Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Gregory Mack. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Gregory thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Was there a moment in your career that meaningfully altered your trajectory? If so, we’d love to hear the backstory.

In regard to my career path, there were three moments that shaped my practice choice of working with individuals suffering from medical conditions who could use exercise to help them.

1. I attended a conference in 1991 where I sat in on a presentation that was sharing recent research on what the aging population wanted from their health care and one key thing that showed up was that they wanted their medical and fitness care highly coordinated between providers.

2. My first job in the exercise and fitness industry exposed me to an individual who was coming to the gym in a wheelchair. Up to that point I had been around able-bodied individuals in mainly athletic settings. I was so amazed and impressed to see this individual use the exercise and equipment and really enjoy the process. They expressed how much it helped them both physically and emotionally.

3. Early in my career I worked with a forward-thinking chiropractic and medical clinic where I learned more about disease, rehabilitation, and how to use a variety of modalities to help people get better.

THis led me to research and write a business plan for my company Physicians Fitness which intentionally worked to bring exercise and fitness processes into medical settings. THis led to the development of the educational courses offered through Exercise PRofessional Education sharing how to set up and practice with this population and setting.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

As Founder and CEO, Greg’s vision for Exercise Professional Education were shaped over 28 years ago while working as a lay assistant to physicians in a sports medicine clinic. It was during this tenure that he noticed the unfortunate reality that most of the patients of the clinic were there as a result of poor physical conditioning. He observed that the patient base consisted of individuals who would return to the clinic for treatment of re-injury to a problem area, or the development of new symptoms, due to compensation patterns created by the original pathophysiology. The medical and chiropractic staff encouraged these patients to participate in exercise and fitness programs but did not have the time or resources to effectively assess, develop, and implement a safe, individualized exercise plan to improve their muscle function and health. That’s when he decided to start Physicians Fitness (www.physiciansfitness.com) Since then Greg is also a co-founder and partner in the Muscle System Consortia LLC, (www.musclesystemconsortia.com) an education and research company dedicated to creating and teaching a more mature and comprehensive understanding of the dynamic nature of skeletal muscle and its influence on the other body systems in order to appreciate its vital contribution to lifelong human health and performance, ultimately changing the world’s perspective on its care, use, and maintenance.

His experience in working in such diverse venues as community gyms and medical practices enhanced his awareness of the wide gulf that exists between the medical community and fitness facilities, particularly for those individuals trying to recover from and manage a diagnosed disease. This led to the development of a comprehensive documentation and communication system that coordinates fitness programs for individuals with diagnosed diseases from the medical community, the core of Physicians Fitness operations.

As a graduate of the US Navy’s Nuclear Engineering School with an emphasis in Mechanical Engineering and a qualified US Navy Diver, Greg uses his foundation of practical engineering knowledge and skills, his enthusiasm for exercise, academic certifications ACE- Personal Trainer (CPFT), ACE-Medical Exercise Specialist (CMES) (American Council on Exercise), and Resistance Training Specialist Mastery (resistancetrainingspecialist.com) – and his experiences working with a wide variety of medical professionals (e.g. physical therapists, chiropractors, pain specialists, internal medicine physicians, physiatrists, psychologists) to develop the philosophy and methodologies that constitute the Muscle System Specialist ™ Training and Certification Program.

Greg has taught courses for several industry education companies on topics ranging from functional musculoskeletal anatomy, manual muscle testing, biomechanics, selling philosophy and methodology, physical assessment, decision-making, and science-based methodologies in muscle and motor control assessment and data interpretation. He has written articles as well as published in IDEA Personal Trainer Magazine, American Fitness Quarterly, Body Conditioning Magazine, IDEA Health and Fitness Source Magazine, and The American Journal of Medicine and Sports.

He achieved the “Master Level” designation as a personal fitness professional from IDEA (www.ideafit.com). Greg received the IDEA International Personal Trainer of the Year Award for the year 2003 and was the Chairman of the IDEA Personal Trainer Committee, an influential body steering important issues related to fitness professionals.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

My reputation in my market has been built on the procedures and processes I use to interview, assess, analyze, and write exercise prescriptions to help my client achieve their stated needs and goals. This is done with integrity and authenticity so that a truly win0-win professional working relationship can be established and nurtured. Individuals do not buy sessions from me per se – they make a decision to let me partner with them to work hard at solving their problem – even if that means referring them to another professional to support them. They buy a high-level problem-solving partner. The money is incidental.

Putting training and knowledge aside, what else do you think really matters in terms of succeeding in your field?

Other than training’/knowledge what has been most helpful for succeeding in my field is a total commitment to a career in medical exercise. I burned my ships just like Cortes did in order to make sure I couldn’t just sail away when things got tough. Which they have done several times!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.exerciseproed.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/exerciseproed/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/musclesystemspecialist
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/greg-mack-7a7b157/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXuJ44iXzh_iYz74WEnrENg