Vern Gambetta has been called a “Fitness Pioneer”, “The Godfather of Sports Conditioning”, and the “Trainer’s Trainer”. He’s trained many amateur and professional teams, including the Chicago White Sox, Chicago Bulls, The Cincinnati Reds, The San Jose Sharks and the US Men’s World Cup Soccer Team. He’s considered the Founding Father of Functional Sports Training—also known as Functional Fitness.
Read his Top Tips. Listen to the Podcast.
The term “Functional Fitness” and “Core Conditioning” have become buzzwords in the fitness industry and in my view, completely overused, and often incorrectly used. Vern discusses the concept of “functional” fitness as it relates to what he calls “building” and “rebuilding” the Complete Athlete.
Vern’s Philosophy includes:
• Dynamic postural alignment and balance as the foundation for all training
• Training movements not muscles
• Training core strength before extremity strength
• Training with body weight before external resistance
• Training strength before strength endurance
• Training speed before speed endurance
• Training the muscles that are more likely to get hurt (by your particular sport or activity)
• The training program must fit the athlete/individual (not the other way around)
Tina’s personal favorite:
• Warm up is key!
Download the Podcast with Vern Gambetta
