What is OHF and what does it actually do for you?

OHF isn’t just a platform to learn and experience Kinstretch.

At a SURFACE level, it’s designed to help you:

• Improve how your body moves and feels day to day.

• Give you back a sense of control over how your body evolves with time.

• Improve joint health, tissue capacity, physical resilience, body awareness, neurological control, strength, mobility, flexibility... and much more.

But that’s just the beginning.

OHF was created by someone who has lived through the struggles you may be facing now, for the people who still feel stuck, unsupported, or unsure of where to turn next.

Why “Operation Human First” and what does the name mean?

Four years ago, I changed the name of the subscription from Kinstretch with Alex (KWA) to Operation Human First. Doing so wasn’t “a rebrand”, it was to completely reflect what OHF is on all levels.

Yes, Kinstretch is a core component of OHF and Kinstretch classes continue to be added regularly. That said, OHF has become something far deeper.

The name Operation Human First reflects the depth of thought, care, and intention that goes into every single thing I create, do, or communicate on this platform.

On a surface level, the name “Human First” stems from how the programming in OHF is built around the truth that we are humans first.

In today’s world, so many of us have lost access to the basic physical qualities that humans are designed to have. This includes but is not limited to:

• Fundamental joint function

• Mobility/active range of motion

• Articular joint space

• Tissue capacity & quality

• Neurological control

• Body awareness

• The ability to do the most human things like breathe, walk, or run in a way that serves you or in absence of pain

OHF exists to help you restore the above and to rebuild what’s been lost in modern life, injury, or disconnection over time.

Looking beyond the above and the obvious:

As humans we dynamic and highly adaptable creatures and we are also far more than just walking meat-wagons.

OHF is also about supporting the actual human behind the movement.

Everyone in OHF is a HUMAN first and is treated as such. You are way more than a customer or subscriber.

I care deeply about the people inside this community and I bleed care and intention into everything in OHF.

As a result of that, in OHF:

• No rushed or generic answers are offered as humans deserve a real response.

• Questions are often answered with a detail audio message directly from me so that you can be heard but also supported and set up for success.

• Every video in OHF is made with the goal of making it known that you’re not on your journey alone as human’s do best in packs rather than isolation. Being stiff or in pain is already isolating enough.

• Everything is intentionally planned, but never scripted to avoid projecting robotic perfection.

• Videos are high quality without being over edited so you can see the humanism of your instructor.

• Written content is written to convey a message, but never perfection.

• Small mistakes are intentionally left visible in content to keep things relatable on a human level.

• I show up authentically as a human first and practitioner second.

I don’t want you to feel like you’re watching someone who is somehow living some unattainable life or has physical capacities that you cannot achieve for sake of bolstering my own image or ego.

I want you to feel like you’re learning from someone who’s just as human as you, and who is right there both with and for you.

My hope is that when you engage with or watch anything I create in OHF - whether it’s a class, a video, or a message… that you see me not as a distant instructor, but as a “human” first and foremost.

And hopefully, one you know that you can reach out to whenever you need.

Similarly, I will always see and treat anyone in OHF like a human first.

And that is what Operation Human First really is and means in it’s entirety.

The “Who” Behind Operation Human First:

That would be me - Alex Murphy.

The short story is that I created this platform because so many people around the world on Instagram asked me to after attending live Kinstretch classes with me. And, because I care and want to help the people in the position that I spent so much time in.

While my physical therapy schedule almost always has me booked out months in advance, the pandemic gifted me the time and space I needed to finally sit down and create what my non-local people had been requesting - that being OHF.

I’ve now been operating OHF for the better part of a decade and I’m so grateful to every human that requested this as it has allowed me to connect with so many incredible people and I’m honored to be a part of each person’s journey.

These days, you’ll find me working full-time at my physical therapy clinic in Canada during the day, and spending the in-between hours right here in OHF, training, programming, creating, and answering your messages. Or just living life, usually with an espresso or croissant in hand.

Background & Education

My first job in the human performance and rehabilitation space was in 2013 where I trained University athletes and general public in the Human Performance Center at my local University.

Since then I’ve accumulated over a decade of experience working with clients to help them improve how well they move and feel every day.

I operate my own physical therapy clinic in Canada where I have my Kinstretch studio and I have nearly a decade of experience running my own practice as a physical therapist, Functional Range Conditioning Mobility Specialist, and Kinstretch instructor.

University Degrees:

• Physical Therapy & Kinesiology (University of Saskatchewan)

Relevant Post-Graduate Education:

• Functional Range Conditioning Mobility Specialist (FRCms)

• Kinstretch Instructor

• Functional Range Systems Internal Strength Model (FRSC)

• Functional Range Assessment (FRAs)

• Functional Range Release (FR)

• Canadian Society of Exercise Physiology CSEP-CPT

• Postural Restoration Institute:

  • Postural Respiration

  • Myokinematic Restoration

  • Pelvic Restoration

  • Impingement & Instability

  • Cervical Revolution
    

Remember, certifications and degrees are simply expensive pieces of paper. It’s what you DO with those things that makes them valuable. And, that is what you’ll see in OHF.

If you want to know the details about my background, just contact me.

Yours in strength,

Alex