If tying your shoelaces hurts, how do you expect to be able to live life fully?

By Tom Summers

Your lower back is not a lever to replace weak hips and incompetent bracing. Respect your spine and strengthen your movement competency.

Athletes join us for many reasons. Some want to podium in a full Ironman, some aim to PB in Hyrox, some want to be able to Deadlift 2x their body weight, and others just want to be able to put their socks on without being in pain. Regardless of your athletic goal, pain is all encompassing. If you are in discomfort while sitting, standing, lying, or moving around; then we need to do something about it. FYI, ignoring the pain and hoping it will go away is not a strategy, it is a prayer. Let’s use some science for a bit..

Your spine is the structural foundation of your skeletal system. If you are blessed with the ability to walk, run, hinge, turn, and jump then let’s talk about respecting one of the most complex and essential building blocks of your body. Yes your spine can bend (sideways, backwards, forwards, and rotationally), but that does not mean you can use it instead of your hips and knees. Your back is not designed to do the heavy lifting or compensate for tight hips. Yes your back is strong, after all, it keeps your head up, but it is not designed to carry the load of heavy bars or inefficient sitting and standing. Sixty percent of adults report lower back pain (LBP), let’s look at what might be the cause and some take away strategies to identify why your back might be in pain and how to respect yourself a bit more to be able to pick up the fork you dropped. 

We will address each of the potential areas of fault below in the coming weeks. For now just place yourself in the Green (Yes I can), Amber (nearly but room for improvement), or Red (wow that hurts) box for each. 

Mobility?

The foundation of a healthy system is a full unrestricted range of movement. Three main joints contribute to being able to tick the lower body mobility checkbox.

Ankles - With a flat foot, bend your knee to the wall and if your knee travels 10cm + past your toes then your ankles are mobile. Less than that and you will struggle to squat (sit down) properly.

Knees - your thighs must be able to touch your calves, either passively or, ideally, actively. If your knees hurt when you bend them to this range then you will struggle to absorb force through your thigh muscles when you walk around. This will force the work up into your lower back which is not designed to be a backup generator. 

Hips - keeping a neutral (long) spine, you must be able to hinge to 90’ at the hips. Hold a pole behind your back to see how well you can push your hips towards the wall behind you. Less than 90’ will inevitably result in using your lower back to reach down. 

▶ Click here to watch Tom demonstrate each of the Mobility markers.

Strength?

We can cut this up in many directions but let’s stay with the basics again. Three essential movements that if you can’t produce because of weakness then we have found the culprit and can get started on the solution…

Trunk - returning to a previous video you need to be able to hold a neutral braced position in your mid section. The Deadbug is our go to assessment for this. Utilise a band under your lower back to mark your neutral position and progress your limb movement to see where the trunk brace fails (▶Watch our previous Bracing Tips Video). 60s of alternating limbs is bare minimum or you have homework to do.

Hips - assuming you smashed the hip hinge and can achieve 90’ now is the time to see if we can do that under load. Yes you could do a Deadlift but for now lets try the Single Leg Hip Bridge. Put your foot on a step / stair and raise your hips to the ceiling. Keep your tummy down to ensure the work is coming from your hips. Do you observe any differences left to right or after a 60s of reps? Then we have work to do. 

Knees and Ankles - your life is lived on one leg through walking, stepping, climbing, and hopefully running. Best to make sure that you have the leg strength to do a static lunge or we have no hope of applying single leg power on the tennis court. So stand in a split stance and keep your chest upright when you lower your back knee to the ground. Do 20 per side. Impossible, then winner winner, we have found the problem.

By now, you should have a Green, Amber, or Red for all six exercises. Stay tuned for the subsequent blogs addressing each one in turn and guiding you through improving them. If like us however you are impatient and want to be pain free now (why wouldn’t you?!) then get in touch and we will start your tailored programming tomorrow. 

Interested to learn more about how we can tailor fit a training programme for you?

Maximise the Power of your Day: design a winnable strategy for your habits.

By Tom Summers

James Clear (author of Atomic Habits) and Andrew Huberman (neuroscientist and podcaster) deserve the highest accolades for their work guiding us all to be the best version of ourselves with the least friction. Why?

Do I worry about my 1RM Deadlift the most? Not anymore. Do I worry about the grammar in my newsletter writing? I probably should but I don’t. So do I worry about how much to charge for a BLACK Tier membership. Nope. So if it isn’t athletic, content shipping, or membership fees (all have drained significant brain space in the past 10 years!) what keeps me awake? 

Simple. I worry when the last time will be that I bounce my daughters on my knee. Or how quickly the time will arrive that I stop being cool (stopping snorting), idolised (seriously shhh), and unequivocally adored. I can buy anything else, I can replace anything else, I can probably expect to care very little about anything else. But not spending as much time with my daughters now and making sure that I am in peak condition to chase and play with them dwarfs my business fears. 

Importantly however there is another reason I don’t worry about my Deadlift, newsletters, or business tactics. Because far more clever minds than mine (read aforementioned James and Andrew - to name but two), teach how to build frictionless growth focused habits that we would be foolish to disregard. I don’t lose sleep over my athletic goals or business tactics because we spend upfront time sharpening the axe with detailed strategy and then allow our strong habits time to compound.

No one else cares if you have created an environment for nutritional success or not. And no one else will lose sleep over your investment ratios. But you should. You should spend enough time now to create winnable circumstances, automatic contributions, and rapid onboarding for everyday activities that make you a better version of yourself and utilise lessons from the findings of experts.

So what can you structure most effectively from these great teachers? 

1. Gamify your goals. Commit to 6 daily habits. Big or small they must all stretch you forward enough to deserve a self gratifying check on the fridge each night. (Ie brushing your teeth if you are older than 3 doesn’t get you a sticker - sorry). Write all 6 on a whiteboard and celebrate achieving 4 or more. Some days you will be perfect but some time life gets in the way. Avoid chastising yourself for grabbing a snack and ‘losing a point’ and instead celebrate successfully turning off your screens 30 minutes before your bedtime *hypothetical goals, enter your own 6. 

2. Flip the friction switch. Make your new habit easy and the one you want to break hard (we all do this the wrong way round!). Stick a password limit on your Youtube screentime each day or cut up some vegetables on a Sunday and leave them as ready made snacks in the fridge. It doesn’t matter to me but if you find yourself slipping into your old ways too easily, create an obstacle (home delivery avoids the snack aisle!) and butter the success runway. 

3. Find an accountability partner. Ok this one is more from our very own habit guru and Senior Coach Danny Atamu but without someone to hold you accountable, to celebrate with, and to remind you of why you started in the first place you are 100% less likely to achieve. Big statement but anyone who achieves long term health success with us has has the support of a spouse, best friend, child, or coach. Life is tempting and hard, why make your own bags heavier when you can share the burden. 

The White Powder None of Us Should be Ingesting.

