From Debilitating Back Pain to Confident Movement Specialist with Katrina Ackerman
CJ
Hey everybody, welcome back to the Gymnazo podcast. It is CJ and Katrina here from Gymnazo. Katrina first time on our podcast. It’s actually a special podcast because Katrina just graduated from our MDMC from gymnazoedu our multi-dimensional movement coaching certification. She is a coach here at Gymnazo just started this year and has been a multi year athlete at Gymnazo beforehand. So we don’t typically hire from within our own athletes we hire from outside. But Katrina came in with such a high level of leadership, coaching skills and passion for the game, and for serving other people. So I’m extremely honored to be able to have this conversation with you, Katrina, welcome on.
Katrina
Thank you. was great the intro.
Michael Hughes
Welcome to the Gymnazo podcast where you get to peek behind the curtains of what it takes to create and run a seven figure fitness facility that ranks in the top 5% of boutique fitness studios for revenue. But to be honest, that’s the least important thing about us. Founded by me, Michael Hughes Gymnazo has created an ecosystem of services that blend performance with restoration techniques, and attracts top coaches to its facility hosted by its owners Paden, and myself and our top coaches, this podcast shares our best practices on everything, from how to build a sustainable fitness business, to how to program for maximum results to how to build a hybrid training module that’s online. And in person. We have marketing secrets, movement, innovation, and breaking down trends in the industry. If you’re a fitness professional, or fitness business owner, this is where you learn how to sharpen your skills. And to see maximum results.
CJ
We’re gonna deep dive into Katrina’s experiences with Gymnazo. And kind of what it was like to be an athlete and kind of work through our full ecosystem and suite of services, from multiple move to one on one exclusive training to semi private where you got four athletes to one coach, and then all the way into group training, gee three, testing, and kind of along the whole lines of what else we have to offer and what else now she is able to offer this community with her own level of leadership and coaching. So without further ado, Katrina, would you mind sharing how you first heard about Gymnazo? How did you even end up in this realm? On this space and slow? Don’t give me your whole birth story and everything? But how did you end up in our doors a few years back? Um,
Katrina
yeah, so I ended up here because, well, first of all, I’ve heard of it from people but was too scared to come in, you know, everyone has their, their issues with going into the gym thinking I’m not fit enough. I’m not strong enough. But what I really decided to come in, I heard from a friend who had recovered from an injury, and I was suffering from injury, or I guess, movement dysfunction at the time. And so I decided it was time to pull the trigger and just go in and get some help. I had been going through physical therapy for a while for my back. And it wasn’t, it wasn’t helping. And I got to the point of where she told me, yeah, you’re probably just not gonna be comfortable anymore, I’m probably not gonna be able to ride your bike, you’re probably not gonna be able to do these things anymore. And I was just completely unacceptable to me. So I showed up here. And it was amazing. It was like, A one one hour fix almost. So
CJ
would you come in with usually what was the what was the movement dysfunction or things you’re having issues with back pain,
Katrina
just major back pain, like so much. So all the time that it hurts just be alive, basically, walking, hurt, sitting hurt, laying down hurt, I laid on my stomach for most of the day reading about stretching, reading about exercises to strengthen, to try to fix that myself, and I just couldn’t do it. It was like everything I tried would it would help for maybe an hour and then have to go back to the stomach lay on stomach, you know, press up again, just trying to decompress the whole spine. I mean, that’s what I was told to do by my physical therapist, and it worked for a little bit, but not
CJ
the things that offer temporary relief. We find that those things tend we say, Oh, this is what works. And it’s like, you’d only give us an hour, two hours, three hours, maybe a day if we’re lucky. And then stuff comes right back and sometimes and oftentimes worse, or in different ways, different pathways like oh, no, and that’s not my back today. It’s my knee today, or it’s my shoulder today. It’s kind of an age old story of just the chain reaction of different dysfunctions that can arise from not addressing a root cause or root source of what’s going on. And a lot a lot of things that we went through initially, we’re finding out why why are you in back pain, what’s what causes it? And a lot of times when it’s something that just kind of exists all day long, and it’s chronic. There’s multiple pieces that attribute to that back pain. So a while back, but do you remember what it felt like leaving that first session or when you were in that first session? The things you gained or the conversations that were had, how did that kind of go down if you can recall some of those moments.
Katrina
In the very first session, I came in just absolutely. So terrified because I was in so much pain. And it took a lot for me to trust someone that wasn’t in the medical profession. But I was to the point where I didn’t trust them, either. Because they were recommending surgery, they’re like, oh, just go get an MRI, you probably need surgery. And I really, really just had a strong belief that I could heal without that. And so when I came in here, I was scared. But then you were so incredibly positive. And just like you’ve had that can do attitude. Oh, well, I’m sure we can get you feeling better in this next hour. And I was like, okay, yeah, well, whatever. But it totally does. It worked. And yeah, then I was just a total believer, because it lined up with everything I already thought. So it just, it was perfect.
CJ
What was different? I know, you said you’ve been reading about stretching. And yeah, and I’m assuming trying to do the stretches that you’re reading about, right, you’re doing some pieces, a lot of times we’re reading, like, Oh, should do this, do this do this. And they Angel’s joy there is I just haven’t done it, I know, there’s things I need to do. And it’s that need to do that kind of feels like a it’s like a chore, it’s a task, versus something that something that I can do. And a lot of these techniques, bring out some of those scary forces of like back pain or other knee pains, like oh, no, I’m gonna hurt myself worse, I don’t know what I’m doing. That’s where a coach can step in and say, like, I’m here to guide you, and I’ll be with you every step of the way. And that’s, that’s what we try to do as coaches at Gymnazo was to be there not to hold your hand the whole path, but to walk that path with you. And so when there are scary points, or uncomfortable points, or as movement function arises and goes away, were there to kind of help guide that path as well. What was it it was their conversations in that first session, with their techniques that were different from what you were reading? About? What? What what do you think it was that kind of flipped that switch and said, Okay, this is something that I know that I can handle, and I know I can take care of. But now I have a path that can continue to help me get out of this?
Katrina
Um, well, I think the whole technique was totally different. I mean, what I was practicing at home was laying on the floor, not really being connected to the ground with my feet. And when I came in here, I still had my feet in contact with the ground, I was moving my hips more, it was my entire body, not just focusing on those muscles in my spine, or not in my spine, and next to my spine. So, yeah, it was just integrating everything and realizing that I could twist without hurting myself, as long as I, you know, just believed that I could do it and got in that position. And I did it. And it was like, Oh, well, okay,
CJ
there’s some hope here. I can actually move I can move forward. That’s awesome.
Katrina
Just that, and I don’t know, I forgot the question.
CJ
That’s okay.
Katrina
With positivity, like, Thank you, I think you can do this, you can do this, that was a huge deal. That totally changes
CJ
my personal trainers, group trainers, we have this power, right, we’re in the frontlines of dealing with somebody, especially who you’re getting advice from medical community that saying was, let’s just go get the MRI, get the X ray and check what’s going on inside, which can be a very safe route, because then we can see what’s going on in there, though it may not give us the proper readout of what’s actually going on. When somebody does have pain somewhere in a joint, it’s a low back, it’s a knee, it’s a shoulder, it’s a neck, it’s somewhere, we know that there’s a whole body that used to do that to help that space heal, and help that space move, or it’s not connected at all and or disconnected in working kind of around that space. And either that zone that’s having pain is a secondary or tertiary effect of what’s really going on. And typically the the original dysfunction or the root cause is hidden, it’s been so locked away, they’re bound down, maybe there was a trauma in a space, maybe it was mental, maybe it was physical. Maybe we just have a lack of coordination with certain parts of our bodies or our body developed some path of least resistance that then turned into an inefficient path down the road, it put us into a poor attractor well, that put pressure on one side of our body or a certain portion of our body. And so what we do as coaches here is to work to build your body back to a full unit, a full functioning foot, ankle, knee, hip, spine shoulder have dealt with your arms and your head and not just those parts of your body but all the things in between having the organs function together, knowing that the fascia is what connects all those pieces. What was how was your mindset leaving that session going forward? Was there a development of the different emotions was there light at the end of the tunnel going okay, there’s something What led you to take the next step? What was the next step?
