Stepping off the airplane, on to a shuttle and into the world of IDEA Personal Trainer Institute in Alexandria, Virginia, is like opening the door from black and white to technicolor. For you younger folks who may not get the reference, this is what happened to Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, after the tornado died down and she stepped a pre-ruby red slippered foot on to the beginning of the yellow brick road. I hope I haven’t used this reference before--perhaps I have. Regardless, I do feel as if I’m this close to the Emerald city. The yellow brick road is the ever-winding path to education and professionalism.
Approximately 700 people have met me here to explore programming that isn’t just creative--it kind of boggles the mind. You see the description on the schedule and think “Hmmm “ I’m not sure about that, but I will check it out.” Then you try it. Then you say to the person next to you “Wow, why didn’t I think of that? It makes so much sense.”
How can I describe the vibe here? It does feel like coming home. Once the hotel doors slide open and you run into another person who has the same functional gleam in his or her eye, you feel as if you yourself have been seen. It’s not just about fit bodies. We’ve expanded our concepts and defintions to include fit minds and sometimes fit souls.
As a family of professionals, we are really getting it. People don’t come to us to lose weight--although that may be what they think they want. But the truth is they need someone to accept them exactly as they are in this moment. Fat and lack of motivation included. They want someone to teach them the right way to do a squat and make them feel successful when they lean that butt back one millimeter more.
Speaking of squats, Fraser Quelch shared a funny and personal anecdote about the functionality of squatting, why we should be able to do it but can’t, and how cultural differences throw a wrench into the mix. The next time you see him, be sure to ask him about it. It’s a great story. On a side note, make it your homework to study a 2-year-old. Not only can they squat with perfect ease, they can rotate, move in all planes of motion and eat Cheerios at the same time. They haven’t met compensations yet.
Muscular compensations were alive and well in Cassidy Phillips’ session “Trigger Point Performance Therapy: Ultimate Six--Functional Fascia for Better Biomechanics.” Self myofascial release and trigger point manipulation is not a new area of study, but Phillips brings a fresh infusion of grit and passion to this component of corrective exercise. It amazes me how many fitness professionals don’t already do this with their clients--or themselves. I’ll let Greg Roskopf, MS, make my point, which he did during his session “Are We Ready to Stretch?” “Would you drive your car cross-country with it out of alignment? Of course not, but this is what we do with our clients everyday. Exercise can create intolerances.”
It’s your job as a personal trainer to make movement more tolerable, not less. And it’s while attending conferences like this one that you get the support and education you need from other travelers on the yellow brick road. This time, however, the Wizard is real. You can trust the man behind the curtain. Why? Because the wizard stays up to date with his continuing education credits--just like you.
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