only were taught the basic gym exercises but not much of anything for helping people with injuries.

I went through a bit of this myself during my college years before I became a personal trainer. I had gained 36 lbs, I felt horrible, my health was deteriorating quickly, I had high blood pressure and began developing a growing list of nagging injuries I couldn’t explain.

After a few failed attempts at strict dieting, taking pills, powders and supplements that didn’t work and exercising myself to death 6 days a week for 90 minutes a day I was a wreck both physically and mentally. The crazy thing was that I was only 28 years old at the time.

But, I refused to give up and figured there had to be an easier way than this to lose weight and get healthy. I couldn’t bear the thought of living the rest of my life like this. So, over the years I researched, studied and tested out everything I could get my hands on regarding weight loss and chronic pain rehabilitation.

I ultimately lost the weight, lowered my blood pressure, regained my health and completely eliminated my chronic aches and pains.

I worked for 3 years as a physical therapy aide for a number of different clinics and learned a lot. This experience plus working in the fitness industry really helped me combine physical rehabilitation with fitness.

Then I started getting clients who had the same types of problems I had and I just used what I was learning to help them. Before I knew it this became my niche focus.

Most recently I had the opportunity to travel to Istanbul and Ankara, Turkey, where I was a featured presenter for 51 fitness professionals on functional training for injury prevention and rehabilitation.

I also worked with 40 employees of a local company in my area on a weight loss and wellness program and had some pretty inspiring results.

Rick: How did you go from focusing on the physical aspects of injuries to now focusing on diet?

Kevin: I still focus on physical aspects but the interesting thing is that I began looking at those people I worked with who wanted to lose weight but had nagging injuries vs. those who wanted to eliminate chronic pain.

I started wondering why my weight loss clients were making faster progress not only in losing weight but in getting relief from their injuries than my chronic pain clients. I was using exercise for both but the one significant difference was that for my weight loss clients we emphasized diet whereas for my chronic pain clients we emphasized exercise.

Then I just really started researching everything I could about the relationship between diet and chronic pain and I discovered a HUGE link between the two.

Rick:  The link you found was in order to help people recover from their injury, diet is something they need to focus in on.  Can you give us an example?

Read the rest of this entry »

You know my thing is injuries so I wanted to chat with someone on Training Mistakes that Lead to Injuries.

Eric Cressey agreed to share some amazing info with you on the topic.

Take it away, Eric.

(To listen to the interview, scroll down to the bottom of this page and click the play button.  If you do not have time to listen to it right now, just click the “download” button and download it to your computer. Enjoy!)

In the interview, Eric shares with you:

• Common training mistakes that lead to injuries and derail clients from reaching their goals
• What to do about injuries when it relates to training
• What the real question is that you should ask when it relates to an injury
• Two categories of injured clients
• Highlights the worst thing you can do for an injury
• How to get an athlete or client back to activity or sport, fast
• What effect nutrition and environment have on injuries and injury recovery
• Importance of muscle imbalances when it relates to injury, rehabilitation, training and performance
• Who Eric Cressey is
• How to get an inside look into the programing design at Cressey Performance
• Why he created the Show and Go program
• Highlights of Show and Go review program
• How Show and Go can be a great resource for health and fitness professionals

I want to let you know something about the interview.

You will hear Eric cut in and out.

We did the interview last Friday night.  He was heading out of town to see a boxing client who was having a match that night.

He was sitting in the passenger seat car while we were doing the interview and the reception was sometimes strong and sometimes weak during the call.

He is a trooper and stuck through the full interview in order to give you some great info.

Just a reminder, you will be hearing a lot about Eric’s Show and Go program this week.  Before you get it, make sure to take a look at my review of the program and how it will help you.

You can check out my Show and Go Review, here.

Plus, if you order the program through me, I will throw in a 90 Foam Rolling presentation that I did a few months back.

That is it.

I was looking and this was my 36th interview.

Very cool!

If you have an idea for an interview or someone I should interview, please do email me.

Take care and we will talk to you soon.

Rick Kaselj, MS

Training Mistakes that Lead to Injuries with Eric Cressey [ 17:19 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Today, I want to chat about brain injuries and Crossfit.

Mike has been on the blog before where he shared his traumatic brain injury story.  After he shared his story, I wanted to get him on the phone and interview him.

I have had this interview for a while but have not put it up.

The reason why is – Crossfit.

If there is anything that gets health & fitness professionals’ emotions going it is Crossfit.

Those that have done and do it, love it.

Those that have not, have a negative opinion to share.

I think Mike’s story really shows the good that can come out of it.

