Words of Wisdom from Thomas Edison

“Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.”

— Thomas Edison

I think a great quote that would pair nicely with Edison’s was said best by Milton Berle: “When opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door.” Some of us are fortunate enough to recognize and seize opportunities when they come our way. When an obvious opportunity pops up, like a job offer or a free workshop, it’s easy to take advantage of it. But most of the time it’s not so obvious, and our eyes, ears, and minds remain closed—we end up missing opportunities because we weren’t being receptive. Perhaps we were looking too closely for specifics. But opportunity does present itself regularly, and it might not always be a slug in the shoulder, or a loud shout; it may be a gentle nudge or a soft whisper. Sometimes we will need to create our own opportunities instead of sitting around waiting and hoping. We create our own opportunities, I believe, when we truly understand our talents, capabilities, and resourcefulness. Otherwise we get stuck in uncertainty and may never discover our true capacity or potential. Carpe diem!

Cheers to 2014!

We are still within the first week of 2014. I’m curious whether or not those who made resolutions are still on track. The beginning of the new year is filled with positivity, aspirations, motivation, and a refreshed willingness to sacrifice certain indulgences. But there’s nothing special about January 1st, really. It’s just another day of the week on the calendar—the day after yesterday and the day before tomorrow. Work, home life, and the random temptation can threaten to erode your motivation at any moment.

The problem is that the standard is set so high. People tend to have more of an all or nothing approach. As soon as they slack or something gets in the way, you think, “oh well, I’ll do it next year.” Motivation is not enough; commitment is key. Understanding that you can get right back on track, no matter what happens, will allow you to keep going. It just takes the right mindset.

Set small, attainable, non-overwhelming goals. Achieving in small increments over the long haul is more productive than reaching for a large goal, missing it, and abandoning the original plan. There is never a perfect time for anything. You need to start only when you are ready. Really figure out what you want out of your goal, and stick to it no matter the circumstances. You will be a stronger, more positive, better person for it. To the year 2014! Cheers!

Sore Muscles, Great Workout?

People often assume that if you’re sore after a workout, it was a great workout. Or, if you’re really, really sore, it’s considered “the best workout ever!” Is that what it boils down to? Do you have to make yourself sore in order to feel productive, or to gain a lasting benefit from a workout? Some people base their training on that superficial sense of immediate gratification. We’ve been raised to follow the tag line, “no pain, no gain,” which isn’t accurate. There is plenty to gain without being in pain.

The body, when appropriately and strategically challenged, may not be sore at all after a workout. That doesn’t mean going to the gym that day was a waste. The body needs to be micro-progressed to its own threshold. Too much stress on the body may cause soreness, sometimes to the extreme. Soreness indicates damage to muscle tissue, and hopefully not to any other contractile or non-contractile tissue as well. When the soreness subsides, this means that the body has synthesized, recovered, and adapted to the stress it was placed under. It boils down to stimulation, response, and adaptation. When these components are combined appropriately and strategically, the results over time can be awesome! Have you ever been sore for 4+ days? I have, I’ll admit, but not in a very long time. A day or two, sure, but we all need to learn from our experiences and figure out what our bodies are capable of tolerating. If you are sore for 4+ days, you’re not only being inefficient, but counter-productive to the exercise process. Sure, you can work other muscle groups other than the ones that are sore, but wouldn’t you rather be an efficient, tolerant, well-trained machine ready to go at any given moment? Be patient, train with intelligence, and reap the benefits!

RTS Principles: Micro-progression

Proper progression is a tough sell. Everybody wants immediate results. However, the effects of poor progression can be severe and even systemic. Not only do we take progression too lightly, but we’re actually conditioned to think that “shocking your body” is the key to success. We’re led to believe that injurious effects are signs of a “good workout.” In fact, some professionals don’t even realize that delayed onset muscle soreness indicates of a degree of injury.

No matter how fast you want to change, your body can only adapt in microscopic steps at the cellular and chemical level. Therefore, progression should be implemented in the smallest reasonable “micro-progressive” steps. This applies to all areas that can be manipulated or progressed: control, range of motion, unstable surfaces, effort, intensity, speed, reps, sets, load, “cardio” time, etc. The bottom line is that progression is much, much more than simply adding weight or adding “wobble.”

Micro-progression is not only considered to be a key to long-term success, but also a key to reducing risk. The implementation of this RTS principle improves both tissue integrity and motor performance. So, how much is enough? The least amount of unaccustomed activity.

What Makes a Good Trainer?