By Tom Summers

An 8 year old smoking a cigarette turns heads but one chomping through a plate of biscuits and muffins is enjoying a treat? Well diabetes is fun…

Science has proven the damage that cigarettes cause to our health and we have legislation to protect us. Now science proves sugar is killing us, why are we still seeing it everywhere?

If you pick up one nutrition book this year make it the Glucose Goddess by Jessie Inchauspĕ. Jessie cuts through science jargon and explains how sugar in its many forms impacts our bloody glucose levels by deregulating the locking and unlocking of our fat storage and in turn our energy availability and body composition. In a world still plagued by outdated emphasis on calories and stigmatisation of obesity, we are doing a woeful job of upgrading the education our households and workplaces experience. For those inclined to dive deeper to the tactics on hormone imbalance, insulin sensitivity, and chronic health decline, The Obesity Code by Jason Fung is an informed choice. 

On a personal level we must agree that the institutes we rely on for policies and care (schools, businesses, doctors, government) are blind, slow, or misaligned to an effective solution and are years away from a health focused plan around sugar in our diets. So you and I have two choices;

1) Stay ignorant, blame someone else, keep doing the same. OR

2) Take control, educate yourself for your own gains. Change today. 

If you are in the first bucket, we are sorry to see you go but wish you well. Our only ask is that you don’t blame time as an obstacle. Read a book, listen to a podcast, invest a couple of hours this month. It isn’t time, its priority. That’s OK but call it what it is. However if your health markers are a priority for you then come join us, the water is lovely..

For all you second bucket’ers, welcome to the lowest hanging fruit in your search for a stable energy balance and body composition goals. The science behind the below rules are plentiful and backed by peer reviews but more importantly they are easy and free to achieve. Yes you will require willpower and a runway of 3 - 6 months to really reap the dividends but as we see it that is time well spent. Christmas is coming anyway, we might as well use our days with nutritional intentionality.  

So what are our ultimate goals? Firstly to remove the victimhood mentality, accept that shops and companies are capitalist and want our money, so does the health care system. There are no immediate incentives for food manufacturers to care about our health (costs are higher) but that doesn’t mean we get to blame Nestle when we tuck blindly into a second bar of indulgence. Secondly and tangibly to remove refined sugar from our diet! Myopically. Fanatically. Immediately. It serves no purpose (no one needs a blood sugar kick if their intake is balanced) and only escalates a damaging insulin hormone imbalance, and significantly impairs our health acutely and chronically. *Read, there is no scientific benefit to refined sugar (Sucrose, Fructose, Glucose). Cut it. Today. 

Below are our five guardrails for the easiest reduction in sugar in your day. 

Do’s

1. Drink only water, tea, or black coffee - fizzy drinks are killing us. Next. 

2. Eat a bowlful of vegetables at the start of every meal. Packed with digestive slowing fiber, they regulate blood glucose spikes. “But my kids don’t like vegetables”, no they won’t if you usually give them white bread rolls. They (you) probably don’t like irregulated sleep either?

3. Replace your breakfast cereal with high protein alternative (or intermittent fasting for adults who are inclined). Easy win but it does mean avoiding a colourful shopping aisle. #sorrynotsorry

4. Quit snacking. Except on Christmas day, then you have license to go big or go home!

5. Move for 30 minutes per day. Groundbreaking? We doubt it. But if you can’t find 30 minutes of movement in a day (I am not going to patronise you with ideas) then what pill are you waiting for us to invent? 

Into gamification? So are we. Write these on a whiteboard and tick them each day. Three to four per day gets you a draw. All five gets you a high five win!

Want to learn more about butrition and make better lifestyle choices? Pinnacle can help you!

Belts don't teach the everyday athlete how to brace for the storm.

By Tom Summers

Weight belts don’t show strength. They actually say “I’m weak”.

If you need a belt to pick up a bar in a controlled environment, what will you need when you get your bags out of the car…?

Carrying children, stepping over lego, slipping from a curb, sneezing - life is lived in hundreds of shapes, at different speeds, and from morning to night. For 99% of the time it is highly unexpected and chaotic. You rarely foresee the intense pull on the dog lead as a rabbit runs past, anymore than you remember to slowly bend your knees and pick up the tooth brush whilst carefully exhaling on the way down and bracing on the way back up. In my opinion the best exercises are the ones that prepare you for life. Sometimes this includes competitions and high force production (weightlifters, rugby players, name a sport*), but for the most part it includes grandchildren, long periods sitting, and unusually shaped loads. 

One of the most ineffective  gym tools you can use is a weight belt. Why? Because it is fundamentally a different breathing model to life and you are adapting your body to a weak kinetic chain and breath work whilst protecting ‘your bad back’ when you Deadlift. **Spoiler, if your back hurts enough for you to need a belt to protect it (or wrist straps, or gloves… stop ranting Tom), then you are too weak for the load. Simple. 

Donning a belt requires expertise in the Valsalva maneuver to create intra-abdominal pressure during a rep. Put simply, breath and hold to create massive spinal support to maximise force transfer through the body. If your goal is to lift a heavy 1 RM then it has a place. But if your goal is to look strong and impress the gym (second spoiler, no one is actually watching) then you are mistaking noise for substance. 

Less than 1% of gym goers compete in force production events but more than 50% of the population report chronic lower back pain. We are enabling the wrong goals.

My hypothesis is that when you strip back the illusionary sex appeal that going to the gym with a belt boasts, the use of anything that de trains every day movement competency is stupid. I do understand that looking good matters (relief for my wife) but I believe that being pain free and capable of a multitude of speeds and shapes is a far better use of time in the gym for most people than fake output. As a coach I cringe over shortcuts and encourage the path of most effective work.

So instead of using a belt to fake your way through a Deadlift, try our tips on bracing feedback to strengthen your vital midline and get cracking with those suitcases up the stairs. 

Forrest Gump was just a story.

By Tom Summers

No one should just get up and run. Not even Forrest. Respect your movement by prepping effectively first

Driving a car towards a wall without testing the brakes at speed makes you foolish (politely). Dropping an egg and salt onto a plate and expecting it to be an omelet makes us wishful.  Likewise we need warming up to be our best. Our joints, muscles, lungs, and circulation are not airbags. 

If you climb out of your commute and hit the pavement you are creating a kinetic storm in the forces you expect your body to transfer. Equally, if you roll out of bed and demand your coordination to be ready for a pre breakfast match of Padel then your body will one day tell you that you should have primed some sporting shapes more effectively first. 

There is a reason that high performing individuals rehearse their actions and ensure they nutritionally, physically, and cognitively prep. And there are lessons that we can all learn from the athletes, business leaders, and individuals around us who seem to effortlessly defy fatigue. Yes they might have a higher baseline of output, but more controllably they schedule a non negotiable window before crucial execution to warm up. They read their notes before a key speech, execute imagery skills before a big race, and always always always pay more attention to readying their performance than ignorantly expecting the mind and body to respond on demand. 

So what can you do to best protect yourself before your next Sunday league training or park run? Respect yourself to add 10 minutes and activate the movement pathways and response systems of the body so that your output exceeds a cold engine. 

