Michael Boyle - Advances in Functional Training

Introduction

I was extremely honored when Michael asked me to write the introduction and to lay the foundation for what you are about to read by taking a look back at our first meeting, and where our beloved field was at the time.

In the early 90s, I was a young, idealistic strength and conditioning coach in one of the best positions in college sports. I felt a deep responsibility for my athletes and had a desire to leave no ethical stone unturned, and eventually I left the NCAA setting to create what would become the first independent performance facility in the country, which I called the International Performance Institute.

As glamorous as that sounds, I was alone, in a sea of tennis courts and kids at the Bollettieri Sports Academy, now IMG, in Bradenton, Florida. We had no facilities, staff or resources to do much, and had to earn our way, which is what fuels a nave, focused coach with undeniable determination.

In hindsight, these limited resources were probably the greatest blessing of all time, as this necessitated a creative, systems-based approach. In time, we built a young, eager team, running an integrated system of mindset, nutrition, movement and recovery. Over the course of four years we made do with what we had, and were honored to support top performers in tennis, football, soccer, baseball, basketball, from juniors to professionals.

In the old days before there was whats now called functional training, a performance industry, and yes, before there was the internet and the associated internet experts providing information overload, there was a time when we heard or read on paper! of someone doing something special, usually somewhere between the European Union, Australia, Asia or the Americas.

This is how and when I first met Michael. He had seen a story in Outside or Smithsonian Magazin e on our group, and convinced his family to vacation in Florida, where he could drop in and evaluate firsthand. A month later, we were busy training athletes as Michael sat quietly on the sideline. I had no idea what he was thinking as he observed our controlled chaos through which we rolled thirty pros and a few hundred eight- to eighteen-yearold kids that morning.

Michael was raised by wonderful parents who were educators in hard Boston. His consistent, striving efforts in New England had him coaching the NHL Bruins, Boston University Hockey, and creating Mike Boyle Strength and Conditioning, pumping out athletes in factory-type fashion including the first true Combine preparation success and often these all in the same day.

So you can see how Michael would be a hard person to set back, but those were his words of description within the first thirty seconds of our talk that day. What could have set him back? Perhaps being welcomed with open arms during a time when the strength and conditioning industry was high on testosterone, ego and insecurity, and low on respect and openmindedness.

I had made one simple request: Would he present a talk to our team over our short lunch break? In retrospect, what surprised him was probably our unexpected culture, pulling him in, welcoming him with open arms, our desire to learn from and share with him.

And I also asked him to give us a completely honest evaluation of our sessions. This set the tone of our relationship, and these are some of the values I hope have positively influenced our industry over the last fifteen years.

What does all this have to do with Michael Boyle and his second book on functional training? Everything.

Ive spent my life traveling the world seeking the science and people behind successful systems that drive sustainable performance. This book is a great performance that weaves terrific information into proven, effective game plans for you to use personally and with your clients.

If you want to be successful, look deeper at the biggest takeaway from this book: It is the man and the mindset behind this work that should be studied and celebrated. Michael Boyles lifetime of daily dedication to increasing his knowledge, digesting the information into sustainable systems he passionately implements with his own hands is the true secret to success.

More importantly has been his courage to share his thoughts, often entertaining and unconventional, on difficult subjects that have challenged all of our beliefs, helping to rapidly evolve our field into what we know today. He will be the first person to stand corrected, and often does this himself by sharing not just his successes, but thought-stimulating failures, allowing us to learn in all ways.

In the fifteen years since we first met, we you included have created a performance passion, molding a cottage industry into a true global platform that reaches outside athletics and into the game of life. Growth itself is not always positive; growth with integrity is. Our society is plagued, from sedentary adolescents to adults, to short-cutting athletes. The reactive medical model is completely broken, and it has become obvious the true solution lies in proactive options across mindset, nutrition, movement and recovery.

It is up to our performance industry to provide scientific, personalized and efficient systems to lead people to happy, healthy and fulfilled lives. We have a long way to go to in creating a valid, reliable and trusted solution. The only way to do this is together, with open minds, studying, researching, sharing and elevating others as we go.

This is the culture of that early meeting that has acted as the foundation and game plan for growing this industry with benevolent leaders like Michael Boyle, Gray Cook, Greg Rose, researchers and the many others who meet Chris Poirier of Perform Betters high bar to offer our industry educational value with values.