February 15, 2024 • 13 mins
Unlock the secrets to sustainable fitness success with Kris Cook, the seasoned professional athlete turned fitness expert from Peak Performance. Kris's journey through the world of competitive sports, from dominating the field as a nose tackle to crushing it in arena football, has equipped him with a treasure trove of insights for our listeners. He's not just about the gains; Kris is here to teach us how to set realistic goals, and execute sustainable plans that cater to the training needs of major muscle groups. Simplicity is key!
Want to learn more about Coach Kris and Peak Performance Personal Training in Vero Beach. Reach out
https://www.peakperformance-pt.com/
info@peakperformance-pt.com
(772) 226-5716
701 21st Street Unit 101, Vero Beach
Book a discovery call today with Hercules Performance and Physical Therapy in Vero Beach, FL
https://www.herculesppt.com/contact
Also check us out on Facebook and Instagram:
@herculesppt
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https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100088835923718
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dralec@herculesppt.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Dr Alec (00:00):
Welcome to Hercules Performance and Physical Therapy
podcast.
Today we have Kris Cooke ofPeak Performance in Vero Beach.
Welcome him to the show.
Kris Cooke (00:11):
It's going good, man , you know running a business is
tough , but it's a lot of fun.
Unofficially October 26, 2022.
Uh, we grand opened last year,2023 January 2nd.
Dr Alec (00:28):
Awesome.
How are you guys doing overthere?
Kris Cooke (00:29):
We're doing great, we're growing steady.
You know I'm not interested ingrowing too fast, just so we can
iron out the kinks and all that.
Just you know, take it on, youknow supply the demand
appropriately.
Dr Alec (00:42):
What type of people do you work with over there?
Kris Cooke (00:44):
Um, you know, uh, with with my experience, I could
train a six year old kid allthe way up to an 85 year old
with rods in their legs, so it'sjust kind of whoever comes in.
If they're willing to put inthe work, I'm willing to teach
them.
Dr Alec (01:00):
Do you?
Do you find that you guys sitmore at the performance side,
general health or a little bitof both?
Kris Cooke (01:06):
A little bit of both .
You know, we we get a lot of,um, high school and collegiate
athletes, sometimes pro athletes, Um, but we also just get, you
know, mothers and businessowners and just normal people,
so just kind of whoever comes in.
Again, if they they have goalsand they are willing to put the
work in, we're here to help themreach their people Awesome.
Dr Alec (01:28):
So you mentioned your experience in sports and whatnot
.
At the beginning of thatquestion there, what was your
experience?
What?
What was your background in allthis?
Kris Cooke (01:38):
So on high school I played football, baseball,
basketball, um wrestling, but um, as I got, you know, understood
that I was much better atfootball.
I played football Um.
I got a scholarship to NorthernIllinois University where I
played nose tackle Um.
(01:59):
I was previously, you know, alot of big girls 350 pounds.
At one point, Um I lost myscholarship at Northern Illinois
, went to Joliet junior college,got second team all American.
Got a scholarship to Purdueuniversity, got kicked out of
there, went back to NorthernIllinois, got my bachelor's
(02:20):
degree and then I played arenafootball for two years in
Georgia and Cleveland.
Dr Alec (02:25):
How was that?
Kris Cooke (02:26):
Oh, arena or college .
Arena.
Arena was a lot of fun.
It was a lot of fun and Ilearned a lot and uh, yeah, it's
it.
It's sad because I wish theywould market more, because it is
like a fan friendly sport, butthey just you don't.
You don't see any commercialsfor it.
Dr Alec (02:45):
I didn't feel about some of those off leagues that
are popping up from the NFL.
There is the XFL.
Kris Cooke (02:51):
I'm all forward.
But again, this is business.
There's no better business interms of football than the NFL.
As far as advertisementmarketing, they they are a
monopoly, and outdoor footballat least.
So, if you know, I'm all forpeople getting opportunities to
play football and I'm sure fanswould love to see football more
(03:13):
frequently than just the NFLseason.
Dr Alec (03:15):
I would to be honest, but NFL is king right now.
Right Sunday's are for NFL.
Kris Cooke (03:20):
Of course yeah, and arena their seasons.
Don't like if arena got moremarketing the.
Nfl's more in the fall and endsin January.
February Arena starts inFebruary and goes into the end
of August, so you'd have yearround.
Dr Alec (03:35):
College football is not on at that time.
Yeah, there's a big slate therethat could be filled, yeah.
So, chris, you have this hugeexperience in football.
You've gone through manydifferent programs and whatnot
and now you're training clients.
How do you feel?
