I started a practicum at a physio therapy clinic recently and now I am considering moving in the physiotherapy direction as it seems to match my skills and personality quite well. For this practicum we are required to write an essay near the end about our learnings during our experience. I've found that it always helps to start early. It also helps to have a blog/record of feelings to refer to in case I forget specific wording that I think will make my essay very nice. Here I will write about the beginning:
The beginning of my practicum journey doesn't begin with the moment I stepped foot into ___ Physio Therapy. The story started, as I recall, sometime back in winter semester 2010, when I opted to take an interesting course called Flexibility and Relaxation. Although the majority of the course was composed of flexibility anatomy, relaxation techniques and their physiological effects, we also touched on alternative therapies and learned about techniques used in physio clinics such as myofascial release. Here a seed was planted. During the summer I had a job as a personal trainer and was able to experience another form of exercise "rehab". I found myself wishing I knew a little more about rehabilitation exercises and could offer some different solutions instead of so much focus on "toning up" and looking slim. I decided to do a practicum in a physio clinic for fall semester, feeling it would offer me something of the information I was looking for. After only a few days of my practicum I already felt I had made a good decision.
I went into my practicum ready to absorb the experience like a sponge. The first few days consisted of learning the basics: laundry, hot packs, cold packs, towels... introductions. I was able to shadow both the kinesiologists working there and the physiotherapist (who seemed to do relatively the same jobs, aside form assessments, but with a much different pay grade...). In my second week, I watched my physiotherapist supervisor do an assessment on a man's leg injury which he incurred while playing recreational baseball. He listened and jotted down notes. It was obvious to me already what had occurred as I'm sure it was to him. He asked the man some very precise questions, then manipulated his lower leg this way and that to further understand the issue. It was a very analytical job. It required good listening skills, observation, imagination, understanding of anatomy, and of course bed side manner. This was the moment I thought this path might be just perfect for me.
to be continued....
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Monday, September 13, 2010
Exercising With Makeup
I've been reading a bit about wearing makeup when working out. Basically it's frowned upon. One annoying this is that every article assumes that wearing makeup to the gym is some kind of self esteem related act, like you just "couldn't bear" to go bare. How about convenience? I've discovered it's a bit difficult not to work out with makeup if your only available workout times are between other daily activities where makeup is smiled upon (eg. work ro other professional settings). I find it stereotypical to assume that any woman wearing makeup at the gym got glammed up just to go out, including to the gym. Maybe she just got off work, or is on her break or something. Let's be a bit less judgemental at the gym and find a better solution to the problem (like some kind of non-comedigenic, waterproof makeup?) than just telling women to wash their faces because you don't need makeup at the gym. Does anyone know of some good tips for those times when time is too short to wash and re-apply?
Monday, September 6, 2010
Separation
Before I started my short journey as a personal trainer I had this philosophy: I felt my role as a trainer was to, in a sense, put myself out of business. I felt I had an educational/inspirational role in which I would give clients the knowledge and tools to lead an active and healthy lifestyle. My ultimate goal would be to build their self efficacy up, teach them how to exercise according to different goals, and leave them to go out in the world a confident and physically active person (hopefully a regular gym attendee). Looking back on this thought after some experience in the real world, it does seem a bit idealistic...