Katrina
I left? Thinking like I was just kind of shocked I guess. Like Whoa, I just did a workout. I did not know if I was ever I mean, I didn’t know if I was ever going to do a workout again, because my physical therapist just kept telling me, you aren’t gonna be able to do that. I think I was 38 or 37 at the time. 38 Yeah, and it was just, I had so much shock, and then just so much hope and excitement for the future. And I, you know, I instantly it was like, Oh, I can’t, I’ve got to grow, I can’t wait to grow, I’m gonna just keep going. And I’m never leaving this place.
CJ
What’s, what do you feel is the power, especially going to the MDMC c corpse, which we’ll dive into in terms of the behavioral side of training, we don’t just dive into the biomechanics, we really look at the psychology and how somebody is and how they got to be where they are and how they want to move forward. What do you find is the power of the the terminology or the words that are used, especially when you get an authority figure saying that you’re not you can’t do this, you shouldn’t do this, which happens so often, though, our heart may be in the right place as a practitioner, it may be more of a cover your ass mentality of like, don’t just don’t do this, because I don’t want to be in trouble for telling you to do something and you hurt yourself. What do you find the value in now and in terms of how you speak to people, maybe how you speak to yourself to language and and how this whole paradigm of communication is shifting in fitness and wellness? From no pain, no gain to? Let’s find your success? Yeah, you already kind of dive into that a little bit and your experiences with those different kinds of mindsets and emotions going through. Yeah, and communication.
Katrina
Yeah, just keeping that positive mindset, as you know, as you’re speaking to people telling him pointing out what they are doing well, what they’re able to get to you, and then maybe giving them a little glimpse of that future to have like, Hey, you’re doing really well in this, I can’t wait to see you do this. Not as maybe you can do this, but I can’t wait to see you do it so that they know that they’re going to get there. And, you know, they just you know, you can see it light up, you could see their their eyes just get a little bit brighter. And yeah, that’s a big part of taking MDMC you know, diving into all of the personality types as well, which we could get to, but just keeping it positive and telling them that they’re gonna get there.
CJ
I think that was one of the hardest things for me originally was understanding how to find somebody success. Because a lot of my, my learning my education was involved in treating a dysfunction or in getting somebody to do something that they can’t do it, you just don’t do that drill. It’s like you just avoid it versus recognize a spectrum of effort and what you’re actually trying to go after.
Katrina
Yeah, I do think that’s something that people could get caught up and easily is, oh, gosh, let’s just move on. Let’s go over here and do this. Yeah, just helping people feel confident through those little tiny things. Right. They’re gonna be doing something.
CJ
Yeah, it’s like the ultimatum to so somebody comes in says, I can’t rotate. Yeah. Now, now our mind goes like everything is rotation. How did you walk in here? How did you get in your car? How did you get in your bed like you have to rotate, we have this. I feel like there’s just this stale definition of rotation, which is to twist. Yeah, and but we don’t have a full visual, like a full 360 view of what twisting is. It’s twisting forward and backward, or rotating forward and back in the sagittal plane, it’s rotating side to side in a frontal plane, and it’s a rotating right to left in the transverse plane. And all three of those planes are always being used. And depending on what the exercise and the movement is, that causes that person pain, or discomfort or a lack of ease in their functioning. We can use that path or that position or that action to help facilitate more success. Somebody’s having trouble walking, for instance, like it hurts my heel when I walk. Yeah. Okay, when when? Which heel? Yeah, yeah, that uphill. Downhill walking forward. Yeah,
Katrina
that’s a big thing, because people are completely unaware of when it hurts. Does it hurt when you’re pushing off? Does it hurt when you’re landing? Does it hurt in the middle? Nobody knows. If you ask them. They’ll just be like, What do you mean?
