Sheena Leedham, Content Coordinator for Elitefts.com, speaks with Matt Wenning, Advisor of Elitefts.com at the LTT 6 seminar in London, OH. Within this short segment, while Matt Wenning is completing some brisk uphill climbing on the treadmill, they talk about previous LTT seminars, Dave Tate, and their experiences training multiple populations (special forces and children with Autism). Matt also discusses the importance he finds when training all populations.
Since the interview, having seen Matt work with his client with Autism mentioned in the video, I noticed three things that I too incorporate into my training when working with Blaine Tate. These components, Matt and I agree, are very important when programming for children with Autism.
The first thing I noticed was his relationship he created with the child and the child's parent. The child lit up when he walked into the gym and all of Matt's attention transferred to him and his mother. The second thing I noticed was Matt's emphasis on play. For example, midway through the session, we all walked to The Troll House, a small brick building covered in vines, a yard away from the gym. There really weren't any trolls there (in case you were wondering).
Lastly, Matt sensed when it was time to back down the work intensity to give the child a moment to minimize any frustrations and time to recover. During this brief period, the child had the opportunity to drink water, talk with Matt about pop amongst other topics, while also giving him some time to himself.
In the 60-minute training session, he pulled from these three areas ensuring a heck of a training session which included the following exercises: sled dragging, incline walking on a treadmill, running, medball slams, tire stepping, crunches, and supermans.