Russell Fukuimano, CPT LMT FST ART – Strength Coach Pasadena

As super fit people in their Mid-40’s (
) who are conscious of keeping our bodies as finely tuned and conditioned as possible, working with Russell Fukuimano is a NECESSITY. His mastery of the human musculoskeletal system is matched only by his gentle care and concern for your health when working with him. Russell has a unique understanding of breathing techniques and puts your mind and body at ease within seconds of lying on his table. His talent as an ART, and FST practitioner is unmatched as my wife and I have worked with many from different regions of the country.
Anyone seeking progressive and effective therapy to recover from a soft tissue injury should consider booking a session with him. And if you’re not injured but focused on maintaining the best physical version of yourself-​consider fitting him into your schedule for regular massage therapy. Your body will thank you for the experience.
Russell’s studio is centrally located in the heart of Pasadena and is ultra-​modern with a 60 inch wall mounted flat screen to ensure your experience is tranquil and relaxing.

So, Russell is probably one of the most qualified people I can even imagine to do the different kinds of work he does. I am an experienced massage therapist and I came to see Russell for a calf-​strain injury that has now become chronic. Russell did some amazing ART but also did Myofascial Stretching, which was AMAZING– really thorough and actually profoundly relaxing. I love that the stretch is coordinated with your breath and you are controlling it, so it doesn’t feel forced although it is intense in another way. I found it to be really effective and I left feeling totally reset, and kind of… addicted! I can’t wait to go back for another session. No trainer/​therapist that I know knows more about anatomy and kinesiology than Russ. Seriously top notch and most importantly he cares about your healing and well-​being.

My rib cage was hurting so much to the point that I couldn’t even breathe. I Also had neck, shoulder and hip pain. One treatment with Russell; pains were gone within 2 days! He is great at what he does, very knowledgable, explains everything he does step by step so that one can understand the reason of the certain pressure/​movement of his neuromuscular therapy.
I highly recommend Russell, he is the best at what he does!

Russell is awesome! I’m used to always getting massages but this time I needed something serious. I woke up with almost no range of motion in my neck and remained in pain for about two days. I started looking up medical massage and came across russell’s page, after reading the amazing reviews about his work, I knew it was the kind of therapy I needed. Russell is very attentive and great at explaining exactly what is going on with your body and he thought me stretches and excercises to do at home. Honestly, the next day I felt so much better… what a relief! I highly recommend Russell, he is good at what he does and extremely personable!

My trainer referred me to Russell because I was having some really severe lingering knee pain. I was unfamiliar with both fascial stretching and ART so wasn’t sure what to expect. He made a huge difference and really helped to figure out what the real problem was with my knee. He has a great way of explaining the process and the reason for the different stretches. He provides recommendations for home stretching. I would highly recommend his services. As an aside I have watched hi with his clients when I am training and he has an excellent approach to personal training.

I first went to see Russell due to some pain I was having with sciatica. Russell worked on me for over an hour and relieved the pain I was having. I saw him a couple more times and the pain continued to get better. After discussing what might be causing the nerve pain, I decided to start seeing Russell as my personal trainer. Saw Russell twice a week for about a year and he is by far the best trainer I have ever worked with. Because of his physiological knowledge he works with you to make your body better, not just build big muscles. He is encouraging and kind. He pushes you but not in a drill sergeant kind of way.
I would highly recommend Russell to anyone. He is awesome both as a trainer and as a physical therapist.

I am a person who hates to work out and even more, I hate to stretch. I received a gift certificate around Christmas time to see what all this was about and I must say, it was one of the best gifts I received. I went to Russell after working out and he explained to me step by step what he was doing. I can’t say that I «care» too much or really understand my body but when something felt wrong Russell was very patient in explaining everything to me. I didn’t feel dumb for asking what I would think are silly questions either.
If you’ve never done it before and it’s your first time, I would go here. Russell was informative, patient, and really listened to what I thought I felt was going with my muscles.

