A Trainer is a Leader.

This past week I had a priviledge to participate in a great conversation. One of the topics we shared thoughts on was "leadership" and how it applies in our field.

Leadership skills are evidently needed by those are in a position to manage others in one way or another. Rarely do we think that a job or a position of a "trainer" would be a leadership position. But could be it one? And if yes, how important would those skills would be in the field of fitness training?

True leadership is often defined by one word; "influence". How much influence do I, as a trainer, have in my clients' lives and particularly within their health and fitness?

Can I convey my message so well that my clients' actions towards their goals will CHANGE--also when they are not with me?

Our culture and society is confused about the difference between "leading people" and "managing people." The truth is that a leader might not always have a position of a manager and a manager might not always have the influence of a leader.

I think one of the most important practical tasks of a leader is in creating an environment where people can get to their goals the most optimal, effective way. In a corporate or team atmosphere the goal is often common and everyone will benefit from each team member functioning optimally.

A trainer needs to create an environment where the client reaches his/her TRUE POTENTIAL. True leadership is required especially when clear changes in lifestyle are needed in order to get to the goal. Leaders are able to guide people into a process of change that they try to avoid by nature. And bossing someone around rarely is very effective.

Personal Trainer might not have a true position of a leader but potentially much more than that, a great amount of influence in the lives of the clients.

Thank you for making my head spin guys!

Tommi

PS: "Leadership is based on inspiration, not domination; on cooperation, not intimidation." William Arthur Wood.

Don't tell me you have shoulder pain, too!

So many people develop problems with the shoulder joint. I have had my share of shoulder pain myself a few years ago. I know the shoulder is a multidimensional joint and very delicate in many ways, but it should not be THE reason for so many injuries.

Is it just me or are the shoulder issues more and more prevalent nowadays? And if yes, why is that?

I have a few wild guesses that I listed below:

1. Sitting! Sitting in the office, sitting in the car, sitting on the couch, sitting and eating. Honestly, how many hours did you sit today?

When we sit, we tend to slump forward and the whole body rounds into the "human shrimp" posture including the shoulder girdle and neck. As a result, the shoulder joint "learns" to sit anteriorly pulled by the tight muscles in the front of the body, such as pectoralis major and minor.

Now when we ask the shoulder to perform a function, it is not at its optimal position and friction occurs. That could lead into all kind of issues in the shoulder. So, join the revolution against the sitting position!

2. Poor movement nourishment. Heavy weight does not cause shoulder problems, push-ups do not cause shoulder problems, golf does not cause shoulder problems!

The lack of multidirectional movement causes shoulder problems!

Shoulder joint is a pretty mobile joint. In fact it moves pretty much any direction. When we utilize only 2 degrees on its capacity (by only doing chest press and incline chest press) we are underestimating the movement ability of our bodies.

Do you believe that sometimes exercise can actually be harmful? Poorly designed resistance programs might cause some long-term issues and imbalances.

For example, if I decide to perform bench press in different forms several days a week without balancing it out with other joint angles, directions, resistance etc, I could end up doing more harm than good to my body in a very short time. Same goes obviously for any other exercise when it is used in excess on the expense of other movements.

3. Stress!

Really?

Do you ever feel your neck and shoulders tighten up when your schedule gets tight and pressure builds up? I do.

Have you noticed what happens when you embark on a nice vacation somewhere warm? As your stress leaves you, the shoulders automatically relax and the Hunchback of Notre Dame is gone for a while.

A tight neck and upper back can cause your shoulder joint to be more vulnerable for impingements and itis-ending situations.

SOLUTION:

1. Quit your job!

2. Go on a vacation tomorrow.

3. Play every kind of sport and never do the the same exercise routine twice.

Well, you get the idea. Sometimes it is more of a mindset than an actual realistic plan.

;-)

Tommi

PS: "Help others get ahead. You will always stand taller with someone else on your shoulders. Bob Moawad.

Training wisdom from Chris "Mazz" Mazzella

I have had a wonderful opportunity to witness fast and true results in movement quality with some specific clients of mine. The common nominator for quite a few clients with great results is that they happen to take a same class at their gym.

It is almost strange to see movement and mobility improve that fast. The secret of success is dynamic mobility training class that Chris "Mazz" is teaching. A full hour dedicated to dynamic isolated and integrated mobility training seems to make a huge difference in movement.

So, what is so great about getting more mobility in specific joints and areas in the body?