Like what you learned in thosemore professional, higher level
collegiate to training a generalpopulation type person fat loss
(03:57):
, all that kind of stuff.
How has that helped you?
Kris Cooke (04:00):
Oh well, I would say that training an athlete is a
lot more in depth than training.
You know just general goals,general population.
So the fact that you, if youknow how to train a professional
and collegiate athlete, thendialing it back, you have so
many tools from training thosepeople that it's just all you
(04:23):
have to do is just dial it backSure.
Dr Alec (04:25):
You find that the principles are essentially the
same, it's just speed, intensity, the tools you use are
different.
Kris Cooke (04:32):
Well, with athletes, a lot of the times they want to
get bigger, stronger, faster,yeah, yeah, and speed is, you
know, it hinges on your quicktwitch muscle fibers.
Typically, I don't do a lot ofquick twitch muscle fiber
training with normal people,yeah, but the but, the
(04:52):
overarching goal for any of myclients is we're training the
Major muscle groups in your body, your muscles responsible for
movement.
So we're gonna put resistanceon it, train it, which will
improve a lot of things such asmovement speed, a
cardiovascular, flexibility, soon and so forth.
(05:14):
So that's just kind of.
Our main philosophy is to trainyour muscles, big muscle groups
, big muscle groups, yes so,chris, top three.
Dr Alec (05:26):
If you were to named the top three things you could
give someone this year ifthey're on this new year's
resolution to get healthierFitter, what would they be?
Kris Cooke (05:35):
I would say number one set clear, concise,
attainable, realistic goals.
Love that right.
So you know Long term,something that you can be
consistent with for the rest ofyour life, because you have your
body for the rest of your life,if your body composition and
(05:56):
your overall health.
Set goals that you can dosomething consistently to attain
them.
And for fun, if you want to setshort-term goals to kind of
motivate you to get started onthose long term Absolutely so.
That'll be number one.
Number two I would try to figureout a plan to accommodate the
(06:21):
things that you can control inyour life that would aid you
hitting those goals, such asdiet.
What kind of diet can I sustainfor those long-term goals?
What kind of Plan can I havefor sleep?
You know, we know we need sevento nine hours of sleep.
How can I get that?
Maybe I'd get a span of threehours and then I take a nap here
(06:44):
.
Whatever it needs to be donewater Hydration, proper
hydration how, what kind of plando I need in place to get
proper hydration?
Management of stress so thethings that you can control.
That's not going to cost you anarm and a leg to fulfill.
So and then the third thingwould be I would say you Hmm,
(07:10):
that's a the third thing.
Those, those two things knockit out.
But the third thing I would sayis find a place where you're
around people who have similargoals to yourself.
Even if you're at a commercialgym, at Planet Fitness, or if,
let's say, you're a businessowner and you don't have time to
Think and whip up a workout foryourself, find a personal
(07:33):
trainer and be around people whoare going to motivate you to
attain your goals.
Dr Alec (07:40):
There's that famous saying that you are the
combination of the five peopleyou spend the most time with.
Exactly a few of them happen tobe Healthy, fit individuals
like your trainer, yourdietitian, nutritionist,
whatever it is.
You're setting yourself up forsuccess, exactly community is a
big part of it.
Yeah, you do a bit of personaltraining, but you do a lot of
small group training to you.
(08:00):
How, how has that worked foryou guys and your clients?
Kris Cooke (08:03):
I honestly think that.
So we call them semi-privatesemi-private Because you're
you're getting a private, you'regetting private or personal
training in a semi-privatesetting.
What do I mean by that?
I mean that Each individualthat comes in our gym is going
to get first to get anevaluation.
(08:24):
Your first session is free andwe're gonna evaluate what your
limitations are, what your goalsare, what medications you take,
what diseases or our healtheffects you have, so I can
better accommodate you as anindividual.
However, most people unlessyou're, you know your post
(08:46):
surgery don't need me to be ontop of them at all times Sure
you sitting down and doing acable row, I don't need to hold
you the whole time unless you,you know you are completely
unfamiliar with your body andhave zero proprioception, mm-hmm
, so semi-private.
What it does to benefit bothparties is financial right.
(09:10):
So a private, typically onaverage, is what?
$80 to $100 an hour, whereassemi-private sweet, we charge
$50 an hour.
So you still get a personalworkout, but you're working
amongst a smaller group ofpeople, maxed out at four.
So all the differences, I'll go.
(09:31):
Hey, alec, I need you to do latpulldowns for three sets of 12.
Hey, john, I need you to goover here and do bicep curls for
four sets of 12.
And then I'm just, I'm righthere watching you and if I need
to step in, I will sure.
