Form Is Function - Nevada City, California

Megan Burke

Form is Function is the best fitness program I've ever participated in. Eric is an attentive, educated, and passionate coach. He knows every students needs and is excellent at encouraging students to not only meet but exceed their goals. I always look forward to training and intergarte what I learn in my everyday life. I can't recommend this program highly enough. It'll help you meet and exceed your goals. It truly changes how you feel and addresses pesky injuries that just won't seem to heal.

Barbara Hasselbach Boyle

I have been working with Eric Kenyon at Form is Function for just under a year now, and am so happy I signed up. I came to Eric with some pretty debilitating sacrum, hip, and neck pain from sports and car accident injuries sustained over 20 years ago. Prior to seeing Eric, I had worked with many other modalities and improved my pain by about 75-80% overall, but would still suffer from some extreme pain cycles, typically in the autumn each year. I am in the "I have tried everything" group of people, and tend to be very sensitive and prone to pain flare-ups with physical practices. The "no pain no gain" and "push yourself to failure" types of coaches that are prevalent out there simply don't work, and throw me into worse pain cycles than ever before.

I was skeptical that I would ever be able to find a physical practice that would work for my body other than my spinal release yoga practice, but my pain this past fall was worse than it has been in many many years, and I was feeling my strength and resiliency diminish. I'm 45 and mama to a 5 year old very physically strong daughter and I really needed help so I could keep up with her! I signed up for the free consult with Eric after a friend recommended him, and we ended up talking for almost 2 hours about my history, my goals, and Eric's approach. I really appreciated that he was excited about my goals being very real-world focused, including being able to get up/down from the floor more easily to play with my 5 year old daughter, being able to keep up with my daughter, possibly coaching her in sports, getting back to rock climbing, and reducing pain and healing my injuries as much as possible.

I signed on with a 5 month beginner package (longer due to my injuries), which was a sizable investment, but which I have found to have been worth it. My 5 months extended out to 7 or 8 months (without any extra cost) due to some extended travel and ensuring that we hit my guaranteed targets. It felt slow going at first, but I truly appreciated that, because if something was painful at all, we would stop, adjust, or do something different. There is absolutely none of the just push through the pain mentality here at all. And as a result, over time, my pain reduced, and I got stronger.

One day, my 5 year old asked for a piggy back ride from downtown Nevada City back up the long hill to our house. Normally, I would have been able to last a block before being too exhausted to continue and/or being in pain. This time, I made it all the way up the hill back to our house with her on my back, and had zero pain, felt strong doing it, and although I was a little out of breath, didn't feel completely wiped out. This was HUGE. I wasn't breaking any crazy personal records with weights, but I was getting stronger, with more stamina, and more resilience in a real life situation, and I was able to keep up better with my daughter, a key goal of mine.

I started to find myself not triple guessing whether I could pick up and carry something heavy or awkward without injuring myself or participate in an activity without injuring myself. For years I had been constantly having to play mental math on how much my body could tolerate to try to avoid aggravating injuries. To suddenly feel strong and resilient and capable without calculating risk for every single thing was incredible.

Since then, I've gotten stronger and stronger. I'm able to do more and more varied exercises, some with large weights, some with small weights, some with no weights. And at times, an old injury flares up, and I work with Eric to back off, to only do the things that don't cause pain or that support my healing, and then I slowly add things back when it is appropriate to do so. He has been an invaluable guide in helping me push myself to do things I didn't think were possible for me, but also prevent me from overdoing it.

I've learned a lot and continue to learn a lot from Eric Kenyon in my now 3x weekly classes (more like private instruction in a group). I'm so grateful, and I highly recommend working with him!

Ania Przybycien

The work I've been doing with Eric has been life-changing. I spend a lot of time at a computer, and I've had severe lower back issues from improper posture and too many hours of sitting. Maintaining a strong body with proper functional movements is the only thing that keeps my back from going out. Learning about what works and doesn't work for my body is a continuous discovery process. With Eric's training, I've learned correct movements and how to use weights safely. The knowledge and strength I've gained have carried over to my everyday life – which is incredibly helpful even in the garden and carrying groceries!

I can attribute my mountain biking, snowboarding, etc., capabilities to this work. I've even had some serious falls that have thankfully only resulted in minor injuries because my body is strong and adept. I also love that this is helping build my bone density which is essential later in life.

Now, after four years of training, my strength doesn't disappear even if I have a few weeks break from training. I highly encourage anyone with injuries or looking to improve their strength or athletic performance to work with Eric. You won't be disappointed.