What defines a “good” personal trainer? Of course that depends on whose eyes you look through. Are you a good trainer because you are superficially attractive? Because you are an ex-professional athlete? Do your certifications make you a good trainer? Maybe you think you’re a good trainer because you can count repetitions, or because you can motivate your client and yell at them to push through the set? What about if you make them extremely sore for days? Or maybe you can hold a conversation for the entire hour?

I believe that a good personal trainer is an open-minded individual who has the knowledge and experience to look at details from all angles. Regarding exercise myths, opinions, and biases, this person can distinguish truth from trend. A good personal trainer is someone who is always looking to enhance her level of education and views her profession as a passion, not a fill-in or last resort job. This personal trainer must not only commit to herself, her profession, and her clients, but also to the pursuit of knowledge. She must be willing to question and investigate his/her methods. Great trainers must rely on proof and validity.

There are many different types of clients out there, and each may look for something specific from his/her trainer or workout. The question we personal trainers should ask is: what are we doing that suits our clients best interests? Are we taking into account their goals, capabilities, structure, threshold, and tolerance levels? We must give them 100% undivided attention. Clients don’t keep coming back for the results. You retain them by providing them with a one of a kind exercise experience.

RTSm Exam Passed

I passed my long-awaited RTSm exam last week! Many courses and long hours of studying have paid off, and now I can include myself in what I consider a group of elite, well-educated, hard-working, openminded trainers.

RTS is a process within a continuum of education and training that focuses on the specifics of the human body: joint forces, physics, and mechanics. Thank you to those who have been patient and helpful along the way. And thank you to those in my study group led by Michelle Amore at Precision Human Performance who met on a weekly basis. It truly is a pleasure being able to learn side by side with such a great group of like-minded individuals. And now, on to learning more and passing this education and experience onto others.

The Role of Precision

While training clients, what are we supposed to be looking for? Do we simply show our client an exercise and have them mimic us? Do we tell them to do fifteen repetitions, make them start with point A and end with point B, and ignore everything that takes place in between?

If clients depend on us as exercise professionals to ensure they’re getting the most out of each and every workout, I say our duty lies in enforcing control and precision. Just because the end ranges of motion are critical doesn’t mean that everything else is less important. And that doesn’t mean a client’s structure, her neuromuscular influences, her accustomed level of activity, her body awareness, and her ability to adapt shouldn’t be factored in. From my Resistance Training Specialist notebook: “The outcome of an exercise will only be as good as the precision with which the motion is performed.… It all boils down to the quality of each individual rep; it doesn’t matter how many you do if they all suck!” When we prioritize control, we can tally actual progress and work toward increasing the challenge. Without control or precision, we compromise the standard, rendering measurements of progress useless/unreliable, while undermining the efficiency and quality of a workout. It’s only after the client demonstrates automaticity, or autopilot, that we should add another level of difficulty.

On the other hand, we don’t want to be completely obsessive with instruction. We need to allow the client time to acquire sensory input, adapt and respond to the task at hand, and orchestrate a solution to that specific challenge. If we obsessively correct, we may see diminishing returns in the outcome. Allowing the client time to learn, tracking micro-progress, and gradually building their skill with precision is key to long term progress.

Strategic Variety Beats Choreography

Instead of picking out a canned, pre-planned exercise routine and spending a session watching, counting, and maintaining conversation, a trainer should be trying to visualize what is occurring inside of the body of their client. All people have structural differences (i.e. bones, joints, contractile/non-contractile tissue) that need to be taken into account when designing an exercise regimen; cookie cutter exercises published in magazines or websites serve to perpetuate inaccurate beliefs about our bodies and the personal training industry.

As trainers, we need to re-evaluate our methods and our understanding of the human body. Exercise is invasive to the body. It’s not about what’s occurring superficially; it’s about the forces applied within, like resistance and torque. Keeping in mind the goal of a specific exercise, we must constantly ensure proper joint forces, position, and motion (if any). Things continuously change during the progression of an entire repetition; clients deserve our undivided attention to monitor and, if need be, correct their exercise. We are responsible for minimizing mechanical wear (contact surfaces of joints) by strategically varying activities. This is an awesome role to play—we have the power and knowledge to actually change and alter joint forces!

If you can give clients a one-of-a-kind positive experience with long-lasting benefits, that’s pretty amazing. Chances are they wouldn’t find that just anywhere; if a trainer lacks a certain degree of knowledge, experience, or commitment, they’re coming up short.