For those of you who don’t know what SWIS stands for it is:
Society of Weight-Training Injury Specialists
It is a 3 day convention bringing together hundreds of Personal Trainers, Chiropractors, Massage Therapists, Nutritionists, Strength and Conditioning Coaches, Powerlifters, Bodybuilders, Gym Owners and so on.
Over 40 presenters, all Living, Learning and Passing On. Hundreds of attendees, Living, Learning, Passing On.
40 - 1.5 Hour long seminars to choose from:
Training theme, Rehab theme, Nutrition Theme, Treatment Theme, you name it, you got it. Dr. Ken Kinakin left nothing to the imagination at this conference. Just when you thought SWIS2015 could not get any better Dr. Ken pulls out SWIS2016 with even greater success. A huge part of his success is his lovely wife Sue whom I'm sure has dedicated so much of her time into SWIS as well. Behind every man's success is strong woman. Kudos Sue, you and Ken are the amazing couple everyone should strive to be like.
My involvement with the SWIS2016 has been life changing. I learned so much in just 2 days I cannot even begin to thank everyone enough for sharing their knowledge and time.
Friday Oct 14, 2016
Opening Ceremony, watching Patrick Holloway deadlift 800 lbs like it was butter.
Jack, Ken and I got to help load and unload the plates which was a pretty cool experience.
Watch Patrick's deadlift here:
Big decision time, who to see and what to learn that is most relevant to my situation. Everyone is here for different reasons or to learn something different, that's the amazing part of SWIS, there is something for everyone.
1st Seminar I attended: Nanci Guest (The Genetics of Fat Loss and Muscle Hypertrophy) "UNLEASE YOUR GENETIC POTENTIAL" Did you know you can have your DNA tested that can tell you which foods to eat, which foods to stay away from, which supplements and vitamins your body absorbs, what you need genetically to be the best you can be? Me either, so this seminar was worth every second and I will be getting my DNA test done. Who would not want to know how to optimize your body and when I say your body, this test is for (YOU). Not a cookie cutter diet or training program but true science a comprehensive genetic test consisting of 45 genetic markers that will determine what your body needs to eat smarter, train harder and recover faster. “Priceless information here, check out Nutrigenomix”
2nd Seminar I attended: Bill Kazmaier & Patrick Holloway (Squat Bench, Deadlift and Strongman Coaching) Well, who doesn’t want their lifts analyses by the “Worlds’ Strongest Man" Kaz himself. This seminar was a bit different than some of the others. The audience got to go up and perform hands on lifts. Of course I was one of the first few in line. I was so nervous I was shaking but I did it, here is my video of Kaz “analyzing my squats”. When Kaz says, great squat, great form, great tip your heart stops a few beats. Not to mention the coach in me came out and I had to Live, Learn and Pass On a favourite tip of mine. Be sure and listen to the volume on this video, quite priceless to me.
The One and only KAZ !
Not only could we Squat, Bench and Deadlift but we could also lift some atlas stones with some coaching tips. I did not attempt this 3 weeks out from the World's for fear of hurting myself but Dr. Ken Kinakin gave it a shot. He picked up the 115 Lb atlas stone like it weighed 25 lbs. A little adrenaline going on there, great form too! Dr Ken is amazing.
3rd Seminar I attended: Matt Wenning ( Deadlift Assessment and Technique Coaching Points) I wasn’t being bias because Matt is on Team Elitefts with me but I was really interested in how to improve my already awesome deadlift. Not tooting my own horn but for a 54 year old lady with Rods and bolts in my back I can pull 440 lbs conventionally so I consider myself to be a pretty good deadlifter. I learned so much from Matt that I will incorporate the sumo deadlift into my own training more consistently. The SUMO Deadlift will transform over and only make your conventional lift even better. I train a bit Sumo but not a ton in my training cycles but after listening to Matt for an hour and a half I now know this type of cross over training is what I need to take my deadlift to the next level. (My ultimate goal is to pull 500 lbs before I die)
4th Seminar I attended: JL Holdsworth ( Reflexive Performance Reset (RPR) for Lower Back Durabiltiy) Again, not being bias but JL is another one of my Team Elitefts members and I could listen to him talk all day, he is one of the funniest, smartest men I know. Let me tell you, he is onto something big here, RPR, who knew you had to reset your body in order to get optimal performance.
5th Seminar I attended: SWIS NUTRITION PANEL (Supplements and Steroids – Myths, Misconceptions and The Truth) Including guest speakers such as Ben Johnson, Dorian Yates, Bill Kazmaier, Dr. Darryn Willoughby, Dr. Ken Kinakin, David Sandler, Victoria Felkar, Eric Serrano and a few I missed. Open panel discussion with pre- formatted questions to an audience of over 300 hundred people. A Seminar never ever performed before. Dr. Ken Kinakin really thought hard about how to capture an audience on a topic so sensitive. Great presentation and discussion with some world class speakers.