However, upon resigning my position at the gym recently (in favor of dedicating my time and energy to post secondary education in kinesiology) I return to these thoughts and consider them alongside the new practical knowledge I've gained over the summer. Although I enjoyed educating and training my clients, I felt I was stepping outside my comfort zone with sales to the point of unacceptable stress (unhappiness, lack of motivation, fatigue, etc.). The business aspect of training and I do not get along and with that in mind I apologize if the following paragraph has moments of exagerated negativity. To sell training, and then to build a business off of it, requires a step in the exact opposite direction of my philosophy (stated earlier). In order to convince people who otherwise would not consider personal training, to invest in their health, one effective method is to remind them of their past failures. Basically try to convince them that without a trainer they are a useless blob of fat and a liability using the gym equipment (only in much nicer words of course). BUT
According to exercise intervention studies, those people who were most successful at starting and maintaining an exercise program were those who were reminded of their successes (in order to increase self efficacy). Sales and self efficacy seem to be enemies (except increasing confidence in one's own buying ability). To maintain clientele, personal trainers are "attempting" to make their clients dependent on them. You NEED a trainer or you won't come to the gym. You NEED a trainer or you might do the exercise incorrectly. You NEED a trainer or you will exercise inefficiently and never attain your goals (and so on). Although my boss tried to fix my attitude and told me I needed to be more confident and to change my mind set to think that all the people needed my help, I still felt I was simply selling dependency. I felt defeated when my clients did not renew (even though they continued to work out on their own with a plethora of new exercises to choose from). The sales mind set faught constantly with my personal philosophy. No longer was it important that my client learned how to exercise, gained confidence in the gym, or developed a new habit... now it was all about sales and renewing. It was this feeling of defeat (in addition to terrible hours), even as I gripped my philosophy with weakening white knuckles, that eventually led to my decision to leave. Now that I've vented this story, here is my slightly less dramatic conclusion:
I admire personal trainers who are able to sell training because without this there would not be a chance for my philosophy even to be initiated. The truth is, most trainers dislike sales just as much as people hate being sold to. But, it is a sad fact that the majority of folks would not consider this option unless they were forced to sit in a cubicle with a personal trainer at a gym while they awkwardly present a sales pitch and prices, reminding them of personal failures and painting bleak futures. Unfortunately, in reality, some people do need to be reminded of failures in order to make a change. Building a person's self efficacy while training with them is then of the utmost importance. BUT renewal, although an important part of the personal training business (thus income) is not as important. The best success story is not to renew someone over and over for the rest of their able lives, but to have "created" a self sufficient, confident physically active individual capable of setting an example. That is why I feel my philosophy will ultimatetly lead me on to better things.
However, upon resigning my position at the gym recently (in favor of dedicating my time and energy to post secondary education in kinesiology) I return to these thoughts and consider them alongside the new practical knowledge I've gained over the summer. Although I enjoyed educating and training my clients, I felt I was stepping outside my comfort zone with sales to the point of unacceptable stress (unhappiness, lack of motivation, fatigue, etc.). The business aspect of training and I do not get along and with that in mind I apologize if the following paragraph has moments of exagerated negativity. To sell training, and then to build a business off of it, requires a step in the exact opposite direction of my philosophy (stated earlier). In order to convince people who otherwise would not consider personal training, to invest in their health, one effective method is to remind them of their past failures. Basically try to convince them that without a trainer they are a useless blob of fat and a liability using the gym equipment (only in much nicer words of course). BUT
According to exercise intervention studies, those people who were most successful at starting and maintaining an exercise program were those who were reminded of their successes (in order to increase self efficacy). Sales and self efficacy seem to be enemies (except increasing confidence in one's own buying ability). To maintain clientele, personal trainers are "attempting" to make their clients dependent on them. You NEED a trainer or you won't come to the gym. You NEED a trainer or you might do the exercise incorrectly. You NEED a trainer or you will exercise inefficiently and never attain your goals (and so on). Although my boss tried to fix my attitude and told me I needed to be more confident and to change my mind set to think that all the people needed my help, I still felt I was simply selling dependency. I felt defeated when my clients did not renew (even though they continued to work out on their own with a plethora of new exercises to choose from). The sales mind set faught constantly with my personal philosophy. No longer was it important that my client learned how to exercise, gained confidence in the gym, or developed a new habit... now it was all about sales and renewing. It was this feeling of defeat (in addition to terrible hours), even as I gripped my philosophy with weakening white knuckles, that eventually led to my decision to leave. Now that I've vented this story, here is my slightly less dramatic conclusion:
I admire personal trainers who are able to sell training because without this there would not be a chance for my philosophy even to be initiated. The truth is, most trainers dislike sales just as much as people hate being sold to. But, it is a sad fact that the majority of folks would not consider this option unless they were forced to sit in a cubicle with a personal trainer at a gym while they awkwardly present a sales pitch and prices, reminding them of personal failures and painting bleak futures. Unfortunately, in reality, some people do need to be reminded of failures in order to make a change. Building a person's self efficacy while training with them is then of the utmost importance. BUT renewal, although an important part of the personal training business (thus income) is not as important. The best success story is not to renew someone over and over for the rest of their able lives, but to have "created" a self sufficient, confident physically active individual capable of setting an example. That is why I feel my philosophy will ultimatetly lead me on to better things.
