Four weeks ago was SWIS 2022. For those who don’t know, SWIS was started by Ken Kenakin of Toronto, Canada—going back in the late ’90s with presenters Dave Tate, Wendler, Johnson, Yates, Haney, Serrano, Kaz, Coan, Charles P, and so many others. The purpose of SWIS is to bring together all of the best information from the PT world, chiro world, powerlifting, bodybuilding, and coaching world in a one-weekend symposium.

So, Ria, being the great trooper she is, and I took the 12hr drive to Columbus, Ohio, and made a run road trip out of it from North Florida, through Ga, SC, NC, VA, WV, and finally out of the mountains to Ohio! I’ve made this trip four times and genuinely enjoy the route, especially in the fall. I’m done with flying (when I can avoid it) and the crazy people that come with it, so I’d rather be in control of when I arrive, especially in this climate.

The last SWIS was in 2018; as we know, 2020 and 2021 were unique years. The last time I spoke at a conference was in 2019, and I was extremely excited when I was invited to speak at this one. Ken asked me to talk about Back Pain and deadlifting. As this is something I communicate daily with clients, it presented a fantastic opportunity to share what I see every day with clients. “The most common reasons I see people with back pain (concerning the deadlift) are lousy technique, poor programming/exercise selection, and poor core training.”

My talk provided the attendees, as a show of hands, proved that most of them were, in fact, coaches themselves; Coaches can resolve much of this via proper coaching, but you can’t teach what you don’t know. So my goal was to help educate those in attendance on how to avoid the most common issues I see daily.

I am blessed to have a packed room, with every seat filled and no standing space left. I got a lot of good feedback on my talk and what people learned during this time. After my talk, we had 7 minutes to assess a person with back pain and troubleshoot. I have attached the video above for you to watch. Admittedly, I felt a little frantic and wanted to cover everything, though you cannot!

I spoke with attendees in the hallway, the bar, and the bathroom all weekend. Unfortunately, I said so much during the weekend that I lost my voice; between my talk and being on the rehab panel Saturday, I lost my voice for about two weeks. My voice was a complete mess.

At the end of the weekend, I was honored, along with about 12 other speakers, with the SWIS lifetime achievement award for my work in lifting, coaching, teaching, and helping others. I had no idea this would happen, and neither did the rest of the group. I am grateful—no other words.

I want to Thank Dave, Traci Tate, and all of Elitefts for their support over the years. Ken Kenakin for his belief and allowing me to be a part of SWIS and speak at such an event. Thank you to my wife, Ria, for coming with me and helping me organize my talk and the behind-the-scenes preparation for just a couple of hours of work. And thank you to all of you who chose to come to my room. Thank you!

PS – It is so awesome hanging out with everyone, meeting new people, and seeing greats like Serrano, Coan, Kaz, etc. I do enjoy these weekends and cannot wait for the next SWIS, especially when Kaz gives you a neck massage.