Introducing Monkey Method Movement Essentials!

By Dr. Dan Pope, DPT, CSCS & Dr. Dave Tilley, DPT

 

Many people struggle to get into proper handstand, muscle up, and Olympic Lifting positions during their fitness training. Despite their effort and attempts at correcting these positions, it often times leads to a lack of process, frustration, or worse injury. As Doctors of Physical Therapy and former athlete of these fitness areas, Dan Pope and I have been on a mission to create a product that helps anyone interested in these skills increase their performance and reduce their injury risk. We put our brains together and worked with some of the best coaches we around like Olympic Gymnastics Team Member Dave Durante, 2x Olympian in Weightlifting Chad Vaughn, and numerous other national/collegiate coaches. After over a year of work, “Monkey Method: Movement Essentials” is finally here!

Our product is almost 100 page product, jam packed with over 150 exercise and assessment videos, all dedicated to the goal of helping you move and perform better during handstand, muscle up, and Olympic Lifting training. We promise that this will give you cutting edge, state of the art information to master these positions for optimal performance!

What Is Monkey Method : Movement Essentials?

 

The road to mastery of the olympic lifts and basic gymnastics is very challenging.  Coaching and learning the lifts can be frustrating, and a coach or athlete must have several tools in his or her toolbox in order to progress.  Getting that first muscle-up or handstand can be just as difficult and mastering these movements even more so.

We see all sorts of issues that keep people from mastery.  Some people can’t get their arms overhead fully, others can’t squat well.  These basics are at the very foundation of performance.  If we don’t iron these elements out at the very start of our athletic careers we’ll carry these compensations into our movements over time.

Trouble is, not everyone needs the same formula for success.  Some people are inherently strong and need more technique.  Some people are inherently mobile and need more strict strength.  Others are grossly tight and need more mobility.  Some people are in the middle and need a mix of all of these.

So, how do we cater toward all of these individuals? If we want to successfully determine where we are as athletes or determine where our athletes are as coaches, we’ll need a system to figure this out. 

Should we just shotgun a bunch of mobility and strength exercises at our athletes?  Surely we aren’t being efficient if we are.  Can we even be sure that we’re addressing the problem?  There has to be a better way. Well now there is! Monkey Method ® Movement Essentials gives you everything you need to assess, correct, and solve these movement issues.  

 

As a community, we’ve gotten very good at many things.  We’ve gotten very good at coaching, both from a gymnastics and olympic lifting perspective.  We have amazing coaches with years of experience creating champions. We also have coaches that are very adept with programming.

However, when it comes to a systematic assessment of someone’s most basic movement inefficiencies we are lacking.  When someone is lacking depth in their squat what should we do about it?  Where is their issue coming from?  When someone can’t get into a deep dip position do you think they’ll have trouble with strict muscle-ups?

 

Of course, but why can’t they get into a deep dip?  Is it a mobility issue?  Is it a specific weakness? Do they need more cues, or a different exercise?  If we continue pushing through these limitations will we cause injuries in our athletes?  How do we begin figuring this all out?

Monkey Method ® Movement Essentials is the ultimate guide to understanding and fixing the technical parts of handstands, muscle ups, and Olympic Lifts.  Dr. Dan Pope and I are fortunate to work with some of the most elite level coaches at Power Monkey Camp. All of the Power Monkey coaches are masters in their respected fields of gymnastics, Olympic Weightlifting, and more. From our Physical Therapy background, we wanted to help bridge the gap and further enhance the coach – athlete interaction as much as possible. We hate seeing athletes trying to chase their goals, only to be held back in their performance by injury that may have been preventable. We also love teaching coaches how to screen and reverse engineer these complex movements to find the one or two things that may be holding someone back.  Within Monkey Method ® Movement Essentials, we go chapter by chapter, breaking down these movements and walking through live screening assessments.

We worked for over a year to come up with a tool coaches, athletes, and healthcare providers could use to help the hundreds of athletes working on these skills. We broke down the basic movements, and through video and writing gave out all of our favorite screens, exercises, mobility corrections, and technique drills. Through 200 pages, 150 videos, and over 5 hours of content we are happy to give this to the public for their use. For just $149, you can learn how to master handstand, muscle up, and Olympic Lifting positions.

What Are Others Saying About Monkey Method®: Movement Essentials?

