Paul Chek, HHP, NMT is a prominent expert in the field of holistic health and corrective and high-performance exercise. For over twenty years, Paul’s unique, holistic approach to treatment and education has changed the lives of countless clients, students and peers. By treating the body as a whole system and finding the root cause of a problem, Paul has successfully coached clients toward complete resolution of their health and performance challenges, where traditional approaches have consistently failed. Paul is the founder of the C.H.E.K (Corrective Holistic Exercise Kinesiology) Institute, based in California.

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The Essential CHEK Philosophy

The number of my clients, patients and students that have expressed to me a difficulty in capturing what I do and what I teach has reached a critical mass. Being repeatedly stimulated by such communications, and the fact that many of my own students (excluding C.H.E.K 3’s and 4’s) couldn’t effectively explain their own practice motives, I decided to rectify the situation. What follows is, in both written and graphic format, an overview of my philosophy of life and my motives for health and well-being. My philosophy of life and living energize the creation of the education system I have developed and it is through this system that I share the fruits of my life and career. I begin with a brief sketch of how my career developed. Next, I overview each of the C.H.E.K certification programs. Finally, I explain the C.H.E.K Mandala which I designed to graphically demonstrate the living philosophy behind all the programs I’ve designed and teach through the C.H.E.K Institute.

FROM THE BEGINNING

My career began as a fighter on the U.S. Army Boxing Team at Ft. Bragg, North Carolina. While boxing, I also trained for triathlons. Between the two events I trained six to eight hours a day on most days of the week. Needless to say, the coaches and fighters on the team were ever so curious as to how it was that I was able to put out that much energy each day, and still perform well in the boxing ring! This curiosity cultivated respect for my methods, which included the use of massage and careful eating practices, regular consumption of water and fluids from raw fruits and vegetables, and the knowledge that I was supported in my efforts by Cosmic Consciousness.

My athletic successes eventually drew the attention of my company commander who offered me support from our unit to train full time for triathlon. He was very excited to see a soldier from aviation winning athletic events and it was good motivation for other troops to exercise more as even the army has weight management challenges. Training full time for triathlon would allow me to stop boxing. This was fine since I knew in my heart that boxing was not to be my life mission and that my life mission would require the use and maintenance of a fully functional brain! I approached the coaches on the boxing team and informed them of my decision to leave. They didn’t like the idea and offered me the job as team Trainer. This position allowed me to continue my triathlon training around my boxing duties as well as to explore my intellectual pursuits. The seed of my career would now have a place to germinate!

For two years, I studied massage therapy, sports injury care, special applications of conditioning for fighters and other army athletes. These studies consumed my time and I grew in knowledge and skill rapidly. Soon enough, my military tour of duty was to be over and I was now sure what I would do. I would move to California and start a sports massage therapy business and implement my concepts with triathletes there.

My first task upon arriving in San Diego was to complete Sports Massage Therapy School in Encinitas, a small beach town near San Diego. This was a very rewarding experience and added valuable skills to my army training and experiences. Using these skills, I became very successful very quickly. I landed a job with Keith Jeffers, D.C., who specialized in running injuries. Working out of his facility for the next two years, I was able to meet and work with many of the top runners and triathletes in the world. Using my then unusual approach of stretching only the muscles that were tight and exercising the muscles that were lengthened and/or weak, coupled with sports/clinical massage and basic dietary recommendations, I developed a very large following.

The next stage of my career began in April 1988, when Kathy Grace, P.T., asked me to work at her physical therapy clinic (Sports & Orthopedic Physical Therapy). This clinic was arguably the largest physical therapy clinic in San Diego, with some 22 physical therapists and athletic trainers and a staff of a dozen or more surgeons linked to the venture. For the next four years, I worked with these therapists and surgeons, expanding my education and ideas and getting valuable practice with every sort of orthopedic injury you can imagine.

In 1989, I completed the St. John Neuromuscular Therapy certification. This complemented my existing clinical skills. Shortly thereafter, I completed all the seminars given by the famous Chilean Physical Therapist Dr. Mariano Rocobado. In addition, I studied the Norwegian system of medical exercise therapy through courses given by Bjorn Svenson. In 1989, I also became qualified as a licensed Holistic Health Practitioner in California. All the while, I had continued my practice of using calisthenics, resistance training and sport specific endurance training as part of my own regimen, while incorporating my practical experience and knowledge with my patients. My results with even the most challenging patients led to the senior physical therapist, Chris Segiel, M.S., P.T., suggesting that I give workshops on my methods. She told me that they did not learn the methods I used in physical therapy school and that other physical therapists would benefit from my approach.

I began putting together seminars in clinical massage therapy, sports specific strength development and injury prevention, posture correction and many other topics. The seminars were successful, leading to a number of private consulting jobs with physical therapy clinics in San Diego as well as with professional sports teams that had heard of my work through therapists attending my seminars.

This all dovetailed with my leaving Sports & Orthopedic Physical therapy to start my own physical therapy clinic (Golden Triangle Rehabilitation) with Steve Clark, M.S., P.T. We ran the clinic successfully for three and a half years. A progressively worsening situation with insurance companies who would not pay fairly for treatment rendered led my partner and I to sell our business. So in 1995 I took what now amounted to 11 years of hard work in the sports and clinical arenas and started what is now the C.H.E.K Institute’s C.H.E.K Practitioner program.This began in La Jolla, CA. where I opened an office with a gym, treatment rooms, a library and offices. From here, I developed some of my initial programs, such as Program Design, Scientific Abdominal Training (now Scientific Core Conditioning), Scientific Back Training, Controversy and Current Concepts of Pulling Exercises, Paul Chek’s Medicine Ball Workout, Dynamic Medicine Ball Training, Swiss Ball Training For Better Abs, Buns and Backs, Swiss Ball Training For Athletes, and others.

Soon I was getting requests to teach these programs in Australia and New Zealand and that became the focal point for much of my teaching for the next few years. I grew and developed the Corrective High-performance Exercise Kinesiology (C.H.E.K) program to four levels, designed to be completed over four years. My initial batch of Level 4 C.H.E.K Practitioners came from the South Pacific, four of which (Chris Maund, Janet Alexander, Suzi Nevell and Mark Buckley) are instructors for the Institute today.