**This isn’t your typical massage, it’s more like physical therapy. **
The location is tucked inside a gym on a corner so it was bit hard to find but plenty of parking once you know which building it is.
I was a bit nervous since I have only been to regular massage parlors but after reading about it, I wanted to try. Russell is very nice and really informative about the whole entire body. He explained the causes of our aches and different movements to help it. He’s not just there for a quick fix but to strengthen and correct the pressure points.
After the massage, I was more relaxed and ready to continue my training again. Hes knows his craft and very skilled. I have been able to do better movements and different workouts since then ;). Thanks again Russell, and I’ll see you soon.

In my never ending search for relief in my neck and upper back, I went to see Russell. Before we even began treatment, Russell examined my posture and had me stand in front of a mirror so I could see what he was seeing. He asked me to move my arms around, which helped him gauge how tight my upper back is. Then we sat down to talk about where I experienced a lot of tension or pain. Russell felt around my back and identified areas of serious tension for me. Before he started with Active Release, he showed me, on his computer, the muscles that were affected.
Active Release:
The best way I can think to describe Active Release is to compare it to trigger point therapy + more. So, not only did Russell hold down a point on my upper back, he had me shorten the muscle and then as he pressed down, I stretched and pulled the opposite way to his pressing. There was immense and immediately relief. We did this about three times. Then Russell helped me out with another part of my upper back that massage hasn’t really ever been able to get to: my lats.
Fascial Stretch:
For this portion of the session, I laid down on a padded table and Russell took me through a series of stretches I could not do myself. In my opinion, it’s better than Thai Massage stretching. Russell is very knowledgable and knows many different stretches to get at problem areas to help you feel relief. Two stretches I want to highlight in particular: the neck stretch and a jaw stretch. My neck is TIGHT. There is a lot of tension there because, well, life. And my jaw — that’s TMJ. Russell knew I had TMJ by just feeling my jaw. Now let’s talk about the «stretching.» It’s so much more than stretching. You repeat the stretch multiples times until you’ve reached your full range of motion. The neck stretch relieved places that neither yoga stretching or massage could achieve. I good way to describe it, is that for once, I felt the relief as my neck «lengthening.»
When I left Russell’s, I felt pretty good. He even showed me exercises to strengthen my lower trap. THEN 3−4hrs later, I realized how loose my back felt and how easily and without strain I could stand up with good posture — no massage has done that for me. That’s what really sold these techniques to me as something I could continue with to completely fix the years worth of built up tension in my back.

I am a trainer who works in the same gym with Russell. I went in to a session with him because I was having some tightness in my hamstrings and pain in my hip flexors. He took the time to really examine the problems I was having and was very thorough with the work he did on me. I spent about 45 min being stretched and felt absolutely amazing following the session.
I would highly recommend Russell for anyone who needs to learn more about how your muscles should be properly stretched or any athlete just needing some maintenance work done on their body.
Russell is a true professional and a great trainer.

I’m a personal trainer who has known Russell for a few years now. I have gone to him on a few separate occasions, mainly when I injured myself or if I just need maintenance work. I’m very familiar with both NMT and ART (what Russ does), and have used both many times over the last 10 – 15 years.
Russ is great at his practice because he truly cares. This is very important when conducting soft tissue work because he spends time fully understanding your issue which has been a problem I’ve had with other providers who I feel really just speed through the process and take a cookie cutter approach to your injury.
This was made most evident when I recently visited Russ to work on some severe pain I was having in my jaw (TMJ) that was radiating through my neck and shoulder and causing migraine headaches.
Russ fully understood what was going on, and even though my anatomy is fairly strong as a personal trainer, he was targeting muscle I had never heard of or thought of to relieve my pain. He even gave me some things I could work on at home which is something I know practitioners avoid so that you become more reliant on them. This shows his commitment to truly helping his patients.
I highly recommend meeting with Russel if you have any lingering pain or have been recently injured. ART is a great practice and Russ is a true pro!

