15 Comments
First and foremost, it’s important that you understand muscle balancing. Let’s get into why this is so important. Most training programs completely ignore it, although I’ve been working tirelessly to change this for the entire industry.
7 years ago, I was a mess… but it started long before that. I was a sophomore in high school when this began.
I had no idea how unbalanced I was; in fact, I played sports through so many injuries that I guess I figured ‘pain’ is ‘power’ and showed my dedication to succeed. Unfortunately, I was way off base.
After hurting my right shoulder and tearing my labrum, I continued to play water polo. At one point, it got so bad that I had to learn how to play left-handed or I was told I’d never be able to use my right arm for any physical activity again. So, I played the entire season left-handed, and I did what I felt to be the impossible.
I learned how to become ambidextrous, after an entire lifetime of being horribly uncoordinated on the left side of my body. I figured out how to shoot hard, and score. Not long after, I tore my left labrum.
Now what?
You guessed it… I kept playing. In fact, I started playing college water polo, and I made things way worse. When I was elected captain of the Penn State University Water Polo Team as a freshman, I thought this was my ticket to they Olympics. (for the record, I declined this position, and coached the team behind the scenes to empower the hard-working and talented seniors who had put their time in.)
I always had a vision, but I never knew that I was destroying my own goals. By continuing to play, and repeat the same movements that had caused so much damage, instead of resting those injuries and balancing out my body, I was ruining my water polo career.
By my senior year at Penn State, I couldn’t even play anymore, so I sat the season out, and I gained my first 15 pounds. This was the beginning of the end for me… or so I thought!
2 years later, I was in my first year at University of Miami for my doctorate in physical therapy, and that’s when things got out of control. I began studying until I fell asleep each night, barely keeping up at first. I prioritized my academics, in respect to all of you… as I knew that every bit of information I soaked up would someday help those in need. I made sure you couldn’t stump me in a physical therapy discussion, or I hit the books again.
All the while, I continued to gain weight. 19 more pounds, and I was in serious pain. I’d rate the pain to be 8 out of 10 pain in most joints of my body. My neck started to really bother me, my elbows and wrists were totally sore, my back ached from the extra weight I had put on, and my hips were a mess from what I thought was treading water.
Can you imagine? I was 23 years old when I tipped 200 pounds. I can still see it… 204 pounds!
I was once an Olympic potential, and I played against the US Olympic Water Polo Team in practice, often battling their practice team on a regular basis at the US Naval Academy during after hours.
Now, I couldn’t even swim without writhing in pain and “toughing it out.” What a miserable feeling. I was slow, fat, and upset.
When I visited my doctor to see what could be done about this, he told me nothing. Because of my congenital ligament laxity (loose joints by birth), I was inoperable. He told me to quit my career as a Physical Therapist and stop working out. This was a family friend, so I knew he was legit in his recommendations.
I returned to the University of Miami and I explained this to the faculty. They understood, but they believed I had more to give. They offered to build me a rehab program based upon ‘muscle balancing,’ under the promise that I’d fulfill it independently once it was designed.
Long story short, it worked. Once my body was in balance, I was fine. My weight came right off, and my joints felt amazing. I was back!
I tried to play water polo for the UM club team, but my schedule wouldn’t allow; however, I never stopped doing my workouts, and I continued to improve my fitness level. Within about 6 months, I took a job at the UM Wellness Center, and I started teaching these techniques to law students, physical therapy students, and any other student that wanted me to train her/him.
The neatest part about this is that they started to see ridiculous results. Most of them didn’t have any pain, but I saw the way my body responded when I was balanced, so I asked them to trust me and we started working on the various small muscles that affect spine, shoulder, hip, and neck position.
Sure enough, they got six pack abs. Sure enough, they saw amazing results. Sure enough, they told me they used to wake up with minor aches and pains, but the pain was gone.
It was incredible.
Soon after, I started my own personal training business in a downtown gym. My wife (girlfriend at the time) was well connected, so I ended up having the opportunity to start this business in the icon building of downtown Miami, in a 15th floor gym with an ocean view!
Business grew, and people felt great. I started to get all sorts of referrals of clients who had joint pain, but they wanted to lose weight. Since I wasn’t yet licensed, I could only exercise their body-parts that were not injured, so I balanced them out and added in some new and innovative fat loss exercises I was learning from the trainers at the gym.
Unreal. In my opinion, and the opinion of my clients at the time, no one had ever seen results like these. Faster, longer lasting, and they felt better.
All because of beginning a program with muscle balancing.
That’s why I’ve included a ‘Movement Screening Evaluation’ in the Dr. Kareem Coaching Program. I’ll teach you how to screen yourself for different areas of tightness and imbalances, and then I’ll provide you with recommendations based upon the areas you have found to be imbalanced.
Let’s end this, once and for all.
To this day, if you look at my shoulders under MRI, they look like they shouldn’t be able to do what they do. But, they do…
And I truly believe your body can do things you don’t expect. I was the first person in my family to ever have a 6-pack. No one believed it was possible with “our genes,” but I proved them wrong.
I’d like to prove your family wrong too.
There is a bit more time to join the Dr. Kareem Coaching Program, and I want you in it. Make a responsible decision here, one way or another. But, if you need my help, this is a chump of change in the grand scheme of the rest of your life.
I’m eternally grateful for the University of Miami faculty helping me, and I intend to help as many of you as I possibly can. That said, I can only take so many people before my schedule fills up.
Would you like to join me?
Click Here To Learn About The Dr. Kareem Coaching Program
And See If We Are A Good Fit For One Another
(closing down very soon!)
Do you have a story like mine? Or some other struggle you’d like to conquer?
I’d like to help, but first you have to comment. Please share your story below.
