“5 Fitness Marketing Tips That Will Lead You Into 2013”

When most people think of fitness marketing, they think of handing out flyers at a local 5k, direct mailers, or placing an add within a magazine or newspaper.  Now if these have worked for you, congratulations, but the bottom line is that they are very costly and often do not produce the return that we are all looking for.

Here are 5 fitness-marketing tips that you MUST apply in your preparation for 2013:

1.              Have a “carrot” for them.  This is something that I learned from the Martial Arts industry.  In Martial Arts, they use a belt system to determine a path for their members to follow.  I have never heard of anyone attending a martial arts academy that never wanted to become a Black Belt. 

Now your probably thinking that I am asking you to give your clients belts…NO!  What I am asking you to do is to offer your clients something that they can strive for.  Todd Durkin has developed his “Biggest Winner” Contest and Alwyn Cosgrove has developed their own “Jeans Challenge”.  It is contests like this that create a short-term deadline for your client to shoot for and achieve success that allows them to yearn for more.  

This is not the only way to create a carrot in your business, but it is a very smart way to start the New Year off with a BANG.

2.              Identify your client’s achievements.  If your client achieves even part of their fitness goals, recognize them for it.  Telling someone that you are proud of what they have done in a text, email, hand-written letter, announcement in front of the class, newsletter, etc., will create loyalty and loyalty is a tremendous part of a successful 2013.

3.              No better advertisement than you current clients.  Potential customers are tired of seeing the woman with the small waist and six pack abs or the guy that looks like he can bench the world.  They want to see real people with real results.  Start collecting testimonials, before/after pictures, and success stories from the clients and make sure that they are part of your website, blog, ads, and please do not forget to post them around your facility.

4.              Be an expert at something, not everything.  People want to work with an expert, not just any fitness professional.  If you clientele is made of mostly fat loss clients, than make sure that you educate yourself on fat loss and than you promote yourself as an exert in this field.  If I was looking to become better at boxing, than I wouldn’t hire a track coach.  Once you have a nitche, the rest is a piece of cake.

5.              Over Deliver.  You need to make sure that every time your clients come to your facility, that it is the best day of training that they have ever had.  You have to be energetic, motivating, and ready to leave all of your problems at the door.  Remember that you are not just delivering fitness, but you are also delivering an experience. 

Today is the day you set yourself apart and create a business that stands out from the rest.

“3 Business Mistakes that Are Killing Fitness Professionals”

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1.              Treat your business like a business

Now lets be honest with ourselves…Most fitness professionals are doing what they are doing because it is fun or they really enjoy working out and if they make some money while doing this…GREAT!!!  Wrong mindset! If you are thinking like this, you have a hobby, not a profession.  This is going to be nice when you are single and have no responsibilities, but the minute you get married, have 2.5 kids, dog, and house…YOUR SCREWED!!!

If you think that all you need to be a successful fitness professional is a couple of useless certifications after your name and a really good personality…I am sorry to say that you are wrong. 

Here are some of the things that I think a SUCCESSFUL fitness professional needs:

a.      LEADERSHIP-Not only do you have to lead and motivate your staff, but you also have to do this for your clients.  Leadership is something that is not given…It is earned and it is something that has to be practiced on a daily basis.

b.      UNDERSTAND MARKETING-Who is marketing your business?  Are you leaving it up to the facility?  OK, but know you are leaving your success in someone else’s hands.  If you ask me, I want full control.  I want to understand, to the best of my ability, how I can manipulate different types of marketing sources.  For example, are you marketing yourself on social media?  I don’t mean posting your workouts or what you are eating, but are you marketing your business and what you can do for people.  Marketing on social media is great because you can reach millions of people and it’s FREE.

c.      CUSTOMER SATISFACTION-Any moron can make someone puke or feel like they got hit by a monster truck in the morning, but are you listening to your clients?  Are you giving the clients what they need and want or are you giving them what you want?  Giving the clients what they need and want will also help you retain them long term.

d.     MONEY-Do you understand how to run a business?  Do you understand your businesses cash flow, daily operating expenses, billing, etc?  Before you can even think about trying to figure out whether your company, or business, is profitable…you must be able to not only understand what these are, but also how they affect your business.

e.     READ A BOOK-One of the best tips that I ever got was from my mentor, Todd Durkin.  Todd asked me if I read every day and my answer was, “No”.  He than asked me what I was going to read and I listed all of these great fitness books that everyone recommended to me.  He responded with wrong.  He told me that if I read 1 fitness book, I must follow that with one book on business, and one people to better my understanding my clients or myself.  This was the best piece of advice that I ever received because it forced me to learn more about myself and my business rather than how many cool ways I can do a push-up or squat.

