Body Balance

“My mission is to explore, develop and advance training and conditioning techniques that build a solid platform for athletic success, and to empower athletes to train with a balanced approach that will extend their athletic longevity.” – Coach Kaehler, three-time U.S. Olympian, four-time world champion rower.

Coach Kaehler’s principles of Body Balance is an innovative approach to helping athletes achieve the ideal combination of strength and flexibility for maximum power and efficiency in their chosen activity. Developed over a period of nearly two decades as a physical therapist and strength and conditioning consultant, the system has been successfully used on hundreds of athletes of all levels to improve their performance, and significantly reduce their risk of injuries.

“Body Balance creates a stable and efficient ‘operating system’.”

IDEAL FOR THOSE WHO:

Want to improve their rowing strength and Power!
Want to identify, understand, and correct strength and flexibility imbalances!
Want to eliminate chronic training related pain
Failed to get better (pain) using traditional medical treatment methods

Individual Evaluation (90 minutes) – $399 - One-on-one evaluation with private corrective exercise instruction following your evaluation

Team/Group Evaluations – (email for pricing) - one-on-one evaluation with group corrective exercise instruction

Background

As an elite athlete, Bob Kaehler trained with several of the world’s leading rowing coaches including Igor Grinko, Mike Spracklen and Mike Teti. While Kaehler was able to remain injury-free during his 10 years training on the U.S. national team as an open-weight rower, he observed a consistent and almost alarming 25% of his teammates suffered from chronic injuries. Unable and often unwilling to take time off of training, most athletes trained through their injuries. In these situations, their bodies’ made “compensatory movements,” which not only aggravated the original injury, but also stressed other parts of the body and lead to further injuries.

The bottom-line was clear: injuries became chronic, and greatly impaired the athlete’s ability to perform their activity to their potential.

“By applying my Principles of Body Balance to their own routines, athletes don’t have to settle for “pushing through” an injury – a common practice that leads to more frustration and aggravated injuries.”

Years later, as physical therapist, Kaehler noticed similar trends and tendencies among athletic patients from a broad range of sports. Furthermore, many of these patients had exhausted a variety of conventional treatments, and were still dealing with recurring injuries. Combining his cumulative experience as a physical therapist, elite athlete, and strength conditioning expert, Coach Kaehler developed a system that took an alternative approach to addressing an athlete’s injury. This approach became the foundation of Coach Kaehler’s Body- Balanced system.

“Athletes are usually aware they have an imbalances. They just don’t know what their imbalances are.”

Coach Kaehler now applies these principles to his evaluations of musculoskeletal systems to determine where imbalances exist – areas where muscles are weak and inflexible. Based on his findings, he develops an easy-to-follow program of corrective exercises for athletes to integrate into their own training programs. Using this body-balanced approach, athletes build a solid foundation, and actively participate in their recovery.

The benefits of working to approach an ‘ideal’ body balance are two-fold:

Athletes recover from often recurring injuries.
Athletes regain confidence in their abilities and often achieve better-than-ever results from their activities.

How do I know I have Body Balance deficiencies?

Do you have recurring overuse injuries that fail to respond to traditional medical treatment?
Do you have recurring pain that prevents you from performing certain activities related to your favorite sports?
Can you perform a 90 degree squat (thighs parallel to the ground” with proper form and no need of assistance?
Are you unable to get into proper rowing position?
Do you adjust your equipment to compensate for a lack of mobility and strength?

If you answer ‘yes’ to any of these questions, you may be experiencing the tell-tale signs of body balance deficiencies.