Click Here to Listen to the Interview ==> Mike Shilton Story

In the Interview Mike Shilton shares with you:

• The accident that he and his wife suffered
• How painful exercise was at the start of his rehabilitation process
• The basic movements at the start of rehabilitation were the foundation for future movements
• Firing personal trainers
• Resistance he had at the start of the rehabilitation process
• Mike’s mantra that got him through the process
• The team involved in the rehabilitation process
• Exercises break down into movements that must be mastered first
• Exercise is a progression and you do baby steps along the way
• How injury rehabilitation is a process
• Intensity and recovery
• The effect that exercise can have on medication
• How Exercises for Injuries has helped him

Mike is also my neighbor.  He has progressed from being a participant of Crossfit to starting his own Crossfit based gym a few doors down.

If you want to learn more about Mike, visit Therachair.

It is very cool to see him taking clients through their exercises and see how far he has progressed.

Rick Kaselj, MS

P.S. – If you like this interview, you can check out another on that I did on brain injuries with Jenna Phillips.

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How to Use Crossfit to Overcome a Brain Injury with Mike Shilton [ 13:44 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Great interview for you today on cervical neck exercises.

Well, specifically Josh Henkin’s experience on what he did to overcome his cervical neck fusion.

Let me give you a bit of a background on how this interview happened.

As you know, I am big into using exercise to overcome injuries.

Of late, I have had a lot of questions when it comes to the neck.

I was on Facebook and I saw a leader in the fitness industry that had neck surgery and was doing some crazy exercises.

I contacted him to see what he did to overcome his neck surgery.

Josh and I did an interview called:

Enjoy the interview.

Just head to the bottom of the page and click the play button.

Read the rest of this entry »

Cervical Neck Exercises with Josh Henkin Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Today I have a brain injury success story.

It is with Jenna Phillips.

It is an amazing story about how the party of the year became her nightmare – but that night changed her life and has led her on a fitness mission.

In the interview Jenna Phillips shares with you:

• Her mission of overcoming obstacles
• What Mission Possible is
• How she got into fitness
• How the party of the year turned into a nightmare
• What she did to overcome her loss of vocabulary, sense of direction, sense of time, short term memory, ability to put words into sentences
• Her rehabilitation process
• How her accident led to her finding out she had type 1 diabetes
• What she did when the doctors were not that helpful in her recovery
• How exercise helped her mind and body
• How she created her own exercise rehabilitation program to help overcome her injury
• The importance of attitude when it comes to recovery
• The length of time it took her to finally do things on her own
• Importance of travel in the healing process
• Know what her mission is
• Her advice to those who have a huge injury to overcome

I met Jenna at a conference.  I heard her talk about her story and I knew I needed to interview her.

Make sure to check out Jenna Phillips and her Mission Possible.

If you have a story or know of someone who has overcome an injury, I would love to hear from you. You could also have them contact me.

Take care.

Rick Kaselj, MS

P.S. – A few other interviews that you may enjoy:

==>  5 Bootcamp Mistakes Fitness Professionals Make with Craig Ballantyne

==>  Unique Way of Performing Fitness Assessment with Mike T Nelson

Jenna Phillips Mission Possible April 2011 [ 16:00 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

I was extremely lucky to enjoy a Vancouver Canucks game last night

They played the Montreal Canadiens, which is even better!

The result was not what I had hoped for, but it was a great game, and those Montreal fans are crazy.  Montreal won and the fans celebrated like they had won the Stanley Cup.

Continuing with the hockey theme, let’s talk about returning to playing hockey after a hockey injury.

I interviewed another expert in the fitness industry.

In this interview, I talked with Chris Collins.

He is a strength coach from Kelowna, BC with a strong focus on hockey training.

Hockey Training Blunders with Chris Collins

==> Hockey Training Blunders

In the interview with Chris, he shares with you:

• A story about one of his injured hockey players
• A hockey player may have clearance to return to play, but something could still be wrong
• Is it something mental or physical that is slowing down a full return to hockey?
• Assessments to look at to see if it is physical
• Looking at the planes of movement as they relate to a return to hockey

Thank you, Chris.

Enjoy, and I will talk to you soon.

Rick Kaselj, MS

P.S. – Other blog posts on hockey and hockey injuries:

Muscle Imbalances and Hockey Players

Hockey Training Mistakes

What to do about Hockey Groin Injuries?

If you are a ice hockey player and are looking for an a program to help with your quickness and speed, you can check out Chris’ program by CLICKING HERE:

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I like when I get to go to conferences, seminars, and courses.  I learn a bunch of new stuff, and am reminded of stuff that I forgot – plus I get to meet other trainers, coaches, and therapists.

The cool thing I have seen of late is health and fitness professionals specializing more.

As you know, my specialization is effective exercises for injuries.

One person I ran into that specializes is  Rochelle Gravance.

I have interviewed Rochelle before.  CLICK HERE to view the other video I had done with her on knee pain.