2.              Understand SYSTEMS-This is something that I learned from Alwyn Cosgrove.  Do you know what the word SYSTEMS stand for?

S = Save

Y = Your

S = Self

T = Time

E = Energy

M = Money

Lets go deeper into it…why do you think that Starbucks is so successful?  Do you think that they have the best coffee?  No, they have the best system.  When you walk into any Starbucks and order a Grande Mocha Latte, you will get the same exact one no matter what time of the day or where in the world you are.

Systems in the fitness industry need to be as tight as Starbucks.  Are you generating leads, converting those leads, delivering the results that clients want and need?  This is your system…Now perfect it.

3.              UNDERSTANDING YOUR CLIENTS MINDSET-What are some of the things that we first hear when new clients come to us? We have all heard someone say, “I want to lose weight”, “get stronger”, “fit into my jeans”, blah, blah, blah.  Time to dig deeper. Time to really find out what they are here for.  Talk to your client and find out an emotional attachment for why they want to lose the weight.  It is not to fit in the jeans or for a vacation…it is probably to feel more comfortable, in the nude, with the love of their life or how about just being able to play in the backyard with their kids without having a heart attack.  Now to me, that is why they are here.  Not to fit in jeans, but to change their life for the better.  That emotional component is what I need to really help a client. With some people I can get that answer in 1 or 2 sessions and some people it may take me a couple of weeks.  The one thing that I can guarantee you is that I will not stop until I get it out of them. Simply because I want to make them happy.

Now these are 3 things that have taken me years to really understand and have probably cost me thousands and thousands of dollars.  Don’t make the same mistake that I made…Learn from my mistakes and make your “hobby” into a business.

MMA Conditioning With The Prowler

PLEASE STAY AWAY…CHAMPIONS AT WORK!!!

The Prowler is one of those tools that my athletes hate to see me bringing over, but love the results that come from training with it.  Here are my top 3 exercises that I use with all my MMA athletes with the Prowler:

1.  Prowler Push

I have my MMA athletes do a Prowler Push in order to develop their work capacity and to help build muscle with very little stress on the body.  During MMA training or fights, we are forced to be explosive in very short periods of time…If we do not train like that, how do we expect to perform like that when it counts. 

Try starting off with 2-3 sets with each set consisting of 6-8 reps. Remember that here the reps should be kept low because we are working on being powerful and explosive every time we push the sled.

2.  Prowler Pull
The Prowler Pull offers the same types of benefits as the push: work capacity and help build muscle with very little stress on the body.  To perform this exercise you are going to have to strap either a TRX Suspension Trainer or a set of ropes to hold on to.  The key to this exercise is to remember that we do not want to use our legs.  Just focus on keep your arms straight and pulling in an explosive manner towards you.

Number of sets and rep ranges are the same as the Prowler Push.

3.  Prowler Sprints

This is definitely an all time favorite with all my athletes.  This exercise is not only great for building up work capacity, but also increasing speed, power, and recovery.

I normally set up two cones 20 yards apart and the distance that they athlete covers will depend on where the athlete is in their training program.  Remember to always keep the time that your athletes complete the sprint in…this will allow them to compete against their own time.

Now turn off your computer…Head to the gym...And take the necessary steps with the Prowler to win your next championship.

#1 Exercise Your Clients Should Be Doing

Is it a Push-Up?  NO

Is it a Burpie?  NO

Is it that they should be pulling a pick-up truck?  HELL NO

The #1 exercise that your clients should be doing is the Ultimate Sandbag Bear Hug Squat.

 For the longest time, I had a big issue figuring out why some clients could squat very well and others had no clue how to perform the movement.  I tried every method in the book, than I got invited by Josh Henkin to his DVRT (Dynamic Variable Resistance Training) Level I Certification and he introduced me to the Bear Hug Squat.

The reason why the Ultimate Sandbag Bear Hug Squat can help everyone achieve that perfect squat is because the USB acts as a counterbalance to help align the client into perfect squatting depth.  It will also teach them the value and importance of thoracic spine position and activation.