At high specificity the exercises and techniques for warming up will vary. But for the other 99% of us the means to activate your muscles and rehearse for our sport will be similar enough to create non negotiable rules for anyone to follow;

1. Move your body through increasing ranges of motion that simulate the activity:  Before running 5km move through a Runners Lunge to mobilise hips & ankles;

2. Gradually increase your breathing rate, lung, heart, and circulatory functions from their resting state to the activity intensity: If you expect a HR of 175 bpm on the football pitch, make sure your warm up identifies this with high velocity pitch runs and 30s small sided games;

3. Activate the specific movement patterns building to a competition intensity: Before accelerating, decelerating, turning, and jumping on the squash court, complete Side Lying Clams, Glute Bridges, Deadbugs, and IYT’s. 

Follow our Runners Lunge flow as a generic primer before any activity to prep better than simply a Redbull on the motorway.

Why movement competency matters.

Pain controls everything. 

We compensate away from it in our personal lives (*read instantly gratifying hunger or boredom with snacking and Youtube) instead of sitting in discomfort; and our bodies radiate it when movement is dysfunctional or we have done too much. Our lower back overloads and warns us when we pick things up poorly from the floor, and our knees ache when we ascend and descend at speed on tired muscles. Then we know about it for the next week and regret that first 5km run or running with a heavy bag at the station. 

So we have a choice. Avoid physical stressors (heavy, fast, uneven, enduring events), or technically and properly develop our movement capacity so that we are resilient and strong enough to cope with whatever life throws at us. This is a personal choice. 

Luckily for us mother time will do her part. So you need not do anything if you want your muscles to atrophy, your heart to weaken, your joints to stiffen, and your metabolic age to soar. Simply stay watching Netflix and let the decaying commence. 

Or you can fight. You can identify the incompetencies in your daily health, critique your diet, and find windows to live the fullest physical life you can. Then when you are 80 you can chase your grandchildren and carry your own luggage up the stairs. 

If you are more inclined to fight than succumb (we hope!) then you need to know what physical restrictions are inhibiting your movement and smartly train to improve them. No one moves perfectly and we all compensate for that stiff shoulder or niggling elbow. Take the time now to know what for you is preventing pain free daily life and attack it. There are plenty of ways to assess your baseline and it is important to find the right one for you. However you define your journey, we encourage you to check your physical bank balance and educate yourself on the investments you need to be a millionaire. 

We believe that everyone with a goal is an athlete and that the only difference between achieving progression or stagnating is a defined purpose to be the best version of yourself. What’s your Pinnacle?

Our Co-Founder, Tom gives us some tips on how to do a Squat shape. Learn how to do this shape properly and notice how you improve the way you move in your everyday activities.

Why we believe in subscribing to your fitness.

By Tom Summers

Showing my maturity (read: age) I remember taping the Top 40 from the radio each Sunday so that I didn’t have to buy the CD. Cheap Yorkshireman certainly, but I would argue I wasn’t alone and we were all accepting of the world of musical and television subscriptions. Now in 2023, everything is at our finger tips in consumable subscription models many hundred of hours deep. Want to binge on Netflix? That will be US$ 11 per month please. Want to listen to music all day every day? That’s US$ 7 on Spotify please. 

Stepping back from the dopamine entertainment hits to life and careers, raise your hand if your university charged you by the hour? Of course not. What about the schools your children attend? Public or private you still pay at the start of the year in taxes or fees. So why does all this matter and why has 99% of the coach led fitness world got it wrong? Why do most coaches charge by the hour? 

Well fundamentally all the examples above and the reason Pinnacle prioritise subscription memberships is that it provides stability and projecting power for the business. The school that has fees confirmed can employ the best coaches and upgrade facilities. The streaming services with the highest number of sign ups can out market the competition and capitalise the industry. But as a consumer it goes deeper than that. We can all relate the wonderful meal that was tainted by paying the bill at the end or the hotel stay that was dwarfed by analysing the invoice and spending the final hour of your holiday in a queue to pay for the experience. Daniel Kahneman notes that the ‘Peak-End rule” is the realisation that memories store the best (peak) of the experience at the end; vis-a-vis, load up the costs and logistics before the event and you will enjoy it all the more by ending more enjoyably. 

So in the capitalist world of attention marketing and uniquely also for our mental health, paying upfront is better for us. We agree and strongly advocate for your fitness being a lifestyle subscription instead of a transactional bill on your table!

“OK Tom, so you have made a case for why Spotify is better than individual CD’s and we all know the business model of Apple and crew, but why is this important to fitness?” Well put bluntly, fitness is the last into your schedule and the first out (sense the tone of frustration referring to the rate of cancellations in the industry when “a meeting has come up”). If you are willing to postpone a training session that is directly correlated to a better and longer life for a meeting about some paperwork crap that will be forgotten the moment you leave, imagine how big the barrier is to even commit to a plan that will have success. Put simply, every time you need to pay a bill for the expert fitness coaches you need you question it not based on a 20 year plan, but on a cash flow that day. Is your longevity and health at 60 really something you want to look back on and remember that at 35 a new iPhone was more important? We don’t believe so. 

So why is the industry so backward? Why are the most readily available options for knowledge based fitness (coaches) transactional? Because the world doesn’t think fitness is a subscription commitment and something as important as your mortgage. We think it is a nice to have extra or something that 3 x 60 minute sessions will complete each week. Newsflash, it isn’t. If you view fitness as a costed extra you will put it last and miss the best opportunities to be your best self and achieve results when they matter. 

But let’s be clear. We are not advocating for cheap, 24 hour unlimited access to a sweaty treadmill in the corner. No. We are advocating for a coaching subscription service that puts your commitment to your health first and combines the business needs for stability and forecasting at the top of the tree with your human emotions to avoid paying for things that take effort. 

Regardless of the services and the fee pay, if the value aligns to your budget and fitness needs then you are literally off to the races. By budgeting for a fitness service to be part of your life every day for the next 10 years you are prioritising your quality of life and significantly impacting the results you will achieve and your enjoyment.

Subscriptions enhance utilisation. In entertainment they walk us down a line of lost hours and un-productivity.  Flip that model to your benefit. Don’t stop at subscribing for your media diet, keep going and commit to your nutritional, physical, and mental diets. If subscriptions handcuff us into the 3rd hour on YouTube each day, imagine the power of that extra session or extra coaching consult that you have already enrolled to!! We promise that you will get out of bed for the habit you subscribe to instead of the one you pay to attend. Your body and your results will thank you for it. 

So ask if you can settle the bill when you arrive next time you go on holiday and enjoy lying by the pool knowing you have paid for it instead of racking up a bill that is going to niggle you in 7 days time. And when you get back convert your fitness packages into subscriptions that commit you to a journey and maximise the brains power for using every bit of something you have already paid for.

About Tom

Tom is the CEO and Head of Strength & Conditioning at Pinnacle Performance. He now leads a team of full time coaches having spent his coaching career with professional athletes from World Cup Cricketer’s and Footballers, to Sprinters and Triathletes.