So it keeps the cost down forthe individual and and if you
max out a group, it justbenefits us financially too.
Dr Alec (09:53):
What would that look like in terms of, let's say,
sally or Joe come to you whenthey want to do that type of
training with you.
How many times a week?
Would that look like?
What are some of the specificsyou mean?
Kris Cooke (10:03):
as far as, like, what I recommend for people.
Yeah, it's personal, man.
It's personal when I evaluate,listen, man, I'm.
I honestly want to help peopleand so, knowing that in sales, I
am not going to BS you.
So if I see something duringyour free evaluation and you're
(10:25):
saying I want five days a week,but you never lifted weights
before, I'm gonna tell you hey,man, listen, you're gonna be
sore.
You may not even be soretomorrow, you may get delayed
onset muscle soreness two dayslater and it's gonna affect you
at your job, it's gonna affectyou at home.
So it's personal, it's gonna bewhat I see and what I think
(10:50):
would be best for you.
Because, again, it's not about,you know, I don't care about
money.
Yeah, you might pay me fivegrand this month and then you,
you know, burn out and then Inever see you again.
But it's not about that.
It's about Long-term success.
Maybe you start with one day aweek for a half hour, mm-hmm,
(11:13):
and put the ball in your court.
Let's see how you feel after amonth or two of doing one day a
week.
And then you could tell me hey,I need more.
Dr Alec (11:22):
Sure, so I rather you have Less and then build up than
to have too much and burn outpeople are always in a rush to
get to that place and,unfortunately, part of human
biology is things take time andconsistency and the amount of
you I'm sure you've seen itwhere people come in first of
the year and they're like sevendays a week, I want 12 workouts,
(11:45):
blah, blah, blah, right, andthey've gone in a few weeks.
Like you can educate themproperly, you wouldn't do this
for a year or twice a week.
You're gonna get way betterresults, right?
Is that something you've seen?
Kris Cooke (11:55):
you hit the nail on the head, man.
It's about education, it'sabout in it.
I started my business being awitness to what the the health
and wellness industry, the gymindustry.
There you can tell that peoplejust want to make monetary game.
They're not.
Their primary concern isn'tgetting people results, because
(12:19):
it's the right thing to do.
It's you know.
I need to hurry up and gettransformation picks, so I'm
gonna make them work out fivedays a week.
I'm gonna cut their calories to800 calories.
Well, you're setting them upfor for long-term failure, so
I'm.
It's about telling the truth.
The truth is out there, we knowthe truth, we've learned it
(12:40):
through science and,unfortunately, to be healthy, it
takes time and consistency, butthere's a gentle touch to it.
You don't need to work out aton, you don't need to slash
your calories.
You need to find a plan thatworks for your body that you can
sustain for the rest Of yourlife Absolutely the key to help
(13:01):
them on that right consistencyover time, exactly.
Welcome to Hercules Performance and Physical Therapy
podcast.
Today we have Kris Cooke ofPeak Performance in Vero Beach.
Welcome him to the show.
Kris Cooke (00:11):
It's going good, man , you know running a business is
tough , but it's a lot of fun.
Unofficially October 26, 2022.
Uh, we grand opened last year,2023 January 2nd.
Dr Alec (00:28):
Awesome.
How are you guys doing overthere?
Kris Cooke (00:29):
We're doing great, we're growing steady.
You know I'm not interested ingrowing too fast, just so we can
iron out the kinks and all that.
Just you know, take it on, youknow supply the demand
appropriately.
Dr Alec (00:42):
What type of people do you work with over there?
Kris Cooke (00:44):
Um, you know, uh, with with my experience, I could
train a six year old kid allthe way up to an 85 year old
with rods in their legs, so it'sjust kind of whoever comes in.
If they're willing to put inthe work, I'm willing to teach
them.
Dr Alec (01:00):
Do you?
Do you find that you guys sitmore at the performance side,
general health or a little bitof both?
Kris Cooke (01:06):
A little bit of both .
You know, we we get a lot of,um, high school and collegiate
athletes, sometimes pro athletes, Um, but we also just get, you
know, mothers and businessowners and just normal people,
so just kind of whoever comes in.
Again, if they they have goalsand they are willing to put the
work in, we're here to help themreach their people Awesome.
Dr Alec (01:28):
So you mentioned your experience in sports and whatnot
.
At the beginning of thatquestion there, what was your
experience?
What?
What was your background in allthis?
Kris Cooke (01:38):
So on high school I played football, baseball,
basketball, um wrestling, but um, as I got, you know, understood
that I was much better atfootball.
I played football Um.
I got a scholarship to NorthernIllinois University where I
played nose tackle Um.
