“IF YOU’RE NOT UNDERSTANDING, YOU NEED TO UNDERSTAND ENOUGH TO FORMULATE A QUESTION” –BILL HARTMAN

When we leave the academic system we know how to speak a certain language using specific words based upon a curriculum (most likely outdated). In relation to specific degrees such as Exercise Science the curriculum is based upon an accreditation program, guidelines, or certification. In many Exercise Science or Strength and Conditioning programs these include:

• American College of Medicine (ACSM) professional practice guidelines
• Accreditation standards are outlined by the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education programs (CAAHEP)
• Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) certification from the National Strength and Conditioning Association.

There are specific terms and definitions utilized within an overarching language of these structured curriculums. Language involves a method of communication by structuring the words in a specific manner and sharing co...

“NOT BEING UNDERSTOOD MAY BE TAKEN AS A SIGN THAT THERE IS MUCH IN ONE TO UNDERSTAND” -ALAIN DE BOTTON, 2004

I’ve been thinking a lot about not what I want to be (position, title) but who I want to be (value system). Your value system may be conditional on your immediate environment, the people you interact with, and what you read and listen to. Confidence in who you want to be can be challenging in environments and cultures that condition us to value the pursuit of status (may be judged as success) or to desire the emotion of happiness. I desire the ability to responsibly use a position and establish meaning in self exploration.

We are susceptible to the influence of external voices about what we require to be satisfied and what to aim for so as to flourish as human beings (Alain de Botton, 2004). Do you know yourself enough to know what you want to become? Learning from others can be your greatest asset in understanding yourself.

Be observant of other people’s behaviors, the ...

Embedding testing in program design can be used an assessment of progress.

Are you improving or staying the same? …fear staying the same. 

• 3-10 RM testing
• Perform sets to own volition (example: perform sets of 3 until client chooses to stop or can’t maintain) 
• Density blocks: Number of reps within a timed set or number of sets within a specific duration
• Open set: client performs reps to own volition
• Set duration of time and record distance completed on mode of fitness equipment (example- distance in miles completed in 6 minutes on airdyne)
• Set specific distance and record time to completion (example- time to climb 300 feet on versaclimber) 
• Record vertical jumps in warm-up routine
• Timed circuit: record total volume or time to complete 

The term “Strength and Conditioning” has long been associated with the idea of heavy barbells and running until one’s legs collapse. The strength coaches who exploit our social media pages are often shown yelling until their veins pop at an athlete performing a 700-pound squat. Unfortunately, this has skewed the public’s eye on what a strength coach should represent. Negative reinforcement, yelling, exercise punishment, and representing the villain who runs the team into the ground after the loss predominates the strength coach persona. However, as psychology and motor learning research enters the weight room, it becomes increasingly obvious that these traditional strength coach’s tendencies may hinder an athlete’s performance and psychological well-being. Therefore, it’s time we reexamine the words a strength coach uses and understand how much power one’s word choice can carry beyond barbells.

Your words have power…maybe more than your program design.

              First, let’s cove...

Coaching: Perception, Context & Perspective.

“More awareness translates into greater survivability” (Lipton, 2015)

“We don’t see things as they are, we see things as WE are.”

Perceive: become aware or conscious of (something) or to interpret (someone or something) in a particular way. Self awareness is the conscious knowledge of one’s own character, feelings, motives, and desires. There is a difference between how you perceive yourself (a false perception can differ from who you actually are), how you think others perceive you, and how they actually perceive you. 

Context: the external circumstances of the present moment and your internal state that has been influenced by past experiences. If context is different, your perception is different, thus your responsiveness is different. 

Coaching is both understanding how to best interact with others that may have a different perspective than you and being aware of your own behavior. All are needed to assist in the goals of the athle...

It may not necessarily be getting females into leadership positions. Many individuals who hold leadership positions or titles do not demonstrate leadership qualities. The conquest of a title may be less important than the acquisition of the skills and qualities of leadership.

