NASM Live Workshop [recap]

Today was my NASM Live Workshop for Personal Training. It’s times like this I am grateful to live in Manhattan because I knew it wouldn’t be too difficult to find a workshop in the city. Today’s workshop was held at Crunch on 38th Street with Brent Brookbush.

What it is:

NASM Live is a hands on workshop that touches on some of the key aspects of the NASM exam. The main focus is how to create an effective training program for a personal training client that corrects postural distortions while progressing through the stages discussed in the textbook.

What it is not:

Sadly, NASM Live is not an exam prep workshop. While it touches on things that will be on the exam, the main focus is not “how to pass” but more importantly how to effectively train clients.

In the long run how to train clients is more important than passing the test…. but not gonna lie at this moment it’s a tad bit frustrating for someone in my situation who is pretty close to taking the test and could use a formal exam prep class.

What did we do?

The workshop started off with discussing the statistics of obesity in America and why what we do as personal trainers is so important and will only become more necessary as the epidemic continues.

Next, we focused on postural distortions by doing “overhead squat assessment tests” with each other. Anyone studying for NASM knows that the overhead squat assessment is an important part of the test. It was helpful to have willing guinea pigs to test out what I know about the squat assessment. It brought what I was learning in the textbook to real life.

When you spend as much time as I have basically attached to the NASM textbook and flashcards it was a nice reminder that as a personal trainer I will be working with real people, not some textbook picture of what something looks like. It sounds silly, but it’s a nice reminder.

Then it was lunch time. I was thrilled to find out we actually had a lunch break and I didn’t have to eat my brown bag lunch that I put together at midnight….

After lunch we took one person’s postural distortions and from there created a workout specifically for them and their goals. We got to actually test out the SMR (self myofascial release aka foam rolling) techniques on our own bodies in addition to all the stretches.

We then discussed what other exercises would be appropriate.

After completing that exercise plan we created another for a “more advanced client” with a different postural distortion. This time a few of us, including myself, got to actually participate in a series of super sets (back to back exercises) as an example of training for strength.

Bench pressing followed by push-ups on a stability ball at a slow controlled tempo are not easy!

After a few supersets with different willing guinea pigs, it was time to discuss the final phase of training and wrap up for the day.

It doesn’t sound like a lot, but going over each aspect in detail took the entire day.

Things that were incredibly helpful:

Overall it was incredibly helpful and eased my nerves as a new personal trainer… especially considering I already have a job at a gym. For me personally the “art” of making an effective program completely clicked today.  I feel more prepared to meet with new clients and take them through a well planned out, science based exercise program.

It also was helpful in showing myself how much I’ve learned in the past few weeks since I started studying. It’s hard to feel like I’ve accomplished something when I still feel like there’s so much studying to do, but it felt good to realize “hey I definitely didn’t know any of this stuff back in october”

But a side note:

Since I am currently in studying hell with an extreme focus on knowing exactly what the textbook says, at times it was a bit difficult to talk about things not exactly how the textbook lays it out. For someone like me who is good at memorizing facts and numbers, it began to mess me up when I was told slightly different statistics or numbers for things than I had previously learned.

Is it worth it?:

While I do wish there was more of a focus on the exam, overall it was an informative and really interesting day. I have definitely been in a NASM slump this past week since I’m kind of burnt out on studying, but as cheesy as this sounds today reminded me why I’m doing this– it’s not to pass some test and memorize the anatomy of a bone but more importantly to work with actually people who want and need my help.

So yes, all-in-all it was definitely worth my time and money.