Personal Training with Injury prevention as a goal
Often people get in a quagmire because they want to work out, but chronic or acute injuries prevent them from doing the things they love to do. They blame the sport, stop playing the sport or doing the activity and try and find something to substitute. Pretty soon even golf gets painful and knitting is the only “activity” that does not cause a problem. However, this does not keep the weight off, the stress reduced, or the muscles toned.
Solving this quagmire is absolutely, positively the most favorite part of my day. Let me put you in front of a mirror, put some stickers on some key joints, and watch how you move. I want you to see the movement anomalies as easily as I do.
There are also things to notice holding still, and in the various positions you find yourself throughout the day. Let’s figure out what muscles are getting you into trouble, and what muscles have developed amnesia and need a little encouragement to work again. The fancy name for this is biomechanical efficiency and ergonomics. The boring name for this is what your mother always wanted you to have: good posture.
Caveat:
I am not a doctor and workouts do not substitute for good medical care. True pain needs to be addressed and diagnosed by a reputable medical provider.
Accountability
Without question, I think most people suffer from what I fondly refer to as ‘CEO-itis’. Even disciplined, organized individuals get tired of making responsible, shrewd decisions about every aspect of their life.
I live, eat, and breathe exercise, muscles, movement and efficiency. Together we will create what you can best do to maximize your workout, and save your precious brainpower and energy for the rest of your life!
Variety
Have you been doing the same workout for the last 10 years?
Do you wonder why your body still looks essentially the same, even though you work out regularly?
Perhaps it is time to take a look at the exercises you are currently executing. It only takes 6 – 8 weeks for a muscle to learn the exercise and in a quest to be efficient, the body no longer needs to activate as many NMU’s (neuromuscular units: one nerve fiber and one muscle fiber). Therefore, as in life, variety is the proverbial spice of your muscles’ life.
Good trainers attend workshops and seminars to see what the rest of the world is doing in terms of new trends, thoughts and research around exercise. This is one of many sources of inspiration for the variety that I can introduce into your workout.
Individualization
Every person is a new puzzle and there are trends and patterns that allow you to move the way you do, but the way you arrived there is completely unique. There are things that you like to do, and things that you don’t.
Interestingly enough, I have found over the last 20 years my clients can tell me exactly what they need when they describe the things they like to do and things they find themselves avoiding. This is a form of ‘muscular intuition’, and one of my favorite things to do is to help translate what your body has been trying to tell you.
I also have a secret goal of getting you back to all the things you used to love to do, but are now afraid your body cannot do or you have completely given up on.
Group or One-on-one Training
It is well documented in research that women in particular do better in small groups when looking to achieve fitness goals. Small group training therefore has become a highly popular, more affordable way of meeting your fitness goals.
I like to get my clients to a place where I can cue the muscles that I would like to have working in any given exercise and my clients can tell me wether or not their muscles are cooperating. Everyone I work with becomes intimately familiar with the glute muscles in particular!
If you prefer more individualized attention I will be happy to accomodate your goals in a one-on-one situation.
Longevity
Considering you gain one half pound of fat starting at age 35, even if everything stays the same, you are in relentless pursuit of lean body mass after age 35. Additionally, your brain does not register the passage of time. Instead it simply notices if you are using your muscles or not. In it’s great goal of efficiency, if you do not use your muscles, the brain decides that all the supporting systems should be slowly shut down over time. This means that the brain says, ‘ok respiratory system, we’ll slowly shut you down’, ‘ok digestive system, we’ll slowly shut you down’, ‘ok excretory system we’ll slowly shut you down’ and on and on.
Undoubtedly, you have witnessed the slow decline of people around you in this manner. That is aging, pure and simple. Therefore it seems to be very easy to not allow the body to age – MOVE! Our goal here is to keep all systems on high function for as long as possible and battle any steady decline over time.