Gyms as the new religion.

By Tom Summers

This week I was listening to The Prof G Pod - cast, with Scott Galloway. It is my weekly dive to feel like my commuting time is contributing to something greater than my embarrassing Owl City infliction or worse still the News. Aside from drowning in market insights and business commentary higher level than the trees I walk past, the first listener question in this edition stuck with me and was based from a 2018 Harvard Study on how we gather.

“Are gyms and fitness brands playing a quasi religious role and tactile form of community and transformation through suffering than traditional churches now can? Are fitness brands here to stay and are they the new church for the masses?”

How did Scott answer the question? In short, yes, but with a clear problem that all fitness brands have a responsibility to consider…

Scott: “I really buy into (the) thesis. The need for community and answers has slipped the big brands of Peloton, Soul Cycle, Orange Theory into our lives. The idea of fitness as the new idea church with agency around other people and something bigger is really wonderful. The successful brands (where was Pinnacle’s shout out…?!) accommodate for the top 10% who continued to kill it. But where do those who can’t afford $100’s per month go?”

Enter the bigger community question. 

I categorise fitness brands into four boxes.

1) Mass market; cheap; access only; faceless; soulless. You’re better off running around your garden but few do, so a treadmill on a rainy day is worth the $40 you pay to not go.

2) Group cooked; semi coached; freelanced relationships. No need to think about what to do because we have a weekend course in how to treat everyone’s body the same so just do 10 more reps.

3) Transactional; tailored; camaraderie while you pay; accountable. Look more like me, eat less, post about your sweat, expect nothing when the clock ticks past the top.

4) Exclusive; business class; limited edition; aspirational. Fantastic if you’re in but inaccessible for 95%.

Each has its place and everyone wins when expectations and services match. However if you expect tailored science in a group class, or cheap and cheerful for 1-2-1 packages, you will have issues.

But are we still missing the masses? Where are the Youth Clubs, the Running Clubs, the Basketball with mates, the couch to 5k bootcamps? They exist but they are not glamorous and they do not attract the top coaches, in fact they often attract the cheapest (read - free Youtube on a shared phone screen).

As a Company we are as guilty as the rest of the industry and times have been tough enough as it is. Gyms are not a charity and are rarely structured in a committee ownership model. Even more rarely do they pass around an Offering’s plate during the Squats instead of charging a membership. And for this reason I disagree that gyms are the new church.

Instead I do agree that gyms and fitness houses bind the best of human endeavours, drive us to aspire to be the best versions of ourselves (or throw status in the face of those who can’t do a muscle up), and direct our lifestyle into community accountable health. And more power to us all.

So yes, gyms can serve a purpose to unite, bridge, structure, and define our lives, but let’s all remember that the only reason any of us should go to the gym is to challenge ourselves and grow as individuals. If we are expecting redemption because ‘yes bro we do Squat’, then the pearly gates might be an obstacle too high for even the best Spartan athletes. More importantly until we as business owners and industry representatives offer much easier on ramps for the less affluent then I agree with Scott, and suggest that we are no more a church than a Gucci store with a queue outside. We certainly cannot wear the good for the community ‘Pius’ medal and this is not a bad thing either because the gyms that don’t make money die and with it so do the incomes of some and the outlet for many. 

Gym’s don’t have to replace churches but we can all do more to give back to the community (like donating to 👉🏼 MOVEMBER) and politely nudge us into building a new relationship and remembering what Zoom for 2 years was like. In person is awesome. Let’s never forget the fear of isolation and ensure that our businesses are inclusive as far as a renters responsibility allows.

I invite you to listen to the Podcast for yourself and see what you think. Consider where you live, your family and community around you, and if in fact your gym has become the centre of your ‘village.’

About Tom

Tom is the CEO and Head of Strength & Conditioning at Pinnacle Performance. He now leads a team of full time coaches having spent his coaching career with professional athletes from World Cup Cricketer’s and Footballers, to Sprinters and Triathletes.

PEOPLE OF PINNACLE

Jollirine Co, on being Relentless

Relentless. It is the trait that sets world-class athletes apart from everyone else. This is how Coach Gelo Abendan best describes his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu athlete, Jolly. Growing up, Jolly has been very inclined to sports. She has tried Gymnastics, Ice Skating, Volleyball, Badminton and Track in field but it was only Jiu-Jitsu that she really pursued.

Jolly looks back at how she began training in 2013, “I was looking for an activity that will help me get in shape as I was very thin and I was not at my healthiest during that period. I was not very serious about it at first, but I got addicted eventually.” Jiu-Jitsu is a form of martial where the main objective is to force your opponent into submission by using strength as well as weight distribution to control your opponent’s movements.

In her seven years of training, she considers being part of the National Team training pool as her biggest success. She says, “Being able to represent our country on the international level is really an honor for me. And training side by side with our country’s best athletes is something that I am very proud of.”

In May 2019, Jolly decided to join Pinnacle Performance to help her prepare for competitions by increasing her strength and endurance, and to maximize her training volume. As Jolly’s Lead Coach, both Jolly and Coach Gelo worked to create a goal—to ensure Jolly makes it to her competition weight category, and to qualify at her peak form.

Although Jolly’s training and competition schedules kept her from visiting the facility often, they made sure to stay consistent by doing remote coaching and programming. Coach Gelo used Pinnacle’s Engineered Strength and Conditioning methods to provide her a tailor-fit program. Jolly was able to hit specific targets while Coach Gelo regularly tracked her progress even when she was out of the country.

Coach Gelo notes, “With fighters, the easiest way to know that your program is working is if they can stay injury-free post-competition. With the aggressive nature of the sport, if Jols comes out of the competition without any tears and/or dislocations, we’re happy.”

Early this year, Jolly set her eyes on a number of competitions, one of which is the Worlds 2020 in Long Beach, California.

As Jolly puts it, “Preparations were going great and I was at my strongest ever until the lockdown was imposed. And for a Jiu-Jitsu athlete the most challenging part of being on lockdown is the change of training style. Unlike other sports, Jiu-Jitsu is best practiced with a partner.” Jolly struggled because of the big change in her daily routine, and the pandemic. She shares, “I got demotivated because of the lockdown and the pandemic. I got anxious not knowing what's going to happen next. So, I turned to cooking and baking to keep myself busy which resulted in weight gain. After a month, I felt very unhealthy. I needed a reset to boost my immune system and feel strong again.”

Coach Gelo encouraged Jolly to resume training with Pinnacle to use the lockdown to her advantage and continue her preparations for future competitions. He shares, “Everyone was in uncharted waters and definitely had to adjust to having to stay at home. Jolly went up to 55kgs at the start of ECQ. We hopped on a call, planned her schedule out and like the dedicated and relentless athlete that she is, she worked her way back down to her now walking weight of 48kgs.”

