About Us
Trace Johnston, CPT
Co-owner & instructor
StrongerSimply,LLC
StrongerSimply LLC is a limited liability company owned and operated by Carol Johnston and Trace Johnston.
Trace Johnston graduated with honors from the Ashmead College Fitness Trainer Program In 2007 and received his personal trainer certification from the American College of Sports Medicine in 2008.
APOCALYPSE NOW
When I started working professionally as a certified personal trainer, I trusted what I’d been taught in college. I thereby imparted the academically approved exercise programs to one client after another.
Then one day I noticed my very first client rushing recklessly through her exercises. I was alarmed and dismayed. What I thought I had instructed so carefully was hardly recognizable. The most curious feature was the frantic way in which the exercises were performed. It was as though the person was competing in a sport rather than exercising for health.
Eventually, I realized that structured fitness exercise routines are not simple for most people to learn or even to remember. An obvious question posed itself: Why not change the exercises?
Although good trainers carefully select the exercises they prescribe, they don’t create them. Formal exercises are designed elsewhere, by PH. D educated athletes who believe anyone can do what they can do if they practice hard enough.
The problem with that assumption is that it may not be true. Research has long suggested that practice alone does not necessarily develop aptitude. Individuals without an appropriate genetic disposition can practice all they like and still be awkward at best.
Yet no one ever questions this, least of all the customers who endeavor to imitate their trainers.
In short, we are all supposed to want to be athletic and the work it takes to try is what “getting in shape” is all about.
But what if the greater population has no talent, or interest, in athletics? That might explain the poor statistics published year after year. For according to the CDC and the NIH, only 20% of adults in the USA engage consistently in structured exercise programs. Globally, it is estimated to be as low as 3% of the population.
This suggests that the prevailing model of structured exercise may be alienating to a large segment of the population. Rather than fostering widespread participation, it inadvertently sets barriers by assuming a universal athletic inclination. If only a small fraction of people are sticking with these programs, perhaps it’s time to re-examine the very foundation upon which most fitness routines are built.
MISSION IMPOSSIBLE
Incredibly, most gym goers engage in fitness programs without knowing exactly what they are trying to achieve. The true purpose of exercise is not mentioned. In fact, the word “exercise” has no definite meaning other than general physical activity. This makes it seem as though the fitness industry is endlessly diverse when it is actually comprised of only two fundamental categories:
- Sports as exercise
- Pure exercise
First is the popular understanding. It presumes that exercise and sports are one in the same. Fitness approached in this manner suits athletes while excluding those who are not athletic. The crisis in terms of health and chronic illness is that all human beings need to exercise, not a select few.
Pure Exercise, on the other hand, seeks to extract the core benefits of exercise without including the skill training required for sports.
STARGATE
In 2012, I attended a fitness tradeshow in Ohio. While the event highlighted a new line of exercise equipment, the conference presented more than a sales pitch. It was the official debut of a new idea.
The first surprise was the machines themselves. They looked like the machines in fitness clubs – but on closer examination they weren’t machines at all: They were platforms for static exercise. That meant that for the first time in history strength training apparatus had been built specifically for isometrics.
The term “isometrics” denotes a method of strength training that activates muscle force by physically pitting oneself against resistance. So while the muscles contract, the body stays fixed or in a “static” position.
On each platform, a viewing screen provided feedback for the person performing the exercise. Sensors measured muscle force in pounds. The entire methodology was predicated on matching one’s physical and mental effort to the visual measurement of force in real time.
The method was termed “Timed Static Contraction with Feedback.” (The exercise is “timed”, the body is “static”, the muscles are “contracted”, and the user “sees” the result.)
Aside from the futuristic aspect of the screens and equipment, there was a tangible brilliance anchored firmly in science that inspired me to pursue the idea myself.
THE MEANING OF LIFE
In 2016 (to make a long story short) my wife and I formed a partnership and opened our exercise studio. We named it “Stronger Simply” to emphasize the importance of strengthening in the most efficient manner possible.
We posted our mission statement:
…to facilitate skeletal muscle revitalization for all, regardless of ability or limiting conditions. Therefore, we offer specialized instruction – based on science with feedback system technology – to deliver maximum and measurable results safely within minimum time.
Most of my former gym clients signed up. Together we spent the next nine years developing Timed Static Contraction with Feedback.
I now workout exclusively with TSC. It is not a business decision; it’s my personal choice.
Every time I complete a session, I am reminded again how great it is. My years lifting weights in the gym never felt as safe. or yielded such meaningful results.
Previously, I described a public need for better exercise that was not confounded by athletics.
This is it.