Friday, July 16, 2010
The Dr. Pandia Diet
Hello to all those looking to be the healthiest you can be. Maybe you are struggling with health issues like the dreaded high blood pressure and/or diabetes, or looking to lose weight for whatever reason suits your fancy. The Dr. Pandia diet is 100% guaranteed... why? Because it is balanced and maintainable with several very important guidelines that ideally everyone CAN and should follow.
All you have to do:
1) COME TO AN UNDERSTANDING. Realize a change is needed or you WILL have obesity related health complications (if you don't already). If you already do, realize that YOUR LIFE is in DANGER. The time is now before it's too late! To be the healthiest you can be, you need to eat like an unhealthy person - wait, that came out wrong! You need to follow a diet that works for people with diabetes and looming heart disease. Regulate you blood sugar, lower your sodium.
2) Commit. This is not a 7 day diet. It's not a 30 day diet. This is a life time diet and you will adhere to it each and every day.
3) You NEED exercise. Exercise and healthy eating are buddies and if you leave one out the other will get jealous and reap havoc on you. Resistance is futile. You NEED a strong and functional body.
4) The list of No Nos is very important. Here it is:
- white bread or pasta
- choose whole grain pasta or sprouted bread
- white rice
- choose brown or wild rice, or quinoa as alternatives
- potatoes
- choose sweet potatoes or yams in moderation
- salt
- choose products with less than 5% of your daily recommended sodium intake per serving
- avoid adding salt to baking, sauces, or food. Flavour can be achieved using spices, garlic, ginger, or herbs.
- alcohol rarely or never
All you have to do:
1) COME TO AN UNDERSTANDING. Realize a change is needed or you WILL have obesity related health complications (if you don't already). If you already do, realize that YOUR LIFE is in DANGER. The time is now before it's too late! To be the healthiest you can be, you need to eat like an unhealthy person - wait, that came out wrong! You need to follow a diet that works for people with diabetes and looming heart disease. Regulate you blood sugar, lower your sodium.
2) Commit. This is not a 7 day diet. It's not a 30 day diet. This is a life time diet and you will adhere to it each and every day.
3) You NEED exercise. Exercise and healthy eating are buddies and if you leave one out the other will get jealous and reap havoc on you. Resistance is futile. You NEED a strong and functional body.
4) The list of No Nos is very important. Here it is:
- white bread or pasta
- choose whole grain pasta or sprouted bread
- white rice
- choose brown or wild rice, or quinoa as alternatives
- potatoes
- choose sweet potatoes or yams in moderation
- Carrots and watermelons (they are very high glycemic)
- choose a variety of berries and green or other colourful vegetables
- sugar
- salt
- choose products with less than 5% of your daily recommended sodium intake per serving
- avoid adding salt to baking, sauces, or food. Flavour can be achieved using spices, garlic, ginger, or herbs.
- alcohol rarely or never
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
New Goals and too much work.
