My Internship (INShape)
KINE-P 443 was a 9-week hands-on experience where I had the privilege to work with two clients and help them to improve their body compositions! Each of the nine weeks I worked with Carol and Kristina, my wonderful clients, there were two training sessions per week. These sessions were a healthy mix of traditional resistance training and functional training that included many dynamic exercises!
The first instance where I experienced value from INShape was when my clients had come back from a week's vacation at the mid-way point of the program. The first day both of them came back home and began working with me they expressed how much they were ready to get back to training with me! My clients expressed that they were eager to get back not only because they had enjoyed themselves while away but they look forward to the days at INShape! As a trainer, it is important that my clients receive the same value from me as I do working with them. This moment was positive reinforcement and affirmation to keep putting in the effort that I was giving to them each week at INShape.
The second, and most significant moment, of my INShape experience was in the second-to-last week of the program when my awesome clients expressed to me that they were interested in continuing to train together outside the INShape program! Also, they both conveyed to me that they had learned a vast amount about form and proper set-up prior to executing exercises.
This particular moment meant the most to me because it represented that I was able to provide enough value and insight into improving my clients' training that they would be willing to spend their hard earned income on investing into their health/fitness! Earning that level of trust and respect with individuals is not taken lightly from me because I take my clients' goals as serious, if not more serious, than they do. To sum up my INShape experience, those nine weeks were a solidification of a saying that I have lived by since I became a practitioner in personal training and coaching: "you take care of people and you will always be taken care of."
Six Word Summary of INShape: Satisfying, privileged, convicted, relaxed, genuine, enjoyable
These particular words spoke to me the most because I think of the opportunity to be entrusted with guiding someone to any sort of goal and outcome as a privilege! As I reflected on the time I spent with my clients, I can best describe my time with them as professional yet it was a "relaxed" experience. My clients and I genuinely enjoyed the time that was spent together twice per week! Now that I have had positive reinforcement and encouragement from several individuals on my ability to personal train I feel convicted that I am taking the right path with my career! What I get to do every day is my passion and I get to change lives doing it. That is truly living the dream to me!
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Camp Brosius Leadership Development Camp
Camp Brosius (Elkhart Lake, WI) was a one-week, immersive experience that focused on allowing IUPUI students to introspectively evaluate themselves as leaders. Through character evaluations and team-building exercises, camp participants learned and refined skills such as communication, critical-thinking, problem-solving, and teamwork! Beyond the coursework during the camp students interacted with one another via outdoor games, hiking, rock climbing, and quartering together as roommates. This opportunity not only served as a chance for students to learn new takeaways to apply to life endeavors, but it was also a way to build new relationships with peers!
Camp Brosius served as an opportunity for me to step away from the business of starting new business ventures and allow me to look further into who I aspire to become as a leader in my field of work. The activities I did challenged me in some areas more than I anticipated, which I am grateful looking back hindsight! Now, I understand what my strengths and weaknesses are as a leader. The fresh perspectives that I gained at Camp Brosius taught me how to play towards my strengths while managing, and even improving, my short comings!
Overall, Camp Brosius was a unique experience for me! I am grateful that IUPUI offered to take students far away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life to have a life-enriching week. The relationships that were sprouted and the gained viewpoints on professional leadership will pay dividends as I venture out into the world as a new practitioner in the field of personal training and online coaching!
Wellness Coaching KINE-P 420
At IUPUI, a required course of the B.S. Kinesiology with a focus on Exercise Science degree is KINE-P 420: Exercise Leadership & Program Design. The foundation of this class is learning how to write an effective business plan for students aspiring to open their own business and how to become an impactful wellness coach for a client!
My wellness client for six weeks of the semester happened to be my father, Andy Clayton. He and I worked together in designing a fitness and nutrition program that allowed him to make sustainable progress to losing body fat. He and I met on a weekly basis to discuss his progress; manage life stressors; establish helpful mindset and mentality improvement practices; and find work-life balance while making time for his health/fitness!
