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Experiences

A course that I was enrolled in during the spring semester of 2022 at IUPUI was Theory & Practice of Cardiovascular Exercise. A requirement during this course was for students to create a professional exercise video or teach an in-person group fitness class at Boner Fitness Center in Indianapolis. My choice was to teach a live fitness class where I would work with a classmate to create a strength and balance workout for elderly individuals. 

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Teaching an in-person fitness class allowed me to not only have human interaction after several years where in-person activities were constrained, but I was able to apply the two years of knowledge that I had learned about exercise principles to a live fitness routine! 

Most importantly, the clients that I worked with during this experience provided my partner and me detailed feedback on our teaching skills. Since this teaching experience, I have been able to refine my strengths as a personal trainer and continue to build upon my weaknesses!

Because I had the opportunity to practice my skills and hear constructive feedback from those I instructed, I feel that I have an advantage as I transition into more into personal training over the coming years because I already know what abilities I need to develop to maximize my potential as a young practitioner!

 

Opening American Muscle Factory has been an eye-opening experience for me. I have seen the effort, grit, and determination needed to start a venture of this magnitude by my mentors. Besides character qualities that I have seen and learned from my partners, I have gained an extensive understanding on fitness management and the fundamentals that are key in starting a facility. While my degree in Exercise Science will serve me well as a personal trainer and online coach, the day-to-day operations of AMF has allowed me to see how business dynamics are carried out. Some skills that I have developed from this experience have been better time management, acute organizational skills, and an understanding of accountability when it comes to fulfilling my role as a member of a team. While I am a former student-athlete coming from a background of team sports, I have to apply my role-playing and communication skills differently in a real-world scenario of starting a business. When I am a practitioner in the field who is working full-time in the health and fitness industry, I feel more assured that what I have learned over the last 12 months of helping open American Muscle Factory will allow me to be a more patient, a more thorough, a more keen, and a more personable professional with my future clientele.

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The college major I chose to pursue is a BS in Exercise Science. The degree outline for my major is comprised of mostly of core Anatomy/Physiology, Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics, Statistics, and Physics courses with at least one to two levels of each subject being required for an Exercise Science degree at IUPUI. The information gained from the core classes of my degree plan is then applied to other courses’ curriculums that are more specific toward the subject of Exercise Science. Some examples of courses where this is demonstrated is Basic Physiology of Exercise, Human Physiology, Fitness Testing & Interpretation, Biomechanics, Theory & Practice of Cardiovascular Exercise and Progressive Resistance Exercise and Sports Conditioning.

Once I meet the grade requirements for each course in my first three to four years of the program, then the accumulation of my knowledge and skill will be put to the test with their participation in an internship and externship. The internship I must complete to graduate is facilitated through the INSHAPE program. This provides me an opportunity to practice building a professional relationship with a client and demonstrate my competency at creating an effective, safe plan exercise program for the individual. 

After I have successfully demonstrated to the INSHAPE program coordinators that I can be effective working in the field with clientele, then I may graduate onto the final phase before my degree’s completion: successful completion of the externship. The program’s externship allows me to receive 300+ hours of experience being out in the field working in a gym setting and working with clientele doing similar work that was done in the internship. I will not only refine my personal training and client-interaction skills, but the externship gives a new practitioner like me an easy transition into being in the work force full-time.

 

Why this Major?

 

I have been a student-athlete for as long as what I can remember; therefore, my life has been structured around a sport season and a school year calendar. While sports have afforded me great experiences and invaluable life lessons, the gym was the one aspect about sports that I became infatuated with from the beginning of my sports career. As a child who was raised on working hard for everything I wanted and being taught that I must be relentless at progressing towards my goals, the weight room became like a sanctuary to me. The passion that I have for the gym and the impact that the gym has had on my life is something that I want to pay forward to others. My enthusiasm for health and fitness is the avenue that I desire to give back to my community!

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Action Steps...

 

I have taken two action steps toward pursuing my career. The first action step that I have taken is fostering a friendship with my current business partners and financially investing into creating our family-owned gym, American Muscle Factory. As someone who has a goal of being a multi-business owner in the future, this is the first step towards that goal.

 

The second action step that I have taken towards my career goals is currently partaking in the career that I want to do which is being an online fitness and nutrition coach. I currently oversee 13 individuals custom nutrition and training programs! I check-in on a weekly basis to hold my clients accountable to themselves and to make sure they are making progress at an appropriate rate to their intended timeline. Also, I currently train 9 in-person personal training clients at American Muscle Factory four days out of the week.

 

My third action step that I am taking to pursue my aspirations of becoming an IFBB Pro bodybuilder is I am currently prepping for my first bodybuilding show in August in Muncie, Indiana, at the NPC Premiere Championships and NPC Indiana Championships! 

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Click here for my Résumé

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Click here for my LinkedIn Profile

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My Unique Training Philosophy:

It is my belief that the general population has developed poor posture due to sedentary lifestyles and lack of mobility, especially in and around the vertebral column. My approach to training clients is teaching individuals how to unlock new ranges of motion at all the major joints of the body by creating tension internally within their bodies! This is done through direct mobility work and then translated into performing movement patterns under load during resistance training. Where someone may observe these unique approaches to my philosophy is how I teach people to set themselves up within a machine or movement so that mechanical tension is placed on muscles rather than joints before isometric contractions begin. At the end of the day, maintaining spine and joint mobility and integrity is the key to longevity. My training principles that are implemented with clients promote those outcomes in the long-term! It is not just about how much individuals can stress the body via intensity, but the neural connection that is developed for people to be in complete control of their bodies!

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