Growing up, I was taught “to go hard, work until you pass out, this will make you jump higher, pain is weakness”. That mentality led me to 2 ruptured patella tendons and the end of my collegiate career.
Prior to my injuries, I had my fair share of strength trainers, 99% of them shared the “go hard” mentality and were primarily focused on vertical jump. So naturally, I thought this was normal, but as time went on and I began to study high level athletes, I knew their was more to training than working hard and jumping high.
I began to do a lot of research and that’s when I discovered DBC fit. (https://www.instagram.com/dbcfit/), a functional performance gym located in Miami, Florida. They were the people responsible for fixing Lebron James career threatening back issues and extending Dwayne Wades career.
The more I learned about this company, the less I cared about Lebron James and Dwayne Wade, the focus became David Alexander and Donnie Raimon. David Alexander(https://www.instagram.com/davidalexander/), a sports performance coach and Donnie Raimon (https://www.instagram.com/donnieraimon/) , a former navy seal and current biomechanist. (the study of the mechanical laws relating to the movement or structure of living organism)
The duo built a system focused on human movement and optimizing athletic performance. They became the standard for performance training, If I began to work with a trainer, and they did not have a movement assessment prior to us training and a plan to correct imbalances and poor movement patterns, i was out.
My injuries inspired me to help as many hoopers as I could, but I knew it was impossible for Canadians to fly to Miami, afford to live there during the off season and pay for training unless they were pro athletes. But fortunately DBC fit certifies trainers world wide.
My quest led me to Hamilton, Ontario native Nem Ilić (https://www.instagram.com/nemilicperformance/). A former basketball player, a Kinesiology graduate and DBC fit certified trainer. It’s safe to say, he is more than qualified to train professional athletes.
Meeting Nem was a game changer, i finally found someone who could help the next generation. Ilić works out of Hamilton and has since turned his garage into an elite performance training facility. His methods have attracted the likes of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (OKC thunder) https://www.instagram.com/shai/, Ryan Raposo (Vancouver Whitecaps) https://www.instagram.com/ryanraposo7/https://www.instagram.com/ryanraposo7/ and an array of collegiate and high school athletes.
The most important thing to realize is that it doesn’t matter who he trains, whether you’re in the NBA or a grassroots athlete, he takes the same detailed and meticulous approach to each of his clients, the formula does not change.
Ilić is a professional in every sense of the word, he is passionate about his craft and he is willing to put the time and money in to continuing to grow as a performance coach, travelling back and forth to Miami to continue to learn from the best trainers in the business.
Athletes, coaches & agents, I am imploring you (Definition: making an earnest or desperate appeal) to work with Nem Ilić https://www.instagram.com/ryanraposo7/. Connect with Nem Ilić via Instagram & learn what it takes to take your game to the next level.
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