Well, for example improved rotation of the hip can change how well the glutes work and the results can be seen improved function and even aesthetics. The better you move the more optimally your body will adapt to training. If your body's level of adaptation could be enhanced, you would get faster and better results, no matter what your goals were.

I can not wait to post some videos here that "Mazz" is shooting as we speak.

Dynamic mobility training, or whatever we decide to call it, is fantastic!

Stay active!

Tommi

PS: "Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body." Sir Richard Steele

Foot and ankle complex

I started with a new client today. He is a 15 year old wrestler and cross country runner.

The range of motion in his ankle was pretty bad. He couldn't squat, walk or run properly because his shin did not want to move anteriorly very far. Due to some poor mobility training and several ankle sprains, his calf and shin muscles were not very functional.

Long story short, just by doing some simple soft tissue techiques on his tibialis anterior his range of motion improved tremendously. So what did I learn?

I learned that it is great to work next to a physical therapist and ART-specialist who can show you how to do simple things that can help your client a lot. When you do not need those skills for a while, you forget that they exist.

It is great to start with new clients, assess them and design a program together with someone who can help you with your weaker area. By training the "old" clients a lot, you do not remember those important things that you often need to start a new client with.

So, after 5 minutes of soft tissue work on the tibialis anterior, movement improved and single leg multidirectional reaches were so much better.

I think a lot of runners could use true functional mobility in their ankle complex and really be able to get that spring in the stride that everybody wants. Not to speak of injury prevention, of course.

Thank you Evan Chait at EAPI (Elite Athletic Performance Institute) for expanding my tool box and giving me great advice!

Tommi Paavola

PS: "A teacher will appear when the student is ready."

Horizontal Loading in Sports

I read a great article by a smart man called Tony Reynolds. It is amazing how some people are able to put into words what you have been trying formulate into something rational in your brain for a while.

Well, my latest revelation in the field of athletic performance enhancement happened as I was reading Tony's article on horizontal loading. I have been trying to figure out ways to explain and argue the reasons why we should focus so much more on loading and resistance that challenges the movement system horizontally.

Now when you really start analyzing which directions force is being produced, you can not get around the fact that a lot of loading happens horizontally. For example, a tennis player coils his/her body in rotation during forehand or backhand and then releases a powerful movement when hitting the ball. How does the force production vector look like here? Which direction is force being produced?

How often does the tennis player need to produce force vertically as in a vertical jump?

Even a quick change of direction on the field produces a diagonal force production vector, not vertical. But would it also mean that the faster the change of direction is, the more horizontal the plane of the vector would be?

So, if horizontal loading is such an important part of athletic movement, why are most of the training movements performed only in a vertical vector?

I have been amazed how well athletes respond to cable or resistance band exercises that challenge them in different ways than squats, presses or other movements that are heavily based on gravity and thus mostly vertically loaded.

The teaching of this for me was basically that the direction of resistance specific to sport, the vector of loading, is another important thing to analyze before starting a movement conditioning program.

It is so nice to learn new things. I just got a million new exercise ideas just by clarifying that concept in my own head. Poor clients!

Enjoy the weekend!

Tommi

PS:"The least of learning is done in the classrooms." Thomas Merton

Balance, coordination, agility, weight loss!

I had a great discussion with my client on Monday on how we often narrow and limit our training approach unconsciuously when we have a specific goal in mind. We talked how focusing on the goals is essential but without a balanced plan we might drift away from an optimal approach.

Example 1: Mrs. Smith has a goal of getting rid extra fat around the mid section. She has really decided to focus on that. So, she decides to do 95 crunches every day, walk on the treadmill and stop eating mashed potatoes and bread.

Example 2: Mr. Jones wants to lose weight. He is feeling unhealthy and is already overweight. He decides to weigh himself every morning and make decisions about eating and exercise throughout the day based on the number on the scale. When he is frustrated with the non-changing weight, he either does not eat the whole day or stops caring and eats anything. He might also go to the gym and exercise impulsively and aggressively until he is sure he burned at least the amount of fat he was expecting to lose.

Well, Mrs. Smith has a good start but she will not get to her goals because of her narrow and ineffective choices of exercise. She most likely does not burn enough calories with the chosen exercises to really make a difference. She also chose crunches with hopes of burning fat around the mid-section. However, the crunch will not do anything for the fat around the mid-section but it can also contribute to unhealthy imbalances in posture. Mrs. Smith should at least have a strength component and functional exercise component in her routine to make it more well rounded.

