Foundation serves as the backbone of not only my workouts but also my lifestyle. At first I thought that it would just make me a better athlete, but after nearly 3 years under my belt, it has done so much more. It just makes you a better functioning human being. I like it so much that everyone around me knows how much I like it because I talk about it all the time. Baseball players sit on airplanes and busses and in dugouts. We have actions that are always one direction. Our backs are a mess, our hips are screwed up and foundation helps to right all those wrongs. Everyone I come into contact with has some issue and I get to share with them the gift of foundation. I know its worked in my life and in my friends life – and I always get a kick when someone I've never talked to about it comes up to me and says “Hey, what’s this I’m hearing about your funny workout you do, can you show me?”
I have been a Chiropractor for over 30 years, specializing in Orthopedics, Rehabilitation and Sports Medicine. I was very hard on my body prior to practice, with many sports injuries, physically demanding jobs, and too much weight lifting (not the best thing for disc health). My second year in practice, I ruptured my L4-5 disc completely. It is 90% degenerated with bone spurs, etc. After retiring the practice, I have been (working even harder than I have ever worked) building a home, and as owner, laborer I did all the heavy, repetitive jobs that no one wanted to do. My back was killing me many times during the 3 years I have been working on every phase of this new home build. I found out about Foundation Training and have been doing them 3 to 5 days a week for the past 4 months and an SO GRATEFUL for Dr. Goodman's expertise, his work and research in this area. My low back is 98% symptom free and I believe these active exercises have been THE best thing I have done for my spinal health in 45 years. I am now 60 + years young, but I move, workout and work on our landscaping like I am in my 20s or 30s! Thanks for Foundation Training as a major part of my health and wellness program.
Laying in bed one night, I found myself in tears wondering how many good years I really had left to workout the way I was used to, given the lower back pain I have had for so many years. Too, my body was beginning to show signs of breaking down with new joint pain in my knees.
Amazingly, within that same week I "stumbled" upon [Foundation Training]. Eric's story captured me immediately; a student of chiropractic medicine looking to avoid back surgery was totally believable.
I have since practiced the FT exercises faithfully (with amazing results) so that I now have a story to share, giving hope to others. As a certified PT in Fitness and Yoga my next step is to attain a certification in FT.
As it turns out, FT is more than an answer to the question that brought me to tears. It will no doubt be one of the best professional opportunities to cross my path. I can hardly wait to discover where this will take me and see how many people I can help! I am truly grateful 🙂
Twenty-four years old and enjoying an active lifestyle with my new husband. A few months later came severe knee pain. Two different orthopedists and a year seeing a physical therapist and still no improvement or answer. X-rays and MRI's were negative. Knee pain turned into hip pain, which led to severe low back pain. The effects of over-compensation and poor bio mechanics had certainly taken effect and I was confused and discouraged, to say the least. Finally, at the age of 29, my chiropractor mentioned Foundation Training. On Christmas Day of 2013 I performed my first Founder and things have only been improving since. I was blessed to be able to incorporate Foundation Training exercises alongside the care of a great physical therapist who had the same understanding of the body. I am about to celebrate my 1 year "Foundation Training Anniversary" and feel stronger than ever before!! Pain is significantly decreased/eliminated, I move with confidence, and am beginning to engage in the activities of life that I have missed for so long.
I am most thankful that Foundation Training has not only allowed for me to get out of pain by strengthening my "true core" and learning proper movement patterns, but has been a source of educating me about the human body. I no longer panic when I feel pain, but am able to more clearly identify the issue and know what exercises will help me to eliminate the pain. This is type of training and knowledge is truly invaluable!! Thank you SO MUCH!!!
I just wanted to say that I'm really impressed with the foundation training exercises and videos. I've been on the Canadian Snowboard Team for 10 years and competed in many World Champs, X-Games and 2006 Olympics in Half-pipe and snowboard-cross. We've trained with some of the best physical trainers and physios but your short training video make a world of a difference to me. Makes my back and core work at all the right places and feel my hips and lower back stretch as well. Thank you so much for making a difference. I've told countless amount of friends as well about your website and everybody is amazed in what a 18-21min video can do. Keep up the great work and TED conferences.
