Last weekend I was able to take part in another certification course. As fitness professionals we must maintain our credentials through completing continuing education. The organization that credentials me (National Strength and Conditioning Association) requires educational hours every three years and conferences, seminars, and certifications are my favorite way to fulfill this. They’re my favorite because I get to learn from other and meet with other professionals. The education and networking always leave me motivated to learn more and provide my best service to my clients.
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This time the course was for the Pain-Free Performance Specialist certification. As described by their website, this certification is, “an integrated prevention based system for optimizing performance around the presence of pain and dysfunction.”

Earlier this month Elisabeth and I took a quick trip to Colorado. The trip was mostly to see family but we did sneak in some hiking and other outdoor activities. While In CO we made an important detour to some place that I have wanted to visit for many years.


The National Strength and Conditioning Association’s World Headquarters in Colorado Springs.
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This fall I took my second installment our courses in the Functional Range Systems. After being jazzed on all of the information I learned last year taking the FRC I was excited to learn more.

Taking the FRC course taught me a lot of nuts and bolts of training true mobility. I learned significant detail about articulations, their make up, and the stressors needed to make change within them.

Practicing the system had shown significant results with different clients, but I have to admit that I didn’t feel 100% confident implementing all of it. All of our clients are individuals with their own histories, interests, injuries, etc. . .  I felt as if I didn’t know enough. It was as if I had this entire toolbox of tools but I didn’t really know how to use them. I felt as if I was guessing once I stepped outside of the simple interventions.

For many coaches their education is only beginning when they become a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS). To maintain the CSCS many hours are spent completing continuing education. Lecture reviews, quizzes, conferences, etc. . . This is fun, it helps to further education within the field, but sometimes coaches become interested in other certifications in other independent systems.


For me, this came after being introduced to Kinstretch by a coworker. Kinstretch is a wildly fun and complex system designed to constantly provide self-evaluations  while increasing ranges of motion and function. We could “ooh” and “ahh” about it for hours, but we should move on.

In the previous post on education I recounted my experience at Hope College. While much of it was exceptionable, parts of it were inadequate. The exercise Science program was no exception to that statement. While many students in the program went on to Doctorate of Physical Therapy Programs, the career path for the rest of us was fairly limited despite Professor Slette’s awesome job of showing us different careers.


Besides physical therapy, the second major career path that was pushed in the program was to become a Strength Coach. In fact, I even took a 3 credit class that prepared students to take the test to become a Certified Strength and Conditioning Coach. And that is what I did. Those of you that know me may find this funny, as I’m sure you don’t imagine me as a whistle-blowing deadlift-yelling coach. It’s just not me. I never had interest in that…Although I do handle most of the strength work for the high school Track and Field team I coach.

I thought that it might be interesting to share my educational background on this blog. First, it would help share with you what I have invested my time into learning and give you an intimate look at how I’ve come to be where I am.  Second, writing about my educational background may serve as a bit of a “review” of programs or certifications I have taken. I think this may be interesting for others thinking about similar areas of study.
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Because this is the first post in a series, I suspect it would be best to start with my early education. Not elementary school or even high school, but I will start with college which was my first formal exposure to health and wellness education.