I've decided after being emersed in the culture of fitness for a couple months now, that I should probably set a goal or too since apparently it's sooooo important to do so... So I've decided that my goal is to do 3 wide grip pullups by september... not only will this keep me in shape and hopefully give me ripped arms but it will also make me look good for my vacation at the end of august. I've also taken to measurements to see what kind of changes my body has. Because I am already a small person, with no intention of gaining or losing size, the inches measurements are purely just for fun. The body fat percentage measurement is interesting although i find it difficult to be motivated to reduce my body fat percentage when I know it's going to settle back at a healthy 22% when i go back to school and don't have time to train intensely. However, keeping track of body fat and inches definitely motivates me to do my running, something I'd glady trade in for a good weight lifting session.
On another note... I think I'm starting to hit the rainer burnout. I don't have too many clients and finding more seems to be my weakness / challenge. Sales = barf. My personality is not "right" for this... I'm good at the actual training part - but the rest is stressful and unfullfilling. I'm trying so hard and to no avail. All I need is one sale!!! PLEEEEASE!!! JUST ONE! Will someone please come buy from me by tomorrow? haha
On another note... I think I'm starting to hit the rainer burnout. I don't have too many clients and finding more seems to be my weakness / challenge. Sales = barf. My personality is not "right" for this... I'm good at the actual training part - but the rest is stressful and unfullfilling. I'm trying so hard and to no avail. All I need is one sale!!! PLEEEEASE!!! JUST ONE! Will someone please come buy from me by tomorrow? haha
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Stair Workout
A friend who is training for a marathon and I did a stair work out at Memorial bluff today. I think we went up the stairs a total of 6 times. I was okay each time for a quarter of the way up and then my thighs started to burn like crazy. The rest of my "running" up the stairs was probably slower than walking. Man, I need to start running again! At least I'll have a bum of steel after this. I expect much pain tomorrow.
Before we did the stairs we did a nice warm up running through Prince's Island Park. There is so much wildlife there, it's awesome. I saw a few baby Canada geese, a lot of squirrels and many ducks and geese. There was one point when I found myself greeting the animals, or about to. As not to embarrass myself in front of my friend I resorted to the smile and nod - weird? Maybe. I almost feel guilty if I don't though (this is what many years of customer service does to you). I swear one of the Canada geese looked me in the eye and nodded back. I think he understood. On another note, I was also reading a book about "psychics" and it emphasized the idea that we all connected and the universe is a living organism composed of all other living organisms analogous to a body and its cells - maybe this is why I think it's important to acknowledge the animals...
Before we did the stairs we did a nice warm up running through Prince's Island Park. There is so much wildlife there, it's awesome. I saw a few baby Canada geese, a lot of squirrels and many ducks and geese. There was one point when I found myself greeting the animals, or about to. As not to embarrass myself in front of my friend I resorted to the smile and nod - weird? Maybe. I almost feel guilty if I don't though (this is what many years of customer service does to you). I swear one of the Canada geese looked me in the eye and nodded back. I think he understood. On another note, I was also reading a book about "psychics" and it emphasized the idea that we all connected and the universe is a living organism composed of all other living organisms analogous to a body and its cells - maybe this is why I think it's important to acknowledge the animals...
Friday, May 14, 2010
Self Esteem
There are several things that have struck me since I began doing PFCs (personal fitness consultations). One is the number of people who eat spaghetti for supper. I swear I have not met a single person who doesn't have spaghetti enough to claim it as an example of a typical supper time meal. Spaghetti is amazing, and now I have anecdotal evidence to support my own spaghetti infatuation. Here's a recipe for some really good, low sodium spaghetti sauce courtesy of Jamie Oliver: Spaghetti sauce, yum! Even just a pinch of sea salt for taste is enough. Whole wheat pasta is definitely recommended!
The next thing that I've noticed is the number of people who say steak is part of a typical dinner for them. I suppose it's not that surprising considering this is the land of Alberta beef, but steak is not necessarily the leanest meat and probably should be limited to a maximum of once a week - at most. It would be even more ideal, if steak was more of a "treat" meat for special occasions (once a month?). No wonder there is an obesity epidemic when people are eating steak every night. Find out some nutrition facts about steak here.
