FITNESS... ATHLETIC DEVELOPMENT...HISTORY

BRIAN L BLACKWELL M.S. C.S.C.S.

vitalarmour.com                                                                                                                                                                                                         vitalarmour@gmail.com

Wide variety of experiences in several different venues has help formulate one of most complete resumes possible in the field of health, fitness, and performance enhancement, more than can even be put to paper. An under graduate education consisting of Physical Education and Athletic Training. A Master's degree with experience in Division I athletics as a certified athletic trainer and certified strength and conditioning specialist at the University of Colorado. Both undergraduate and post graduate education and the hands on experience with high level athletes formed the back bone for every program ever designed.

After Division I athletics it was time to bring college level training and nutrition advice to the general public. This is how B-FIT was founded. B-FIT was in on the infancy of personal training and delivering educated, scientific training and counseling to the general public. This changed the face of personal training in the Boulder/Denver area. It was not long after B-FIT, that BigTime Athletic Development was formed due to the desire of young athletes and their parents craving the edge that college/professional level training could provide. This was cutting edge and was a huge success.

BigTime Athletic Development went from a niche to an entire business. Outlined below is a summary of just how successful that program was, this is only a summary the impact that BigTime had is almost impossible to measure. At some point a decision had to be made to dedicate more time to family and my own kids. BigTime had to be down scaled. It became apparent that performance enhancement had a huge impact on young athletes, it was time to dedicate that effort to my kids and their programs. To give my kids the time they deserved things had to change. I have two kids playing college baseball  and one on his way, so I feel that effort was worth it.

For the last few years managing a health club and directing fitness and weight loss programs has given me a chance to enhance the nutrition and wellness side of my evolution. Vital Armour is the result of an evolution of 30 years of unmatched experience and education, trial and error, wins and losses, getting knocked down and getting back up! Again on the cutting edge in delivering health, fitness, sports training now online. Vital Armour stands on firm ground. Online programs are popping up everywhere, Vital Armour hangs it hat on experience, education and a track record that is so rare it is almost non existent.

• (2015-Present) FOUNDER/OWNER -VITAL ARMOUR
• (2011-Present) FITNESS DIRECTOR, MANAGER BASIC FITNESS
  • Director of Fitness • Director of Healthy Fitness Program (Weight loss)
  • Manager of Basic Fitness (1998-Present)
• OWNER OF BIGTIME ATHLETIC DEVELOPMENT
  • Director/Owner, finance manager, development of marketing, internet manager community relations, high school/team development.
  • 2010 FB Season: Speed/conditioning specialist-Elizabeth H.S. Football team-(2010 4A State Champions)
  • 2010-2011: Speed/conditioning specialist- Faith Christian Baseball team- (2011 3A State Champions)
  • 2010-2011: Speed/conditioning specialist-Playball Baseball Team (2010 2 time Champions National tournaments.)
  • 2006 -2009 Coach, Strength, Speed Coach Ballers Competitive Baseball Program (Ranked 24th in Nation)
  • 1998-2011 Speed and conditioning specialist Limon High School Multiple state championships in FB, Girls BB, Girls and Boys Track, and Baseball.
  • 2004-2008 Speed and Strength specialist, Sports Enhancement-Niwot Baseball- (2 time State Champions, Legion state champions)
  • 2006-2008 Speed and Strength Specialist Monarch H.S. Baseball (Legion State Champions)
  • 2006-2009 Summer/in-season speed and strength specialist (Monarch H.S. Girls Basketball-State Runner up.)
  • 2001-2009 Speed Specialist: Niwot FB
  • 2000-2009-Speed and strength specialist Fairview H.S. Football ( 2 Time state Runner up)
  • 1998-2002 Colorado Ice Speed and Strength Girls Basketball National Competitive team.
  • 1998-2011: 25 State Player of the year Athletes, over 150 All-state awards, 100’s of scholarship and walk on athletes.
  • 2006-08 Dartfish Video Analysis Specialist
  • 2005-2009 Development/Coach-youth competitive baseball team (Rank 24th in Nation)
  • (2006-2011) PRESIDENT OF BIGTIME ATHLETICS FOUNDATION-Founder, President
• B-FIT
  •  Owner Director
  • Program development,
  • Staff development and recruitment
  • Director of Personal Training Flatiron Athletic club
  • (1995-1997) DIRECTOR OF FITNESS BOSTON MARKET
  • Design Development,
  • Employee Assessment, participation/retainment
  • Staff development and direction • Facility development
  • (1985-1990) ATHLETIC TRAINER/STRENGTH COACH UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO
  • Assistant Trainer Football
  • Head Basketball Trainer
  • Strength and Conditioning Coach-Basketball
  • Student trainer recruitment/supervision
  • Course Instructor (Strength and Conditioning) University of Colorado
  • CERTIFICATIONS C.S.C.S Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist
  • A.T., C. Athletic Trainer
  • Certified CPR
  • Certified College Scout

