Today we’d like to introduce you to Erick Holtzman.
Hi Erick, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I have had a lifelong passion for sports and exercise, beginning with ice hockey at the age of five. By 13, I had moved 2,000 miles away to attend Berkshire Prep in Massachusetts, where I developed a love for football and track and field. During my early years of football, I started experiencing “stingers”—nerve pinches in my cervical spine that caused tingling and numbness in my arms. Unfortunately, I continued playing through high school without understanding the severity of the issue. Neither my coaches, athletic trainers, nor physical therapists suggested I get imaging or a thorough evaluation, which I now realize was a significant mistake.
My passion for exercise and helping others grew over time. In high school, I began training some of my classmates using tools I learned from personal trainers, even while my knowledge was still limited.
After high school, I played Division III football at Chapman University with aspirations of becoming a professional athlete in Italy. However, during my sophomore year, the “stingers” that had started five years earlier became more frequent and persistent. It was only then that the athletic trainer advised me to see a doctor. The diagnosis was shocking—I had three severe cervical herniations. I believe these herniations developed from those initial nerve pinches, and I often wonder if an earlier MRI could have prevented further deterioration. The surgeon warned me that falling or slipping could lead to paralysis or worse, and this diagnosis abruptly ended my football career.
In the following years, I experienced constant nerve pain in my fingers, hands, and arms, which profoundly affected my mental health and overall well-being. Exercise became limited, and I struggled with setbacks despite physical therapy. Eventually, I needed surgery to fuse one level of my cervical spine. While the surgery relieved the nerve pain, it left me fragile and unable to train as I once did. Every attempt at physical activity often resulted in setbacks, and recovery remained a challenging process.
About a year after my surgery, I decided to become a personal trainer. I quickly earned multiple certifications through NASM in just a week before starting work at 24 Hour Fitness. However, I found that these certifications didn’t offer much beyond what I had already learned through years of experience and mentorship. More importantly, I realized I lacked the advanced knowledge needed to help myself and others both reduce pain and improve physical performance. I was eager to deepen my understanding, and it was serendipitous that my manager at the time mentioned Muscle Activation Techniques (MAT) as a valuable tool for achieving less pain, better mobility, and higher performance.
I studied MAT intensively for seven years, honing my ability to understand human anatomy, evaluate range of motion joint by joint, and perform muscle testing to identify inhibitions or weaknesses. This process helped identify areas of inhibition downstream that contributed to pain and movement dysfunction. Alongside this, I completed a three-year advanced course called Mastery Resistance Training Specialist (RTSm) by Tom Purvis, which enhanced my understanding of exercise mechanics and biomechanics, allowing me to design highly personalized exercise programs.
Later, I explored the Muscle System Specialist (MSS) curriculum, which delved deeper into the science of the human body, offering a more comprehensive approach to complex physical problems.
These educational experiences equipped me with the knowledge and tools to improve both my own performance and recovery, as well as to help clients resolve their issues more effectively.
Throughout this journey, I learned how inadequate many industry-standard certifications are—often providing cookie-cutter knowledge that isn’t sufficient for complex or unique cases. I realized that many people fall through the cracks in traditional rehabilitation pathways, especially when their issues are too specific or complex to fit within standard protocols. That gap inspired me to create a business centered on personalized, science-based programs that address each person’s unique physical makeup, needs, and goals. My approach helps clients regain mobility, strength, and resilience, reduce pain, and improve their quality of life—often when other modalities have failed.
I started training clients privately while still working at larger gyms, gradually building my client base. I eventually moved to a bigger facility at Bay Club, where I continued to expand my private practice.
Over time, I recognized that the typical gym environment and equipment weren’t suited for the specialized work I wanted to do—focused on injury recovery, longevity, and performance enhancement. This realization led me to purchase specialized Keiser pneumatic, Medx, Nautilus, and Cybex strength equipment. With this I established my own studio, carefully curating each piece to optimize rehabilitation and performance.
Today, my business continues to grow, and I am working toward opening a second, larger location. This new space will enable me to offer a wider variety of equipment, bring on and train more staff, and incorporate additional health services. My ultimate goal is to help even more people recover faster, improve their movement, and achieve their optimal physical health.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Dealing with my injury and the emotional turmoil it brought along created significant personal hurdles that lasted for nearly a decade. However, those challenges also became a powerful driving force behind my desire to seek out more knowledge and tools to better understand how the body responds to injury and its inherent limitations.
When I was just starting out as a new trainer, one of the biggest struggles was finding education at a high enough caliber that delivered accurate, innovative, and impactful information. The initial certifications I completed, and those commonly available to most trainers, simply weren’t enough. It wasn’t until I discovered the systems I eventually studied that I truly felt I was understanding body mechanics and movement at a deeper, more meaningful level.
Building my business was a gradual process. It took many years to develop the knowledge, skills, and confidence necessary to work independently. But honestly, I enjoyed that journey—learning, discovering new principles, and finding creative ways to implement exercise to create positive adaptations in my clients.
One of the ongoing challenges I’ve faced is finding high-quality, well-educated trainers to assist within my facility. Today’s personal training industry and even university programs in exercise science often don’t fully align with the advanced exercise process I provide. This means I spend a significant amount of time mentoring and training new staff. But the bigger challenge isn’t just technical knowledge; it’s finding trainers who are reliable, motivated, curious, and willing to challenge their existing paradigms. Many trainers tend to stick with what they believe they’ve figured out.