Pre-lockdown, Coach Gelo was tracking Jolly’s strength in relation to her bodyweight for compound lifts. Now, they track her frequency of training and how quick she recovers. Since competitions can restart anytime, their main objective is to keep her close to her fighting weight while in peak condition.

Jolly is averaging 16 sessions per cycle on top of her Jiu-Jitsu trainings with the National Team. She shares about her recent experience, “Having Pinnacle in my daily schedule has helped me maintain the physical activity that I need, emulating the training that I used to do before in the confines of my own home. I am able to do metabolic conditioning in the morning, Jiu-Jitsu in the afternoon and lift weights in the evening, without the worry of overtraining. Pinnacle helped me regain my strength and confidence. And now that I'm back on track, I'm looking forward to improving my consistency in heavy lifting. I have been avoiding it for too long and now is the time to learn and progress.”

We’re looking forward to seeing you back on the mat, Jolly!

PEOPLE OF PINNACLE

Miguel Tabuena Training through a Pandemic

Sports in the Philippines has been put on a standstill due to the current Covid-19 pandemic. But even with postponed tournaments, and closed facilities, we have relentless athletes who doesn’t let this hinder their growth and performance as they continue with their training remotely.

Miguel is a professional golfer and has represented the Philippines in numerous tournaments. He started to represent the country internationally at the young age of six. It was through his parents love for the sport that has gotten him involved in it. “I’ve been playing golf since I was a year and eight months old. I remember my parents would watch golf tournaments every night, so it sort of became my lullaby. I would fall asleep watching golf, and I memorised the lines of the commentators on the tapes we would watch over and over again.”

Miguel regularly plays on the Asian Tour and European Tour, and has won numerous tournaments as a professional golfer. He considers winning a silver medal for the Philippines in the Asian Games, and representing the Philippines in the Olympics as two of his highest achievements. He adds, “I would love to keep representing the Philippines on the world stage.”

As a professional golfer, his tournament preparation entails a mix between technical golf prep— making sure every area of his game is in good shape, as well as mental, and physical preparation— proper nutrition and exercise. He shares that before the pandemic he competes in about two or three tournaments in a month, which also served as additional preparation for bigger tournaments.

Miguel shares that he joined Pinnacle Performance in July 2019 to get in better shape, to improve his fitness and for injury prevention. “Prior to the lockdown, his goal was to make it back to the World’s Top 100 Golfers, and to stay injury free throughout the season.” Coach Bernice Atienza, Miguel’s Lead Coach at Pinnacle, adds. “To be honest, his hectic golf and travel schedule has been an unavoidable obstacle in ensuring his consistent progress.”

With golf tournaments on hold, giving Miguel more free time on his schedule, he and Coach Bernice are even more determined to keep him on track of his goals. At the beginning of April, Miguel transitioned from Group Development Sessions in a Standard membership to One-to-One sessions under a BLACK Tier Online membership, completing an average of 5 sessions weekly. This enabled him and his Lead Coach to have a more focused approach to his training and programming with the guidance and support of Pinnacle Head of Strength & Conditioning, Tom Summers, through regular consults with Miguel and his team.

“With the commencement of the lockdown and the realisation that he had time to prioritise and work on his health, Miguel’s mindset changed. He began to work with a nutritionist and we started doing his strength and conditioning trainings online. His goal didn’t necessarily change but he sought for a bigger goal—making it to the World’s Top 50. To enable him to actually get there, we had to work on building strength, explosiveness, and stability to give him a faster and more powerful swing,” coach Bernice shares.

In the beginning, Miguel and Coach Bernice had to overcome simple problems like internet stability, ensuring camera angles were good, and working with body weight exercises since working remotely was new to them. Eventually they overcame these and also learned to understand each other well while just using visual and auditory cues. Coach Bernice shares, “Miguel helped a lot with the transition to online sessions since he was very receptive to the cues, exuded motivation, and was competent in following and executing instructions.”

Through Pinnacle’s Engineered Strength and Conditioning, Coach Bernice took baseline measures to ensure that they are able to track Miguel’s progress starting with the Pinnacle Movement Rating (PMR). The PMR uses different movement competencies, and provides an objective measure to see the athlete’s current abilities.

Furthermore, a golfer’s training is not only focused on their upper body strength—one swing requires a golfer to use his shoulders, his lower back and hips, and both legs; so a great deal of lower body strength, and overall mobility is also required for a golfer to perform well. Coach Bernice used body weight exercises such as pistol squats, broad jumps, and depth jumps for a more holistic picture of Miguel’s athleticism. And when Miguel acquired more equipment, they measured his strength through different lifts as well.

Coach Bernice elaborates, “We made sure that everything in his journey is tracked and measured, prior to each session, his recovery is tracked through his hours of sleep and during training sessions, with the use of his Whoop band, we are also able to track the strain produced and his caloric burn. A subjective measure of his exertion is tracked through his RPE (Rate of Perceived Exhaustion) which gave me an idea of how strenuous each session was and if the programme’s intensity was efficient enough to provide the results we were both aiming for. Miguel’s training sessions have been more consistent since the lockdown and online sessions began, he’s been able to complete his 4-5 day strength and power training weeks consistently—this is alongside his golf training sessions.”

Miguel affirms his consistency, “I think (the) remote training actually works for me. I had to get equipment for it, but it’s very convenient to be able to work out from wherever I am and have my Lead Coach there to guide me. It works perfectly for my schedule as a golfer since I have to do a lot of traveling between tournaments.” He also adds, “I know a big part of working out is also finding a good match between athlete and coach. I enjoy and am challenged by the program that Coach Bernice takes me through. I like that it is tailor-fit for my needs as an athlete and more specifically a golfer. Basically I’ve put my trust in Pinnacle and coach Bernice for the fitness aspect of my game because I’ve seen the improvements after having joined Pinnacle.”

After four months under a BLACK Tier membership and access to a golf course in the past two months, Coach Bernice shares the results of the sport-specific Pinnacle programme created for Miguel and his consistency and hard work.

The increase in Miguel’s Single Leg Squat, Squat Jump height, and Broad Jump distance correlate to increased lower body strength and are also measures of his ability to produce power which affects swing performance. He is also now deadlifting 170% of his bodyweight that is a good indicator of his overall strength. All in all resulting in a 6% increase in Miguel’s swing speed putting him at par with the world’s top golfers.

“Pinnacle’s programme has been very effective. I have seen the numbers, and notice a very positive change to my golf game overall. With the personalized training, and very knowledgeable coaches, and with goals set and slowly achieved, I feel like I will continue to develop the proper fitness I need to maintain as a professional athlete.” Miguel shares, “I know this will all be put to the test when the tournaments start up again, and I can’t wait to see the results.”

Want to know more about our BLACK Tier Online Membership and how you can sign up? Send us an email.

Conditioning

Why do you need it? What is it? Why and how does it help you?

Conditioning is training to improve your body’s ability to produce longer work efforts, or more repetitions of shorter efforts. It is commonly associated with going on long runs, like Muhammad Ali was known to do before sunrise. People think of conditioning as long, monotonous training - sitting on a bike for an hour, or running that 10km loop.

