Welcome to the High-Performance Toolkit.
This page will contain resources, links, and products that will augment your High-Performance journey.
If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to reach out and ask.
First Things First: The Essentials
Water Bottle
Hydration is paramount to performance. You should be drinking purified water from a filtration device. You’ll want to have a reliable, durable water bottle on hand so that once you form a habit of keeping it with you you’ll never forget.
Recommendation: I use a 32oz Stainless Steel Insulated bottle from Purist. It’s heavy duty so will last a long time, has a convenient carrying handle (+ multiple lid options), and most importantly uses a glass-like (silicon dioxide) interior for easy cleaning and 0 contamination.
While the serious training occurs in the gym, improvement doesn’t stop there. You’ll need to incorporate routines at home to get the most out of your program. This includes stretching, corrective exercises, or mobility drills and will be specifically assigned for you. Being diligent about completing your routine at home ensures that we can make the best use of our time in the gym.
Recommendation: These things don’t have to be fancy. The basics work extremely well. You’ll want to pick-up a foam roller, stretching strap, floor mat, and balance pad to make sure you have everything you need to continue making progress at home.
Note: There are hundreds of viable floor mat options. I personally use a Manduka Yoga Mat, so that is what I will recommend here. Feel free to find a mat that is to your liking. For a top-of-the-line balance pad, go with an Airex Pad.
Home-Fitness Equipment
Footwear
When you start an exercise program we want to make sure you are using the right tools for the job. Your feet are the first interaction your body has with the ground and any shoe that inhibits this connection will also inhibit the quality of your movement. You wouldn’t wear basketball shoes on a football field and you wouldn’t wear bowling shoes while running. Your training shoes should be training shoes. You should select footwear based on FUNCTION first, then durability, and then fashion.
I have done extensive research to provide recommendations for quality shoes that meet the criteria for proper training shoes. While the preferred shoe will change depending on the type of training you are doing, these qualities will more or less hold true:
0 heel-drop to maintain biomechanical alignment
Minimal padding and cushion to improve feeling of the ground
Wide toe-box to allow for splaying of the toes
A flexible sole for unrestricted motion
Not sure what type of training you’ll be doing as part of the High-Performance Program? No problem, just ask me!
Start viewing your footwear as a piece of necessary equipment to execute your training. You wouldn’t expect to be as productive with a flip-phone nor would a 1996 macintosh be conducive to maximizing efficiency, so don’t expect to have 1 pair of training shoes to “do it all”. It is likely you’ll eventually need to get different shoes for different purposes, and that’s exactly how it should be.
My #1 recommended shoe is the XERO PRIO for both MEN & WOMAN!
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The Xero Prio is an extremely light, versatile shoe with slightly more cushion than either the Vivo or Inov-8, but with less material allowing still for full movement. The sock-liner can be removed for greater ground feel.
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The VivoBarefoot Primus Lite Knit is a quality shoe that meets all of our criteria. They’re comfortable and allow for unrestricted movement in the gym for all non- or low-impact exercise.
For a 15% discount: After you’ve added the item to your bag, before you checkout select ‘View Bag’ and then click ‘Been referred by a friend?’ enter code “Train Like a Pro”
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The Inov-8 BARE-XF 210 V3 are a great minimalist shoe that meets all my standards with a lighter, more flexible, and slightly (1-2mm) more cushion than the VivoBarefoots.
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VivoBarefoot’s Motus Strength shoes offer greater stability and support for mixed-use cross training that will hold up to more intense movements compared to the low-intensity shoes.
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The Nike Metcon’s are must-haves for high-intensity training that includes jumping, olympic weightlifting, and plyometrics.
FOR MEN
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The Xero Prio is an extremely light, versatile shoe with slightly more cushion than either the Vivo or Inov-8, but with less material allowing still for full movement. The sock-liner can be removed for greater ground feel.
-
The VivoBarefoot Primus Lite Knit is a quality shoe that meets all of our criteria. They’re comfortable and allow for unrestricted movement in the gym for all non- or low-impact exercise.
For a 15% discount: After you’ve added the item to your bag, before you checkout select ‘View Bag’ and then click ‘Been referred by a friend?’ enter code “Train Like a Pro”
-
The Inov-8 BARE-XF 210 V3 are a great minimalist shoe that meets all my standards with a lighter, more flexible, and slightly (1-2mm) more cushion than the VivoBarefoots.
-
The Nike Metcon’s are must-haves for high-intensity training that includes jumping, olympic weightlifting, and plyometrics.
FOR WOMEN
The Advanced Athlete
The following are products that will give you a greater edge in your performance and can be valuable when used correctly. Check with me to make sure these tools are applicable for your program and that they will be of use.
If we’re doing advanced training or structured endurance training, you’ll need an accurate, reliable heart rate monitor. Understanding your body’s response to stress is crucial for developing a tailored program that can achieve your goals.
Recommendation: The Polar H10 Heart Rate Monitor is an industry standard, top of the line chest-strap heart rate monitor. It has been validated against medical grade ECG’s and will last for a long time. Their support is also great should any problems arise.
Heart Rate Monitor
Bands
Slingshot Hip-Circle
Hip-Circle Lite
Following are recommended brands based on quality. Mini-bands break, it’s ok, you can get more.
Hip Circle Bands: these are for band-walks and other lower-body resisted movements (bridges, squats)
Mini-Bands: these are for more upper body progressions, can be used for lower body (ankles) in certain movements
Monster Bands: these 41” bands are great to have for a huge selection of exercises and unique variations. The orange, red are great to just always have, while the blue and green are for greater resistance, mobilizations, and the green, black, and purple are thick suitable for band-resisted movements like resisted sprints or agility drills.
Monster Bands
Physioball
A potent, versatile piece of exercise equipment for all athletic goals is a phsyioball - AKA exercise ball AKA swiss ball.
Recommendation: Gold Standard is Duraball, a professional quality manufacturer in Australia who produces top-of-the-line physioballs that are burst-resistance up to 4000 static kg and 500kg dynamically over time. They are excellent choices that will last a long time when taken care of appropriately. A vital key is making sure they are inflated properly!
