Goodman Eric David - Foundation: redefine your core, conquer back pain, and move with confidence

W hen I first came to Peter for help, I had a lo-o-ong way to go. I was 2 years into retirement and planned to spend the summer with my family in Santa Barbara. I was overweight from eating chips and burritos, food that was never part of my diet when I was racing. A mutual friend from Texas had introduced us a few years earlier, right after I had finished cancer treatment. I actually had known Peter for years. We would run into each other from time to time when my cycling teams visited the Santa Barbara area for training camps. Since he really knows endurance sports, I trusted him to know what I needed.

We started training together. Peter is one of the fittest people, if not the fittest person, I have ever been around. We worked together every day, focusing on the Chicago Marathon. I have to admit that there was a competitive element to the workouts. I did not like it when he could beat me in the gym or running on the trails in Santa Barbara. Lights started going off in my head as I did his unconventional exercises and felt the edge return. At first I thought I would never be able to get to a certain point, but I made constant progress with the workouts. I was amazed at how quickly I got to where I wanted to be. I started looking at the Tour de France.

His workouts were not traditional. I wasnt building strength by using weight machines and doing leg curls and squats. Instead, I was using gravity and body weight to strengthen my real core, the posterior chain of musclesparticularly the glutes and hamstringsand to create flexibility and strength in my hips and lower back, teaching all of my muscles to work together.

When Peter joined forces with Eric, those exercises became even more targeted and far more powerful. By introducing Foundation training to my strength program, I was able to get back on the bike quickly with the same intensity I am known for. Training for the Tour de France always involves pain. Foundation training let me train hard while feeling great. My work with Peter and Foundation training is what started my comeback and is what will keep me fit off the bike.

O ur answerone of the first new ideas to come about in the world of exercise in yearsis Foundation training. Since we were offering something completely different, we did not know what to expect, but our simple workout has proven to be more effective than we could have imagined. The extent and speed of the improvements we see in our clients consistently surprise us. We could not have predicted what Foundation training is doing for people of any age at all levels of fitness. Based on the results weve seen, our motto has become from pain to performance.

Our confidence is confirmed daily by the dramatic changes in the lives of all the clients we are training. People who had tried everything to relieve their back pain began to feel a difference in as little as 2 weeks. Many of our clients had relied on prescription painkillers or over-the-counter remedies several times a day for years. They were happy to throw away those pill bottles and manage their pain with Foundation training. Others wanted to avoid surgery, and some were frustrated that going under the knife ultimately did not solve their back problems. They were so relieved to find that these exercises did more for them than extreme measures. Our success stories range from professional athletes, the likes of NBA legend Derek Fisher and world champion surfer Kelly Slater, to everyday people who come to our weekly classes. We have seen remarkable changes in people from every walk of life. For example: