- Image courtesy of navstress.files.wordpress.com
A
perspective that I have have been developing for a while and have been
communicating to others more recently is the idea that understanding and
appreciating that exercise is a stressor is of the utmost importance
for an exercise professional.
I believe that this is in part what the
RTS™
idea of "exercise is invasive" is trying to convey--having the
perspective that what we do on the outside profoundly affects the inside
and understanding and accepting the responsibility that comes with
that.
My application of this idea as of recent has been beyond
simply the mechanical stresses that are imposed upon the system when
strategically challenging motions and positions. I think to fully be
able to appreciate this idea you have to have some notion of what else
in a client's life is creating stress, whether it is them eating foods
that don't agree with their system, poor relationships with those they
interact with, or a highly-demanding work environment, as well as a
lifestyle structure that does not allow for adequate recovery from these
other stressors.
Stress, as I am defining it in this context, is
"the body's reaction to change that requires a physical, mental, or
emotional adjustment or response" (
About.com).
Because
of this viewpoint that exercise in its most basic form is a stressor, I
am of the belief that a huge part of my job as an exercise professional
is to manage this stressor for the time a client is with me relative to
the other stressors they are currently having to deal with.
- Image courtesy of healthonabudget.com
This
means that if a client comes in and says they had a really stressful
day at work and they need a hard workout to get their mind off it, I
stand there and tell them that it would be a breach of my ethical and
professional guidelines to do that.
This means that if a client
comes in and says they were at holiday parties all weekend so they need
an intense workout to get all of the alcohol out of their system and
burn of the 40,000 calories in hotdogs, potato salad, and pies they ate,
I stand there and tell them that it would be irresponsible of me as a
professional to add to the stress that their diet put on their system by
challenging them at the intensity they are requesting.
This means
that by attempting to take an inside (the body) view of exercise, I
cannot see losing weight, improving health, fighting disease, or feeling
better as (superficially speaking) eat less move more issues. Instead,
I have to see them as internal environment issues. Which means I have
to know how my tool of choice (force) may potentially affect the
internal environment such that I can effectively manage my tool to the
best of my ability in order to allow for an internal environment to be
created within my clients that allows them to lose weight, improve their
health, fight disease, and feel better.
Exercise is a stressor, and with that perspective comes the responsibility of understanding that
what you as an exercise professional are doing may be furthering someone's issues, not relieving them.
Your body. Your training.
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