Bio-individual Coaching with Carl Hardwick of OPEX

Carl Hardwick has spent his life dedicated to athletics, served his country, and opened up several OPEX gyms of his own before stepping into the role of COO at OPEX.  Currently, Carl oversees the Coach Certification Program at OPEX where he trains coaches to work with clients in bio-individual fitness and nutrition coaching.  OPEX Fitness has several program offerings including coaching for individuals wanting to improve their strength and health, Big Dawgs Athlete training programs and a Coach Certification Program teaching coaches how to utilize their signature program of fitness, meeting their clients where they are.  Learn more about OPEX training and what it can offer you as Dave Korsunsky sits down with Carl Hardwick to learn more about the metrics that OPEX uses with clients, including how they customize protocols for their clients and athletes. Listen in iTunes! This podcast is brought to you by Heads Up, a web app designed to help you centrally track all of your vital health data. Instantly synchronize your medical records, connect your favorite health devices and apps and use your data to optimize your health! Click on the button below to start your free 30-day trial. Or, read on for more information about our latest podcast episode! [maxbutton id=”5″ url=”https://headsuphealth.com/” ] In this podcast you’ll learn: What OPEX is/does and their history of coaching education with fitness coaches and gym licensing [2:00] Why OPEX has a natural connection with CrossFit. However, they are not CrossFit, but based on human function [6:31] The health continuum that they utilize to show clients where they are and where they want to go with their fitness and health [7:20] OPEX  has a very holistic approach to training and nutrition but utilizes a bio-individual coaching approach for each client and their needs/desires [8:30] “We’re known as the energy system coaches, but we’re way more than that.” [9:45] About cortisol junkies and how overtraining can be harmful when we don’t recognize the stresses on the body [11:08] “We have to respect biology and we have to respect exercise principles that are out there. There is a way to get your fix, in a way that you can still get that fix in 10 years. We see far too often in this market that we call fitness, that people fiend that fix so bad, day after day, and they get it in the same way and we see it a lot in unsustainable activities.” What numbers Carl Hardwick tracks for an individual as core metrics in the OPEX program – The initial assessment history, OPEX BODY composition analysis (BMR, Bodyweight, Body Fat Percentage, lean mass), OPEX MOVE – a movement screen to see what they are capable of doing, OPEX Work – a 10 minute Assault bike test, and program design [13:40] Every client goes through the OPEX Assessment and is given a weekly program with a monthly check-in [18:45] About genetic profiling and how epigenetic changes can be more important than just having a gene. But genes can still be useful to know if someone is highly unlikely to tolerate dairy, for example, or if they just can’t train well in a certain way. And the flip side of that about how they can utilize it to help them train better, but it’s still in its infancy in terms of how we use the data [19:20] About HRV and the coefficient variation and how it relates to resilience with tracking trends in different training phases [26:30] How tracking trends can be important for the coach to look at, but it’s important to not be assessing it if you’re not understanding the metric and focusing too much on it, attached to the number while not listening to your body [30:45] Why Carl Hardwick has clients self-assess before looking at the data [33:35] Nutrition prescriptions with OPEX are broken into three section: LIFE – i.e. Bristol chart tracking, water intake, nightly waking to urinate related to hormones, FUEL – i.e. food quality, quantity, macros if it applies, PERSON – i.e. cleanses, protein de-loading [34:00] OPEX Coaching is about meeting clients where they are [41:20] References Become an OPEX Coach online OPEX Coaching Big Dawgs Athlete Coaching Follow OPEX Fitness on Instagram Follow Carl Hardwick on Instagram Follow OPEX founder James FitzGerald on Instagram About Heads Up  Heads Up is a website designed to empower individuals who want to take a self-directed approach to managing their health. Instantly centralize your medical records, connect your favorite devices and apps (e.g., Oura, MyFitnessPal, Keto-Mojo, FitBit, Apple Health, MyMacros+, Withings and many more) and use your data to optimize your health. Click on the button below to start your free 30-day trial now! [maxbutton id=”4″ url=”https://headsuphealth.com/” ] The post Bio-individual Coaching with Carl Hardwick of OPEX appeared first on Heads Up Health.