So basically, Russell performs a type of stretch therapy, mostly for those with injuries. You can read about it more on the websites below.
The location is a bit difficult to find; a non-​descript warehouse looking building in the corner of Vinedo and Walnut in Pasadena.
The therapy is done fully clothed, so wear loose fitting clothing. Russell is a very nice young man who is genuinely concerned about your injury and comfort level. He kept asking if I was nervous and wouldn’t do anything I didn’t feel comfortable with. And being a rather young guy, Russell is pretty strong so he can really work out your problem spots.
The location is small, but clean and neat. I’ve never done any sort of stretch therapy before, but I could tell where I had issues were when Russell was doing the therapy. And despite my novice expertise of this type of injury, I could tell that Russell honestly cared about you by the way he was working. He really understands the human anatomy, unlike regular masseuses, who just massage you without really taking into consideration your muscle lines. Russell will explain to you and show you (on a computer) why certain muscles are tight and what can be done to increase flexibility in a certain area.
Overall, it was a good experience, I felt that I could really put my trust in Russell despite just meeting him and that I would go back if I had any injuries.

Hello,
This is my first experience with ART (Active Release Techniques) and Fascial Stretch Therapy. A brief background to allow you to better assess my review. I’ve previously completed a term on Acupressure. Through this course I learned the importance of releasing stagnant energy (blockages) in our pressure points to achieve increased circulation of Qi (energy), blood circulation, increased agility, increased range of motion and relieve tension in the muscles. In the past few years I’ve had regular chiropractor treatments, occasional acupuncture treatments and eastern medicine methods (such as Gra Fung and Cupping), and countless, literally countless, massage services (deep-​tissue, traditional thai massage, shiatsu, hot-​stone, and etc…).
Often times the doctor or massage therapist will tell me that my muscles carry a lot of tension — it shouldn’t feel so stiff and solid. A healthy body with good energy flow should have muscles that are soft and easily maneuverable.
In the pursuit of better overall health and to gain weight, I frequented the spa for massages. No matter what type of treatment I’ve acquired, I always leave aching for more, as though the service isn’t enough to alleviate my ailments.
Naturally I was excited to schedule my first ART and Fascial Stretch Therapy appointment. ART was founded by Dr. Paul Michael Leahy in the 80’s. (He never liked his first name Paul so he primarily uses Michael). ;)
ART is a massage based technique to prevent and or treat soft tissue problems. The service was 1 hr, it reminds me of thai massages and acupressure. Therapist Fukuimano was very attentive to my bodily needs, time-​efficient and professional. He used his hands to feel for specific muscle fibers, then he applied pressure to those fibers and stretched out the stiff muscle while having me do breathing exercises. Fukuimano was very thorough, stretching out one muscle after another after another. He was sensitive to my body language and facial expressions to assess how much pressure to apply to the fibers and to what extent to stretch that ligament. One hour went by very quickly. Directly after the treatment I felt increased range of motion. The next few days following I felt tenderness in the worked muscles. This is definitely something more along the lines of what I’ve been seeking the past few years. I’d highly recommend ART and Fascial Stretch Therapy to people who use their muscles heavily, do strenuous labor for work or for people looking to prevent soft-​tissue injuries. I’m forecasting this to be the modern day therapy that will be increasing popular as more people learn about it. It’s worth it’s value. And preventative care is always smarter and cheaper than injury based services.
4 stars out of 5 because this is my first introduction to ART and Fascial Stretch Therapy. I don’t have the expertise to give 5 stars.
If this is something you’re interested to try out the office is located inside Matador Performance Center in Pasadena. Enter through the gym entrance, make a quick right and the office will be at the end. There’s a few parking spaces in the lot, if not plenty of parking spaces on Vinedo Street.
Lastly, I’ve found Fukimano to be very sincere and easy to work with. His genuine passion translates into a service well-​done. I can tell his heart was in it, he worked up a sweat treating a small petite girl like me.

I have been training with Russell for 3 years. He is excellent in his craft. He takes the time to teach you the knowledge on how to train your body that best fits your own individual fitness goals. He is very thorough in explaining everything as you move along in your training sessions. I have learned a lot about my capabilities using free weights while training with Russell and have lost a few dress sizes! If you want to learn proper form and technique in your fitness life and get results, I believe Russell is a wonderful teacher/​coach to help get you there. I highly recommend him!