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After a great weekend speaking at my first fitness conference for a commercial gym chain, I came away with the impression of how far removed the world of strength and conditioning is from that of commercial fitness.
While lectures were given by myself and Dr. Emily Splical on topics ranging from restoring core function and the Efficacy of HIT (High Intensity Training), the trainers were also treated to an "Abs, Butt, and Back" class and pilates yoga fusion.
While I will hold my tounge for some of the exercises employed in the name of Pilates (imagine a room full of trainers doing Plows for several minutes, here are a few things I took from the seminar:
1. Sit ups and crunches still reign supreme- While I must admit to attend few "abs" classes, it was interesting to watch the way these circuits were executed in comparison to a traditional S & C setting.Performed at an upbeat tempo, I believe I counted 8 crunch variations interpresed with planking and other movements associated with Core training.
My initial impression as a coach is that this type of things done several times per week after hunching over a computer equals mucho repetitive stress, spinal flexion and back pain. On the other hand, everyone was up, moving and having a good time. This leads me to the conclusion that while the S&C world is all about "bang for the buck" in training terms, the perceptual element we encounter with commercial fitness is as much about marketing a "fun" versus effectiveness.
Because we will likely always fight a losing battle to commercial fitness in terms of exposure, it makes me wonder what we, as responsible practitioners, can do to balance perception with reality when training a client fresh from a commercial setting. What comprises in programming (if any) do we allow? I would like to get your take on this.
2. Noone had heard of Gray Cook or Stuart McGill (Aside my good friend Emily and the guy from KBC that is)- One question multiple presenters were asked was what trainers and sources they looked to for information. I found this refreshing because clearly the desire and passion for learning was there, but the "go-to" source for information was lacking.
After turning a few trainers on to Strengthcoach.com, a big takeaway from me with this experience is that sourcing and referencing is a huge part of the educational process. Though we may not know the answer to a question, we should posess a resource that does. For anyone that remembers the first several days of reading everything possible on the site, I feel refferal is an important part of how our profession grows and gives back--given the response from the group, the website should soon have a few new faces.
3. The public fears Kettlebells- Why does everyone call them Kettleballs? Actually, one instructed referenced his fear to being hit in the balls from swinging the bell while others were reluctant to teach the swing for fear of back pain. Going back to the whole reference thing, this reminds me how vital simple things like understanding the hip hinge can be. With this in mind, I refered a few of our friends to Eric's deadlifting video and Franz Snideman's breakdown of the KB swing.
4. What we can stand to learn from group exercise classes- I must admit one of the positive things I took away from my experience with "Abs, Back and Butt" was the "movement section" of the warm up. Here we had a full joint by joint dynamic warm up which took place in multiple planes of motion and was choriographed to music-- all in around 4 minutes! This sequence included Plie Squats (aka Squat to Stand) Instep to elbow insteps, cobras and built up from slow and simple exercises to faster and more complex movement patterns.
Getting back to the above, "choreographing" an extended dynamic warm up to music is an example of a programming modification which can spice up our workout a bit while still remaining in the frame of what we do.
5. Evidenced Based Practice- Aside from the above, I also want to recommend everyone to Emily's new Evidence Based Fitness Academy. I took a lot from her presentation on High Intensity Training (HIT) and her organization's mission statement is presentation based upon science and evidenced based practice. In an industry filled with personal bias, this commitment to citing research and understanding the "why" behind what we do is something we can all stand to learn from.
While lectures were given by myself and Dr. Emily Splical on topics ranging from restoring core function and the Efficacy of HIT (High Intensity Training), the trainers were also treated to an "Abs, Butt, and Back" class and pilates yoga fusion.
While I will hold my tounge for some of the exercises employed in the name of Pilates (imagine a room full of trainers doing Plows for several minutes, here are a few things I took from the seminar:
1. Sit ups and crunches still reign supreme- While I must admit to attend few "abs" classes, it was interesting to watch the way these circuits were executed in comparison to a traditional S & C setting.Performed at an upbeat tempo, I believe I counted 8 crunch variations interpresed with planking and other movements associated with Core training.
My initial impression as a coach is that this type of things done several times per week after hunching over a computer equals mucho repetitive stress, spinal flexion and back pain. On the other hand, everyone was up, moving and having a good time. This leads me to the conclusion that while the S&C world is all about "bang for the buck" in training terms, the perceptual element we encounter with commercial fitness is as much about marketing a "fun" versus effectiveness.
Because we will likely always fight a losing battle to commercial fitness in terms of exposure, it makes me wonder what we, as responsible practitioners, can do to balance perception with reality when training a client fresh from a commercial setting. What comprises in programming (if any) do we allow? I would like to get your take on this.
2. Noone had heard of Gray Cook or Stuart McGill (Aside my good friend Emily and the guy from KBC that is)- One question multiple presenters were asked was what trainers and sources they looked to for information. I found this refreshing because clearly the desire and passion for learning was there, but the "go-to" source for information was lacking.
After turning a few trainers on to Strengthcoach.com, a big takeaway from me with this experience is that sourcing and referencing is a huge part of the educational process. Though we may not know the answer to a question, we should posess a resource that does. For anyone that remembers the first several days of reading everything possible on the site, I feel refferal is an important part of how our profession grows and gives back--given the response from the group, the website should soon have a few new faces.
3. The public fears Kettlebells- Why does everyone call them Kettleballs? Actually, one instructed referenced his fear to being hit in the balls from swinging the bell while others were reluctant to teach the swing for fear of back pain. Going back to the whole reference thing, this reminds me how vital simple things like understanding the hip hinge can be. With this in mind, I refered a few of our friends to Eric's deadlifting video and Franz Snideman's breakdown of the KB swing.
4. What we can stand to learn from group exercise classes- I must admit one of the positive things I took away from my experience with "Abs, Back and Butt" was the "movement section" of the warm up. Here we had a full joint by joint dynamic warm up which took place in multiple planes of motion and was choriographed to music-- all in around 4 minutes! This sequence included Plie Squats (aka Squat to Stand) Instep to elbow insteps, cobras and built up from slow and simple exercises to faster and more complex movement patterns.
Getting back to the above, "choreographing" an extended dynamic warm up to music is an example of a programming modification which can spice up our workout a bit while still remaining in the frame of what we do.
5. Evidenced Based Practice- Aside from the above, I also want to recommend everyone to Emily's new Evidence Based Fitness Academy. I took a lot from her presentation on High Intensity Training (HIT) and her organization's mission statement is presentation based upon science and evidenced based practice. In an industry filled with personal bias, this commitment to citing research and understanding the "why" behind what we do is something we can all stand to learn from.
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