Frida

Growing up I earned a black belt in karate, competed in softball, basketball, and track and field. As an adult, became involved with endurance and obstacle racing as well as hip hop dance. In 2000, I tore my ACL during basketball practice and after experiencing that injury, I knew it was something I didn’t want to go through ever again. Although I didn’t experience debilitating pain after rehab, over a decade later I continued to have occasional pain where 1/3 of my patellar tendon was removed to replace my ACL. I also was limited in my ability to perform deep knee flexion especially when lunging due to pain.

 

I started college as a kinesiology major with the intent to become a physical therapist but circumstances lead me down a social worker path. During this time, I worked out on machines at Bally Total Fitness and later was exposed to personal training by a family friend who did bodybuilding. They allowed me to shadow client sessions which sparked my interest to someday work in the field. I later got into crossfit, yoga, spin, and other cardio classes. My first shoulder pain occurred when I almost dislocated my right one doing a breakdancing move and then again when I was in pain after a crossfit class. It wasn’t debilitating, but notable enough for me to clearly recall those incidents and question what to do about it.

 

In 2011, I transitioned into personal training after connecting with a mentor who needed assistance at their endurance oriented facility. I learned to train using more variety of exercises and tools than I was accustomed to and was exposed to a “train like an athlete” environment. In search of continuing education and tools to further help clients, I took an FMS Course, EDLOA class, dabbled with MOVNAT as well as other mobility methods. During this time occasional shoulder pain popped up when bench pressing and the patella/knee flexion issue was still present especially when deep lunging. In 2012 I started my own personal training business and began researching more fitness content which led me to the founder of Functional Patterns Naudi Aguilar’s youtube channel. Being exposed to the variety of tools and exercises at the facility I was in, helped steer me in the direction of his channel because I thought it looked similar to some things I was doing, but the execution and detail was beyond what I understood at the time. I learned about targeted MFR techniques and realized there were restrictions all over my body. Doing MFR was extremely painful and even nauseating at first but much needed. I continued to study Naudi’s youtube channel and struggled to execute FP dynamic movements the way he did even though I considered myself to be athletic. I began to notice that most people in general didn’t seem to move that well but didn’t understand how to go about helping them. I saw the results Naudi and Kathy Alvarez were getting with their clients and remember specifically being impressed by the progress they made with a woman who suffered from a stroke. This resonated with me as I had many years of experience working with brain injury and stroke survivors as a social worker. They continued to showcase how FP can help someone with a neurological condition to an athlete and everyone in between. After seeing what FP can do, I  knew I needed to change and wanted to learn more.

 

I purchased the Power of Posture book and continued to work through the MFR and posture techniques. I learned more useful information in that book than anything I previously looked into. Around January 2014, Naudi released a montage video called “This is not Crossfit, this is Functional Patterns.” I was hooked on that video and couldn’t stop watching. I wanted my body to be capable of doing what I saw in that video. I signed up for the next available educational course in November 2014. Attending the course changed my entire outlook on training and led me to completely transition my business to only FP training.

 

I continued to navigate this change while looking for others who may want to come on board. I attended educational courses every 1-2 years and started to build a community of other certified practitioners around 2017. The patellar, shoulder and knee flexion pain I used to experience no longer occurred. My body started to become more hydrated and I began to notice changes in how I was moving. I was getting results on clients that would not have been possible prior to FP and was grateful to have people around who were committed to the mission of instituting function into society.

 

In 2019, I opened the current Functional Patterns Minnesota location. Our community of amazing practitioners and clients has continued to grow as more results have been achieved. Investing in FP is the best decision I have made for my own health and career. I’m getting close to my mid 40’s and am able to play basketball, sprint and do whatever I need to without pain. FP’s systems oriented approach has provided me with the tools needed to become more regenerative. I’m looking forward to helping more people move and perform better so they can live their best life.