Circulation Training, abbreviated C.T., is a manually-applied method created by Anthony M. Hirschman, M.S., that opens up large amounts of blood flow delivered precisely to various muscle-nerve junctions in the body. These locations are often referred to as “motor points”. Optimal functioning of the motor points is a essential factor necessary to maximize performance in sports. This is described in greater detail later in this section.
Hirschman developed and tested this system by working with Dr. Karlis Ullis, a physician for the UCLA athletic teams. At the time, Dr. Ullis was a professor at UCLA Medical School and also worked in the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Olympic Games at the Olympic Village in Westwood. On the original research video for the test, Dr. Ullis confirms the statement in bold in the previous paragraph, describing the relationship between effective motor point functioning and optimal sports performance.
Dr. Freedman was there for five of the L.A. Lakers' first nine NBA Titles…1980-88.
Dr. Toby Freedman, team internal medical doctor for the Los Angeles Lakers, Rams, and Kings during the 1970s to the 1990s, supervised much of Hirschman’s research from the 1984 Olympics through the 1990s.
Dr. Freedman was instrumental in providing appropriate medical guidance for many of Hirschman’s professional and Olympic sports activities. He knew about the champion’s mindset from direct experience, having witnessed it up close. The team he worked for, the Lakers, won five NBA Titles in nine seasons.
Freedman was also Magic Johnson’s personal physician. An avid tennis player, Toby Freedman was the doctor for the tennis venue during the 1984 Olympics in L.A., as well as one of the doctors for the Apollo 13 Mission to the Moon.
Hirschman was and is appreciative to have such an accomplished physician and sports innovator guide him for almost 20 years.
Circulation Training was first brought to the attention of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee (LAOOC) as a possible Alternative To Drugs by Hal Uplinger, a prominent member of the Committee. The LAOOC became interested in finding out if this method could boost performance as much as would be expected through the use of steroids and other forms of performance enhancing drugs (PEDs).
A well-documented research test, supervised by Drs. Freedman and Ullis, was conducted three months prior to the 1984 Summer Olympics. The results were promising, suggesting that Circulation Training improved the three participating athletes’ performance as much as or more than would be expected through the use of PEDs. Some specifics of that research test are as follows:
One of the test subjects was Dokie Williams, a future star player from the 1983 Super Bowl Champion Raiders. In the speed improvement category of the research test, Williams was paired with Alice Brown, who would go on to become a two-time (1984 and 1988) Olympic gold medalist in the women’s 100 meter sprint relay for the United States.
The results were highly significant. Both athletes lowered their 40-yard dash time an identical .17 seconds
after receiving Circulation Training every other day over the three-week testing period.
Alice Brown was the reigning 60-yard indoor world record holder at the time of the test, a record suggesting that she was also the fastest woman in history over the 40-yard distance. Being that fast already, she had much less of a margin to improve in the 40 than did any other female sprinter.
.17 seconds is a significant speed increase accomplished over any period of time, particularly that it happened in just three weeks. Hence the meaning of the phrase under the C.T. logo, “Circulation Training Makes You Faster Than You’ve Ever Been Before.” “You” refers to some of the fastest athletes on Planet Earth, particularly those who seek to become even faster. Circulation Training showed that this improvement can and does happen using entirely natural (non-PED) means…which was the original intent of the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee. From an experiential perspective, the question of “Can it be done naturally” was clearly answered.
Alice Brown (far left) with her 1988 Olympic gold medal relay teammates, including Florence Griffith-Joyner (second from right) and Evelyn Ashford (far right). At the time of the photo, Ashford and "Flo-Jo" were the two fastest 100-meter sprinters in history. Griffith-Joyner was also a former Hirschman client…and someone whose World Record in the 100-meter dash is still intact almost 40 years after she first set the mark in 1988.
A parallel between man and machine: The “red blood cell train” carrying freight.
From a scientific perspective, what are the potential mechanisms which could enable this speed-increasing process to occur? A couple of train analogies will lead to probable conclusions. Trains function in a way similar to blood, in that they both carry freight. The freight in the case of red blood cells is oxygen, glucose, and a variety of other nutrients critical for optimal cellular functioning.
