Billy Corbett, Railyard Master Trainer explains his use of the Railyard Obstacle Course when training youth athletes. My name is Billy Corbett from RetroFIT Training Center and Athletic Revolution Central Denver. I want to talk to you today about something I truly believe can help transform the way you work with your young athletes and adults alike. Actually it s more about the way you work with all humans when it comes to movement. I have been using the Railyard at my training center for the past 6 years and it continues to be the most popular piece of equipment in our training center. When a piece of equipment like this comes along and it has the popularity and fun factor that your clientèle express you have to give it more than ONE look. That’s what I did with my athletes and clients and we’ve been more than satisfied with it. If you’re like me you want to give your clients the best possible experience each time they walk through your doors. If you’re like me you’ll ALSO want to make sure the experience was something that was useful AND informative! And as a business owner you have to find product’s that are durable, can be used by many and has very a long life expectancy. That’s why I recently became a spokes person for Railyard Fitness. AND I really want you to take a look at the Railyard training system and see how this multipurpose unit is so adaptable to the needs of your clients. We have used the Railyard on every population we train here at RF/AR and Ill have to say it is our athletic groups and our youth groups that love ALL the RY can do. They actually like being a part of the schematic layout planning and the program design that they will in turn be following. We have found it to be a great team building exercise because we have such a variety of kids that are in the group. When your coaching style is focused on being outcome based then the Railyard becomes an even better tool because it allows the kids to be creative in what THEY want to do. We all know that The human body was created with the ability to climb, lunge, squat, bend, twist, pull and push and move across the earth. We call these primal movement patterns and since they are the way the body is supposed to move then they should be in your clients training program. One of the areas where WE as a collective fitness coaching group gets stuck is in the area that discusses the train-ability of kids. While there is still much disagreement on the acute program variables like training load, speed of movements, recovery time and intensities…. It’s rather hard to argue that teaching people how to move using their primal movement patterns and that teaching them to control their OWN bodyweight will benefit everyone! Another problem with the methods of the train-ability of kids is that: Today--Most kids train or exercise in only 1 or 2 dimensions or planes of motion. Their physical conditioning is usually restricted to what they can do on a rectangular field with boundaries. That may work for some in the short term but to transform the way we really help our clients improve you have to do several things: 1. Follow the natural intuition of the body and incorporate it into a workable plan. 2. Find something that has enough variety that it will engage the brain and challenge the body 3. Do something that will be perceived as fun- I’ve found the Railyard does all of that and then some- Exercising or (playing) on the RY allows you to overcome different challenges that just don’t exist with other forms of fitness. As the body moves through space - muscles are constantly adapting to its position relative to gravity and its surroundings so to add the dimension of verticality you have upped the ante on stimulus. It does this by utilizing 3 sensory inputs. 1. Vision- optical input from the eyes 2. vestibular –inner ear 3. Somatosensory-feedback from the sense organs in muscles and tendons For example, when you watch one of the kids look at and judge the height of one of the higher rails and figure out a way to maneuver over or under it you see their vision playing an important role. OR Utilizing the Uneven half moon surface that the Railyard offers is very good for improving sense of balance and will obviously work your muscles differently than walking or running on flat ground. Far to few people incorporate balance in their routine but you can get significant Injury prevention just due to balance training Most of us have been conditioned to stay on the ground and just use our feet as a form of locomotion but we are capable of doing so much more while using our entire body. It seems More stability and control over our bodies is what we are looking for when it comes to training our clients and if we want to have the MOST stability and control over our bodies, we need to train balance on our feet and on our hands… AND all this is easily accomplished on the Railyard. The Railyard allows you to deliver so much more to your clients in less time and for more people at one time. And Each time we learn a new skill the brain gets excited and IF it’s a pleasurable experience it wants to try it again and again. - So there are Many mechanisms of human movement at work while playing on the RY - The potential the Railyard offers for creativity in designing your program, it’s versatility and durability and most importantly it’s ability to generate fun should be something … you naturally want to learn more about. - 6 years ago That’s what I did and I haven’t regretted it one minute.