FIT-PROS PERSONAL TRAINING SCHOOL / ACADEMY

g doesn't make you a Personal Trainer any more than reading a book on surgical procedures makes you a surgeon! A “workout” means something different to each of us. Some feel that they don’t “get a good workout” unless their heart rate hits a specific range. Others measure a great workout by sweat, a pump, and the sensation of an aggressive stretch, a burn, or following a workout routine from Shape, Muscle and fiction magazine, or Men’s Health magazine. So right from the start, we don't all think or speak the same language. Another issue that makes it difficult in this industry is that so many trainers think they already know all that they need to know about exercise. Personal trainers may feel they have more experience after getting that certification. Another reason is they justify their experience with the amount of years they have been “working out”. Some feel because of his/her body, physical achievement they are an expert. It also can be an advanced degree from a major university, or an alignment with an industry “guru” that one has chosen to follow. Most people simply sell exercise short, thinking that there's just not that much to it, and subscribe to a “just do it” philosophy. In fact, some of the nationally accredited certifying bodies and the vast majority of the “exercise experts” with “guru” status continue to flood the industry with amazing knowledge, and text books. We spend hundreds if not thousands of hard working dollars to visits the trade shows, attend a talk on an array of exercises modalities. But all too often, we dismiss this science completely, and in the process, we show, teach exercises based on a myth and misinformation. We as professionals should present our recommendations to our clients with the disclaimer that “other considerations not mentioned in a text book may alter this exercise.”

The above statements are based upon continual reinforcement via objective evidence... We should be able to point out the objective truth, accept it, remedy it with the realization that it is not that other teaching professionals are wrong, it’s just maybe they are basing everything on a feeling, sensation, or what worked for them. It’s about exposing our shortcomings and solving them for the good of our clients. And unfortunately, many “certified personal trainers” have a tendency to think they are exempt and free of fault. We don't degrade any specific exercises or philosophies. We analyze them all objectively... show and tell you the facts based on the way the body works... and then you decide! Professional thinking, decision making, or one size fits all
On day one, most of us learned exercises by memorizing a start position and a finish position. Progression of the exercise simply meant adding more weight. “Knowledge” was simply progressed by adding more exercises to one’s plan of action, and memorizing more starts and finishes. We even added little “twists” (Arnold press) that were believed to generate magical results. (Sensation / perception) But memorizing exercises in a one-size-fits-all protocol is not progression... or professional at all. It is simply repeating the same mindlessness exercises over and over with no real ability to analyze what each exercise really is or what it is doing beyond the mythological gym-science that plagues the industry. It’s like an artist “painting by numbers” and that’s hardly professional. F.P.T.A says... “JUST DO IT RIGHT!”
We all remember the Nike® phrase “Just do it®!” This phrase created a buzz of self motivation in an attempt to “Just Get Moving”; we feel it performed a disservice to the general public. We like the fact it gives you the incentive to ‘start moving” however at what risk? Even today the media recommends “everyone needs an hour of exercise.” Lets not worry about “how often,” “how many reps,” or “how much,” we must LEARN HOW—how each exercise should be constructed, i.e., how to do it in the first place, how to move, as well as where to move and how the force should be applied! That's exercise mechanics! How long should I walk on the treadmill? Who cares, until you are walking correctly! How much weight should I use? It doesn't matter if it’s not a structurally sound motion with the appropriate application of force! Today there are so many so-called experts. No one is an expert. I am not, nor are you, nor is the greatest bodybuilder in the world. Miss fitness not even close! We see, we follow, we do,…that is why this personal training industry is getting a bad rap, and now state licensing is evolving. When you hear, read, see, feel, a new exercise or piece of equipment we must ask ourselves is it science or marketing? Does it conform to specific common sense? Does it have application with regard to the way the body functions? Can this exercise do harm over time? This is our platform by which our knowledge and becoming a requested trainer are developed! We don't teach protocols based on marketing! We empower you! We encourage you to think for yourself! We teach you how to make decisions! Textbook exercises can’t be memorized. Exercises demonstrated by a coach, or some famous body builder are not defined as ‘specific and finite.” Miss fitness age 24 and her genetically gifted body worked hard, but did she work smart? Exercises have to be created, much in the same way an artist takes a few basic colors and creates a never-ending spectrum of colors on canvas. This is the way to be a requested professional... understand a few basic scientific principles about joint and muscle function. This application will allow you to create millions of sound exercises. But all exercises are not created equal. Creating an appropriate exercise is a matter for careful professional judgment. The “general gym members” go through life seeing only the superficial various shapes of skin that move while holding a weight. But there is a hidden reality unseen by most people and some exercise “experts.”
Exercise reality is below the skin where bones and tissue tolerate and generate invisible forces. These forces are really what encompass an exercise. This is what we must learn to understand in order to understand exercise and how to create and manipulate it. The primary concern of every trainer, must be “safety first”. Proper progression is a tough sell these days. Everybody wants to be fit as rapidly as they can get a star bucks at a drive thru. Micro Progression™ is not only the key to long-term success, but it is also the key to reducing risk. As an industry, we must understand that the level of activity one does today should be entirely based upon what he/she is accustomed to doing. Progression should be implemented in the smallest possible increments, and this applies to all areas that can be manipulated or progressed: Awareness, control, challenge, rom, effort, reps, sets, load, rest, etc. We must allow for improvement in both tissue integrity and motor pattern performance. Keep in mind the different rates of adaptation for connective tissue and contractile tissue! And above all, your active range should never exceed your resisted range! If control is still a challenge, adding more weight or resistance is inappropriate! Watching your client do more then 1 rep incorrectly is deemed dysfunctional and unprofessional! The brain needs a platform from which to exert knowledge, but first and foremost,

We need to free the brain from all the myth-conceptions! The Exercise Experience and the Functional Continuum™
In reality there is no wall or barrier dividing one type of exercise from another. There is no such think as a “wrong” exercise…just risk and benefit ratios. The truth is that there is a spectrum or a continuum between neurological focused and neurologically vast, between user-controlled and machine guided... and knowing how to create everything in between. We need to understand when, and how to use each skill that most benefits our clients.
“I went to Fit-Pros Personal Trainer Academy / School to learn about Exercise Mechanics and came away learning to THINK!”
—Course evaluation
• In the end, all the facts in the world can't help if you don't learn how to apply them.
• Some trainers appear incredibly intelligent because they can quote an impressive array of facts and figures, but that doesn't remotely help the client.
• The key to application is thinking, reasoning, understanding the effects that improper exercises can create, and harm. This is the skill of the Thought Process... reasoning a series of actions that allows you to generate appropriate scenario-specific force applications, motions, positions, equipment decisions, and strategic variations.
• “Everybody’s different...” In truth, you can’t change the body and the way it functions. This fact will affect your decision-making process.
• It’s entirely up to you based on science or a feeling. Ultimately, it's not about certification... it's about application! ™