Here are some common questions regarding the USB Bear Hug Squat:

Q:  How do I set up the USB?

1.     Place the USB flat on the ground with the naked side of the bag up

2.     Straddle the center of the bag with your knees slightly bent

3.     Grab underneath the bag and make sure that when you pick up the bag that your shoulder blades are pinched together, back is flat, and that half the bag is below your arms when you pick it up (if the person is not able to hip hinge that low…place the bag on a step so that the client is able to reach underneath)

4.     Drive up in an explosive manner and now the bag should be lined up with the middle of your body

Q:  What are some things that I should be looking for before my client starts     performing the USB Bear Hug Squat?

1.     Locked out Thoracic Spine…Remember if the Thoracic Spine is not look, this means that we will be looking at a rounded back

2.     Traps that are relaxed…No tension

3.     Feet should be in a 45 degree angle or less to allow the knees to push slightly outward.  By making sure this happens, the client will activate more of the hips, become more stable, and most of the time to allow them to go deeper with the squat

Q:     What are the recommend sets and reps?

A:     Every client is different, but I usually tend to start with 3 sets of 5 reps. This does not mean to challenge them with an  extreme amount of load, but I would rather you watch their movement and correct their form. Load is often a variable that is overused…I would rather you work with ROM, Stability, Foot Position, Tiempo, etc.

Why Female Athletes Are Getting Hurt

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Last weekend I got a tremendous opportunity to become a DVRT (Dynamic Variable Resistance Training) Master Trainer for Innovative Fitness Solutions.  Not only was this an opportunity to learn from Josh Henkin, Troy Anderson, and Jessica Bento, but I also learned from the group of top fitness professionals that they brought in from all over the world. 

One of these fitness professionals that impressed me was Mitch Hauschildt.  It will be very difficult to find someone in the industry with a resume like Mitch...So I decided to interview him about a topic that I am very concerned with..."Training The Female Athlete"

Check out what Mitch has to say and see why Missouri State University trusts all of their athletes to Mitch:

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1.     Can you state your job title and description at Missouri State University? 

Prevention, Rehab, and Physical Performance Coordinator for all 16 NCAA D1 Sports; Strength & Conditioning Coach for Women’s Basketball and Volleyball

2.     I know that you are a man of many hats...besides what you do at MSU, What other hats do you wear? 

I actually wear a lot of hats on a daily basis.  I am a husband and father of 2 small children.  Obviously, judging by my title at MSU, I do a lot of different things there.  Additionally, I am the founder of Maximum Training Solutions, LLC, a sports medicine consulting and education company.  I am also a Sports Medicine Instructor for TRX and a DVRT Master Instructor for Innovative Fitness Solutions.  Outside of my professional duties, I am also on the leadership team for Man Up, an organization that performs Christian based missions work in Africa.

3.     Can you talk a little bit about young female athletes and why we are seeing more and more females getting hurt while playing their sport? 

I think that there are a number of reasons that all likely play a small role, but add up to something that is problematic.  First, female sports have never been so popular.  Thus, 20 years ago, female athletes just didn’t play the amount of games and reps that they do now.  Thus, they are exposed to a lot more injuries. 

Secondly, our female athletes are getting taller and larger, but it just doesn’t seem that their overall strength levels are improving at the same rate.  So, they have longer lever arms than ever, but no more strength, which provides them a significantly lower mechanical advantage. 

Another major issue is the way that they are being trained.  Many young high school females are lifting at their schools with no thoughts of possible gender differences by the high school strength coach or physical education teacher.  Females aren’t being taught how to use their gluts and hips appropriately, even though we know that they tend to be at a genetic disadvantage in this area.  They tend to have very little stability throughout their entire chain, and very few people are teaching them how to decelerate safely under load. 

On top of all of these factors, you can add things like poor nutrition, not enough attention to recovery, and hormone levels as other likely factors.  You put all of this together and it makes for a recipe for disaster.

4.     What types of injuries do you see frequently coming up?  In your opinion, why are they coming up so frequently?  

       I still think that an ACL injury is most common, most feared major injury.  We have come a long way in understanding why they continue to happen, but much of the research still isn’t trickling down to youth parents and coaches, so the athletes at the greatest risk are not getting what they need. 

