Although, as he himself says, he is no longer the youngest, that is no reason for Roland Aicher to take things slowly or to demand less from himself. When he's not working as a chiropractor, he gives personal coaching through his company RAPT (English: enthusiastic, and appropriately also the initials of Roland Aicher Personal Training), supervises Muay Thai and MMA fights as a cutman or pushes himself to the limit in each of his training sessions. In doing so, he impressively proves that athletic performance and all-round fitness is in no way a question of age.
How would you describe your sporting career from the beginning?
Roland Aicher: I started with judo, then BMX, and at some point I got into taekwondo, when I was 16, I also had fights. From the age of 18 or 19 I discovered extreme sports, white water kayaking, canyoning, climbing, I did it all and later became a teacher in these disciplines. Originally I always wanted to do Muay Thai, unfortunately there was no studio in Salzburg at the time. When I was 25, I was lucky enough to be offered Thai boxing in a boxing club. Back then, we always had to desperately try to get at least five people together before every training session, otherwise it wouldn't have taken place. As a result, I trained for a long time first in Jiu Jiutsu, then in MMA, but my heart has and still belongs to Muay Thai.
How do you train?
Roland Aicher: I train six days a week, lots of strength endurance, combination exercises, functional fitness. My goal is to train as holistically as possible, because this is the only way to achieve comprehensive fitness. I structure my workout differently every time to challenge myself differently; I never train exactly the same way twice.
How do you combine that with your job?
Roland Aicher: When I give personal training, I also do some of the training myself, and I'm already in the club. Otherwise after work. Chiropractic is almost a kind of training.
How did you come to this?
Roland Aicher: Immediately after my apprenticeship, I started with my instructor license, attended the sports academy, completed one of the first kettlebell seminars when it was still emerging and continued to educate myself in this direction and functional fitness. I still do it today and try to improve my skills year after year.
I came to chiropractic through my therapeutic massage training.
When it comes to personal training, I initially mainly gave group courses, but I found it quite difficult to cope with the almost non-existent motivation of many participants, which is why I switched to personal training.
In the beginning, because of my close connection to it, I mainly coached martial artists, having already worked with Ruben Wolff and other very successful fighters. Over time I started to meet athletes from other disciplines, such as: B. Supported Tina Schiffer in achieving her goals.
And how did you get your job as a cutman?
Roland Aicher: A fight organizer made me aware of a seminar on cutman training and I was immediately hooked. I love this activity because it gives me the opportunity to be active in and around the ring, directly in the fight, even though I'm unfortunately a little too old to fight on my own now.
What would you consider to be your greatest achievement to date?
Roland Aicher: It's hard to say, I achieved everything I wanted to achieve, even if others said you couldn't do it. This results in an inner satisfaction for me, without becoming philosophical. This also makes me realize what I can achieve if I really want it and work hard for it.
And your biggest Tief?
Roland Aicher: For an athlete, injuries are always a setback and represent a kind of defeat because they slow you down. Accordingly, this was something that had to be overcome for me every time. So e.g. B. after I broke my fibula, when the doctors told me that I would probably never be able to train properly again. After a week I went cycling again and fought my way back. Exactly the same after my hip operation, as a result of which I trained myself to be healthy, so that I am now as resilient again as if I had almost never existed. For me, life is characterized by ups and downs and that is also important. Everything else is standstill. I grow from setbacks or crises, emerge stronger from them and learn. You have to learn how to consciously fall down, then you lose the fear of it. Failure is part of life. However, you should learn from it and keep going, even if it's difficult at first.
How do you motivate yourself?
Roland Aicher: I don't have to motivate myself to workout straight away. For me, sport is part of daily personal care and internal cleansing, something essential like showering or brushing your teeth.
At the same time, it represents an intensive examination of yourself, through which you get to know yourself better and better.
How did you get the Phantom training mask?
