1MR Expands to Spacious Facility

Just one year ago, Chris Manno was anxiously awaiting the grand opening of his passion project, ‘1MR‘ training facility in Farmingdale, NY.

On December 2, a brand-new, state-of-the-art facility with 32 yards of artificial turf was ready for business thanks to a full schedule of athletes that enabled him to outgrow the original spot.

“Partnering with Max Effort has been a huge blessing,” said the former NFL wideout and Hofstra grad. “They provided me with the athletes,” he added.

Additionally, the partnership enabled him the freedom to remove the wall between the two sides of the building so that he can have his baseball athletes run the 60-yard dash to prepare for their college showcases.

After a busy first year, Manno has grown enough and built enough of a clientele that he will be bringing on a new trainer after the new year.

He noted “it’s a good problem to have” and he’s “been shadowing me for the past few weeks” and he’s ready to be on his own.

As far as the athletes that he trains, it ranges in ages and types of sports they play. While it’s always nice to train the elite athletes, the younger ones with untapped potential are his favorite.

“I almost prefer when they have no background,” he said. “I subscribe to the theory that if I build a better athlete I build a better (fill in the sport) player,” he said, meaning that by creating a more well-rounded athlete the results will translate into any sport.

Manno, who grew up playing baseball before switching to football as an upperclassmen in high school stated that much of his workouts are similar for any sport but when it comes to baseball he likes to focus on lower body explosiveness and shoulder strength but he can customize his workouts depending on the athlete.

The one athlete that is a tougher fix is the one that has developed bad habits.

“If they have been practicing imperfectly, it’s a tougher fix,” he said. “If things are bad it’s an easy fix but when he looks good but still not fast that’s different. That’s when your motor patterns haven’t been developed. It’s almost like fixing a computer that’s been wired incorrectly.”

In terms of the amount of visits per week an athlete should come in, that varies of course.

“I would like at least two times per week,” he said. “But I understand not everyone has time. Our college athletes come in sometimes 4x per week. They see a real difference. The younger guys come in once per week usually. Typically after six weeks you will start to see results,” he added.

Lastly, nutrition is the No. 1 thing holding back most athletes.

“I didn’t realize how big it was until I started studying this,” Manno said. As an athlete with a thin frame, he often struggled to gain weight but some athletes may have the opposite problem.

“Nutrition was the weakness in my game. I love sweets,” he said. “But you need to realize that nutrition is huge. You can really maximize what you do with a good diet or really negate it with a poor diet. We don’t want to take over your life but the kids that understand it get a lot out of this.”

When asked about the proper nutrition, he said the most crucial aspect is a good meal after a workout. He called it the “most important meal of the day” and it should be within 45 minutes of your workout and consist of a protein to recover what your body lost.

They just opened up a smoothie bar upstairs so athletes can have a nutritious snack right after.

The other danger is during the season, when some athletes discontinue their workout regimen.

“The season is long. You can lost what we’ve done in one month if you don’t do some sort of maintenance phase. You need to drill home the motor patterns. What’s the point of playing good for your first couple games and then falling off? It’s vital that you do some sort of maintenance.”

While the growth was huge in year one, Manno is not content.

“100,000 percent” he said in terms of whether 1MR is just scratching the surface.

“Ultimately, I would like to open more gyms that incorporate my philosophies. Exos (Arizona) and IMG are two of the best academies in the nation. We have nothing like that in the northeast. Building a good brand with goo results. If athletes are doing well, people will come.”

Schedule a workout by calling 631-400-4110 or visiting 1mrtraining.com