Professional athletes are some of the most admired people in American society. Children grow up watching their favorite athletes and wanting to be just like them. Millions of young adults and adults have aspirations of becoming a professional athlete everyday. Many have to travel a tougher road to reach their dreams, a road that has discouraged many into quitting along the way.
“As far as going pro, I’ve always been determined and disciplined to do anything I set my mind on, therefore with the proper tools and exposure, I don’t see the reason not to,” said Modibo Keita, 24, of the Bronx.
Keita was not raised in a basketball environment, “I wasn’t fortunate enough to play basketball at a very young age and I’ve never had anyone invest time in me”. In high school after being told that he was not good enough to play basketball at the next level, Keita continued to work on his game and make Hostos Community College championship team. This has not been enough for Keita to reach the level that he has always dreamed of. “My skill has never been exposed on a higher level to where I would make a living off of it”
Neuro Kinetics is a company that was started in 2007 by Alric Donaldson, 40, of Brooklyn New York. “It’s all about mentoring and developing talent,” said Donaldson. Neuro Kinetics (Niki) takes functional training to the next level by making it sports specific. The goal is to mentor talent and set them on the right path to life. Children as young as ten years old can be apart of Niki.
Donaldson has been in the fitness industry for over 13 years. He is nationally certified to train athletes as well as special populations (the elderly, prenatal, injured). Donaldson has worked with the Brooklyn Titans, a youth American Athletics Union (AAU) team in New York for years. As well as working with Brooklyn College athletics, where he got his degree in Exercise Science. Even as a personal trainer, Donaldson has always had athletics in mind. “I train many of my clients as athletes”
Donaldson is teaming up with Aviator Sports and Recreation facility in Brooklyn, New York. This 800-acre facility includes two hockey rinks, two basketball courts, two indoor grass fields as well as an outdoor football field, full weight and cardio areas, gymnastics studio, plus more recreational areas.
Donaldson is going to run their Strength and Conditioning training sessions taking place from January – March. There are two groups attending these workout sessions, the first group is made up of young adults, and the second is made up of adults.
The primary areas of use are the two indoor grass fields and weight room. The strength and conditioning sessions are structured for any athlete to become stronger, quicker, faster.
For the kids that attend these sessions they can expect to get in shape for whichever sport that they play, establish new relationships as well as get better. Parents of these young athletes can expect their children to be mentored and set on the right path.
Structure will be added to the lives of the adults that attend these sessions. For an athlete like Keita who has to balance establishing a career as well as reaching a dream, this can make it easier.
Donaldson will continue to run sport specific programs at Aviator starting with Football in the middle of 2012. Because this facility has access to hardwood courts as well as Ice rinks, Donaldson plans on expanding his sport specific programs to many different sports.
Until then, Neurokinetics continue to work on single athletes at a time. Ranging from baseball all the way to volleyball athletes.
Jessica Wu, 18 years old, from Cerritos, Calif. who is currently a CUNY Baruch College volleyball player became aware of Neurokinetics through a friend. Wu was very interested in working with a professional because they would know exactly what to do to make her better. “I need to gain more behind my movements so I can run faster, jump higher, and react quicker,” said Wu.
“I always wanted to learn [how to power clean],” said Wu. Power cleaning is a workout used by athletes to develop more strength and power. It is done with a barbell. The exercise helps the strength of your lower body muscles as well as back muscles, but the main benefit of power cleaning is to increase power and explosiveness. It is done in two movements, first starting with the barbell on the ground, to raising the bar to your knees, then exploding up to get the barbell over your shoulders.
As a volleyball player this movement proves very beneficial for Wu. Wu plans on working with a neurokinetics trainer bbin 2012 to supplement her game. She plans on improving on her stellar freshman season, and neurokinetics can become a large part of this.
A company like this cannot survive with passion and the right direction, which Donaldson has plenty of. He’s ready to go, he even trains as an athlete. In the middle of a ridiculous squat program that at the end will improve his maximum squat amount to 400 pounds, he admits that he has the competiveness of an athlete in addition to his knowledge as a trainer. This is something that he will pass on to everyone that works with him, and with this the company will continue to grow. With that, “The sky’s the limit,” said Donaldson.