 

Dave Durante – 2008 Olympic Gymnastics Team Member, US Gymnastics National Champion, and Power Monkey Co-Founder

Jason Leydon – Owner of CrossFit Milford

Mike McGoldrick – CrossFit Games Competitor, Co-Host Barbell Shrugged Podcast

Chad Vaughn – 2x Olympian in Olympic Weightlifting, 9x National Champion, American Record Holder in the Clean & Jerk

Colin Geraghty – Team Power Monkey Coach, Gymnastics / CrossFit Coach @ CrossFit Milford

Rupert Egan – Team Power Monkey Coach and Gymnastics Coach

Chris Hinshaw – Endurance Coach of Several Crossfit Games Champions

“This is absolutely genius” 

 

Who are Dan Pope and Dave Tilley?

Both Dr. Dave Tilley and Dr. Dan Pope have a diverse and extensive background to help. Dr. Dan Pope and myself have been lecturing at power monkey camp for the past several years in an attempt to help coaches and athletes learn how to assess movement and more accurately provide corrective interventions to improve technique.  We understand that being as accurate as possible with diagnosis of movement inefficiencies is vital to improving our athlete’s movement over time.  

Dr. Dave Tilley, DPT

Dave Tilley, DPT is a Physical Therapist who graduated in 2013 from Springfield College. Dave comes from an extensive gymnastics background, being a former athlete and currently still coaching optional level gymnastics in the North Shore of Boston. Dave was a competitive gymnast for 18 years, 4 of them collegiately as part of the Springfield College Men’s Team. Dave has also been coaching gymnastics for 12 years, being involved in beginner, national, and elite levels. His unique background as a former athlete and current coach gives him a one of a kind approach for the performance and rehabilitation of gymnasts. He has successfully treated some of the most talented high school, collegiate, and junior elite level gymnasts in the country. Along with gymnastics, Dave enjoys treating athletes of all sports as well as the specialized treatment of Olympic Weightlifters and CrossFit athletes. He has worked with regional and national level Olympic Weightlifters, as well as Regional and Games level CrossFit Athletes.

Dave graduated from Springfield College with his Bachelors in Science, Minor in Psychology, and Doctorate in Physical Therapy. He currently works at Champion Physical Therapy and Performance, owned by Mike Reinold and Lenny Macrina, located in Waltham Massachusetts. Dave sat to become Board Certified in Sports Physical Therapy in February of 2016, and also looks to obtain his Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist certification in 2016. His current interests include prevention and rehabilitation of extension based spine injuries, shoulder and hip instability, as well as the science involved in long-term athletic development, mobility training, and motor control. He participates in ongoing continuing education by attending various courses, collaborating with other professionals, and staying up to date with the most current medical research.

Along with treating in the clinic, Dave is also the owner of an educational website and company called “SHIFT Movement Science and Gymnastics Education”, which was formerly known as The Hybrid Perspective. This company was started in 2014 to help educate sports such as gymnastics, Olympic weightlifting, and CrossFit about optimal performance and preventative rehabilitation strategies. By combining his roles as a healthcare provider, current coach, and athlete Dave looks to help remold the gymnastics world with current, scientifically backed principles that optimize a gymnast’s long-term potential. His new forward thinking ideas have been nationally recognized with members of USA Gymnastics, being implemented into elite level and Junior Olympic programs. Dave travels to speak at various events across the country including Make It Right Elite Gymnastics Camp in Las Vegas, Dave Durante’s Power Monkey Camp in Tennessee, and USA Gymnastics Regional Congress.

Dave is very passionate about his work both in the clinic and gymnastics training arena. He aims to deliver the best possible care to the clients he sees and athletes he trains. He hopes to soon become more active in the role of conducting research studies related to gymnastics.

 
Dr. Dan Pope, DPT, CSCS

 Dan is a Doctor of Physical Therapy graduating from The University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey as well as a crossfit coach at Crossfit Verve in Denver Colorado.  He has an enormous passion for fitness, rehabilitation and optimizing human performance.  Dan’s background in athletic performance is extensive, leading to his unique knowledge of rehabilitation as it applies to sport.  Dan’s athletic career began at a very young age but his first major accomplishment was performing as a division 1 pole-vaulter at Rutgers University.  He later went into training for Strongman and competed at a national level for 4 years.  In 2009 Dan won a state title in strongman (NJ) at 200lbs and a national title (US) at 175lbs.  He later went on to start training in crossfit and to date has been to the regionals twice, once as an individual competitor and once as part of a team (Crossfit Verve).

 Dan was also a strength and conditioning coach and personal trainer for 6 years prior to beginning his journey into physical therapy and has continued to be a trainer or coach to this date.  Given this unique background he has a special talent for helping individuals in the strength and fitness world who need either rehabilitation or tips on optimizing performance.  Among his athletic achievements, Dan sat to become Board Certified in Orthopedic Physical Therapy in March of 2016 and is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist through the national strength and conditioning association.

