The Tactical Approach To Training

Watching yourself on video can be very illuminating.

So that’s just one of the tools that Wayne Hudson, Darin Yap and Barry Toyama, owners of Tactical Strength and Conditioning, use to train athletes from ages 6 to 70 to improve their game.

“It’s a different style of training,” explains Toyama. “We focus on the movements in the muscle groups.”

Targeting serious amateur and professional athletes, their client list (past and present) includes several teams from Iolani — the girls soccer team, boys and girls basketball, girls and boys volleyball. They also train Chaminade athletes, as well as a few teams from Punahou, such as boys and girls volleyball, boys basketball, and football. And they’ve worked with professional athletes — Jacksonville Jaguar Chris Fuamatu-Maafala, pro golfer David Ishii and professional beach volleyball athletes Tanya Fuamatu-Anderson and Heidi Ilustre.

Training has been done in various locations since the company’s inception in 2001, and in September 2004 they opened a workout area on Kapiolani Boulevard.

The three partners, athletes in their own right, begin with learning the client’s past history and then complete a medical questionnaire. Then the video is used during the flexibility and performance evaluation. In one of the tests, called a deep squat, the athlete holds a dowel and squats. Are your legs parallel to the ground? Is your back bent too much? Are your knees turned in? By observing the way the squat is done in relation to where the dowel is, the trainers can tell what exercises can help the athlete. After a discussion about the movements in the video, the trainers and clients create a plan they can work on together.

Clients can join small groups of two to four, or they can receive one-on-one training.

For reassessment purposes, the video may be used again.

“I’m passing on a lot of priceless information that I wish I had as a student athlete,” says Hudson.

The three owners burst out in a hearty laugh as they consider the great athletic accomplishments they could have had if they had this type of training available to them in their high school days.

The three met while working at 24 Hour Fitness as trainers, and they are all certified strength and conditioning specialists.

Hudson ran track and played basketball at Kalani. He continued in intramural basketball at the University of Puget Sound, where he majored in exercise science. He still plays basketball, and he surfs. Hudson is also a certified Level I weightlifting coach.

Yap played basketball and volleyball for Aiea High, and went on to play rugby at University of Puget Sound, where he majored in physical education. With a master’s degree in exercise science from the University of Hawaii, he continues to play rugby for fun.

Toyama played football for MidPac. At the University of Hawaii, where he majored in health science, he played intramural basketball and football. Currently working on his master’s in exercise science at UH, he continues to run and lift weights. He is also a licensed massage therapist and a certified personal trainer.

Just like an athlete with goals to constantly improve, Tactical Strength and Conditioning has its own goals for the future.

“We do hope to keep growing and get into a bigger place,” says Yap.

Tactical Strength and Conditioning is located at 770 Kapiolani Blvd., Suite No. 105. For more information, call 589- 2115, or log onto www.tacticalstrength.com.

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