When the Amazing 12 Body Transformation Program gets a lot of attention because of the aesthetic changes it produces. You know, building muscle and burning body fat. And it isn’t hard to see why with the results it’s produced in a very short period of time.

However, what it does to “the way you look” is really just one aspect of it.

One of the things, and it’s actually the thing that drew me to it is the performance changes that happen. Specifically, two of the participants that trained with Paul McIlroy over in Belfast.

Strength isn’t about how much weight you can lift in the gym, to me the purpose is to make you stronger for life. Hence the strength for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness tagline of my studio.

So yeah, they got “gym strong” but how would this apply to strength that transfers to whatever it is you enjoy?

One of the more respected trainers out there is a guy named Nick Tumminello. He’s in the personal trainer hall of fame and had been named personal trainer of the year for 2016 by the NSCA and trains a mixture of regular people as well as athletes. Back in November, he wrote an article about the 4 main lifting movements. (the one on the right)

Now in the article, he had his own exercises that he recommends for the 4 main lifting movements and I wanted to show you how the exercises within the Amazing 12 program could apply to that model for transferable strength (what I’m about)

1. pushing– This could include either bench pressing and overhead pressing, both of which are components of Amazing12
2. pulling– This could include vertical pulls (ie chin-ups) and suspension rows both of which are components of…well you know.
3. hip hinge– This is deadlifts, but I also have people perform kettlebell swings as part of the “muscular cardio” component of the Amazing 12. This is only if I’ve had adequate time to make sure they have good swing technique.
4. knee bend– Squats

Each of the exercises that I listed in the various movement categories is part of the Amazing 12.

Another coach who has been a tremendous influence to me is Dan John. He originally caught my attention via the works of Pavel Tsatsoline and also Mark Twight (a world-class mountain climber and the trainer behind the transformations of Henry Cavill for the role of Superman, Gerard Butler and the others in the movie 300).

A list of Dan John’s functional movement categories can be found on this napkin which was posted on his Instagram page

In his book Intervention, he’d mentioned his strength standards that he puts all of the people he trains through. He also listed them in this article here http://danjohn.net/2013/04/strength-standards-sleepless-in-seattle/

Dan John trains a wide variety of people. Some of whom have Superbowl rings and others who on occasion take time away from training to go take out terrorists.

Now as for Dan John’s strength standards, the programming behind the Amazing 12 could bring someone from the standard of “expected” to “game-changer” in most of the movements. Though getups and loaded carries aren’t part of the program, it could be accomplished by doing it lightly as part of a warm-up, and then after Amazing 12 is done, giving them the focus to fill in the gaps.

I can’t verify it since the personal training clients I selected for it haven’t finished yet, but I’m fairly confident it will work. Right now, I have a jujitsu athlete going through the program that had started around the “expected” standard. Pending on how he finishes, it’ll make a decent case study.

So even though the Amazing 12 attracts people because of the before and after pictures, I truly believe that it’ll be the transformation that happens to their all-around strength (inside and out) that will truly make the difference in their lives.

It definitely made a difference in mine, as well as my regular personal training clients.

Strength for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That’s what it’s really about.

Eric Moss is a world-record-holding modern-day professional performing strongman, author, motivational speaker, and personal trainer. In the tradition of the strongmen more common during the turn of the century, he performs feats of strength such as bending steel and breaking chains as part of a show and speaks on goal achievement for corporations, nonprofits, government as well as for schools and universities. His exclusive personal training studio is located on Main Street in Boonton New Jersey, is close to Mountain Lakes, Denville, Montville and Parsippany New Jersey.