Roland Aicher: I have been in close contact with Phantom Athletics through martial arts for a long time. When the idea to develop the Phantom training mask came up, I was part of the team that was actively involved in its creation. Together with other athletes, we tested a wide variety of prototypes, improved them, rejected them, further optimized them and optimized them. It was a lengthy, very careful process until we finally had a product that met our ideas and requirements, the Phantom training mask as everyone knows it today.
What were your thoughts when you held it in your hand for the first time?
Roland Aicher: Pretty cool. In no way cumbersome, but finally a handy tool from this category to further optimize my training. Of course, I “baptized” her with an initial training session immediately after I received her.
How did you go about increasing the intensity?
Roland Aicher: Of course, I tried it out at first, but then increased from intensity 1 quite quickly. Now I train at least on 3, but often also on 4, although that always depends somewhat on my current state of mind.
What is your favorite workout with her?
Roland Aicher: I use them in pretty much every type of training, be it endurance training or warming up. I also really enjoy using them for a variety of combination exercises, functional fitness or rowing.
Your “most intense” experience with the Phantom training mask was...?
Roland Aicher: ...in various combination exercise circuits that challenge me a lot in terms of circulation. Sometimes I had the feeling that I couldn't really keep up with the wheezing and I had little panic attacks. But this can also be solved easily if you just stay cool and calm. This is also good training.
How do you benefit from the Phantom training mask?
Roland Aicher: I use far more lung volume. My breathing muscles have become stronger and more efficient. As a result, my performance has increased enormously and I have much better endurance. I don't get out of breath so easily anymore. All of this makes a much more intensive training possible.
I particularly noticed this at the XLETIX Challenge 2017 in Kühtai. I mean, I'm already 46 now and have been through various injuries. When a friend of mine asked me if I wanted to join their team, I said yes, but I had no idea what I was getting myself into.
And I have to say, without my previous training with the Phantom training mask, I wouldn't have been able to complete the run, especially not in this time or without being exhausted for days afterwards. I've never run 10 miles in a row before in my life, even though some people might laugh at that now. I've never been a runner, to be honest. It's just not fun for me, this constant running along a certain route. I could never get used to that. In addition to this distance, there was of course also the height and the 25 obstacles, each of which was an extreme challenge.
But because I had trained with the Phantom training mask almost every day for 8 months beforehand, the run was relatively easy for me. Out of respect for the whole thing, I started very slowly, mentally had already given up on my role among the bottom teams and then in the end I rolled up my team from behind. I wouldn't have been able to do this without the Phantom training mask. This also meant that I didn't have to prepare much for the run and the exhaustion was kept to a minimum.
Do you also notice a mental training aspect?
Roland Aicher: As already mentioned, these small, occasional attacks of shortness of breath also help you develop mental stamina. This also helps you in battle. You no longer tap out so quickly when an opponent has a tight grip on you, but you continue to try to wriggle out of it, knowing that you can get by with less air.
The “best” comment you’ve heard about the Phantom training mask?
Roland Aicher: Someone wanted to insult me and asked what kind of SM mask I was wearing. But there are always ignorant people.
What would you say to someone who is completely unconvinced by the concept of the Phantom Training Mask?
Roland Aicher: You should try everything out first, that's what I tell people in my studio or offer them to test it out with my Phantom training mask. Only then can you really form an opinion. But it is also important that you give the Phantom training mask a chance. As with everything else, you can't decide after maybe 10 minutes of training whether it's effective for you. Just like when you really want to achieve success with it. It's simply not enough to train once or twice a week for a maximum of 15 minutes. To be successful, you first need to put in intensive effort, otherwise you won't get anywhere. This principle applies not only to sport, but to everything in life. If you want something, you have to work for it.
What is your next goal?
Roland Aicher: As already mentioned, I'm actually a bit too old to fight my own fights, but I would of course be interested in doing one or two fights myself again. In any case, I will remain loyal to martial arts, be it on or in the ring.
If you, like Roli, want to improve your physical and mental abilities to push your body to peak athletic performance, you should take a look at our Phantom training mask!
Contact
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