The other injury that we are seeing more of is hip pain.  There isn’t a lot of good research out there or good orthopedists who are successfully treating young athletic hip injuries.  Many of these hip injuries can fall under the classification of hip impingement, where the femur and pelvis don’t function properly and end up pinching other tissue around the joint.  Cartilage tears in the hip are also becoming more prevalent, but not quite to the level of the impingement cases. 

I believe that most of the hip pain that I see is due to a lack of core stability.  This is especially true of athletes with poor rotational stability and/or poor deceleration.  Thus, they are unable to appropriately stabilize their pelvis and the hip flexor tries to make up for the difference.  That becomes problematic in the long run.

5.     What can be done to help keep female athletes healthy before and after injury? 

The best things that young female athletes can do to stay healthy is to eat right, get plenty of sleep, and train hard during their off-season.  Their training needs to be done by someone who understands the female body and the differences between training them and, say, a college football player.  Their program focus must be on training for stability in the lower body and core.  This should start in isolated movement patterns, but must progress into using their stability while running, decelerating, jumping, and rotating in their sport. 

And there is no replacement for strength.  At the end of the day, strength is the fundamental basis of all athletic movement.  Without strength, your athlete will never be fast or jump high.  The trick to a good program is combining strength with stability and quality movement patterns.  When those are put together into a quality, comprehensive program, the athlete stands a great chance at staying healthy long term.

For more information regarding Mitch Hauschild, please check out at www.maximumtrainingsolutions.com

"True Happiness"

***WARNING***

This blog post in NOT about Fitness.

Now, please continue to read!

This past weekend was labeled as a “mini-vacation” for me, but had truly turned into something that I never expected.

    My fiancé and I were headed to Miami to celebrate a wedding for two of her close friends, Drew and Rory. We left on Friday and it happens that every night before I leave for a trip, there is not a chance that I can go to sleep. So as I watched episodes of “Dog…The Bounty Hunter” (P.S. If you haven’t seen that show, what are you waiting for, it’s Great American TV! lol), I signed up for the Todd Durkin Institute. 

    After being accepted into the Institute, Larry had sent me a couple of emails that helped me catch up with the rest of the group. In these emails contained a lot of homework that I needed to do to not only improve my business, but more importantly, myself.

    One of the emails contained a message from one of the Coach’s in the group, Frenchy from Aspen, Colorado.  The message is as follows:

“This New Year gives us the gift of more than 525,600 minutes. Many of us say we "don't have enough time", but for this next year, as with all other ones, we all get the same amount of time- about 525,600 minutes. What we do with the gift of these minutes determines the quality of our life, the level of our happiness, the value of the memories we create and the difference we can make in the world.

Our lives are determined by how we choose to live our 525,600 minutes each year. Minutes spent stressed or worrying is wasted. Fear not only kills our dreams, it also diminishes our minutes without providing productive results. None of our unused minutes can be saved as "rollover" minutes for the next year. None can be given to others and unused ones will be lost forever. When we look at our minutes from this perspective, it helps us realize the gift we've been given.”

    After reading this, all I was capable of saying was, WOW. I am one of those people that are always saying that there is not enough time in the day, but is there really?  I think by reading this short message from Coach Frenchy, we all should be able to take notice that there is plenty of time for the important things. 

What are the important things in life? Well, I can’t tell you what is important to you, but what I can do is give you a couple of tips that will help you decide for yourself:

1.             Be Positive:                                                                                                        It is important to take notice and realize that in everything we do, we have a choice. Take notice that nobody has the power to put you down or have the power to make you make decisions that you are not happy or comfortable with. We are our own person and have the ability and potential to create our own pathway of life.

2.             Let Go Of The Past:                                                                                          Why are you wasting your precious time in the present with time in the past that you do not have any control over anymore? Get over it and move past it.  Everything in this world happens for a reason. If something happens to not go your way, move on and learn from it. It can only make you stronger and prepare you for the challenges of what’s to come.

3.             Baby Steps…Small And Consistent Steps Forward:                               You must have faith and trust in what you are doing. That faith and trust will carry over with your intuition that you are doing the right thing for your future. If your not getting that gut feeling that what you are doing is something beneficial or helping you take another leap forward, rethink it. If your plan does not work on the first try, keep moving forward. Don’t keep over analyzing and dwelling on your mistake(s). You will come to realize that you have just wasted so much time on this one problem. Stop holding yourself back and making excuses. Move forward.

