From high school football to strength training in college to an early career as a personal trainer, Rodd Higgins’ relationship to fitness has evolved over time. “I used to be a guy that hit the gym five to six days a week,” he says. But now, as the owner of the Milwaukee location of Concept 10 10 (130 N. Jefferson St.), Higgins says he practices what the unique system preaches. “Today,” he says, “I understand the science. I do our workout and train the body from head to toe in about 30 minutes.” He spoke with Off the Cuff about fitness trends and misconceptions.
Describe how the system works.
Clients work one on one with a personal trainer—the workout focuses solely on muscle fiber breakdown with no impact on joints or tendons. We achieve this by slowing the process. It will take you 10 seconds to lift the weight and 10 seconds to lower. We do this until the client goes into muscle failure and then we help them get another two to five reps. From the moment you come in and start the workout, you go nonstop for 30 minutes till you’re done.
Concept 10 10 has only two U.S. locations. What drew you to open one?
My parents retired a couple years ago to Florida. They let me know they were working out at this place in Naples called Concept 10 10 and having great results. They couldn’t believe how much stronger they were and how their tennis and golf games had improved with regards to their power and endurance. And they were only working out once a week. I flew down to experience it for myself.
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How important is nutrition?
Extremely. When we talk about the four pillars of health (exercise, sleep, food plan, high-quality supplementation) it’s the nutrition that makes all the difference in someone’s exercise routine.
In the fitness world right now, the emphasis seems to be on mixing workout styles (think underwater spinning) and getting as extreme as possible (think Crossfit). What are your thoughts on these trends?
I have to say I don’t agree with all of them. One has to look at the risk factors. Some of the programs out there are high risk and explosive. The human body wasn’t designed to take that much punishment. Low-impact high-intensity resistance training is the perfect combination for building lifelong strength.
What’s the biggest misconception people have about fitness?
People believe you have to run or do things for long periods for an effective cardio workout. Not true. Cardio is simply your muscles’ ability to take up oxygen from the blood. When you get out of breath doing something, it’s not because your heart and lungs are out of shape; it’s because you don’t have enough functional muscle to do the activity, so your heart and lungs work harder to pump more blood and oxygen through the body. Increase your functional muscle mass and you will improve your cardio and endurance.
What’s most challenging about educating people about Concept 10 10?
People are used to thinking they have to go to the gym every day. When you effectively break down the muscle in the proper way, you have to let the body recover, and since we break down the entire body with each workout, more is not better in our studio.
What are your goals for Concept 10 10?
To grow the business and educate people on muscle, resistance training, what it means to be fit and what cardio really means. When you look at the fitness population today, they all compete for the same 28% of the market place. We want the other 72% that don’t want to go to a huge facility, look at themselves in the mirror and have a social hour.
To learn more about Concept 10 10, call 414-273-3356 or visit milwaukee.concept1010.com.