Santa Monica High School Strength and Conditioning coach Kermit Cannon, 41, runs his students through some drills on Monday, May 17, 2010.

Cannon has been working with students and athletes at Santa Monica High School since 1993.  After reading an article on how an overweight teenager died of a heart attack, he dedicated himself to designing youth workouts to help athletes and other youth excel and lead healthier lives.  These unique workouts involve Voodoo balance boards, BOSU balls, parachutes, weighted sleds, reaction balls and other equipment and techniques that can be sport specific and focus on balance, strength, speed, power and agility. 
 
Cannon received formal youth training techniques from Nike SPARQ and Nike Coaches Network.  After receiving lots of requests for training he started his company -Youth Sports Training which works with youth ages 8-17. 
 
A few of the hundreds of athletes and students he has been fortunate enough to work with include: Tyler Skaggs (1stround draft pick of the Angels), Geoff Schwartz (offensive tackle, Carolina Panthers), Max Forer (walk-on center at Oregon played in last year’s Rose Bowl), Jennifer Kotana (Volleyball, Pittsburgh University) and James Cooper (signed by the New York Yankees).  He is currently the strength and conditioning coach for Santa Monica High’s 1st Girl’s Basketball CIF Championship team and the Girl’s Volleyball team. He also run fitness programs for the “at-risk” youth at the Santa Monica Police Activities League.
 
Cannon joined Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! non-profit organization whose goal is to solve the epidemic of childhood obesity within a generation and give parents the support they need, provide healthier food in schools, help our kids to be more physically active, and make healthy, affordable food available in every part of our country.  He also is a member of Men’s Health FitSchools. A non-profit organization which gives schools, teachers, and parents the tools they need to help kids fall in love with fitness.
 
Cannon is putting the finishing touches on his book titled, “The Beast Factory” which is one of the only fitness books on the market designed for high schoolers which includes: airbrushed artwork, motivational quotes, diet, dangers of drugs and steroids, exercise descriptions and 12 weeks of training routines.

Cannon is a  Graduated from Culver City High School where he broke 5 school records in Track & Field, and holds a Business Degree from Cal State Dominguez College.