4.             Laugh:                                                                                                     Remember, that life is short. Look back at the past years. How fast did they go by? When our time is over on this earth, we are not judged by what is in our bank accounts or how many boats we own. We are judged by the quality of our life. Take time to enjoy the people around you. Stop stressing for a couple of minutes a day and take the time to smile and laugh. Do this tip alone for a week and I promise that your life will take a turn for the better. Positive energy only attracts more positive happenings. Who wants to be around a “Debbie Downer?”.

5.             Spend Time With The People You Love:                                                                 This brings me back to Drew and Rory’s Wedding. I got the chance to witness people that have been in each other’s lives since the beginning of college, who all come together for the unity of two people in their circle of friends. 

Now the “Real World” has separated them for the time being, but you know just watching them come together that different states or countries cannot separate their love for each other.

We need to learn to appreciate and cherish the people that are close to us. If they happen to get away, do what you have to do to get them back into your life.  We only live once. Be responsible for how your life turns out in the long run.

These tips will not only help your personal life, but will also you’re your business succeed. We cannot be “SUCCESSFUL” if we are not happy.  Happiness comes from within and is not captured through material things.

Thank you Drew, Rory, Rachel, Brownlee, Heather, Lindz Ryan C., Lauren L., and anyone that I have not mentioned from this past weekend. These people showed me what life is truly about. BEING HAPPY AND WITH FRIENDS.

I am going to end this article with a song that I would like everyone to listen to. ”Home” by Edward Sharp and The Magnetic Zeros. This is the song that Drew and Rory ended their wedding to. I have never heard of the song before, but I just sat and listened to the words. I watched all of their friends come together for one last dance.

Remember, I am not asking you to like the kind of music of which it is, but I am asking you to truly listen to the meaning and the depth of where it is coming from.

Thank you.

"Is Weight Training Necessary During The Baseball Season"

Over the last month many players and parents have approached me with questions regarding their strength and conditioning 
program.  One question that is frequently asked is “How important is it to Strength train during the season?”  Since so many players 
and parents have asked this question and I am sure that there are plenty of other people out there asking the same question. 
I have decided to write a quick DO'S and DON"T list that will answer questions about Strength and Conditioning during the Baseball Season.

In­-Season DON'T: 

-DON’T stop weight training.  You must look to change the volume and intensity in your workout.  The weight training part 
of your workout should only last about 30-35 minutes.  The remainder of the hour will be filled with Prehab, Cardiovascular, 
Core, and Flexibility.  A result of not weight training during the season will be decreased strength, power, conditioning, and 
ultimately performance. 

-DON’T perform a split routine. Rather 2­3 full­body sessions each week works best for most.

-DON’T follow the theory of “light weight and high reps”.  Keep the intensity and drop the volume.  The object is to maintain 
the strength that you obtained during the off­season and maintain that all year.

-DON’T waste time training small muscle groups with isolation exercises such as bicep curls, wrist curls and calf raises. You 
will get plenty of work to these muscles during your compound exercises.

-DON’T train the day before a game unless you have found this specifically works for you. 

-DON"T let In-Season training session go beyone 60 minutes.  This will include 30 minutes of weight training and 30 minutes of Prehab, Core, and Flexibility

-DON’T eat junk food…including soda and coffee. 

-DON’T underestimate the value of sleep.  Get off Facebook, Xbox, or anything else that keeping you from getting your 8 
hours of sleep.

-DON’T ignore what your body is telling you.  Learn to pull back when your body is fatigued and push it into another gear when you are feeling good. 

In­-Season DO: 

-DO weight train. I have found 2-3 sessions per week lasting 60 minutes works best to maintain strength, speed, power and 
help facilitate recovery.  Each session should include Strength, Prehab, Cardiovascular, Core, and Flexibility.

-DO use compound movements such as pull­ups, pushups, squats, lunges and deadlifts. 

-DO focus on the speed of the bar.  Explosive athletes need to be explosive in their training, so that they are explosive on the 
field.  

-DO perform sets of low reps between 8 and 10.

-DO train immediately after or the day after a game. 

-DO perform a few static stretching sessions per week, lasting between 10-15 minutes after practice or a weight training 
session. This will help recovery and regeneration of the body, which will keep you fresh, fast, strong and feeling great.

-DO perform a few sets of external rotation exercises and scapular exercises a few times a week. Keep weight light on these 
and train within 12­15 rep range with these.  