A J West

Working with Eric changed my life. Form is Function is a world class strength & conditioning program. The work I've done here has benefited me in my athletic activities from skiing to Jiu Jitsu, my physical performance in the skilled trades and in my ability to prevent and recover from injuries. I can't over state how pleased I am with the training methods I've learned here.

Megan Burke

Eric is dedicated to his craft, his continuing education and most importantly, coaching his students to meet and exceed their goals. Eric helped me gain mobility after being born with a deformed hip. He's an excellent instructor and I find myself looking forward to training. He's attentive and respectful and also knows when to encourage students to push themselves. The classes are a safe and comfortable space. I am constantly using the movements I learn in my everyday life. I can't recommend FIF/ training with Eric highly enough. It'll change your life.

Marina Gage

Last year I decided I was going to actively fight the slow decline of my aging body. 2023 was to be the 'year of self-care' and at the top of the list was to get in shape...but how?...where to start?

I wanted to do it right this time. I had tried joining gyms [and the personal training sessions that came with new memberships]. I had tried online classes, and in-person classes. Nothing felt right, so nothing stuck. And this time I wanted real results that I could see and feel, quickly. And I wanted to make sure those results didn't go away if I went on vacation for a couple weeks.

I had seen the Form is Function website the previous year, but had hesitated assuming the lack of information about the cost meant it was too expensive. But in January, a year after seeing the site the first time, I found myself back there and clicked on 'Book an Appointment' to schedule a 60 minute consultation with Eric. It was free so, at the least, I would get 60 minutes worth of discussion on my physical condition and habits and hopefully some feedback from a professional, which is a substantial amount of time. He gave me even more than 60 mins, and a follow-up call. Again, I was hesitant about cost because he has you commit, and what if I didn't like it, or couldn't figure out how to make it work with my schedule, but something about Eric's approach to what is important, smart, safe, achievable, and good in fitness made sense to me...and this was the year of self-care, so I signed up! And I'm so glad I did.

The initial commitment was to sign up [and pay] for 3 months, a beginner's period. Each session I got noticeably stronger, breaking personal records at almost every visit. I had to travel a lot and missed sessions, but Eric didn't measure 3 months with a calendar, he measured it by number of sessions, so I never felt like I was missing out or losing money on my investment. Not only did the periodic neck and back pain that I had considered to be my new normal gone away, I now do things I couldn't even do as a teen. I have achieved goals I almost had stopped believing were possible.

I just finished my first 3 months [chronologically 6 months due to my traveling] and have more strength, and confidence in that strength, that I had expected. Everything else I had tried made me feel like a failure, like I wasn't trying hard enough, working diligently enough, doing it right. I have never felt anything close to that here...quite the opposite. I have a pride in what I can do and how I got there, which is invaluable. Now it's time to come up with new goals and blow those out of the water 😉

Barry Friedman

Eric’s understanding of the human body is almost freaky. He instantly improved my range of motion in decades-old injuries that seemed to leave permanent limitations on my neck and shoulders.

His instruction is so concise and clear that I always know exactly what to do, and that I’m doing it properly.

Thank you for giving this retired, 4-time world juggling champion the power and confidence to step into all of life’s challenges in perfect form.

Valarie Bush

I began working with Eric Kenyon at Form is Function in May 2018. At first, my goal was to "be fit" and "well sculpted." I had not realized the power of having core strength and that the fitness and sculpting come as a benefit -- not the goal. I had been "working out" regularly for over 35 years at gyms and with fitness coaches. I do QiGong, Yoga and Pilates. But never achieved the results I have with Form is Function

With Eric's coaching -- I was soon able to
? get up off the ground without using my hands
? not tire doing simple chores like vacuuming or housework
? schlep the garbage cans up our steep driveway without my legs barking or being out of breath
? see muscles in my arms
? squat down to pick something up with out my thighs and hips hurting
? carry a 50 pound pail of sand down to our hangar without straining my back or arms (all has to do with good form and "bracing")
? catch a friend who lost his balance and was falling backwards. I used all the functional tools to brace myself, squat and slowly lower my friend to the ground protecting his head.

Today -- in my own home -- I do a simple, daily routine using Indian clubs, and a few light kettle bells. I have been doing this regularly for three years. I enjoy Eric's classes, when I can attend to get pointers on form and the comradery with others who enjoy the same program.

What I have learned with Eric and Form is Function is superior to any other form of workout I have ever done.