Mr. Jones has created a situation where his emotions are in control over his daily decisions and the scale determines how good he feels about himself. The scale has become too important and causes him to get off track emotionally and physically. He needs a long-term plan and a system that will progress him gradually with his weight. He needs to look weeks and months ahead and stick to the routine. He should probably not get on the scale more than maybe once in two weeks.

Here is the thing I have found more and more as I train my clients. By making the training too narrowly focused, I might not help them reaching the goal at all. Optimal health including healthy weight loss, is always an outcome of balanced approach. The body requires multidimensional stimulations to function at its best. If the goal is weight loss, components such as balance, coordination, power, flexibility or aerobic power can still be very important parts of the program and they might just provide the breakthrough in getting to the goal.

Anyway, I feel that no matter what the goal, a multidimensional approach will always be the most effective. Of course the ratio of different components should change to compliment the goal but we often remove those elements entirely that don't SEEM to have anything to do with the goal.

Good job if you read the whole thing! Have a great day!

Tommi

PS:"Our dream, when pursued, is the most likely predictor of our future." John Maxwell.

A story on serious commitment...and serious results.

The Disaster

I have to share this story as it inspired me greatly this Friday. My 11am client came in 10 minutes late for the session. She told me that at 9 o'clock she went to her basement and found the finished basement covered in water. Heavy rain fall from the night before had flooded the basement and the carpets were floating in 2 inches of ice cold water.

Well, the damage was obviously substantial. However, after calling the plumber and after starting three pumps downstairs she proceeded to come to workout for an hour. If it was me, the workout would have been the last thing in my mind. Anyway, she came in and had a focused workout and then left to take care of the rest of the mess. Now that is some commitment. I would have given up long time ago.

The Results

For the last 3 months she has probably been my fastest progressing client and I bet the level of commitment has something to do with it. And by the way, last weekend she decided to start her outdoor walks again as they had given her the daily dose of brisk movement before. Well, she didn't just start walking but actually hiked 21 miles during the weekend, the mileage she normally would walk in a week. I was so impressed.

The big difference she has noticed as a result of functional movement training, in addition to weight loss, is her improved foot work and more controlled hitting on the tennis court.

When she started she had some issues with balance (one leg and staggered stance) and she couldn't perform a stationary lunge without support. Now she is doing walking lunges with a balance hold carrying two 15 lb dumbbells. The speed of progression has been a positive surprise to me.

The Training Tools

Here is the order of sagital plane lunge progression that has made a biggest difference in balance, lower body strength and tennis movement. Each stage has probably lasted for about a week.

I have to say that lunge variations are only becoming more and more close to my heart. Different lunges are such an effective way of creating environment where the most of the elements of athletic or functional movement come into play at the same time...balance, coordination, strength...I love lunges!

So, the following progression took about two months.

1. Stationary lunge with one arm support

2. Stationary lunge without support

3. Stationary lunge with 2-arm dumbbell curl

4. Stationary lunge with contralateral 1-arm row with a cable

5. Walking cheerleader lunges (lunge with arms overhead, see picture)

6. Walking rotational lunges (lunge with arms rotating)

7. Walking lunges with medicine ball (cheerleader or rotation)

8. Walking lunges with dumbells

Her commitment and results are a source of motivation for myself and also a confirmation that the tools we are using are working well for this specific purpose.

Great work! Thank you.

Tommi

PS: "Whether you think you can or think you can't - you are right!" Henry Ford

My journey in the world of movement

This blog is a space of personal reflections on the journey in human movement. I would be honored to see your comments in this blog and learn from your experiences and thoughts. Please, participate as you feel your mind tickled by something.

Human being moving

The complexity of human movement and its connection with the multidimensional systems of physiology, anatomy, mind and even spirituality humbles me as a student over and over again.

New revelations and discoveries in understanding movement feed my hungry mind constantly and inspire me into diving deeper into the world of functional anatomy, performance enhancement and different training systems.

The awesome design of the human being in movement invites me into a fascinating expedition in learning about myself. The journey into movement also teaches me as a trainer how to help others in enjoying life, movement or sports performance.

This blog is dedicated to the people that have made the journey of learning movement exciting and rewarding: all the co-workers and wise sages in the field but most of all my clients who I truly have learned the most from.

My plan is to record my observations, revelations, struggles and questions on the journey in this blog....it is kind of a diary, I guess.

Tommi

PS: Quote of the day!

"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb." Psalm 139:13