(01:59):
I was previously, you know, alot of big girls 350 pounds.
At one point, Um I lost myscholarship at Northern Illinois
, went to Joliet junior college,got second team all American.
Got a scholarship to Purdueuniversity, got kicked out of
there, went back to NorthernIllinois, got my bachelor's
(02:20):
degree and then I played arenafootball for two years in
Georgia and Cleveland.
Dr Alec (02:25):
How was that?
Kris Cooke (02:26):
Oh, arena or college .
Arena.
Arena was a lot of fun.
It was a lot of fun and Ilearned a lot and uh, yeah, it's
it.
It's sad because I wish theywould market more, because it is
like a fan friendly sport, butthey just you don't.
You don't see any commercialsfor it.
Dr Alec (02:45):
I didn't feel about some of those off leagues that
are popping up from the NFL.
There is the XFL.
Kris Cooke (02:51):
I'm all forward.
But again, this is business.
There's no better business interms of football than the NFL.
As far as advertisementmarketing, they they are a
monopoly, and outdoor footballat least.
So, if you know, I'm all forpeople getting opportunities to
play football and I'm sure fanswould love to see football more
(03:13):
frequently than just the NFLseason.
Dr Alec (03:15):
I would to be honest, but NFL is king right now.
Right Sunday's are for NFL.
Kris Cooke (03:20):
Of course yeah, and arena their seasons.
Don't like if arena got moremarketing the.
Nfl's more in the fall and endsin January.
February Arena starts inFebruary and goes into the end
of August, so you'd have yearround.
Dr Alec (03:35):
College football is not on at that time.
Yeah, there's a big slate therethat could be filled, yeah.
So, chris, you have this hugeexperience in football.
You've gone through manydifferent programs and whatnot
and now you're training clients.
How do you feel?
Like what you learned in thosemore professional, higher level
collegiate to training a generalpopulation type person fat loss
(03:57):
, all that kind of stuff.
How has that helped you?
Kris Cooke (04:00):
Oh well, I would say that training an athlete is a
lot more in depth than training.
You know just general goals,general population.
So the fact that you, if youknow how to train a professional
and collegiate athlete, thendialing it back, you have so
many tools from training thosepeople that it's just all you
(04:23):
have to do is just dial it backSure.
Dr Alec (04:25):
You find that the principles are essentially the
same, it's just speed, intensity, the tools you use are
different.
Kris Cooke (04:32):
Well, with athletes, a lot of the times they want to
get bigger, stronger, faster,yeah, yeah, and speed is, you
know, it hinges on your quicktwitch muscle fibers.
Typically, I don't do a lot ofquick twitch muscle fiber
training with normal people,yeah, but the but, the
(04:52):
overarching goal for any of myclients is we're training the
Major muscle groups in your body, your muscles responsible for
movement.
So we're gonna put resistanceon it, train it, which will
improve a lot of things such asmovement speed, a
cardiovascular, flexibility, soon and so forth.
(05:14):
So that's just kind of.
Our main philosophy is to trainyour muscles, big muscle groups
, big muscle groups, yes so,chris, top three.
Dr Alec (05:26):
If you were to named the top three things you could
give someone this year ifthey're on this new year's
resolution to get healthierFitter, what would they be?
Kris Cooke (05:35):
I would say number one set clear, concise,
attainable, realistic goals.
Love that right.
So you know Long term,something that you can be
consistent with for the rest ofyour life, because you have your
body for the rest of your life,if your body composition and
(05:56):
your overall health.
Set goals that you can dosomething consistently to attain
them.
And for fun, if you want to setshort-term goals to kind of
motivate you to get started onthose long term Absolutely so.
That'll be number one.
Number two I would try to figureout a plan to accommodate the
(06:21):
things that you can control inyour life that would aid you
hitting those goals, such asdiet.
What kind of diet can I sustainfor those long-term goals?
What kind of Plan can I havefor sleep?
You know, we know we need sevento nine hours of sleep.
How can I get that?
Maybe I'd get a span of threehours and then I take a nap here
(06:44):
.
Whatever it needs to be donewater Hydration, proper
hydration how, what kind of plando I need in place to get
proper hydration?
Management of stress so thethings that you can control.
That's not going to cost you anarm and a leg to fulfill.
So and then the third thingwould be I would say you Hmm,
(07:10):
that's a the third thing.
Those, those two things knockit out.
But the third thing I would sayis find a place where you're
around people who have similargoals to yourself.
Even if you're at a commercialgym, at Planet Fitness, or if,
let's say, you're a businessowner and you don't have time to
Think and whip up a workout foryourself, find a personal
(07:33):
trainer and be around people whoare going to motivate you to
attain your goals.