EDUCATION:

1987 MASTERS IN SCIENCE KINESIOLOGY-UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO

1984 BACHELORS DEGREE PHYSICAL EDUCATION UNIVERSITY OF NORTHERN COLORADO

1984 MINOR -IN HEALTH AND ATHLETIC TRAINING UNIVERSITY OF NORTHERN COLORADO

OTHER POSITIONS HELD:

Salesman- Avi Roofing Sports equipment, sales Colorado Softball and Baseball Acadamy, Internet Sales Manager-Helton Auto

Sometimes when something looks simple or appears easy it is pushed aside because it appears to not be worth it. In some cases an evolution  of that perceived simplicity seems to take place. Nutrition is a perfect example of this evolution of perceived simplicity. Vital Armour is the accumulation of 30 years of experience, education and trial and error. To have arrived where Vital Armour is right now, it has incorporated all the education, as much experience as possible, and eliminated as many false premises as could possibly be eliminated. At the same time an openness to new ideas and strategies has been maintained to not pass over any new cutting edge scientific based concepts, that could potentially make an impact in the world of nutrition. Just because Vital Armour concepts may be simple and almost basic, doesn’t mean they are not sophisticated and spot on!.

Lose weight in the kitchen and get in shape in the gym...eat less and move more.   These are  simple concepts  but are the foundation for  Nutrition Armour. Winning the calories in versus calories out battle is really all there is to it. Every single successful diet plan or nutritional plan has to rely on creating a 3500  (or approximately 3500) calorie deficit to lose a pound of weight or approximately  a 3500 calorie surplus to gain a pound of weight.  This is how every human body works, and every time someone loses a pound or gains a pound it is because of this scientific fact. This number of 3500 has just recently been questioned as to how accurate 3500 calories actually is, it seems to vary from person to person but it is a great starting point. This discovery may shed light on some of the struggles people have in losing weight, but the fact remains-there has to be a deficit or surplus depending on the goal.  So, every fad diet, every advertisement seen in any kind of media, every testimonial that is legit, that person has won the battle of that 3500 calorie deficit or surplus regardless of what product used or plan they are following! They may have got there in different ways, cut carbs, cut protein, cut fat, Adkins diet, grapefruit diet, keto diet, whatever; if they succeeded they created a deficit somehow, someway. Vital Armour believes in this premise and why not do this in the most precise way?

Here is a basic summary of Vital Armour  nutrition and exercise philosophy

VITAL ARMOUR WEIGHT MANAGEMENT 101:

1. Estimate your current metabolism and your calorie intake as close as possible.

2. Eat a balanced diet, don’t eliminate anything major that can’t be sustained, anything that is too far out of the norm won’t be able to be maintained and success will be short term at best.

3. Exercise has to be an important component, nutrition and exercise when combined have proven to be 4-5 times more successful than either is by itself.

4. Exercise cannot be relied on to burn enough calories to lose weight on its own, with most people’s fitness level, discipline, schedule and overall desire to do it. So cutting calories and portion sizes is going to be critical in winning the battle.

5. Setting goals is important, setting realistic goals is critical. Depending on how much weight an individual has to lose, 1-2 lbs a week is actually great progress-don’t lose sight of this. Same goes for gaining weight.

6. Everything is an estimate in terms of calorie burn, and with determining calorie intake always error on the side of not over estimating calorie burn and not underestimating how many calories are taken in.

7. Once metabolism and calorie intake is determined, then 500-1000 calorie deficits per day have to be created through diet and exercise, nothing lower than 1200 calories for females and 1500 for males. Not as restrictive for when trying to gain weight.

8. There are ways of measuring progress and success, scale weight, percent body fat, how a person feels, how a person looks and how well clothes fit. All of these and any other motivation needs to be used to help not so much with success or failure but to provide feedback. This feedback has to be used to make adjustments as to how to adapt, adjust and move forward, preventing staying stagnate or being obsessed with what didn’t go right. To improve or succeed there has to be self evaluation and adjustments, weekly if not daily! [/su_spoiler]

1. Get Goals, long term, short term: Establish goals, determine realistic, unrealistic. Specific expectations that need to be addressed.

2. Get biometrics, measureables: Establish current weight, current % fat, metabolism estimates, current calorie intake, calorie needs to maintain, lose or gain.

3. Using biometrics establish eating plan: Based on measurables set up plan that is based on current biometrics and goals. Realistic goals, calorie intake and exercise plan.

4. Set up with Vital Armour eating plan: Using Vital Armour's exclusive app (VitalArmourGo), Vital Armour can deliver   7 to 30 day meal plans  that will be based on goals, preferences and expectations. Each meal plan is delivered to the clients nutrition portal and can be followed on computer or mobile devise. Every client signing up for a Vital Armour program (Baller,Total Armour, BigTime) gets his her own Vital Armour Go App from the App Store or Google play. This plan has the great feature of being able to swap out any food that is not desirable, keep the swapped out food in the same calorie intake customization, also log activity, food and weight.

