Yesterday I got to teach in my hometown, and that doesn’t happen very often.
Things have worked out for me that I do most of my teaching nationally and overseas and when I am home in San Diego I tend to just chill out and not do much except for in my home office. So, it is nice to be able to drive down the street to teach.
Last year Power Systems launched their Total Training Seminars for fitness professionals, and I have been asked to be a part of many of them. For the San Diego seminar the featured presenters were Todd Durkin and myself. www.totaltrainingseminars.com
Todd is probably most known for being the trainer to many of the world best professional football players, including Ladanian Tomlinson, Drew Brees, , Carson Palmer and Kellen Winslow Jr. I have heard about Todd from a number of colleagues, but until yesterday we had never met.
Now I know what all the talk is about. Todd is tops as a trainer, I can say that without hestitaion. First off he has the personality and command to warrant respect and get people to like him. It took about 5 seconds for us to hit it off and talk like we were old friends. I’ve presented and been around hundreds of teachers, coaches, and trainers over the past 20 years and Durkin has just got ‘it’.
Such a fun day. First Todd and I did an impromptu Q&A while waiting for the last minute registrants to sign in. We both put it out that no question was off limits, that we both offer a lot of practical experience, and that the group of 120 people should take advantage of the opportunity to pick our brains.
So one woman asked about the economy and how that has effected our businesses. What Todd said was in the spirit of my own thought and experiences, and he said it so well. Basically, telling the group that one must take control of his or her own thought and attitude. Don’t focus on the negativity, in times of great challenge there is great opporunity and to be passionate. He is absolutely right. I said to put aside the newspapers, turn off the tv, do not allow the negative mindset interfere with what you want to do, keep your eye on the prize.
So from the start, we clicked and the foundation was laid for a empowering day.
I started off with an intro to training and focused primarily on basic kettlebell lifts although the bigger picture is how we use our body and to utilize a comprehensive mind/body approach.
Next Todd led everyone through his Train the Joes like the Pros. This was awesome and just like how I like to teach, Todd spent only a few minutes on theory and then had everyone up on their feet and working! It was a great class, intense exercise and high energy and fun. We did massive variety with the bodyweight training, medicine balls, kettlebells, BOSU, reaction ball, partner training.
It was great fun; I took part and worked up a great sweat; there was some challenging work and Todd kept us moving for about 1.5 hours.
Like myself, Tood is a guy who teaches by leading. He demonstrated and did the work with us, kept the energy up and infused with meaning.
In addition to the great exercise materials, Tood integrated his Marine Corp training and had us marching to some fun cadence calls. It was clear that his presentation style is entirely his own and it is always great to watch an artist work.
At the end of the training, Durkin brought us all into the middle to seal the deal; we did some deep breathing and expression of gratitude and basically just connected as a group.
Everyone was happy and tired at the same time.
Todd and I will be doing some things together, I’m going to get up to his place and do some training when I get back from my next trip.
You can find some more information about this awesome fitness resource at:
www.fitnessquest10.com
www.ToddDurkin.com