Dr Alec (07:40):
There's that famous saying that you are the
combination of the five peopleyou spend the most time with.
Exactly a few of them happen tobe Healthy, fit individuals
like your trainer, yourdietitian, nutritionist,
whatever it is.
You're setting yourself up forsuccess, exactly community is a
big part of it.
Yeah, you do a bit of personaltraining, but you do a lot of
small group training to you.
(08:00):
How, how has that worked foryou guys and your clients?
Kris Cooke (08:03):
I honestly think that.
So we call them semi-privatesemi-private Because you're
you're getting a private, you'regetting private or personal
training in a semi-privatesetting.
What do I mean by that?
I mean that Each individualthat comes in our gym is going
to get first to get anevaluation.
(08:24):
Your first session is free andwe're gonna evaluate what your
limitations are, what your goalsare, what medications you take,
what diseases or our healtheffects you have, so I can
better accommodate you as anindividual.
However, most people unlessyou're, you know your post
(08:46):
surgery don't need me to be ontop of them at all times Sure
you sitting down and doing acable row, I don't need to hold
you the whole time unless you,you know you are completely
unfamiliar with your body andhave zero proprioception, mm-hmm
, so semi-private.
What it does to benefit bothparties is financial right.
(09:10):
So a private, typically onaverage, is what?
$80 to $100 an hour, whereassemi-private sweet, we charge
$50 an hour.
So you still get a personalworkout, but you're working
amongst a smaller group ofpeople, maxed out at four.
So all the differences, I'll go.
(09:31):
Hey, alec, I need you to do latpulldowns for three sets of 12.
Hey, john, I need you to goover here and do bicep curls for
four sets of 12.
And then I'm just, I'm righthere watching you and if I need
to step in, I will sure.
So it keeps the cost down forthe individual and and if you
max out a group, it justbenefits us financially too.
Dr Alec (09:53):
What would that look like in terms of, let's say,
sally or Joe come to you whenthey want to do that type of
training with you.
How many times a week?
Would that look like?
What are some of the specificsyou mean?
Kris Cooke (10:03):
as far as, like, what I recommend for people.
Yeah, it's personal, man.
It's personal when I evaluate,listen, man, I'm.
I honestly want to help peopleand so, knowing that in sales, I
am not going to BS you.
So if I see something duringyour free evaluation and you're
(10:25):
saying I want five days a week,but you never lifted weights
before, I'm gonna tell you hey,man, listen, you're gonna be
sore.
You may not even be soretomorrow, you may get delayed
onset muscle soreness two dayslater and it's gonna affect you
at your job, it's gonna affectyou at home.
So it's personal, it's gonna bewhat I see and what I think
(10:50):
would be best for you.
Because, again, it's not about,you know, I don't care about
money.
Yeah, you might pay me fivegrand this month and then you,
you know, burn out and then Inever see you again.
But it's not about that.
It's about Long-term success.
Maybe you start with one day aweek for a half hour, mm-hmm,
(11:13):
and put the ball in your court.
Let's see how you feel after amonth or two of doing one day a
week.
And then you could tell me hey,I need more.
Dr Alec (11:22):
Sure, so I rather you have Less and then build up than
to have too much and burn outpeople are always in a rush to
get to that place and,unfortunately, part of human
biology is things take time andconsistency and the amount of
you I'm sure you've seen itwhere people come in first of
the year and they're like sevendays a week, I want 12 workouts,
(11:45):
blah, blah, blah, right, andthey've gone in a few weeks.
Like you can educate themproperly, you wouldn't do this
for a year or twice a week.
You're gonna get way betterresults, right?
Is that something you've seen?
Kris Cooke (11:55):
you hit the nail on the head, man.
It's about education, it'sabout in it.
I started my business being awitness to what the the health
and wellness industry, the gymindustry.
There you can tell that peoplejust want to make monetary game.
They're not.
Their primary concern isn'tgetting people results, because
(12:19):
it's the right thing to do.
It's you know.
I need to hurry up and gettransformation picks, so I'm
gonna make them work out fivedays a week.
I'm gonna cut their calories to800 calories.
Well, you're setting them upfor for long-term failure, so
I'm.
It's about telling the truth.
The truth is out there, we knowthe truth, we've learned it
(12:40):
through science and,unfortunately, to be healthy, it
takes time and consistency, butthere's a gentle touch to it.
You don't need to work out aton, you don't need to slash
your calories.
You need to find a plan thatworks for your body that you can
sustain for the rest Of yourlife Absolutely the key to help
(13:01):
them on that right consistencyover time, exactly.
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