Highlights of a BFS seminar at the University of Bridgeport College of Chiropractic
he University of Bridgeport College of Chiropractic has a policy of pushing the envelope by offering creative programs to enable its graduates to provide the best care for their patients. A recent example was the human performance lecture series that took place on January 28-29, 2012, a program BFS was proud to be a part of. The chiropractic college is located on the beautiful waterfront facility of the University of Bridgeport in Bridgeport, Connecticut. It was established in 1990 and is the nation’s first university-based college of chiropractic. The dean of the school is Dr. Frank Zolli.
His efforts and those of Microgate USA President Dr. Peter G. Gorman brought this remarkable lecture series to the campus. “This lecture series was an important step in helping the health care community serve a specific high school population – often one coach or teacher with a large number of students,” says BFS President Bob Rowbotham. “Based upon its success we hope to carry it forward to other organizations in health care.” After welcoming remarks by Dean Zolli, the presentation proceeded according to this agenda:
T(l-r): Kim Goss, Dr. Frank Zolli, Dr. William Brechue, Dr. Peter G. Gorman, Bob Rowbotham and Ernie Rimer.
9:00–11:00 a.m.: Introduction to the Physical Continuum and the Spectrum of Human Performance The first presentation on Saturday was conducted by William Brechue, PhD, the Director of Physical Excellence at the United States Military Academy. Brechue holds a doctorate in exercise physiology, and his background includes working at universities and high schools as a sports coach and strength and conditioning coach.
Brechue presented a four-stage developmental model of human performance that progresses from general to specific training, as follows: Stage I: Structural Development Stage II: Skill Development Stage III: Activity and Game Development Stage IV: Athletic Development and Competitive Performance Rowbotham commented, “I consider the most important point that Dr. Brechue made to be that competition is not a safe environment. At BFS we are concerned about MARCH/APRIL 2012 Dr. Frank Zolli, dean of the University of Bridgeport College of Chiropractic, gives opening remarks to the presentations that began on January 28.
long-term development, as well as the alarming number of injuries associated with high-level competition – in other words, there are levels within levels. For example, at the high school level we’re dealing with obesity problems in addition to problems associated with posture and biomechanics.” 11:00 a.m.–noon: OptoGait™, the Power-Balance Progression Dr. Peter G. Gorman, president of Microgate USA, with his partner Federico Gori has developed cutting-edge technology in the field of biomechanics with a testing and training system called OptoJump™.
OptoJump uses lightweight, portable William Brechue, PhD, an exercise physiologist at West Point, presented a model for the development of human performance sensors that are linked to sophisticated data analysis software that presents real-time feedback in three formats: video, graphical and numerical. Seminar participants had the opportunity to perform a dynamic evaluation using this equipment. Dr. Gorman’s presentation focused on the practical application of OptoJump to quickly and accurately assess body mechanics while an individual is in motion. It is especially valuable as a way for an athlete to determine imbalances that can affect performance and also as a method to measure progress.
One of the unique aspects of this presentation was showing how imbalances that cannot be seen by the naked eye can have a dramatic effect on performance. Due to the tremendous success of this seminar, Gorman says that such crises as concussion and obesity that affect our youth “will be resolved so all children can grow symmetrically and be able to achieve optimal performance.” “At BFS, we envision having three BFS protocols with one alternate protocol that can easily be implemented in the high school environment to evaluate performance,” says Rowbotham. “These protocols are Symmetry and Foundation, Ability, Stability, and Advanced Performance.”
1:00–4:00 p.m.: Introduction to BFS and Basic Posture, Dot Drill and Squat Technique Bob Rowbotham, president of BFS, was a highly successful high school wrestling and football coach in Minnesota, as well as a strength and conditioning consultant for the Utah Jazz. Rowbotham’s talk was an introduction to the BFS program, specifically the idea of developing a total conditioning program that is unified throughout an entire school system. “One of my takeaway points is Dr. Peter G. Gorman and his staff give a practical demonstration of the testing and training capabilities of the OptoJump system.
that although the idea of developing physical and athletic fitness is simple in theory, it can be difficult to implement,” says Rowbotham. “The depth of knowledge now available to coaches is wonderful, but it must be presented in a manner that can be implemented with large groups of young people. My purpose here was to introduce some of the core lifts that we promote in the BFS system and to show not only how to perform them but also how to identify biomechanical errors through a teaching system we call the Six Absolutes of Perfect Technique.” 4:00 p.m.–4:15 p.m.: The FEATURE Athlete in All of Us Ernie Rimer is a strength and conditioning coach for the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association.