5.  Deliver exercise  plan: Once a program has been selected and paid for, Vital Armour is notified and an email goes out sending the sign up info, Once that has been done then each client has his/her own dashboard. In that dashboard under questionnaires a profile is sent out that is appropriate to what the client has signed up for. From the information in that profile, the program is designed and delivered.

6. Establish accountability: Through the Vital Armour system and the Vital Armour Go app, built in accountability is accessible. Vital Armour has it's own internal messaging system making it is easy and convenient to communicate with a coach and for the coach to contact and stay in touch with the client. As the coach Vital Armour is able to see what that client has done on particular day... as long as they log in and use the system!

7. Additional support: Vital Armour has the built in capability to deliver almost any type of additional support in the form of weblinks, videos, or just supporting quotes and messages.

8. Track progress and make adjustments: With the statistical capabilities of the Vital Armour system, clients can get instant feedback on areas that need to be tracked for motivation and to help make adjustment with the help of the Vital Armour coach. When goals are reached-great, if not then the reason why can be easily pointed out and addressed.

9. Change program as needed: If things go well then the Vital Armour system can really keep you on track. If things don’t go well, Vital Armour is there to help figure it out and make adjustments to help overcome some of the obstacles that are preventing success. Clients have to remember that regardless of what Vital Armour can provide in program design, accountability, support and convenience, the only way any program will work is if the client is able to do it and even more importantly do it consistently over a period of time.

10. Reset goals: Win or lose, success or failure there has to be a next phase. Maintenance, goal and workout adjustments, are just a few examples of what is next. Calories in versus calories out has to continuously be adjusted and the program has to be set accordingly. Too many people reach their goals to only fall back into old habits and go back to what they were doing before. Vital Armour can establish a plan for achieving maintenance, or re-establishing goals to formulate a new game plan that will be addressing past failures, and successes in order to help each client move in the right direction. [/su_spoiler]

Success doesn't just happen... you make it happen! Vital Armour begins and ends right here. Just like the evolution of Vital Armour, any quest for success at any level in athletics  or fitness begins and ends with the desire to be great or succeed!

Vital Armour provides the customization young athletes and their parents and fitness enthusiasts are searching for to reach the goals they are interested in to maximize success in what ever sport or activity they are in. If an athlete wants to be mediocre and doesn't want to put in the extra work this program is not for them. Vital Armour and more specifically our BigTime  and Total Armour programs are about providing the direction, design, and implementation of professional sports enhancement programs and elite professional  fitness workouts to willing and motivated clients. Because the delivery of this type of training is delivered online, even more desire, self motivation and discipline is going to be required.

Not everyone has access to facilities providing this type of training or have enough money to actually do it. Here is the opportunity to clear both of those hurdles. Along those same lines this is the type of program that will include parents in the overall development of their young athletes. Clients signing up for a Vital Armour program get every ounce of 30 yrs of hands on experience, education, result driven changes. This is an incredible opportunity for any athlete to affordably take their game to the level they have always wanted to, but just didn't know how.

The BigTime (BigTime Athletic Development) and Total Armour program is like picking up a fumble with no one between you and the goal line... all you have to do is pick it up and run and you win! Pick it up and run! Vital Armour programs are customized to the clients needs and goals and are packed full of both cutting edge and old school training. The best of the best. Any Champion has figured out what works and what doesn't, that process has already been done for every client, all they have to do is follow the plan find the motivation and discipline (inner athlete) and figure out how to get  it done.

Every program consists of:

1. Self evaluation-profile- goals, needs, restrictions, timeline etc.

2. Biometric testing (varies according to goals and program)

3. Professional program design of goal specific program, sport and or fitness level adjusted

4. Video delivery of every program-Mobile and desktop access

5. Accountability and coaching throughout the program

6. Adjustments, periodization according to sport, level and program signed up for.

7. A chance to win at any level (Athletic or Fitness)

8. The unique self satisfaction of knowing you did it yourself!

Vital Armour unleashes the inner athlete in every client with every workout. Every workout plan leans on 30 years of experience in the fitness  and athletic industry. Every workout plan is designed by a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist and is customized depending on the program signed up for. Vital Armour has and always will train everyone like an athlete because all the principles physically and mentality for being fit and being healthy are the same as an athlete's. The only difference is the end goal. Sure, adjustments are made to fit each person’s level of fitness and goals, but that inner athlete is still there. That inner athlete, that inner drive, the unwillingness to be denied or to quit, that competitive spirit is what Vital Armour clients will lean on and what Vital Armour will tap into. It is Vital Armour's belief that everyone has this, somewhere and at different levels... so we tap into that to assure success. Some have to be coached, pushed, encouraged , and motivated more than others, but 100's of success stories don't lie. If it works keep doing it... another athletic trait![