At Pinnacle Performance we break conditioning down into 2 separate sessions during your training week: Met-L and CON, which have separate purposes—central and peripheral adaptations.

Central adaptations are where the session targets your heart: how much blood can your heart pump with each beat, and how many beats per minute can it pump?

Peripheral adaptations are where the session targets the muscles receiving the blood: how much can it actually use?

One without the other leads to a stall in your progress. If your muscles can cope with more blood and utilise it, but there is not a higher rate coming to it, then you will be limited to the work rate that you’re currently at. If your heart can pump a higher rate of blood out to the working muscles, but the working muscles can’t utilise it then it is wasted, again limiting you to the work rate that you’re currently at. That is why both central and peripheral adaptations are required.

Why do your muscles need blood? The blood is a delivery mechanism. The oxygen and nutrients that your muscles require to work are carried in the blood. The more of this that they can get into the muscle, the better your performance will be as the harder they can work.

So which session targets which adaptation?

The purpose of a Met-L is peripheral adaptations. In these sessions a large amount of your muscles is worked, and worked hard. With small rest periods before you have to go again, this creates the environment where to keep going or go at a faster pace you need to be very efficient at using the blood that is arriving at your muscles. Therefore, your body is forced into adapting the muscles to have this efficiency. As well as this, the muscles adapt by being able to receive more blood.

The purpose of CON (‘conditioning’) is central adaptations. These are longer intervals, usually on one modality (ie. a bike or a rowing machine). Your heart rate will be in a certain zone (roughly 60- 70% of your maximum heart rate), much lower than in a Met-L. Having your heart rate in the desired zone is what will give you those adaptations that we are looking for. Working at that heart rate stresses the heart (in a good way), forcing it to adapt and become stronger, so that it can pump more blood out to your working muscles.

What if you don’t compete in a sport? How does improved conditioning help you?
Well, there are a host of other benefits to improved conditioning. Health benefits include: lowered blood pressure, improved blood sugar regulation, improved cardiovascular health, boosted immune system, and improved mood and sleep.

As well as this, the way that conditioning training taxes your body is different from how lifting heavy weights does. This means that you can do conditioning sessions (Met-L or CON) in the days between each heavy lifting session as your body is still able to recover from each lifting session. Not only does this mean that you get the most out of your training week, but it also means that you’re able to get more sessions in, helping you stay consistent with the good habit of almost daily exercise. Additionally, improved conditioning increases your ability to recover quicker from training. For example, 10x10 deadlift becomes easier as you can focus on lifting the weights, rather than trying to catch your breath so much in between sets. This improved ability to recover means that you can get more training in over each week and cycle, which in turn allows you to become an even stronger and more powerful athlete.

About the author

Coach Max is a Senior Strength and Conditioning Coach in Pinnacle Performance. He is a graduate of BA Sport, Exercise and Physical Activity from the University of Durham, and a MSc Strength and Conditioning from the University of Edinburgh. As a coach, he’s been involved with Rugby, Hockey, Netball and Golf. He’s currently the Facility Manager at Performance, and is in-charge of HKGA (golf).

PEOPLE OF PINNACLE

David - On Strength & Commitment

With the current pandemic, continued closure of fitness facilities isn’t surprising anymore. But having a closed facility does not give you an excuse to take a pause on your health and fitness goals. In fact, this is the time you need to be fitter and healthier. It’s a challenge that David has committed to—and he’s been consistently smashing his goals!

David is a member of Pinnacle BLACK since November 2017. He is what most people would call a ‘Lifestyle athlete’—he was looking for a way to address his chronic back pain, and incorporate fitness in his everyday life.

David shares, “I originally joined because the wear and tear of a high stress, high travel job was really wearing on me and I was starting to get chronic, debilitating back pain. I had tried a few other things, but needed a disciplined, holistic program that could also have some flexibility to accommodate a busy and always changing schedule. It took a lot of hard work, and the back pain went away after about 9 months in—and I have kept right on going with the program after that.”

Early this year, David has already celebrated his 2km row time improvement from 8.17 in January 11, to 7.19 by March 28. Coach Danny, David’s Lead Coach in Pinnacle BLACK, shares that David was able to accomplish this by committing to complete two additional row conditioning sessions to his usual three Strength and Power sessions per week.

In addition to that, at the start of the year, David’s goal was to bring his bodyweight from 104kgs, down to 100, while improving his overall body composition. Again, he was able to hit his goal, weighing 99kgs, and maintaining it for about 4 weeks before the fitness facilities in Hong Kong were closed.

With David’s accomplishments, coach Danny was determined to keep David focused on his goal even while at home. To guarantee progress, coach Danny ensured that they get David a dumbbell and a rowing machine from the facility to his living room. With the additional equipment, and the bands that David already has, David has maintained his 3-4 sessions a week online.

In August, coach Danny found a challenge that David could participate in.—Concept 2’s challenge: The Dog Days of Summer 100k. The goal is to complete 100k of rowing from August 1 to 28, starting the first week with 10k, the second with 20k, the third with 30k, and finishing 40k on the last week. Coach Danny shares, “originally, I was doing it for myself just at the gym, as we still have access to it. But when we arranged for him to pick up a rower, I figured he may as well get into the challenge, it’s good for his goal of improving his body composition.’ Coach Danny is impressed at how David listens to his advice, and understands how it can help work towards his goal. Coach Danny made sure that David is consistent in training while managing his programs accordingly to keep David on top of his game. Through Pinnacle’s Engineered Strength and Conditioning method, coach Danny developed a program that included row sessions, and managed how David spends his non-training days — either for recovery or mobility.

Because of this, the result was that David, along with coach Danny, finished the challenge logging in 105.5k and 104.96k respectively.

By August 28, David’s overall body composition has improved. His lean muscle mass increased by 2.2kg since February 1, while his body fat decreased by 2.2kg, decreasing his overall body fat percentage from 25.6% to 23.6%.

“I think it is nice to hit the weight goal, but at this point I just see it as part of a broader journey to just be in better shape. Setting intermediate goals, whether it is weight or the 100k row is great to have some focus, but the overall target is still to feel good, have better energy and have better functionality and mobility with less pain overall. This is doubly important now with the arrival of the twins and trying to keep up with them!”

And since it’s only September, our tandem has set their eyes on another challenge: Concept 2’s ‘The Fall Team Challenge’, which is set on September 15 - October 15. The challenge is for a team (minimum of two) to row as much as they can. David and coach Danny’s target is to complete 200k individually— double of what they have accomplished in August. Coach Danny plans to get more Pinnacle members and coaches involve in this challenge as well.

“David will have two additional rowing sessions incorporated into his thrice a week Strength and Power Programs in Cycle 9 and Cycle 10. On top of this David has invested in his own Concept 2 Rowing Machine which hopefully arrives this week as having one at home during closure kept him motivated, committed and with no excuses to not get something done.”

Besides this, David is also preparing for the Pinnacle CON event on October 10.