Dan works at Physiotherapy Associates in Greenwood Village Colorado and enjoys working with a large range of patients.  He specializes in treating Crossfit, olympic lifting and strength based athletes.  As much as he likes working with athletes, Dan loves working with regular people looking to enjoy their fitness pain free.  Through strength and conditioning as well as physical therapy he has been able to treat and train athletes all along the spectrum up to the professional, olympic and Crossfit Games level.  Dan has also been working for power monkey fitness from it’s inception and through the company has been able to work alongside and collaborate with olympic level coaches from the world of olympic lifting, gymnastics and rowing.

Aside from working as a physical therapist and coach full-time, Dan owns and operate his own company Fitness Pain Free.  Dan regularly shares his thoughts related to physical therapy and fitness at www.fitnesspainfree.com and has had millions of views on the site over time.  His major goal is to help individuals reach high levels of performance while reducing the likelihood of injury along the way.  Dan also speaks around the United States on the topics of safety and performance in fitness regularly.  In order to help people get in great shape and minimize the likelihood of injury Dan also writes programming online in order to get people in great shape, pain free.  He practices what he preaches and believes that life is ripe for the taking and anyone with the right mindset and work ethic can achieve greatness.

 

 What’s Inside Monkey Method ®: Movement Essentials?

We wanted to combine their unique expertise into creating this product. Use our diverse knowledge to create something for coaches and athletes to accurately diagnose movement problems and address them quickly and efficiently.

Monkey Method is a digital product in PDF format.  Once downloaded you’ll have access to:

• Nearly 100 pages of content

• 150+ videos

• 5+ hours of video footage

• How to spot poor technique and in depth assessments to get to the root of the problem

• Exercise demonstrations from some of the best coaches and athletes in the world from Power Monkey Fitness

• Video exercise demonstrations with specific instructions on how to perform the exercise properly

Ch. 1: Background Concepts

• Importance of athlete individualization

• Site of pain vs. site of problem

• Understanding the difference between mobility vs control vs technique issues

• What to do about pain and why understanding it is important

Ch. 2 Overhead Skills: Assessing and Correcting Handstand, Jerk, Tap, Swings, Kipping

• What optimal technique looks like shown via 6 time team USA Dave Durante

• How to assess overhead mobility and where to start intervening when athletes fail

• The importance of rotator cuff and scapular care and how to implement it

• The importance of strict pushing and pulling

• How to assess breathing, why it’s important and how to improve it

• Individual assessments for the thoracic spine, hip extension and the wrist

• Video guidance for all of the exercises to improve overhead positioning

Ch. 3 Squatting, Bottom Positions of Olympic Lifts, Pistols

• Mobility screen for the squat and pistol

• Hip and knee anatomy applications

• Finding the source of a poor squat (Hip vs. Ankle)

• Mobility corrective exercises via video

Ch. 4: Front Rack

• What are the most common limitations in a front rack?

• What does a good front rack look like?

• How do we screen the front rack to find where the problem lies

• What happens when the front rack falls apart?

• Corrective exercises to fix the front rack

Ch. 5: Muscle-ups and Dips

• Why you should treat the bottom of the dip just like the bottom of a snatch

• What a good muscle-up looks like shown by 6-time team USA member Dave Durante

• When do you have a flexibility problem and when do you have a strength and control issue?

• Corrective exercises with video guidance

Ch. 6: Deadlift, Rowing, Snatch/Clean Bar Path, Toes To Bar

• What ideal bar path looks like during the snatch

• When someone’s low back rounds during a deadlift, why does this happen and why it’s important for finding the best correction

• Why you may see athletes rounding their backs during rowing and what to do about it

• How to teach athletes to hip hinge for optimal spinal position

• Why the hamstrings might not be the only thing limiting your ability to touch your toes

• Video demonstrations of the exercises to improve this

Ch. 7: Performance Complexes and Training Considerations

• How to fit these exercises into a warm-up

• How to make your mobility and correctives easy to implement

• How to make your warm-up much more specific to the training for the day

• How to be more efficient with mobility and correctives

• How to apply these principles to a group training environment

Master Handstand, Muscle Up, and Olympic Lifting Positions

You can get all of this information with step by step videos, instructions, and exercises for just $149.  We wanted to make this invaluable information affordable for everyone, so be sure not to miss out. We promise that once you read through all the material and watch the videos, you will not be disappointed. Be sure to get your copy below, and then share with your friends and start using the material in your training lives. We hope you enjoy!