This past week I had the chance to review Nick Tumminello’s Joint Friendly Strength Training DVDs and I wanted to drop a review to let you all know what I thought.  Before I say anything though, I also want to state that Nick Tumminello is a total class act in this industry and I wish more guys and gals were like him.

.

He not only takes in the theoretical information, but then transforms it into great exercises and programs leaving me (and probably a lot of others) scratching our heads and saying “why didn’t I think of that”.  He is a true innovator and a model representative for what I think this profession should be.  That said, I would never endorse a product that I didn’t have faith in so you can rest assured that my opinion of this product is 100% legit.

.

This first DVD starts off with Nick talking a little bit about why he created the joint friendly training philisophy which highlights the fact that the exercise variations presented in the 2 DVD set are not geared towards correcting joint pain, but to allowing you to continue gaining power, strength, and size while working around specific joint issues.  You can obviously still be working to improve joint issues (in fact, you probably should), but this product is aimed at those who still want a kick ass workout while dealing with nagging aches and pains.

.

After the brief into I pretty much expected the DVD to go into a scripted narration of each exercise (which is fine by me), but instead Nick stays center frame and continues to demonstrate exercises one after one almost as though he’s having a conversation with you.  It truth, it reminds me very much of times when I’m training a client and I’m saying “That hurts?  Let’s try this.  That hurts too?  Let’s do this instead.”  In essence, Nick walks you through a serious of exercise options for each potential joint issue that you could possibly have as though he was actually training you around an injury.

.

The exercises themselves are broken up into sections for knee pain, back pain, shoulder pain, wrist pain, and so on.  I especially liked that Nick broke down the exercises for dealing with back pain into sub categories for flexion, extension, and rotation intolerant people so you’ll pretty much know which ones are most apt to work in a given situation.  I also liked the stuff for dealing with wrists as this is a limitation that happens with athletes or those who work with their hands quite often (as well as those with carpal tunnell from being a desk jockey).  This breakdown by body part would also be cool if you’re only looking for exercises for an injury you have and don’t want to watch the whole 2 hours of video.

.

All in all, I have to say that I really enjoyed the relatively unscripted (or at least seemingly relaxed) style of the DVDs.  This surprised me because I’m usually one for structure and letting someone just run through categories of exercises could result in a disasterous product for many.  In Nick’s case, I think it was actually one of the strengths.  I was watching and thinking “holy crap dude, slow down with the ideas” as I scribbled on my note pad.  It made it feel like Nick was in my livingroom bombarding me with exercies options and progressions.

My final analysis is that if you’re a trainee suffering from nagging joint injuries then Nick’s product is definitely worth having so you can continue getting bigger, stronger, and leaner (yep…there is a conditioning section too) while dealing with your injuries.  Moreover, if you’re a coach or trainer I think this product is equally as valuable as it will give you loads (I wrote two pages front and back) of exercises for working with clients with various issues so you can continue to bring the results.  Note that I’m not saying you shouldn’t address the issues themselves, but Nick’s product will definitely allow you to maintain the training stimulus while you do.

.

In the end, I have to agree with Kanye.  Nick’s product is top notch and I definitely give it two hypertrophied thumbs up.  If you’re interested you can pick it up HERE. 

.

(Note that the link above is not an affiliate link and I don’t make a dime off of this product)

.