Shape Shifters

Want to be faster, stronger, more agile and explosive—and stay at the cutting edge of scientific thinking? Four elite trainers from across disciplines tell you how.

- Cassie Shortsleeve

ASK ANY GOOD trainer what the future of fitness looks like and you’re likely to hear that it bears more than a passing resemblance to the present. For many wellness professionals, the math is simple. The old equation—more movement, the right food, adequate sleep—always has, and always will, add up to improved physical condition.

But ask elite trainers—the medal-winning sports champions, published kinesiologists and others at the absolute top of the game—and the answers sound a lot different. They’ll expound upon the lesser-known nuances of the field, the rarefied insight that sends the most serious clients—celebrities who need to look amazing on camera, athletes pushing the limits of human potential and high-flying executives trying to fend off Old Father Time—flocking their way.

So Robb Report assembled four of the world’s leading trainers to discuss what, in the endlessly expanding universe of fitness apps, tips, tricks and modalities, is actually worth your time and energy. Their responses—from injury-prevention techniques to strength-training protocols that turbocharge muscle building with equipment you might already have in your home—may surprise you. And as it turns out, surfing the bleeding edge of technology isn’t a salve for all your wellness woes. Those algorithm-driven weight-lifting routines generated by artificial intelligence (AI) aren’t necessarily all they’re cracked up to be, while some invasive, expensive, ‘gold standard’ fitness tests might soon be obsolete. One member of our panel even told us that working out with a trainer who doesn’t understand your psychology is a missed opportunity—and who wants to waste an hour of hard-earned sweat?