Pros & Cons of Original Strength Pressing Reset Workshop
Pros: Meeting some really great and friendly people. You could also possibly save yourself quite a few bucks from cutting back on going to massages, physios or chiropractic treatment. For personal trainers, physios and strength coaches, you will learn some really cool hacks that will make your clients move better. When you move better, you are less likely to get injured.
Cons: You lose between $299 to $450 on a full day workshop depending on when you sign up. But it is hardly a lost if it helps you move better, move out of pain or become a better coach. If you are a movement/fitness coach, you owe it to your clients to do this workshop. They will thank you for it.
Original Strength (OS) Pressing Reset workshop? What is it about? Is it a typical strength training seminar? Or is it a stretching workshop? These are the common questions I get when I hosted the first OS Pressing Reset Workshop in Perth at Get Results PT gym on 16 July 2016.
According to the Pressing Reset Workshop manual, this OS workshop is about “pressing” or “hitting” the reset button in your body to restore your central nervous system (CNS). And by performing the 5 developmental movement patterns which are termed as “Resets” by OS helps you Press “Reset” Button. Hitting the reset button is like re-booting or refreshing your nervous system so you can start moving better and the way you meant to and not be “broken”.
The OS system developed by Tim Anderson and Geoff Neupert is neither a typical strength training nor a stretching workshop but it can certainly make you very strong and more flexible (or more mobile to be accurate). To be honest, I may not even have hosted this Perth OS Pressing Reset workshop if I had not hurt my low back. I was doubtful about the OS approach would helped my 9-months old low back soreness where nothing seems to work. But I bought the Pressing Reset – Original Strength Reloaded book anyway and gave it a go. What have I got to lose? Maybe $20/=USD or less for the book? It turns out it was a huge win for me because about 10 to 12 weeks later with random use of the OS method almost everyday I woke up one fine morning with not an ounce of low back soreness. It was an incredible feeling which I could not describe and certainly makes me really happy. And I was able to train as normally as I can and started performing lifts that I used to do before my body was shackled down by chronic low back soreness.
The next obvious thing I did was email Original Strength about hosting a workshop since there was non scheduled in Australia at the time of contact. I wanted to know more specific details how the OS system work and how I can implement more of it in myself and the people that train in my gym. And nothing beats hands-on training. Videos and books can only tell you so much. So the workshop happened last year.
How Did The Workshop Go
In this workshop, there was hardly any heavy lifting, intense stretching or foam rolling involved unless you want to test your specific lifts to see how you feel or improved after performing specific OS resets moves. It felt like it was designed for everyone to experience a broad range of developmental movements and see how their bodies respond to the resets. There was never any rush and everything seems to be timed well to allow adequate practice of the OS system.
And I was there both as a host and an attendee. Coach Fury who is both Master RKC and DVRT Instructor from New York was the lead instructor and SFG II Piers Kwan from Queensland Kettlebells was the assistant instructor. It was very friendly and welcoming atmosphere and were attended by personal trainers, chiro, everyday people who may or may not be training with us at the gym.
Both OS instructors complimented each other very well and were very passionate about the OS system and started off the workshop explaining what the Original Strength is about before they dived into the demonstration of the OS resets.
Throughout the day it seems like everyone was experiencing breakthrough. I was touching my toes so much like I never did before which indicate how free my body was. And there was a guy who had spinal surgery like a year ago but still having niggling pain here and there did a 32kg goblets squats for the first time. Then another personal trainer from Adelaide who strict pressed the 40kg kettlebell with hardly any tension. There was a guy who could not pistol squat before actually started doing it on that day. And I actually went around and ask how everyone felt and everybody seems to feel freer in the way they move. Even people who seems dubious about the effects of the OS system started believing that it actually works. Can you blame them? I was not a believer too. It was just hard to believe that engaging in baby-like movements can have a profound impact on how we move.
5 Key Points I Learnt From OS Pressing Reset Workshop
Point #1 – Your body is an X. We are linked functionally from the finger tips of our one hand to the toes of the opposite leg. If you think about it, that is your big X in your body. A strong X gives you a resilient body and makes you reflexively strong. And engaging in developmental movement patterns can give you a strong X. Our body is supposed to move as a unit not in a dis-integrated manner.
Point #2 – Restoring reflexive strength is paramount to our body’s ability to express and control movements and it is important for injury prevention. In the OS Pressing Reset Workshop manual, reflexive strength is defined as the body’s ability to anticipate, prepare, and respond to movement before and as it happens
Point #3 – Learning how to breath can be ground-breaking. Breathing properly helps engage the diaphragm better which is the secret to an injury-proof body. By engaging your diaphragm, it allows the inner core unit (consists of transverse abdominis, pelvic floor and other spinal stabilizers) to act as a stronger stabilizing central unit where forces are created and transferred without compromising safety. And learning how to breath should be the first place to start regain original strength.
Point #4 – Having a healthy vestibular system is important for a healthy and strong body because it influences your balance, your posture and your ability to hold your head up. It detects movement and receives information. Placing tongue up the roof of your mouth while performing head nods can help restore the vestibular system.
Point #5 – OS system involves the 5 main Resets (or developmental movement patterns) which are (1) Diaphragmatic breathing, (2) Head Control, (3) Rolling, (4) Rocking and (5) Cross-lateral movements.
Of course, there is much more to this 5 points in the workshop that will be too much to be covered here.
How Have I Benefited From This Workshop
I had expanded my toolbox both as a strength & movement coach to better able to help my clients move better and move out of pain. There were clients that I was not able to help as well as I did now because I did not have the tools to get them to move better. These days it is not hard for me to get a person to squat rock bottom with minimal coaching cues. And when you teach them the developmental movements (or resets) which is the building blocks (like A,B,Cs) of complex movement, they would be able to perform (spell it out) complex movement.
In fact, I was able to bodyweight pistol squats again and was able to do it for the first time on my right leg (never could do this before) while exploring what was in the Pressing Reset – Original Strength Reloaded book. I could not when I had sore low back. And I was able to get some of the clients I trained to move out of pain. Yes that was before I attended my first Original Strength workshop. When you know something works, it makes total sense you want to find out more which led me to hosting the workshop.
Who Should Attend
It is really for anyone who has a body and want to move better and move well. And to move well you should feel good, coordinated, pain-free, stable, efficient and be responsive to changing environment. And for any movement/fitness coaches, this workshop is a gem for you. You really do not want to miss out especially when it is hosted in your area.
To learn more about Original Strength, click https://originalstrength.net/
To register for a OS workshop, please check scheduled event on this link.
If you are in Perth and want to attend this OS Pressing Reset Workshop, please click here.
And if you have a question about this workshop that I had attended, please post your question below in the comment section. I am more than happy to answer the question.
