Trusting the training and advice from your coach is a key component to your success in athletics.  Even when our girls didn’t understand why they were doing something they did it because Coach told them too.  The Metabolic Training provided the girls core training that they loved attending each week.  Not one complaint about “having” to work out again!  They shared with us what they were doing during their training and how they were improving with each training session.  As a parent when your child is excited about training you get excited too!  We are pleased not only with the physical benefits that we have seen but also the quality of the training and how this training helps prevent injuries for our girls. 

Ken and Shaila Swartz

I have better posture, balance and more energy because of my TRX training.  I am excited to go and workout to improve myself.

Molly Swartz, age 12

I highly recommend joining Coach Bird’s metabolic training group.  He is always concerned with having injury free runners and finds different ways to increase the core strength, flexibility, and balance needed to be an effective runner.  My daughter has done the TRX program and her running form has improved greatly, along with her stamina.  She was a fairly strong runner before, but had constant, nagging injuries, which restricted her range of motion.  The combination of exercises done in the program has helped her to achieve injury-free running for the first time in 3 years (while running faster, too!).  I have seen a big improvement in all of the runners-from the first night of barely being able to balance on one leg and having to do knee pushups, to being able to do the routine themselves without assistance.

Kristi Rhodes

Running on “Team Bird” has helped me through other sports like cross country, track & field, and softball. At first, I was one of those people who just wanted to stay in shape. Then I met Coach Gary L. Bird. Some say he’s crazy about what he does. He’s the one who guides you through all the things you want to accomplish, and for me that was running. In the beginning, when I was going to enter the 6th grade I wanted to be on the cross country team. I didn’t think I was going to be good enough though. I trained as hard as I could. My goal was to be as fast as Molly Swartz, and Delaine Bame. Coach gave me training schedules and goals, when I started getting better and more into it. Running hooked me! I learned more about how to breathe better while running, to pump my arms to go faster, and to look straight ahead to stay in a straight line.

He taught me everything there was to know about running. That’s when I started entering in qualifying meets with super fast runners.

 After a couple months, coach “invented” this thing called Metabolic Training using body weight & TRX suspension systems. This helped us runners get stronger in the gut (so we wouldn’t get side stitches), thighs (so we wouldn’t pull anything), and upper and lower part of our body (so we’d run smooth or glide). Metabolic training has built me better and stronger, for example, running around the bases for softball.

 Metabolic Suspension training is hard but it makes me be a better runner…..Thanks Coach.

 Bridgette Yoder

 7th Grader

Metabolic Training has helped me a lot through running. It has made me stronger and more athletic. Also it has made me a better athlete in other sports like softball and basketball. Metabolic training is hard for me and many would agree, but it allows good results.

    At first I didn’t really understand how some of the training would help us, but it turned out couch was right, it would help us a lot. The next couple weeks I was paying close attention to my running journal and my times were getting faster…So now I’m still doing Metabolic Training and my times are still improving! Someday I hope you can find your niche, cause I found mine!!!

 sincerely,

 carmen yoder

5th grader