You Need More Than Exercises to Overcome Knee Pain

Read the rest of this entry »

Muscle Imbalances Revealed Update with Mike Robertson

I just finished up an interview with Mike Robertson.

Mike did a presentation for Muscle Imbalances Revealed program:

- Component #1 – Muscular Imbalances in the Hip & Pelvis

Read the rest of this entry »

I got an update from William Huhn on his trigger point courses.

He has been presenting them in New Westminster, Nanaimo, and now in Poland.

Mark down the dates that Bill will be in New Westminster:

Understanding Trigger Points to Overcome Pain with William N. Huhn – April 16, 2011

HANDS-ON: Trigger Point for Lumbar, Hips, Buttocks and Groin Issues – April 17, 2011

Here is the very exciting update from Bill.

Trigger Point in Poland – August 2010

Read the rest of this entry »

I have another interview with a presenter that is coming to Vancouver to share what he knows.

It is with Mike Robertson.

He’s going to chat with you about his upcoming courses on knee and lower back injuries.

The courses I am talking about are:

Bulletproofing Your Clients’ Lower Back with Mike Robertson – Saturday, December 11, 2010

Bulletproofing Your Clients’ Knees with Mike Robertson – Sunday, December 12, 2010

Mike and I did a quick interview for you so you have a better idea of what to expect from the courses/seminar.

Lets get to the interview.

What You will Learn in the Seminars with Mike Robertson

In Part 1 of the interview, Mike Robertson will share with you:

Who is Mike?
- Owner of Indianapolis Fitness and Sports Training
- Owner of Robertson Training Systems
- Personal Trainer & Strength Coach

Bulleting Proofing Your Clients’ Lower Back will cover:
- Anatomy; including lumbar spine and muscle groups
- Static and dynamic assessments
- Program design
- Coaching and exercises

Bulletproofing Your Clients’ Knees will cover:
- Anatomy
- Static and dynamic assessments
- Program design
- Coaching and exercises

Read the rest of this entry »

I got an interview with Mike Robertson for you.

3 Keys to Remember when Assessing Your Client with Mike Robertson

Enjoy the interview.

Mike Robertson goes through:

- Why assessments are so critical to the fitness professional
- What kinds of assessments that Mike goes through
- The boundry a fitness professional has when assessing a client
- Tips for your assessment
- The number one trap that fitness proffesionals fall into when assessing a client.

Read the rest of this entry »

I was contacted by a fellow fitness professional, John Izzo.

He asked me to review his new DVD on lunging.

It is always great to give a fellow fitness professional feedback on one of their products.

I know how much time goes into researching and developing them.

Since he sent me one of his DVDs, I sent him my Core Stability for the Rehab Client DVD set.

John was nice enough to review it and had some nice words to say about it:

“Rick Kaselj is a great exercise physiologist from Canada and a great presenter. His 3-disc DVD set Core Stability for the Rehab Client is a fantastic resource for trainers that work with anyone demonstrating postural deficiencies and post rehabilitative status.” – John Izzo

You can check out what else he had to say by clicking here.

Now to a review of John’s lunge DVD.

Initial Thoughts on Lunging to Improved Performance

I didn’t know what to expect from this DVD.

To be honest, I was not too excited about watching a video on lunging. I wondered how much more could I learn about the lunge and will this DVD give me any more information to help my clients.

To my surprise I learned a lot!

Read the rest of this entry »

Latest Article

I just got another guest article posted by a very well known fitness professional.

Kaiser Serajuddin of Super-Trainer asked me to send him an article on the growing post injury training industry.  It was an honor to submit an article.  You can check it out here:

Fitness Business Rising Star Tells All! (Enjoy This Special Guest Article From Injury Rehab Specialist Rick Kaselj)

Kind Words About Muscle Imbalances Revealed

I knew that Muscle Imbalances Revealed was special and would be helping so many trainers, coaches and therapists but I did not know I would be staying up late after putting my kids to bed packaging up DVDs that would be doing to Alaska, Denmark, Russia, New Zealand and China.

It has been amazing to help so many fitness professionals out there.

Here are the kind words of other happy Muscle Imbalances Revealed fitness professional:

Rick Kaselj, MS

When I was down at the NFBA conference in Seattle, Washington.  I swung by Kirkland, Washington to visit my friend Belton Lubas and Rommel Acada.  They both attended a fitness education course that I had hosted a few years back in New Westminster, BC, Canada.

Since then I have ran into Belton in Orlando, Florida.  We did an interview there as well, you can check it out here: exercise rehabilitation interview .

I have know Belton for two years.  It seems like every time I see him, he interviews me.  While visiting his facility, we did another video interview.

Interview with Me by Belton Lubas of Element 5 Fitness

Read the rest of this entry »