As a 50-year-old with a history of injuries, I have to do everything I can to not only deal with the injuries I’ve had in the past but to make sure I don’t injure myself going forward.
Several years ago, I’d simply had enough. I found myself absolutely fed up with the state of my health at that time. I was in my late 40’s, overweight by almost 40 lbs, and in pain. I needed to do something!!!
MAPS Prime Pro gave me a systematic way to assess and address mobility and range of motion issues across 8 key areas of my body. Following the system for 2 years, I’ve greatly reduced my joint pain, increased my range of motion, and vastly improved the effectiveness of my training.
First, I hired a trainer
Since I clearly hadn’t found a path to success on my own late into my 40’s, I figured it was time to bring in an expert. So I spent a good deal of money and hired a trainer. I firmly believe it was one of the best decisions I’d ever made. He is incredible, and I still work with him today.
He taught me how to lift, how to brace, how to breathe, and how to train without getting injured. He programmed around my limitations instead of just telling me not to do thing. In just two years, he helped me build and retain more strength than I’d been able to in a lifetime of trying before I hired him.
My only issue with the trainer is that “he programmed around my limitations.”
Don’t get me wrong. This is exactly what I needed and asked him to do. Trying to force myself to do things I shouldn’t have been doing was the cause of many of my injuries to start with. But I wanted more than to just work around nagging injuries and mobility issues.
I wanted to fix them for good!
Shouldn’t I be smartly training within my specific abilities and expanding those abilities at the same time? Instead of simply training around pain and discomfort, shouldn’t I be working to eliminate that pain and discomfort in the first place?
I bought MAPS Prime and Prime Pro.
Right around the time I hired that trainer, I also bought the MAPS Prime bundle from the guys at Mind Pump (check it out here on their site). I was looking for anything and everything that would help, and those programs looked to be exactly what I needed (for a detailed description of the difference between these two programs, see the article I wrote here).
While I started using Prime right away, Prime Pro kind of just sat there. I gave it a half-hearted effort but didn’t see any real results. Besides, my training was going really well for the first time in my life. So I didn’t pursue it.
About a year into working with my trainer, I started experiencing pain again. Not the same pains I was training around, but new ones. A little bit of shoulder pain here. A touch of hip pain there. And my feet were oddly sore in the mornings when I woke up.
Knowing from experience what happens when you leave those sorts of things unattended, I decided to take another run at Prime Pro.
This time would be different.
There are a lot of good things about being 50. One of them is that I have a lifetime of failures to learn from. If I ever had the chance to screw something up, I probably did at least once.
One of those hard-earned life lessons is that when it comes to correctional exercises, they have to be done all the time. It can’t be a once-in-a-while thing. It can’t be something you forget. They just don’t work if you don’t put in the work yourself.
This is the very first thing I tell anyone if I’m recommending Prime Pro to them. Prime Pro can work wonders. But you have to commit to doing the work. Every day, several times a day, no days off, without fail. If they can’t honestly commit to doing that, I tell them not to buy the program.
While the program is worthwhile on its own, I cannot give it 100% credit for my improvements. Half the credit, at least, goes to consistency. But I cannot stress this enough, consistency plus Prime Pro = magic.
How the program is laid out
Like all MAPS programs (and I own quite a few of them), Prime Pro is well presented with a ton of written and video content. It’s organized logically and walks you through step-by-step.
The videos are high quality, and the written material is easy to follow. It appears in your Mind Pump Library with any other MAPS programs you may have and can be accessed on a computer or phone.
Prime Pro is not a simple process. It has quite a bit of depth and detail. Honestly, it would be hard to follow if it wasn’t presented as well as it is.
Step One, the Assessment
Called the “Prime Pro Compass,” you’re taken through a series of eight movement assessments that look at seven distinct areas of your body. The assessments are pass/fail and easy to perform. I found it helpful to ask my girlfriend for assistance as it’s sometimes hard to perform the movements and see what your body is doing at the same time.
If you don’t have someone to help, I’d recommend recording yourself on video on your phone. I can’t tell you how many times I feel like my body is doing one thing, and then when I look at it on video, it’s not doing anything close to what I had thought!
On my first run-through, I failed five of the eight tests. I had my work cut out for me. It also became very clear why I was experiencing pain!
Step Two, Session Design
This is where I really fell in love with this program. It allowed me to identify what was a priority to me. It then walked me through building custom-designed 10-minute sessions that would address my specific needs.
Over the last two years, those sessions have changed regularly based on my needs at the time. Basically, I reassessed every 4-6 weeks. That led to a new session design each time.
