Today’s blog post is about an observation and fundamental tenet of my practice today as a sports physical therapist and fitness professional. Having been in the business of rehabbing and training the human body for 15 years, I feel qualified to say I know a thing or two about training and exercise.

Perhaps one of the greatest pearls I can pass along as it relates to being a health and fitness professional involves the art of teaching. You see, I have witnessed firsthand the desire people have to attain knowledge when it comes to their bodies. Just look at how quickly and often people take the web in search of answers from the latest ab workout to the source of and remedy to their every ache and pain.

We live in a society of information overload. Unfortunately, the web, YouTube, FB, Twitter and so on give just about anyone a stage to philosophize and sound off as an “expert.” Many people who claim to know how to “train” you for this and that have little to no real world experience doing it, nor do they possess enough pre-requesite knowledge to truly be considered an expert.

personal-trainer

I find many people mistakenly look for what they perceive to be the most “in” or “intense” training they can find, as they believe this is the way to finally meet their goals. In reality, what they should be seeking is someone interested in teaching them how to better understand their own body and how to apply the proper training principles to it in order to bring about the desired result they are so desperately seeking.

Training typically involves putting together drills, workouts or routines to challenge clients physically. Teaching, on the other hand, is centered on educating clients how to listen to their bodies and use that feedback to appropriately adjust physical loads and exercise programming to avoid injury and make positive physical adaptations.


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