Saturday Oct 15, 2016
1st Seminar I attended: This was a tough choice I divided my time in between CHRIS DUFFIN – Team Elitefts (Foot Mechanics, Cueing and Corrections to maximize Performance) & VICTORIA FELKAR (Muscle hypertrophy and fat loss Nutritional Strategies for Female Competitors) There was so much good information in both seminars but I can say Chris’s foot cue on spreading your toes and grabbing the floor while squatting works. We tried that on Sunday for our Squat openers for the Worlds and what a difference it makes, thank you CHRIS DUFFIN. The funny thing about his tips were Sat night after we got home Jack, Aneta, Ken and I were all sitting watching TV spreading our toes apart with our fingers! Way too funny.
2nd Seminar I attended: Dr STU MCGILL (Tuning The Body For Performance and Injury Resilience) – Standing room only of course, Dr. McGill is one of the greatest sports medicine Doctor’s around and specializes in back injuries. He did a full day conference on Thursday leaving the attendees with so much ammunition to have bullet proof bodies and how to help their clients.
3rd was a visit to one of the many vendors: MPS THERAPY (MPS Therapy treating pain and scars using an innovative, drug-fee and needle-less acupuncture on acupuncture points with micro current technology) This is a bit of long story but life changing so read all of it. We happened by the booth already knowing what this technology can do because our Daughter purchased the Dolphin Neurostim unit at last years SWIS I decided to ask the question: Can you treat Vertigo? Dr. Bruce said YES, I need a half hour of your time. Ken has been suffering from Vertigo for over a month and a half now, 2 trips to the Dr’s, medication and still not getting better. We were desperate to have him get better before the Worlds as his bench training hasn’t been going the greatest. When you are dizzy laying down, bench pressing over 500 lbs becomes a bit difficult.
Dr. Bruce took his time with Ken, treated all the acupuncture points on his body that would relate to Vertigo. Almost an hour later, Ken sat up and said WOW it’s almost 90 % gone. How AMAZING is that, he was so happy he couldn’t believe it.
But that’s not all to this booth.
Michael LIM, PT, MPP from Chicago asked us if we had more time could he treat us. We said yes absolutely and were so greatfull for this opportunity. I went first, Mike treated my c-section scar, my back scar, my shoulder scar, my knee scars. He treated my entire body giving me the ultimate machine. He gave me a treatment on my legs that would make me 25 % stronger and let me tell you, Sunday when I was squatting I had ZERO pain. I was able to get under the squat bar without difficulty. No knee pain, a nice easy peasy 350 lb squat opener in the books. UNBELIEVABLE Watch for Ken's article on how the SWIS changed his life.
Next up, Mike went back to work on Ken. Dr. Bruce treated parts of Ken but Mike also did more. He knew Ken wanted to squat 1,000 lbs at the Worlds and was about to squat 905 lbs the next day so Mike did everything possible to make that happen. Well Sunday came and Ken smoked his opener of 905 lbs. It flew up, pain free and with ease. So I’m no rocket scientist but let me tell you, this treatment WORKS PERIOD. I won’t get into the science of it you can research if you are interested but this is something you can do at home or go have it done by a Dr. You can purchase the units, it comes with a self explanatory guide to all that ails you.
Kelly Armstrong was presenting a workshop on the MPS Neurostim for Weight training Low Back Injuries. They also host workshops and if you are interested can get the information from MPS Course Schedule Toronto 2016-2017. A great course for a regular athlete, a Doctor, massage therapist or anybody who wants to be pain free.
4th was a visit to the ATP Athletic Therapeutic Pharma Supplements Nutrition Sports Fitness where we were treated like Royalty by Mike Moyse and provided a free sample of an amazing product called “PENTACARB”. While talking with Mike he discovered we were going to the World’s and would be training hard and heavy so he wanted us to try this product for muscle building, energy boost, fat loss and health enhancement. Sunday during training we lasted over 3 hours using this product. I had so much energy and was amazed at how good I felt. Thank you to Mike and ATP for your generosity and amazing products. All sports athlete’s need the cutting edge to gain advantage so every little bit helps. When you have the right tools in your tool box you can’t help but build the perfect machine.
Ok, I could go on for days but you get the picture of SWIS2016? An amazing opportunity, if you missed it what a huge loss for you. Kudos to Dr. Ken Kinakin for the countless hours he spent on organizing such a monumental life changing event. From the quality of presenters, the topics, the valuable information passed on is “Priceless” To all the helpers, volunteers and to his lovely wife Sue and number one supporter, thank you all from the bottom of my heart. I am honoured to be part of the SWIS2016 and part of such an amazing community of people who all love to “Live, Learn And Pass On”