Cheers, David! You’ve shown us that with your relentlessness and commitment, proper guidance, and engineered strength and conditioning, it’s possible to achieve goals whatever the circumstance. We look forward to hearing more of what you have still yet to accomplish the rest of the year!

COVID-19: Update 14

Doors open 05.15 on the 4th September!

Based on the latest announcement from the Government, gyms in Hong Kong will be allowed to resume limited operations as of Friday September 4th.

We will be strictly complying with the health guidelines issued by the authorities so we are able to keep you safe whilst delivering the best in engineered strength & conditioning. Specifically there can be no more than 4 people including a coach per GDS. So what does that mean for your training?

What you need to know

Concurrent GDS (only for Performance facility)

At selected times of the day we will be delivering two concurrent GDS’.

The facility will be clearly divided into two. Your standard GDS (for example Adapt) will be based on the Racks at the top end, a second “Non-Rack” GDS will be coached at the bottom of the track utilising barbells, dumbbells, and more for based content (think Deadlifts!!). Each GDS will have its own delivery coach, equipment, and athletes. We believe this is the best way to adhere to distancing protocols whilst ensuring some heavy lifting and world class coaching. Ahead of the launch of these changes we thank you for your patience and feedback. 

Each GDS will be 45:00 minutes and we respectfully ask for every athletes assistance with thorough cleaning of your equipment at the end. Athletes will not be permitted to move between facility locations at any time during the session. 

Booking into Sessions (BLACK Tier athletes please book through your Lead Coach as usual)

Got to the booking page and secure your Explode, MetL, Load, Con, Adapt, and Sat Special session, including “Non-Rack” GDS. Book in advance to secure your facility GDS slot and please be mindful to attend your sessions so other members can have the opportunity to book in as well and we don’t waste valuable training allocations.

Health Declaration Form & Temperature Check

Every athlete is required to follow the below QR code (or link) and complete our Health Declaration Form. This is a single time completion unless the your travel or health status changes. A coach will also take your temperature on entry. 

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScInKuWLeD_IUASb5t7EP4g8vAiKDQH2VkxPxzjkO9eh_DddQ/viewform

Entering the Facility

In order to practice safe distancing, and avoid unnecessary mass gathering, we ask you only arrive at the facility 5 minutes before GDS. On arrival please do not gather in the changing rooms more than necessary and move to your GDS location. Each Rack / Barbell will be clearly identified so you can move to your location and begin your MOBE. 

Facility Cleaning

As well as cleaning up as you move around the gym, and after every GDS, the Performance will be closed from 10:30am-12 and from 2:30pm-4 for a thorough cleaning. 

For any further questions or clarifications, please contact your Lead Coach.

We are all looking forward to seeing you back in the gym! Together lets make our Pinnacle facilities a safe, healthy, and COVID free area.

Mobility Work: Is it Important?

Ever heard of that Filipino saying, “Galaw, galaw, baka ma-stroke (Move around or you might get a stroke)?” It may not be a hundred percent accurate but there is some truth to it.

Movement is essential to our daily lives. It allows us to move from one place to another and to do different kinds of activities we set out minds on. But from time to time, our bodies will seem uncooperative however we try to focus on the task at hand. Several reasons could cause this but we will be focusing on just two: Mobility and Flexibility.

First, let’s define the two terms. Flexibility is most commonly associated with the muscles that surround our bodies, it is the range of movement around a joint. Mobility, on the other hand, is the ability to use that range and move fluidly without physical hindrance (ASCA, 2020). These two work hand in hand allowing us to enhance our movement qualities and competencies.

Generally speaking, everyone moves the same way, following the same fundamental movement patterns: squat, hinge, lunge, push, pull, carry, (core). Whether you’re a child, a 90-year old, or a professional basketball player, your basic movements are the same. Your ability to perform these movements at the highest level depends on the interaction between your body’s mobility, flexibility, and stability. Even if you are a world-class athlete or someone picking up a new sport, including mobility and flexibility exercises into your routine can be beneficial for several reasons.

Here are five benefits of having mobility exercises in your routine:

1. It allows you to move your body freely and with ease by keeping the stiffness at bay;

2. It helps release stress, and relaxes your body, physically and mentally;

3. It enhances movement performance by promoting normal joint function which then allows

   the muscles to absorb force and align joints properly (Netter, 2nd ed). This means that having good mobility can carry over to improvement in an athlete’s ability to perform different complex movements which help enhance their strength and power. Pistol squats, for example, not only involves ample amounts of unilateral leg strength, but also the ability of the ankle to dorsiflex, and the hips to rotate to complete the activity stably;

4. Mobility exercises also lessen the risk of injuries by preventing fatigue, abnormal joint movements or arthrokinematics, and compensations from occurring due to imbalances in strength and flexibility (Netter, 2nd ed). There is a common observance of tightness in structures that surround painful areas in the body. For example, tightness of the quadriceps muscle is often seen in athletes with knee pain, and tightness of the pectorals and deltoids, or immobility of the thoracic spine can often lead to some shoulder impingement injuries. Therefore, the two can be correlated;

5. And mobility exercises facilitate the body in active recovery from more strenuous and high intensity activity as a form of low-intensity exercise.

Knowledge of the benefits of mobility exercise is simple; its execution is as easy. The beauty of mobility drills and exercises is that they are short and sweet. Mobility exercises don’t have to be fancy or complicated - doing light stretches and movements that challenge the range of motion in your joints can go a long way. Here are a few things you would want to keep in mind when building your own mobility routine:

1. Number of exercises: 3-5 - Keep it simple! You do not need a lot of exercises, choose some that are memorable and target several joints of the body already.

2. Duration: 10-30 minutes - Mobility exercises are not something you would want to rush and they can be completed in short bouts. They can be short enough to be incorporated to a daily warm up or they can extend to a light workout on its own.

3. Frequency: At least twice a week - think of the “use it or lose it” principle. The more frequently you practice full ranges of movement, the more the body will learn to use these ranges for different movements in your daily life. The more you don’t practice it - you can keep in mind the Filipino saying above.

Even though people move the same, we still belong to different bodies, so we do not have to pressure ourselves to be as mobile as other people. Keep in mind that mobility still relies on age (younger>older), gender (F>M), body structure, your ability to relax both mentally and physically, and your innate elasticity—so be kind to yourself. Listen to your body, work with what you have, and focus on what you can do about it.

To cap things off, there are a ton of benefits in stretching and doing mobility exercises: they are short, simple, and they are good for all human beings! To boot, you cannot really go wrong with them. Remember that consistency is always key. Keep it light and easy. Have fun!

About the author

Coach Bernice is an ASCA accredited Coach and a graduate of BSc in Physical Therapy from the University of the Philippines. Her time training and rehabilitating youth and collegiate athletes in various schools and sports facilities in Manila has given her the opportunity to hone her skills both as a Physical Therapist and a Coach. Read more about her here https://pinnacleperformance.asia/bernice-atienza

Covid-19: Update 13

What you need to know.

