I recently had the pleasure to attend the Kroger’s Wellness Your Way Festival (WYWF). I had the opportunity of interviewing Rulk a functional strength and conditioning specialist, his degree is in Kinesiology with an emphasis in biomechanics. He has worked with numerous top Olympic and Professional athletes, celebrities and Team USA youth programs in soccer, baseball and softball. He is most well known internationally for his work with First Responders throughout the world from Elite Military, Fire Fighters, Law Enforcement, and Ocean Safety agencies. He designed and created a revolutionary training program called RFT®. Raw Functional Training (RFT®) is a body weight movement curriculum specifically developed to improve mobility, increase functional strength, and a series of movement modalities that optimize the (CNS) central nervous system to maximize overall body performance and conditioning. The training also incorporates dynamic movement sequencing and sensory processing to activate the adrenal system and enable all energy systems to operate on the highest levels of efficiency.
Thank you so much for joining us Da Rulk. This festival is about “Wellness Your Way”. What does the term “Wellness Your Way” mean to you?
I think means being healthy under your terms. Everyone is different. We all have different circumstances that we live in. We have different challenges in our life. Health and wellness to me may not be health and wellness to you. Many times it’s just understanding that we’re all a little bit different. It’s just about what is going to make us healthier, happier, and a better human.
Was there a story that inspired you to get involved with WYWF?
I’m working with Kroger. I love Kroger. I’ve been working with them on a couple of projects for a while now. Colleen Lindholz , Kroger’s Health President is the leader of this initiative. Her mindset is about always trying to affect people positively. Kroger wants to create the healthiest workforce in America. They also wanted to change the way America eats, change the way America thinks, change the way America moves. And I was a proponent of that. These types of festivals are a fun way to get everyone together to expose them to all these different areas of health and wellness and kind of demystify the whole thing. There’s a way that we could build this community where it’s supportive where people don’t feel intimidated and they can find their own area that they fit into because there’s something for everyone.
Can you tell me about a wellness challenge you’ve had and overcome?
That’s a good one. Time is always a key issue right. I think a challenge for all of us is that there are some things we can’t control. Many times it’s just time, we don’t have enough time or we say we don’t have enough time in the day. We’re so focused on our job, our families, our responsibilities which are key and important but it’s also about investing time in yourself. My own challenges, from traveling and all the projects I’m working on is really to set aside time for me to have. Time to exercise and feel better about myself, and then time to recover. I mean it’s great to train hard and to exercise hard but it’s even more important to recover properly.
What’s your current wellness mantra or life quote?
I have a mantra I always use which is “Always Can.” It’s an old Hawaii saying which is, if can, can, if no can, still can which is what inspired “Always can”. I have my purpose. I have my conviction. But, it’s just reassuring myself that I can get through it. That I’m good enough, I’m strong enough to get through it, that no matter what happens again, externally “I Can” I “Always Can”.
What’s one wellness product/routine you can’t live without right now?
There’s so many that I use but I really enjoy my infrared sauna time. You know for me I think it just getting that sweat. And usually when you’re in that sauna it’s also a time to meditate. Because when you’re going through that heat, but I’m not exercising I’m just sitting there being mindful of my moment. Feeling the heat. It’s time for me to just focus. It gives me discipline in my focus. Really at the end of the day it’s just setting aside 15 minutes a day.
I could rattle off a ton of different phenomenal companies and products that are great, but the reality is I don’t always have them with me. So if you don’t have access to them, what do you do? You can control setting aside some quiet space and taking 15 minutes to breathe to meditate even if you just sit there. Close your eyes. Doesn’t matter. Take time to reflect. Take time to rebalance yourself and go from there.
What projects are you currently working on?
There’s a lot of projects I’m working on right now. I’m going to start to be my RFT my training gyms. They’re going to start opening up. We’re going to open the franchise and giving that out which is great. I mean to be quite honest I’ve started kind of the world tour of my certification models etcetera because it’s great for me I get excited about it. I just want to impact. People. Through movement and pop positive energy. That’s the project I’m most excited about is to kind of get out there and teach people. We get too wrapped up into a product or a service. Just get people to move! It’s so rewarding to me to see people that haven’t moved and see the positive impact it makes.
Thank you for joining us! Your energy and positivity is an inspiration!
Connect with Rulk on Insta @da_rulk