The unique part of this time in KINE-P 420 was not only did I gain even more time working with an individual in a coaching role, but I worked with someone for an extended period of time that is outside the typical demographic that I work with already! As a bonus, I was able to bond with my father in a way that was unique like a client-coach relationship.
The time spent wellness coaching in KINE-P 420 was another chance for me to take knowledge learned in the classroom and directly apply it to a real-world scenario. Because I was able to trial what techniques worked and did not work, I was able to refine my skills as a coach and learn what approaches to take towards helping a client based on the circumstances at hand. Ultimately, I became a more well-equipped professional from my time in KINE-P420 with Andy!
KINE-P 393 Professional Practice in Kinesiology
My final semester at Indiana University-Indianapolis included an internship experience under the supervision of Dr. Keith Naugle, PhD. Dr. Naugle is the Director of Undergraduate research for the human performance laboratory at IU-I. He is also a clinical associate professor at IU-I along with his professional work in exercise science research with several accredited organizations, such as the National Strength & Conditioning Association.
My role as an intern in his laboratory was to help undergraduate and graduate students prepare for the spring 2024 semester at IU-I, which is when the virtual reality research studies will commence. Work focused on aiding the student-researchers in writing and editing IRBs to be submitted for approval of funding! Also, I worked with and alongside students as a pilot subject testing different gaming consoles for their effectiveness at putting enough strain and stress on the body to be a considerable method of exercise to be studied on the members of the general population. During this time, I got to use the research-grade technology from heart rate strap monitors to accelerometers. I also had the chance to utilize the Nintendo Switch, Xbox 360, and the Quest 2 Oculus virtual reality simulator to collect research data as a pilot subject! This data would allow me and my peers to refine study designs to remove as much human error as possible.
Outside of my work within the lab I also served as the head intern which means that I introduced new students to the laboratory and its equipment when they arrived in the middle of the semester. Part of my obligation in this role was to work with these students in creating presentations about the gaming consoles - the Nintendo Switch in particular since that was the research study I was mainly involved with - and what metrics would be used as variables of comparison when answering hypotheses about video gaming being an effective method of exercise for the general population. Based on my experience aiding these students and working with the consoles for myself, I was afforded to opportunity by my research supervisors to write the updated lab manual for future interns to use upon their entry to the lab. This was a unique opportunity for me as I got to learn how to refine my communication and writing skills!
All aspects of my internship considered, I was able to flourish most at a young professional in practicing virtues like patience, understanding, and humility! Skill development ranged from arithmetic to interpersonal. I not only came to have a better appreciation for effective communication, but I learned the value of collaboration with others. Prior to this experience I was someone who preferred to work individually so that I can work at my own pace and to have the satisfaction of finding solutions to problems on my own. Despite this being my preference, I do not mind working with others and I keep an open-mind when I am tasked with relying on others to solve a problem as a collective. This experience presented points where I could not have found success, which was executing experimentation, collecting data, and interpreting the results - without the help of others! Without my time in Dr. Naugle's research lab afforded to me by KINE-P 393, I can not say with certainty that I would be exiting my time in college with the depth of professionalism I have now without this experience!
Online Coaching & Personal Training
Besides helping open a new gym and working the front desk of the facility, I am also an online nutrition coach for both competitive bodybuilders and lifestyle clients! I joined Epler Elite Training & Nutrition LLC in July of 2022 in an associative coach role under head coach IFBB Pro Nathan Epler. I was the first associative coach to officially join the coaching roster in the business's three year existence at that point in time as a 21-year-old.
My role is to create custom nutrition and training programs to help men and women achieve their goals whether for stage or for life! I have been fortunate to work with people with many varying backgrounds from married parents who have several kids and manage to compete to elderly couples who have agreed to take on bettering their health as one team!
I am privileged to serve as many people as I do everyday and be able to make a positive impact on the world with my career! Health, fitness, and bodybuilding are my passions in life. I strive to use my platform in the health and fitness industry to do what I do for a living: inspire, educate, teach, and serve others.
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