UVA Swimmers Take an Old-New Approach

When the school year began, head swim coach Mark Bernardino had a big surprise waiting for his team. Over the summer Coach Bernardino and assistant coaches Bill Smyth and Doak Finch began a fitness and total wellness program that combines modern Western exercise and Eastern mind-body methods that are a couple of thousand years old. The program is called “Unified Fitness,” developed by local author and martial arts instructor John Alton, who this past February published a book by the same name.

In mid May, Alton, an avid recreational swimmer, approached Coach Bernardino with the offer to teach Unified Fitness to both the coaches and the team. Coach Bernardino and his assistants agreed to act as guinea pigs. Within less than a week, they were convinced of the program’s value for both themselves and the team. After four weeks, they began to feel some even more compelling benefits. These include quick recovery from workouts, a greater sense of well-being, and the ability to regulate the flow of blood from the lower abdomen to the head. The ability to control blood flow in this manner leads to a rudimentary ability to fight respiratory infections, a common problem for athletes in general and for swimmers in particular. Over time, this ability to fight infection becomes more acute and effective.

Coach Bernardino is the first high-level collegiate coach to incorporate Unified Fitness into his swimmers’ rigorous training methods. He feels that if his swimmers can experience some of the benefits he and his assistant coaches have already, the team will be well-served. Some of the expected results include improved recovery from both training and competition, the ability to self-treat minor infections, and natural performance enhancement.

“We’re not going to discard anything we already know works,” Coach Bernardino says. “The mind-body exercises should make what we’re already doing work more efficiently and effectively.”

In addition to combining Eastern and Western fitness and health practices, Unified Fitness provides a plausible medical theory for how the ancient Chinese aspect of the program works on the immune system. The theory has evolved over the fifteen years Alton has invested in studying Chinese medicine and martial arts, including a two-year stint in Beijing. His book Unified Fitness: A 35-Day Exercise Program for Sustainable Health has gained the attention of a number of important health scientists, including Thomas Braciale, M.D., director the Beirne B. Carter Research Center for Immunology, and Paul W. Ewald, biology professor and best selling health science writer.

“It should take about 3 weeks for the swimmers to improve flexibility and to develop rudimentary recovery and immune-system skill,” Alton says. “After that, things should start to get really interesting.”

For more information on the Unified Fitness program, you can contact John Alton at:

Unified Fitness, LLC
P.O. Box 3014 (Mailing Address)
3008 Berkmar Drive (Street Address)
Charlottesville, VA  22903
Phone: 434-293-8365
Email: Altonhmi@aol.com
www.unifiedfitness.com