-DO eat whole foods and focus on getting adequate amounts of quality proteins, carbohydrates and healthy fats. 

-DO keep your body properly hydrated.  Everyone knows this, but few do it.  This does not mean tons of sugar laden sports drinks.  Water with added electrolytes works just as well.  Simply add a small pinch of sea salt to every 1 liter of filtered water you drink.

For more information or In-Season Programs that Leverage Training Center has to offer...Please contact:
Rich Mejias
Leverage Training Center
Co-Owner/Strength and Conditioning Coach
rich@leveragetrainingcenter.com
845-641-1549

"Modern Day Core Training For Firefighters"

Does this sound like your “Core Workout”?

100 Crunches

100 Decline Sit-ups w/25lb plate

100 Side Bends w/45lb plate (50 each side)

If this sounds like your “Core Workout”…than my friend…we really have some work in front of us.  This is the same exact “Core Workout” that bodybuilders 20-30 years ago did to look good in front of the mirror.  As a Firefighter, even though it is nice to look good in front of a mirror, it is much more important to be functional with your “Core Workout”.  What you do inside of the gym may mean the difference between you saving or not saving a 6-year-old child in a burning building.

To become the best Firefighter that you can be, you must always look to improve upon your total body strength, core strength, and overall endurance.  As a Firefighter, working out is not only beneficiary for your health, but helps to benefit others in case of need and emergency. I am sure there have been plenty of scenarios in which you had to pry through doors, carry heavy objects/people, or push yourself through extreme measures to complete a task. Have you ever asked yourself that if you trained the right way, meaning, a specific type of training for which your body needs to train in order to help enhance performance; could you have done that job better? Faster? More efficiently?

There are so many reasons why I feel it is necessary to have a strong core.  Here is my top five:

1.     Strong Core is essential to a healthy lower back

2.     Enhances balance and stability

3.     Improve posture

4.     Improve functional movement

5.     Help you lift heavier loads…like a human body

Are these enough reasons to continue reading this article?

When I train Firefighters, their program design will always include some hard-core fitness, weight training, plyometric, and endurance training. Not to forget to mention that every session WILL include core training.

Top 3 “Bang For Your Buck” Core Exercises:

1.  Turkish Get-Up

The Turkish Get-Up is one of an exercise that every one should be doing, and do not see enough of.  This exercise has an endless number of benefits such as total body coordination, proprioception, overall mobility, shoulder strength, and most importantly core strength.

How does the Turkish Get-Up work the core? The load is continually held overhead while you progressively move through the steps of the exercise underneath the load. By having the load overhead, moving from a supine position to standing position, forces the oblique’s and transverse abdominals to stabilize, while the rectus abdominals are used to prevent spinal flexion. So what does this say to me?  A hell of a lot of core work.

3.  TRX Body Saw

The TRX Body Saw is a complex move that I first learned from Dr. Stuart McGill, one of the world’s leading researchers on the lower back and core.  Dr. Stuart McGill’s research has shown that repeated spinal flexion (which is what happens when you perform crunches and sit-ups) damage spinal discs.  You can actually get a more challenging workout for your abdominals without increasing the risk of injury to your back.   

The TRX Body Saw is a core exercise that I always recommend my athletes add into their programming. It provides a combination of stability and mobility. It is a very deceptive and challenging move and requires you to totally lock up the core before you start to incorporate any type of movement.

3.  Ultimate Sandbag Shoveling

Ultimate Sandbag, or USB, Shoveling closes the gap between the weight room and functional movement. It may sound great for a Firefighter to be able to do 100 crunches in a certain amount of time with no rest, but unfortunately will not help them in a case of emergency.

USB Shoveling is another one of those exercises that may look to be deceiving.  This is because of the dynamic rotational movement needed to properly execute this exercise. This movement is without a doubt a total body movement. Relying solely on the trunk will place unnecessary stress on the spine, but by taking advantage of the power in the hips can prevent any back injuries during rotation.  Also just like the Turkish Get-Up, the USB Shoveling provides hip mobility which will prevent Firefighters for having their hips lock up and allowing for extreme stress to be placed on their lower back.

Another unique aspect that USB Shoveling provides is the eccentric load in a multi-planar base.  Eccentric load and extreme ranges of motion are two variables that bridge the gap of why people get injured during training.