Within the sessions, there are a myriad of movements to choose from that will help you. I really like the choice presented because I simply couldn’t do some of those movements at first. Having alternates was super helpful.
The movements fall into two categories, repatterning and control. Each has its own unique function and place in your sessions. Each complements the other. You select just a few meaningful movements for each session.
Step Three, Maintenance
Over the last two years, I’ve made a ton of progress. I’ve not been perfect, but I’ve been fairly consistent. Of course, I occasionally forget or skip sessions. I have a full-time job, several websites to run, and a YouTube channel (if you like what you see here on the site, make sure to check that out here!).
But as busy as I am, once I committed to three ten-minute sessions per day, it wasn’t really that hard. It became a habit in no time—one session first thing in the morning, one right before bed, and one after lunch. If I felt the need, I’d do 1-2 more at random times throughout the day.
The cool thing was, I didn’t need to do this for very long. In 10-12 months, I was passing all of the tests. And once you are there, you can back off just a bit.
I still reassess every couple of months. I still start every single day with a session. But that’s about it now. If I feel pain or stiffness begin to creep in, I might add more, but for the most part, it’s just that morning session, and that’s it.
Once you achieve the results you want, maintaining them is easy!
What I got from 2 years doing MAPS Prime Pro
Knowledge
When I look back over the time I’ve spent with this program, a surprising realization hit me. While the other benefits I list below are all meaningful, it’s the ability to assess and treat myself that I value the most.
Prime Pro is now a tool I keep in my toolbox, ready when I need it. There’s nothing worse than having pain, stiffness, or limited range of motion and not knowing what to do about it. I now know, and that alone is worth the price of the program.
Less Pain
I won’t lie. I’m not pain-free. I have back issues that will most likely be with me for the rest of my life. The same is true of my knee and neck. Regardless of what you might see in your Instagram or Facebook feed, some types of pain can only be managed, not eliminated.
That said, my pain has gone from almost unbearable at times to a minor nuisance that just kind of pops up in the background every once in a while. Some of that is undoubtedly due to 3 years of consistent strength training. But a lot of it is due to Prime Pro.
I can’t promise that Prime Pro will make all of your pain go away. It might, but no one can promise that upfront. I can say that if you put in the work, you can certainly mitigate a lot of it.
Improved range of motion and strength
I can reach higher up over my head. I can squat deeper with a neutral back. I can deadlift from a lower height than I could before. The changes have been massive in these areas.
What I didn’t expect was that these changes also led to strength gains in the gym. I can perform movements in the gym with more stability through a greater range of motion. That has led directly to more strength.
I haven’t been injured in 2 years.
I know that seems like a weird thing to be proud of, but if you knew me, you’d be impressed. I’ve spent most of my life nursing some type of problem.
To go two years while training six days a week without getting hurt is a miracle. And I attribute that to my trainer and Prime and Prime Pro. It’s truly been life-changing.
My only regret
I wish I’d found this sooner. One of my biggest fears in writing this review is that people younger and healthier than me will dismiss it.
I can’t say this loudly enough.
Once you get hurt, it’s too late. Recovering from an injury is exponentially more difficult than preventing it in the first place.
I would encourage anyone interested in aging well to put the time into this program. I would encourage anyone who can even slightly relate to the situation I was in to do the same.
Oh, and one final note to any trainers or coaches out there reading this. Buy Prime Pro and use it with your clients. As good as my trainer is, this was not a tool in his toolbox, and it should have been. If you make your client stronger, they’ll thank you. If you eliminate pain and disfunction from their lives, they’ll work with you for a lifetime.
MAPS Prime Pro
MAPS Prime Pro is a mobility and corrective exercise program designed for both users and personal trainers. It can diagnose and then help prescribe corrective movements for many mobility issues.
Course Provider: Organization
Course Provider Name: Mind Pump LLC
4
Pros
- Easy to follow
- Helps diagnose problems prior to treating them
- Multiple exercises are available for each issue
Cons
- Time intensive at first
MAPS Prime Pro
MAPS Prime Pro is a correctional exercise program that allows trainers to diagnose clients or for people to diagnose themselves. Once diagnosed, a complete program of correctional exercises is presented in this highly effective program
Course Provider: Organization
Course Provider Name: Mind Pump LLC
4
Pros
- Complete, it addresses all possible issues
- Multiple exercise options
- Pre test and post test diagnostics
Cons
- Time intensive
- Can be a little confusing to follow