Monday, August 30, 2010

New Blog!

I've integrated my blog into my website.  So, I'll no longer be updating it here.  All updates will be posted to

http://www.nunnsperformancetraining.com/

There you will find my write up from this weekend's Midwest Peformance Seminar along with lots of other cool stuff.

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Things Your Trainer Is Getting Wrong part 2

It's about the program, not the workout

Too many times trainers are so interested in keeping their clients entertained that they lose sight of the end goal.  They forget that it's about the program, not the workout.  They are so concerned with doing the latest gimmicky thing to impress their customers that they forget about what is important.  What's important is getting results, not being flashy. 

Don't get me wrong, keeping your clients interested is definitely important, but it is also important to have a program in place that is both scalable and produces results. 

Flashy Fitness


Not so Flashy Fitness

See if you can figure out which facility I own.

Friday, August 20, 2010

Here's where your trainer may be getting it wrong. Part I

So the other day, one of my new clients gave me the idea of writing a blog post on things your trainer may be doing wrong.  As I started getting into it, it started to become quite longer than what I prefer a blog post to be.  It became more of an article. So, I decided to break the post into three sections.  Here's the first part of what your trainer is probably getting wrong.

Proper Assesment

Every program should start off with a proper assessment. If you don't have a starting point, you'll never know when you've made progress.  At Nunn's Performance Training, we do a movement screen (overhead squat and single leg squat), bodyfat test (or circumference measurement), bodyweight measurement, and a nutritional and lifestyle analysis.  Most fitness centers will do a pretty good job of the bodyfat, bodyweight, and lifestyle analysis, but they neglect the movement screen part.  This is mainly do to ignorance on the trainers part.  They probably don't understand the process of the screen or what to do with what they find during the screen.  During the movement screen, the trainers responsibility is to identify movement dysfunction so they can put a proper plan in place to address this and minimize injury to the client.  When doing the screen, the trainer should be identifiing which movement patterns they will have to regress for the client.  It is important for the trainer to realize that our job is first and foremost to NOT INJURE PEOPLE!  If a client is injured, they cannot train.  If they cannot train, they cannot get results, and anyone in this business will tell you that getting results is where the money is.

Here's an example of what a trainer may find during the initial assessment:

Posterior Pelvic Tilt

Notice in this picture, the client presents a posterior pelvic tilt.  She may be asymptomatic at the time, but it doesn't mean that she won't be in the future.  When the hips tuck under like that, the ligaments in the lumbar spine are stretched and more likely to cause pain and injury (i.e. herniated disc and/or stenosis).  Initially, squatting would not be a good choice for someone who presents this. 

The posterior tilt is just one of the many things that can be found during the screen.

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Where do you get your information?

So, the other day, my wife and I were discussing fitness (who knew?) and she says that she is surprised with all of the misinformation in fitness given the abundant resources of the internet.  My response was that with all of the correct info on the internet, there is also a substantial amount of false information out there.  Pretty much any Joe Schmoe can shell out a couple bucks and have a website to spew false information.  I mean, after all, the shake weight has a website.

Anyway, I figured with this post, I would give the readers a bit of insight as to where to I get my information.  At least online anyway.  It's also important to note that the best way to learn is to actually get in the gym and do it!

Blogs I Read

Strength Basics - This blog has lots of useful information that includes book, article, and equipment reviews.  It's also updated daily, which is a good thing.

Mike Robertson's Blog - Plenty of good info on corrective exercise and strength training here.

Diesel Crew - All around awesomeness.

Eric Cressey - Lots of good information on corrective exercise and strength training.  Especially things baseball and shoulder related.

Thomas Plummer - Mainly a fitness business blog.  The best thing about this one is that he doesn't censor himself, and he's not afraid to step on toes.

Elite Fitness Systems - Not really a blog, but a good resource none the less.  They update the site with new articles several times a week.  I may be a bit bias to this one myself.

Forums

Strength Coach - Strengthcoach.com is a pay site, but the $9.95 per month I pay to belong to it is well worth it.  Not only to you get access to some of the top strength coaches in the country, but the weekly articles are also great.

Exrx.net - There are some pretty knowledgeable people on this forum.  There's also a place to log your workouts for comments and suggestions.

Marunde Muscle - Some of the strongest men and women on the planet post here.  Who else would you rather have answer your questions? 

These are just a few of the places I get information.  It's also important to remember, like I said earlier, that the most important place to find information is in the gym.  Also, I should point out that I am not an affiliate of ANY of the websites.  I do not receive any compensation from you clicking the links.  My motivation for posting them here is to share information.