Providing females in the S&C field with these skills may have more value long term. 

Provide solutions in skill sets that include:

• Critical conversations skills
• Thinking about solutions (which most likely can be found in your own behavior) instead of identifying faults in others
• Self awareness (there is purpose in understanding yourself)
• Learning how to promote the growth of others (empowering) instead of spending time establishing hierarchies/inferiority
• Identifying skills in others that will help them succeed
• Listening skills instead of waiting to speak over others (creating mutual respect)
• Being adaptable to how you interact with different people (not being rigid in your own behaviors)
• Learning how
...

Bring me to the 10th floor from the LOBBY.

In reference to full range of motion at a joint; It’s okay if you start in the lobby and ask for ten floors then return back to the lobby, but what happens if you start on the 5th floor?

This is an analogy for consequences.

• There is a difference between externally rotated which implies orientation (stuck on 5th floor) vs externally rotating which implies ability to move through a range of motion (move ten floors)
• If you don’t consider axial skeleton and pelvis position you may be pushing past the tenth floor which may come at a cost
• Some people may benefit more from a trip to the lobby instead of continuing to push the tenth floor: this can also be used in reference to high level athletic performance/explosive extension
• Don’t be surprised when consequences manifest

“A book is like a portrait as opposed to a photograph. A portrait is something that you layer on and layer on in which there is still this single image but there is a depth to it. A book allows you to think and then rethink.” -Dr. Jordan Peterson

WELCOME TO MY FIRST BOOK REVIEW.

Lucifer’s Legacy: The meaning of asymmetry. By Frank Close Oxford University Press Inc., New York, NY. (2000)

This book was recommended to me by Michael Mullin.

It opens with the line, “The world is an asymmetrical place full of asymmetrical beings.”

We tend to try to make things simply: “We are asymmetrical because our liver is on the right and our heart is on the left.”

Sure. Why though?

This book allows you to explore and appreciate complexity: 

Why is our heart left oriented?

Each amino acid has a left (L-type/’laevo’) or right (D-type/’dexter’) asymmetric form (mirror images of one another) and chains of amino acids will twist in a direction. Left or right asymmetry in an amino acid is determined ...

“What else is a legacy if not that which you leave behind after you have gone?”

Book Review:

Legacy: 15 Lessons in leadership. By James Kerr (2013)

James Kerr extracts lessons of leadership from The New Zealand All Blacks rugby club, which is considered the world’s most successful sporting team.

The structure of the book consists of a chapter directed toward a lesson in leadership, such as character. Kerr provides a brief explanation of why that lesson is important to the All Blacks organization, connects it to other successful organizations or individuals, then summarizes the chapter.

“ONLY BY KNOWING YOURSELF CAN YOU BECOME AN EFFECTIVE LEADER.” – VINCE LOMBARDI

Okay I can get on board with that…

I consider this book ‘a reminder’. It’s a reminder to be conscious of your environment as you will be a product of it. The book is focused on creating the right environment for the right behaviors to occur.

Strength and success comes from creating a learning environment concerned w...

“Nature does not find its members very helpful after their reproductive abilities are depleted… Nature prefers to let the game continue at the informational level, the genetic code. So organisms need to die for nature to be antifragile—Nature is opportunistic, ruthless, and selfish.”

Book Review Written by Jaymin Chang, ATC:

Antifragile: Things that gain from disorder by Nassim Nicholas Taleb

Recently, in the fitness industry, the importance of understanding complexity has been growing, and our overall understanding of stress has also improved. Fortunately, this has encouraged care providers to take a more holistic view with their clients and to incorporate a multi-disciplinary, client-centered approach. However, the pendulum never swings in moderation: with the emergence of terms like variability, the prescription of “reset exercises” in order to make clients more resilient to stress has subsequently skyrocketed. Yes, we experience loads of stress as social organisms, especially wh...