Eric has created the perfect storm, bringing together evidence-based science and functional training that is second to none. Their approach to building a solid foundation is my prescription for everyone from top athletes in the world to their mothers! Movement is life. Life is movement. And if you are limited in how you move against the constant forces of gravity, it is only a matter of time until you are injured. I know this to be true as I have experienced this roller coaster as a competitive athlete. Not until I retrained my movement patterns did the cycle of injury after injury end. It really is a thing of beauty to see such a brilliant melding of creativity and sports science built into a practical, low-tech program that focuses on posture, core, and fundamental movement patterns designed first and foremost to provide athletes with a solid foundation to apply to their chosen sport. I'll never forget what Derek Fisher said to Eric about why he chose to work with Foundation Training: "I did not hire you to make me a better basketball player; I hired you to make me a better athlete." True, true.
After a decade of endurance sports racing it was becoming more difficult to move through life without an incredible amount of day to day pain. All traditional medical remedies were failing including chiropractic care, physiotherapy, prescription drugs. It wasn't just that I could no longer participate in athletic events - it was to a point where I was (1) having difficulty being active with my kids, and, (2) I was considering the very real possibility of having to give up my career as a flight paramedic. I came across foundation about four years ago. After reading the original publications I immediately ordered the DVD and began to feel better in a matter of days within starting the workouts. I now do foundation exercises everyday of my life. EVERYDAY. I move pain free now. I am constantly telling everyone I work with who I see suffering the same muscular imbalances and erroneous muscle recruitment systems I used to suffer from about how foundation can help remedy this. More importantly I can now be the active father my children need. Foundation training has given me a new lease on life.
I had huge back problems. Spinal Stenosis, herniated discs and Spondylosis from years of bad posture and sports injuries. I did yoga for many years but even some of those poses aggravated the situation and made things worse for me. I started Foundation Training and it has made a huge difference. I have no pain at all. My back feels stronger everyday. As a nutrition consultant, I find myself now telling my clients about it. I am hooked! Great program!
Practicing Foundation Training for the past 4 years has been one of the most critical decisions of my surfing career. I had recurring lower back problems when I was a bit younger, but since starting Foundation Training I have felt constant improvement with little to no pain whatsoever. My flexibility and stability are both the best they have ever been. As my career is growing and I am now surfing on the World Tour, I can easily tell you that Foundation Training is a huge part of my success as a surfer. It helps me continue to become the best athlete I can be.
Long time surfer / kitesurfer / stand up boarder, work out every day, well in my 40s. August 2015, my back went out on me for the first time in my life. Stuck on a sofa for several months, couldn't stand, sit, or even lay down on my back, got drugged up pretty bad by doctors without a clue on how to treat a herniated disc (S1 L5). Worst experience in my life, thought my ocean days were over. Deep inside I knew the solution was in moving the right way, but where I live no-one really knows how. So I kept searching the web until I stumbled upon a surfer's website. His workout were too rough for me - I was still hardly able to walk - but he mentioned Foundation Training on his blog, so I checked it out. Seemed soft enough for me to try, so I did, through the short videos. Initially I was hurting when doing the founder, but my gut feeling was to keep trying. Went on to purchase the videos, did the fundamentals day in day out for a full month. It was like a miracle for me. Slowly but surely, the unbearable hip pain that radiated all the way down to my toes began receding. Couldn't believe it. After a month or so, moved on to Daily Workouts. I found them hard, especially the forward fold, I would have never have dared do something like that just 2 weeks earlier. Kept on going. 6 monts after my back went out, and about 2 months after starting the FT program, I was back in the water. Life saver. Now I know back pain is all about posture. Learn the right postures, stretch and strengthen the posterior chain, and keep doing so forever. And you'll be fine again.
~Surfer from Morocco