Complementary week, extended.

We are so grateful for everyone's feedback and loyalty during these periods of closure. With the latest update of a further 7-day closure, until Wednesday, 29th of July, we are delighted to be able to extend your complementary membership by a another week. This will be added to your existing term and our Admin team will duly assist you with any questions. 

We of course continue to deliver six Online GDS per day, and individual programming and PinnacleCON sessions for everyone. Just because you can’t join us in the factories, that isn’t your excuse to lose sight of your goal and just sit down.

Coaching Change at Performance.

It is with a big thank you and well done that we said good bye to Kevin this week.

Kev was due to leave Pinnacle in a few months but it was agreed that now would suit the transition to his new role better. Kev has been with us from being an intern two years ago to the energetic and passionate coach you all knew of 2019 / 2020. Matt, Tom, and all the team at Pinnacle wish Kev the very best and look forward to seeing how his career grows after his first full time role with us at Pinnacle. 

With two new senior coaches joining Pinnacle Performance in the coming months we are excited to add to the existing team of Max, Thomas, and Tom to ensure that every athlete gets the very best from the full time coaches in your facility. 

For now, book into your sessions, and we’ll see you all ONLINE!

Covid-19: Update 12

With the most recent announcement that fitness facilities are to remain closed for another seven days, we want to keep you on track with your goals.

HOW ARE YOU GOING TO BE BETTER THIS WEEK?

Athlete: Can I still work towards my goals during Online GDS?

To this we answer a resounding YES.

But let's be honest and pick your battles. If your goal is 1RM and that 200kg Deadlift then we might have to shelf that output for a week more. However, as with every one of us, your range of movement (RoM), positive calorie balance each day, and your body’s conditioned ability are key areas to direct focus into this week.

And with that we are proud to announce the following additions to your online experience for Cycle 7 Week 2:

what’s new?

MOBE Sessions twice a day.

Sore shoulders, tight ankles, overactive hip flexors? Then join us for a 30-minute mobility session every morning or evening, and enjoy some better quality movement straight away. If you didn’t score a 4.0+ on your PMR, you have no excuse.

Book into these session via your Pinnacle app. 

PinnacleCON.

Ready for that beer in the sun after a long run? So are we. But we are going to make you work for it.

On October 10th we will be hosting PinnacleCON, our 3rd event for 2020. This 'social' competition will see us challenge our conditioning and lean body mass for a short race ending with a drink in the sun.

Why are we telling you this now? Well it is 12 weeks away and whilst we can't see you in the gym, we want to make sure we might bump into you on the trails.

With this in mind, stay posted for your weekly conditioning sessions and tie those shoe laces. If you don’t want better endurance or you don’t want to burn that extra bit of weight then this event preparation isn’t for you.

People of Pinnacle

DENISE USON - ON COMING BACK STRONGER

“I injured 4 ligaments in my left knee, I thought that was it for me, I wouldn’t be able to dance again.”

For most (if not all) athletes, their sport is a big part of their life. It’s their source of pride and joy, and of self-fulfilment. And when accidents happen, they fear losing not just a hobby or an activity, they fear losing a part of themselves. I’m sure you’ve heard athlete stories end this way. But for some, this is only the beginning to be something greater than they ever was.

Denise Uson, 24, has been dancing for eight years. She fell in love with the craft because it allows her to express emotions that she can’t put into words. “There is a special feeling I get every time I move. And I love the energy that’s exchanged between dancers when we’re all dancing together.”

Denise loves performing and competing on stage. During University, she was part of their College dance team, Romancon in St. Benilde, under a scholarship, and is currently a member of A-Team Philippines. She’s competed and performed with both teams locally and internationally.

While training a stunt that they considered one of their piece’s highlights for Hip Hop International, Denise remembers landing badly and immediately felt pain on her left knee. This was in June 2018, two months before the international competition in Phoenix Arizona that year, with her Romancon team.

“I didn’t think it was too serious because I was able to return to training after resting it for a while. But when the MRI results came, I found out it was a complete ACL tear, partial MCL tear, and damaged PCL and LCL.”

Denise, with her Orthopaedics’ clearance, was able to continue with her training, and was able to compete in the US in August 2018. She underwent surgery in September of the same year.

She recalls, “there were days that I really felt I’m at my lowest because it was the longest time I went through without dance, which was a big part of my life. I’ll admit, it also hurt my ego seeing all my teammates getting better as each month passed, and all I could do was watch. I knew I had to go back to zero, but this mindset also made me want to recover as soon as I could. I wanted to make sure that when I stepped on the stage again, I was ready.”

And in January 2020, Denise was again presented with another opportunity to dance in a competition. Since she hasn’t done any type of strengthening and therapy for a while and decided it’s best to have her knee checked again. “I was told to go through PT and strengthening. I also felt like my legs were weak when it came to single leg exercises like squats and jumps.”

To be able to perform at her best in the competition set in April 2020, Denise decided to join Pinnacle Performance in February 2020. Coach Bernice, her Lead Coach shares, “With damage to all four ligaments in her left knee that support and keep the joint safe from excessive movement, Denise’s goal is to get stronger in order to compete in dance without the anxiety of re-injuring herself.” With Coach Bernice's guidance, they set to improve Denise’s Back Squats, Bench Press, and Deadlifts to increase strength.

But when fitness facilities were forced to close mid-March due to COVID-19, without a fully functional gym, Coach Bernice had to re-align her approach towards hitting the same goal - get Denise competition ready. Through online sessions, Coach Bernice first conducted a PMR (Pinnacle Movement Rating) which is a screening test to assess Denise’s body weight strength ability. Body weight exercises, particularly Pistol Squats were used to check improvement of Denise’s single leg strength and stability. Coach Bernice shares, “our initial target was to do one pistol squat by May 30. She does her Strength & Power sessions online three times weekly and does another three sessions weekly for her tailored prehab program.”

And in just 8 weeks, from not being able to get up from a pistol squat on her injured leg at the beginning of the quarantine, Denise was able to do 7 Pistol Squats by May 15.

“Now we’re working on transferring that strength to more explosive movements while staying stable through single leg broad jumps. The goal is to eliminate the discrepancy between her left and right leg, which is currently at 20% during testing week,” Coach Bernice shares proudly the result of Denise’s discipline and hard work.

“Since joining Pinnacle, I feel more confident doing single leg exercises like pistol squats and single leg broad jumps,” Denise shares. “Pinnacle helps me to see the things I need to work on even after achieving a certain goal. There’s always room for growth!”

She adds that Coach Bernice has always been there to guide and motivate her in reaching her goals. “There’s always a process you can’t skip, but the end results are always so fulfilling. When I feel like it gets harder, I remind myself that I’ve been through worse, and at the end of all the pain, you always come out stronger. And being surrounded by people from the Pinnacle community who has the same mindset is so uplifting, and has made my Pinnacle journey enjoyable while achieving my goals.”

Denise is on her way to reaching her Pinnacle! And with the correct guidance and the right attitude, this could also be you!