Improving blood flow delivers these nutrients to cells at an accelerated rate. Theoretically, this allows for a more rapid electrical signal to be generated between the muscle and nerve at the motor point. The motor point is the precise location at which nerves and muscles “communicate” (via sending and receiving impulses).
Faster and more efficient nerve conduction to the muscles results in consistently greater speed, built up over time in a cumulative fashion.
That’s C.T. Speed Increase Theory Number 1.
The pathways of blood channels in the body resemble train routes throughout the United States. Got to keep them open!
Building on the train imagery, one can visualize a network of train tracks crisscrossing all across the United States. Those tracks are comparable to blood channels…arteries, veins, and capillaries…all of which need free-flowing, highly oxygenated red blood cells in order for the athlete to generate maximum possible speed.
Based on the results of the research test, Circulation Training was apparently able to do what the name implies…train the athletes’ circulatory channels to be more open, allowing this vital transport of nutrients to be less impeded.
That’s C.T. Speed Increase Theory Number 2.
WHAT HAPPENED TO THE RESEARCH SUBJECTS AFTER THE TEST WAS COMPLETED? Dokie Williams went from being reasonably fast to having World Class speed using Circulation Training (documented in 1986 by the NFL in its “Fastest Man” competition).
Both athletes started the program in 1984 at the time of the research test. They maintained their speed increase for several years, due in large part to receiving consistent treatments from Anthony Hirschman during that time period. Dokie Williams used Circulation Training through the 1986 NFL seasonAlice Brown utilized C.T. through the 1988 Olympic Games.
OBJECTIVE (not theoretical) RESULTS: Dokie Williams achieved an unprecedented level of speed…for him. In the research test, his 40 yard dash speed was lowered from a previous best-ever healthy time of 4.51 (timed at the NFL combine a year earlier) to 4.34 seconds.
Williams achieved this speed increase despite the fact that he was still recovering from the lingering effects of a hamstring pull, an injury that made him unable to play in his team’s Super Bowl victory three months prior. He continued to display his newfound speed over the next three years, using Circulation Training as his Speed Increase Mechanism of choice. By 1986, he was voted by the NFL to be one of the 8 fastest players in the entire league…grouped into the same category of “speed burners” as a 1983 World Champion (Willie Gault) and a 1984 Olympic gold medalist (Ron Brown) both U.S. relay team members-turned-NFL players.
After the 1984 research test, word of Circulation Training quickly spread to other elite athletes. Those who received C.T. from Hirschman won 13 gold and 6 silver medals for the United States in track and field during the 1984 Olympics, including Carl Lewis and triple Olympic gold medalist Valerie Brisco-Hooks in the sprints (seen at the top of the medal stand in the photo below).
Jackie Joyner-Kersee (pictured below throwing the javelin) was videotaped using Circulation Training at the 1987 U.S. National Track and Field Championships. In the long jump…her specialty…she jumped further than any American female athlete had ever jumped RESTED even though she had competed in four events in the heptathlon, the women’s version of the decathlon, the previous day.
From this research outcome in the long jump, one can conclude that fatigue did not affect Joyner-Kersee at all. Her speed on the runway to the jumping area most likely significantly increased, which is one explanation as to how she was able to jump further than any U.S. woman had ever jumped before.
Circulation Training is an innovation of great promise in sports, because it minimizes or eliminates the effects of fatigue. Preventing tiredness and recovering from fatigue faster are assets of major proportions…the “C.T. Advantage.” Ditto with speed increase. Athletes and teams who want to maximize their physical abilities are welcome to hop on board the “Circulation Training Express.”
Videos of the landmark 1984 Olympic Research Test, which includes Dokie Williams, as well as Valerie Brisco-Hooks and Jackie Joyner-Kersee, are available upon request. Two other Raiders players appear in these videos, one of them being Mike Haynes, a cornerback who was a unanimous selection to the NFL’s 100th Anniversary Team. The other player, Lionel Washington, had as many interceptions (5) in three games, as in the previous three years combined.
Olympic Research Test:
Raiders Research Test:
Jackie Joyner-Kersee/Mike Haynes Best Ever Research: