"Choose your expert, and choose carefully", a piece of advice my father gave me years ago, accompanied by "Be the best at what you do, everything else takes care of itself". I’ve personally taken this a step further, choosing to spend my time learning much as possible about my field rather than a little bit about dozens.
Over the years I’ve applied this anthem more times than I can count. Rather than taking the time to learn plumbing, I called a plumber. Rather than renting a U-Haul and packing it myself, I hired movers. I used the time I would otherwise have spent figuring out how to jury-rig a trade in which I wasn’t particularly interested, to further educate myself in my preferred field - health and wellness. This may be reading books and white-papers, attending seminars, speaking with colleagues, or "trials-and-errors", I applied the time further educate myself to offer more to my clients.
Over the past 14 years I’ve sought a handful of certifications that I felt were important to develop a foundation as a true professional in the practice areas I found most effective and enjoyable: Strength & Conditioning, Nutrition, Kettlebell training, and Rehabilitative Movement. However, even the best certifying bodies with the most intensive certification programs offer only a foundation to build upon. The true expertise comes from experience, relationships, and mistakes.
Certifications are like professional degrees. They provide fundamentals and theories, but they rarely equip you to deal with the real world. That’s where the actual working knowledge comes in. During rehabilitative training classes they may teach that "Issue A is treatable with Resolution 1". However, this is often a "most common" scenario as opposed to a universal truth. Experience will teach that Issue A is best treated with a combination of Resolution 1 and 3.
When choosing your fitness or wellness professional, ignore the letters after his or her name on the business card. Ignore the various certificates, awards, and degrees plastered on the wall. Focus on experience. To help with this, below is a list of questions (and answers) to ask when interviewing such a person. I’ve done my best to eliminate subjective questions.
a. Should I be sore after every workout,? No. Soreness is not a necessary indicator of a good workout nor is it an indicator of properly executed movement. Some soreness is expected for beginners, but as you progress the level of soreness will likely dissipate.
b. Will I vomit or feel nauseous? No. Nausea or vomiting is a clear indicator that your body has exceeded its work capacity. While it’s not uncommon for nausea or perhaps dizziness during the first couple sessions, while your trainer is getting to know your body’s limits, it should not be a normal occurrence.
c. Machines or free weights? Both. While free weights are generally preferred for their ability to challenge the body more dynamically, many machines serve their purpose as well and should be used when needed and appropriate.
d. What is the proper ratio of upper-body "pulling movements" to "pushing movements"? 2-to-1. For every pushing movement you should perform two pulling movements. The "back" is comprised of many muscle groups that are responsible for posture and total strength. The complexity and depth of the back requires additional volume to avoid imbalance.
e. How should I warmup? Warmups are about preparing the body for movement which suggests that movement is the best way to warm up. There are dozens of "dynamic warmup" routines, but any workout program should involve movement through all 5 planes of motion (push, pull, hip-hinge, knee-hinge, and torso-rotation). Dynamic warmups may also include foam rolling, especially for the hips and glutes.
f. When should I stretch? At the end of your workout and on your "off"days. This should involve, at the very least, static stretching and foam-rolling.
Before engaging any professional to train you, ask these questions and make sure you get the same or similar answers. Also, as you may have guessed, all Fit2You trainers know the answers to these questions, and yours.
"If you’ve got it, flaunt it. If you don’t, get it with us."
Contact us at info@fit2youfitnses.com