What clients are saying:“Using Bob’s approach, I felt myself becoming fitter, better coordinated and less prone to injuries. It’s now the program I use to work out with my elite lightweight rowers at Pocock.” – Bryan Volpenhein, Olympic and world champion rower

“6 months into (Coach Kaehler’s program), I have achieved results that I hadn’t seen since 2000. There is no better investment for a Masters Athlete who wants to improve their game.” – Jamie Koven, world champion rower, 1x, 8+

“As a strength and conditioning coach, I am inspired by Coach Kaehler’s knowledge of muscle imbalances and how he is changing the way coaches train their athletes.” – Patrick Rufo, Head Coach, Penn AC Gold

Coach Kaehler’s clients include:

US Women’s National Team, 2009 – 2010
US Men’s 2008 Eight Rowing Team, Beijing – Bronze Medal Winners
US Men’s 2008 Four Rowing Team, Lucerne World Cup – Bronze Medal Winners
University of California (CAL), Berkeley- Men’s Varsity Crew Team
Northeastern University, Women’s Rowing Team
Harvard University, Men’s LW and Women’s Team
Michael Stolper, 2008, 2009 – Head of the Charles Gold Medal Winner
Pocock Rowing Center, Seattle, WA – Elite Lightweight Men and Women
St. Joseph’s Preparatory School – Men’s Varsity Crew Team
Penn AC Gold –2010 Competitive six week Junior Rowing Camp
Vesper Boat Club – Elite Team
St. Joseph’s University – Varsity Women’s Team
Temple University – Men’s and Women’s Teams

Coach Kaehler’s Body-Balanced Services

Now, you too can experience the benefits of Coach Kaehler’s Principles of Body Balance first-hand through a variety of his programs.

Body Balance Structural Evaluations (90 minute individual sessions)

Body Balance enables athletes to row more powerfully and avoid injury by shifting stresses of the rowing stroke away from the low back and other joints, toward proper support muscles. Coach Kaehler’s 90 minute one-on-one Body Balance evaluations help athletes understand and correct their specific flexibility and strength imbalances to achieve a longer, more powerful and balanced rowing stroke. These sessions are followed by a personalized program of easy-to-follow exercises that address and correct the athlete’s structural issues.

Use this simple, but highly effective system to improve your performance and enjoy rowing to your potential.

Click “Body Balance” for more details

UPCOMING EVENTS: (Go to Camps and Clinics page for more details)

San Fransisco Bay Area- January 28-29, 2011

Washington DC/Virginia Area - scheduling now

Body Balance Presentation
Coach Kaehler’s signature presentation on anatomy and structural imbalances includes a detailed explanation of how these imbalances affect rowing and lifting performance. This presentation also outlines the bio-mechanics of strength training and rowing, and explains how specific strength training techniques can improve rowing performance by helping restore body balance.

Strength Training for Rowers Clinic

This all-day clinic will help you better understand how Body Balance is essential to achieving athletic success in rowing. Learn how to identify and easily correct common rowing imbalances and improve your rowing performance. Then, learn how to apply Body Balance principles to your strength training program to make it far more effective. Designed to reduce strength and flexibility-related weaknesses, a Body Balanced conditioning program restores optimal conditions that will dramatically reduce your rate of injuries.

This clinic sets a strong foundation for effective strength training programs, and removes the myths concerning its safety.

This hands-on, intensive clinic includes:

Morning Power Point Presentation: Outlines anatomy and structural imbalances as they relate to rowing, as well as detailed information on how imbalances effect rowing and lifting performance
Afternoon Power Point Presentation: Outlines the biomechanics of strength training and rowing, and how specific strength training techniques can improve rowing performance by helping to restore body balance.
Strength Training: Hands-on review of bio-mechanics and correct lifting techniques in the gym. With class participation, Coach Kaehler explains key points, and demonstrates safe and effective exercise instruction.
Hands-on Instruction: Coach Kaehler shows how to identify an athlete’s inflexibility, and explains why it will limit rowing performance.
Hands-on Instruction: How to perform basic stretching techniques that improve rowing mobility and performance.
Participation on the Ergometer and Weights: Coach Kaehler demonstrates specific exercises that directly link strength training to the rowing stroke.

Each participant receives a copy of Coach Kaehler’s comprehensive Power Point presentation.

Conditioning and Training Programs

Coach Kaehler offers a variety of programs that integrate his Principles of Body Balance. For more information on available programs, please use the contact page or email Coach Kaehler directly at coachkaehler at gmail.com.

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