Rimer gave his perspective on what is involved in working with the highest levels of athletes – in his case, Olympic-caliber skiers and snowboarders. “Ernie grew up on the BFS program in high school, so he has a great understanding of how to develop athletes at all levels,” notes Rowbotham. On Sunday, Rowbotham gave a BFS certification to 14 of the doctors who had attended the lectures on the previous day. This was a learn-bydoing workshop. Says Rowbotham, “Being an athlete means being able to excel in running and jumping, and these are among the important athletic qualities that the BFS program helps an athlete develop.
By having the doctors here perform the core exercises in our program, and teaching them how to coach others how to perform them, we enable them to better interact with coaches on the high school level and even middle school level.” Thanks to a combination of On Saturday BFS President Bob Rowbotham discussed the history of BFS and its unified training program, and on the following day gave a BFS Certification Clinic to 14 doctors. quality presenters and access to the most sophisticated biomechanical training and testing system available, this human performance series was a tremendous success. It is a program that will help make America’s young people strong again.
Strength coach Ernie Rimer gave a talk about his work with Olympic athletes, and during the lunch break discussed with Coach Rowbotham the future projects he is working on with BFS.
BALANCED TRAINING WITH BFS PROVIDES • SYMMETRY/FOUNDATION • ABILiTY/STABILITY • OPTIMAL PERFORMANCE • INJURY PREVENTION OPTOJUMP PROVIDES THe Most Advanced athletic assessment tool, So YOu know your program is working BFS TEAMS WITH TECHNOLOGY LEADER OPTOJUMP %RMRRSZEXMZIW]WXIQSJEREP]WMWERH QIEWYVIQIRXXLEXFVMRKWEWWIWWQIRX ERHSTXMQM^EXMSRSJTIVJSVQERGIXS EXLPIXMGHIZIPSTQIRXFEWIHSRTVIGMWI SFNIGXMZIHEXE 8LMWQEOIWMXTSWWMFPIXSEWGIVXEMRXLI EFMPMXMIWSVTL]WMGEP½XRIWWSJEREXLPIXI MREWMQTPIERHMQQIHMEXI[E] 3ZIVXMQI3TXS.YQTGVIEXIWE HEXEFEWIXLEXQEOIWMXTSWWMFPIXS GSQTEVIZEPYIWJSVXLEXEXLPIXISV HMJJIVIRXEXLPIXIW &]EGUYMVMRKJYRHEQIRXEPTEVEQIXIVWSJ XLIPIZIPSJERMRHMZMHYEP´WTIVJSVQERGI ERHGSRHMXMSR3TXSNYQTEPPS[WGSEGLIW 'EPPJSVMRJSVQEXMSR ERHXIEGLIVWXSIEWMP]QSRMXSVXLIMV EXLPIXIW OPTOJUMP 1 meter system:
%WWIWWTIVJSVQERGIERHTL]WMGEPGSRHMXMSR 6ETMHP]MHIRXMJ]MQFEPERGIW (IZIPSTTVSKVEQWTIGM½GXVEMRMRKFEWIHSR XLIXIWXVIWYPXW 4IVMSHMGEPP]GLIGOXLIVIWYPXWERHXLI IJJIGXMZIRIWWSJXVIEXQIRX 'VIEXIEHEXEFEWISJEXLPIXIW 1SXMZEXIWYFNIGXF]TVSZMHMRKXERKMFPI IZMHIRGISJTVSKVIWW DEDICATED TO HELPING ATHLETES SUCCEED SINCE 1976
From BFS Magazine — March/April 2012. Part of the BFS Magazine Archive (1980–2014).