In this industry—especially within the exercise rehabilitation and optimization niche—you quickly learn that you never truly have it “figured out.” If you think you do, you’re mistaken. Staying effective requires continuous learning, growth, embracing the possibility of being wrong, and being flexible enough to modify your approach regularly. Finding trainers with this mindset has proven to be a challenge, but it’s also essential to delivering the best possible results for clients.
To this day, I dedicate a lot of time and effort to refining my business and brand, as well as creating meaningful connections with people who genuinely need help. While my business is thriving, growing to the next level—such as opening a larger second location—is a process that takes patience, diligent work, and continuous development. But I’m confident we’re on the right track.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Our mission is rooted in the belief that pain-free exercise is the ultimate medicine—a path to moving with ease and feeling your best every day. We are dedicated exercise professionals who specialize in helping individuals overcome persistent pain and regain the freedom to move comfortably and confidently. Our goal is to empower those frustrated by chronic pain to take control of their bodies and rediscover the activities they love.
Understanding the profound impact pain can have on daily life, we focus on delivering highly effective, personalized exercise strategies designed to restore pain-free movement, improve mobility, and build strength. Whether you want to move seamlessly throughout your day, excel in sports, or age gracefully with vitality, our tailored approach helps you achieve your unique goals.
We are known for solving complex movement issues, chronic pain that just won’t resolve, and performance challenges—whether it’s sports, walking, jumping, or motor function concerns related to health conditions. Our work revolves around addressing physical problems rooted in motor control and the muscle system.
What sets us apart is our precise, detail-oriented methodology. Often, improving physical ability comes down to observing a person’s unique movement patterns and understanding how they relate to reported issues. Over time, we gather a comprehensive data set—assessing static posture, joint range of motion, motor control (via hands-on isometric strength testing), dynamometer-based maximal effort strength, cardiovascular health, balance, and endurance. By correlating all this information with your goals, we pinpoint the root causes and create a focused, individualized plan to optimize your muscle system and help you perform at your best.
We take pride in helping those who have exhausted traditional modalities—physical therapy, chiropractic care, acupuncture, massage, shockwave therapy, PRP, cortisone injections, and more—yet still haven’t found the solutions they need. Because our approach is so highly tailored, we can help these individuals finally experience relief and renewed movement, giving them back the quality of life they thought was lost.
Our facility is unlike any other in Los Angeles. We utilize handpicked, specialized equipment designed to match how the body functions, providing the safest and most effective resistance training possible. Every exercise we design is unique, crafted specifically for each individual’s neuro-muscular profile. These exercises often look unlike anything anyone has ever done before—they are built to retrain the nervous system and restore movement patterns that have been lost or compromised.
It’s important for people to understand that a “one size fits all” approach seldom works optimally. Whether you want to dominate on the soccer field, set a faster pace on your runs, get out of a chair with ease, or simply enjoy better aging—your body’s needs are unique.
For those who have struggled with chronic pain and have tried conventional treatments like physical therapy, chiropractic, acupuncture, or cortisone shots without success, there is hope.
The path forward requires a fresh perspective—something outside the box. That’s exactly where Mindful Motion LA comes in. We provide a completely different approach—focused on understanding your specific neuro-muscular needs, retraining your nervous system, and developing solutions tailored just for you. Because sometimes, the most effective fix lies in thinking differently.
Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
The fitness industry continues to be largely influenced by outdated and overly generalized approaches, which often neglect individual differences and specific needs. However, there is a noticeable shift toward promoting more specialized, customized exercise programs that cater to each person’s unique anatomy and lifestyle.
Influential figures like Dr. Peter Attia have played a pivotal role in raising awareness about the importance of such personalized approaches. He highlights factors like anatomical differences, asymmetries in range of motion, and strength imbalances—elements often overlooked in traditional fitness programs and factors we consider greatly important at Mindful Motion LA.
Today, more people are becoming interested in how exercise can actively promote longevity and a high quality of life well into older age. Historically, exercise was often seen as a tool solely for weight loss, muscle building, or recovery after injury. Many still perceive it this way, focusing on short-term goals or specific outcomes.
However, there is a growing understanding that maintaining healthy muscle mass and function is a fundamental pillar of overall health. Peter Attia et al emphasizes that muscle health is arguably the #1 predictor of all-cause mortality and the development of chronic diseases. This shift in perspective is leading more individuals to explore exercise methods that prioritize joint health, functional capacity, and disease prevention—integral elements for thriving throughout life.
Sadly, many people who are enthusiastic about exercise train inappropriately, which can lead to injuries that, in many cases, affect their function for the rest of their lives. As a result, more individuals are eager to learn how to exercise effectively—gaining all the benefits—without the negative consequences of injury or damage. They are asking, “What is the minimal effective dose to achieve my desired results?” The focus is shifting toward efficient, sustainable training that maximizes benefits while minimizing risks, helping people to stay active, healthy, and resilient for years to come.
Pricing:
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Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.mindfulmotionla.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mindfulmotionla/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MindfulMotionLa
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@mindfulmotionla
