PAUL CHRISTIN
Owner / Trainer
What does it mean to be genuinely healthy, and how do we all get there? These are the questions that have been occupying most of my energy for over a decade now. I became a certified personal trainer in 2016 through NASM, and began testing all kinds of different methods with clients including traditional weightlifting, FRC, rehab/prehab mobility, stretching, yoga, calisthenics, and some crossfit based movements. All of these methods were insufficient, and I’d be willing to bet with what I know now that most of them they only accelerated my client’s problems (my bad).
During my rigorous quest for solutions, I came across Functional Patterns in 2019. What struck me was their video evidence of gait cycle and scoliosis results, something I had never seen before. As I began testing what they had to offer, I acquired the felt sense that this was fundamentally different than anything I had tried before in a way that seemed complete. From that point on I committed to a full transition of my personal and professional path towards the methodology. Since doing so, I have completely overcome many complex health problems I was battling, and am now able to guide my clients on a similar path in arriving at reliable solutions for their needs.
What Led You To This Career Path?
I began exercising when I was 15 using traditional weightlifting methods. After several years I started to develop intense shoulder pain, knee pain, and back pain. My shoulders in particular developed this severely dull, achy pain that was at its worst with exercise. Mundane activities such as writing, typing, or getting dressed eventually became just as painful for me. Life had changed from abundant joy and adventure, to being choked with pain and frustration. This state would last for years.
The first sign of relief I got was after meeting with a biomechanics professor while at college. We agreed to meet for 30 minutes where he assessed me and pointed out dozens of imbalances I had developed on my body. He strongly advised I seek out alternative exercise protocols and to reevaluate my beliefs, which was both humbling and eye-opening. He prescribed a few exercises which reduced my pain from about a 9 to a 6-7 over several weeks, the first positive sign in years. This was the spark that shifted my paradigm from isolation to integration.
Ultimately, that frustrating, confusing path is what led me to this career. Without having destroyed my body from incorrect methods and lots of ignorance, to then successfully rebuild it back to the best it has ever been absent of pain, I would not have earned the wisdom I am able to now pass on.