Lastly, I am not surprised, but worried about the number of people who state that their main reason for joining a gym and beggining an exercise program is so that they look good. "well isn't that the whole point of 'getting in shape'?". Looking good will always be A motivator, but it shouldn't be your main reason. When people tell me they want to look good, I hear "I have low self esteem and need to gain self confidence. I think that by looking better to others I will be liked/respected more and therefore will feel better about myself". Obviously not everyone is wondering around worrying about what their friends think if they wear a size 8 instead of a size 6, but there are many people who do. They are not to blame because everyday we are bombarded by media saying we should look this way or that. Unfortunately, people are comparing themselves to media images and starting a work out routine based on these images - not because they want to be healthy and improve their quality of life.
Being motivated by looks can have negaive affects: a person could get caught in a cycle of always trying to maintain or get to a certain standard of beauty, developing a negative relationship with food and unhealthy exercise habits to reach this goal. Ultimately they are so focused on their appearance they forget about themselves - who they are, their great personality qualities, their talents, their relationships - which eventually takes a toll on self esteem. Those that don't reach their goal to look a certain way, get frustrated and turned off exercise jeprodizing their health and feeling like they failed.
While looking more attractive may be a happy consequence of exercise, it should not be the goal. The most successful exercisers are those that have on going fitness goals, or maintance goals that are part of living a healthy balanced lifestyle. Motivations for exercise SHOULD be to maintain the integrity of your cardivascular and respiratory system, functional strength, flexibility, stress management, injury prevention, and weight/disease management. All of these objectives are important for your health realted quality of life. Try and change your perspective. Start exercising for the health of your "inside" and the outside will follow along. Healthy is beautiful.
The next thing that I've noticed is the number of people who say steak is part of a typical dinner for them. I suppose it's not that surprising considering this is the land of Alberta beef, but steak is not necessarily the leanest meat and probably should be limited to a maximum of once a week - at most. It would be even more ideal, if steak was more of a "treat" meat for special occasions (once a month?). No wonder there is an obesity epidemic when people are eating steak every night. Find out some nutrition facts about steak here.
Lastly, I am not surprised, but worried about the number of people who state that their main reason for joining a gym and beggining an exercise program is so that they look good. "well isn't that the whole point of 'getting in shape'?". Looking good will always be A motivator, but it shouldn't be your main reason. When people tell me they want to look good, I hear "I have low self esteem and need to gain self confidence. I think that by looking better to others I will be liked/respected more and therefore will feel better about myself". Obviously not everyone is wondering around worrying about what their friends think if they wear a size 8 instead of a size 6, but there are many people who do. They are not to blame because everyday we are bombarded by media saying we should look this way or that. Unfortunately, people are comparing themselves to media images and starting a work out routine based on these images - not because they want to be healthy and improve their quality of life.
Being motivated by looks can have negaive affects: a person could get caught in a cycle of always trying to maintain or get to a certain standard of beauty, developing a negative relationship with food and unhealthy exercise habits to reach this goal. Ultimately they are so focused on their appearance they forget about themselves - who they are, their great personality qualities, their talents, their relationships - which eventually takes a toll on self esteem. Those that don't reach their goal to look a certain way, get frustrated and turned off exercise jeprodizing their health and feeling like they failed.
While looking more attractive may be a happy consequence of exercise, it should not be the goal. The most successful exercisers are those that have on going fitness goals, or maintance goals that are part of living a healthy balanced lifestyle. Motivations for exercise SHOULD be to maintain the integrity of your cardivascular and respiratory system, functional strength, flexibility, stress management, injury prevention, and weight/disease management. All of these objectives are important for your health realted quality of life. Try and change your perspective. Start exercising for the health of your "inside" and the outside will follow along. Healthy is beautiful.
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