National Council for personal trainers about Boris Part 1

Interview of Boris Prilutsky by the Director of Education for the National Council for Certified Personal Trainers

Back in the days when Boris worked in the Eastern Europe the specialty closest to a personal trainer was called an instructor in therapeutic and physical culture. The job responsibilities of such specialist included not only fitness goal but also, and equally importantly, therapeutic and preventive efforts goals. In general, instructors in therapeutic physical culture, used to utilize most or all techniques that American personal trainers are using, but at the same time used to focus on rehabilitation from exercise stress side effects, correction of bio-mechanics, etc. A part of their educational training was the knowledge of medical and sports massage, which included also post isometric relaxation-stretching techniques, stress management, etc.
Certainly here in America and back in the Soviet Union, doctors and other health care practitioners advise people to participate in physical activities and in many cases advise them to have private instructors. Because of this, personal trainers here, as well as back in Russia, are in position to be leaders in fitness fields. But in Russia their role is also to lead in preventive and therapeutic efforts. Their foremost goal is to educate athletes and gym enthusiasts and thus to enforce safety and reduce amount of injuries in the fitness world. In a way, they are like field doctors, especially if we will remember that the meaning of the Latin word doctor is educator. In America personal trainers could promote not only fitness but also safety, therapeutic stress management and sports related injury preventive efforts etc.
In America many gyms do not allow personal trainers to perform massage inside Gyms. But there are many other techniques that are not considered massage, which could be implemented inside of gym. It is important to mention that medical and sports massage therapy scientifically and clinically proven as the most powerful methods in stress management, rehabilitation from over training as well as in management and prevention of sports related injuries.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Personal trainer
• Certification
• Physical Culture
• Massage Training

[tyciol]

That is unfortunate they do not allow massage in gyms. I read an interesting book on how touching a muscle you are trying to target helps to increase people's awareness of it. Like, I know I don't have much deltoid awareness, so the deltoid area would be cupped by the hand so I would be more aware of it. That'd also be a way to provide resistance on the eccentric portion. I wonder if it would also help to stretch the muscle more to push on it while it works, but maybe dangerous.