CJ
It hurts or after? during or before? Yeah. Oh, it only hurts me after. Oh, okay. Well, it’s looking maybe it’s a Dom’s thing. Maybe it’s your body’s not recovering. Well, oh, it’s happening during or when is happening initially. And then it goes away. It happens later in your walk. That happens only when I’m going uphill, right? All these things are very, very important. And it’s not it doesn’t just end there. Okay, perfect. We know when it gets to you or how it hurts. You’re aware specifically in your body in your knee. Okay, we have all parts of your knee front side outside inside backside. Yeah, top side bottom side like Where’d your knee that’s like tell people get in tune with their body first, to just be able to communicate because as coaches week we see us day in day out. We can’t feel anything for that person. Right? We can see what’s going on. And the more we attune our eyes and lenses to adjust our intent of what we’re looking at, we’re looking at a specific plane of motion, or we’re specifically looking at a speed, or we’re looking at a certain range of motion. Like there’s a lot of things that could be, we could be processing with different lenses. But as soon as we get to that point of recognizing that they feel something, and they can now pinpoint when they feel it, or how they feel it or where they feel it, now they’re connecting deeper to their body, and can now relay something that’s going on in real time to us. And if we’re trained in the right manner of understanding what a transformational zone is, what loading versus exploding is, and recognize that yes, there are all plans working at one time, but in some movements, there are more percentages of that plane being used. Right, something’s more lateral, but it’s also about anterior, or maybe it’s more rotational. It’s also a little posterior, we can become aware of these pieces that through the MDMC. We can compartmentalize and then integrate as one thing when you’re able to see all things at one time. Well, it’s impossible, but we can see more things at one time. Yeah. And we can help to process what the feeling is, so that we can shift our language to help somebody find their success, because now they don’t just feel hopeless and limited. Right in terms of a it hurts when I walk walking sucks. I shouldn’t walk. Yeah. My doctor told me I should not lunch. No, okay, well, what’s your definition of a lunch? It’s this. Okay, let me show you 10 other ways we can lunch? Oh, those nine other ways didn’t hurt you. We have nine visions of success for you, that will help you with the 10th and 11th one, right? Yeah, it’s, it’s a, it’s a beautiful thing, to be able to see and communicate and to understand. And so if you don’t mind kind of diving into your your experience as an athlete now coming to me out of pain, if you don’t mind, come and give us a timeline of that. And it’s not like, Oh, we’re no pain in pain. It’s like there’s waves in our life that cause pain, and we start to become aware of what causes it, you’ve been exploring with me your path as an athlete before even considering going through MDMC and coaching your experience like here.
Katrina
Um, so yeah, I feel like it was low, but it probably wasn’t as low as I, I feel like it was coming in, I think it was three sessions. And I felt pretty much pain free. And I was feeling good to go. And I was originally just doing some exclusives then jumped into semi private and then went into group as well. So after I got into group, I was just, I was all fired up and ready to go. But it did, it has been about three years before I decided to go through the MDMC program. I got, I continued doing those semi privates for those three years, every week. And each time I was just like, getting more information, you know, breathing, like how to position and it just didn’t ever feel like enough. It’s like any more any more hungry for more. So and then, and then I would, you know, see people doing things and like, oh, gosh, you know, I could probably just help them adjust that just a tiny bit. And it’s like, I just felt like I couldn’t deny it anymore. I need I need more. So I decided to enroll. And it was awesome. So super excited to dive
CJ
into that. Because Because you mentioned something you were coaching before you were coaching.
Katrina
I was like, in my mind, I was really trying to hold it back. So I’m like, I’m not a coach. I’m not a coach, I’m not going to interfere with us. But in my mind, I was always like, yeah,
CJ
and and also people approached you to get coaching from me, you were one of the athletes in a class and a G three or G two class. And people see you doing something almost effortlessly or you’re doing weights that other people are pushing heavily like damn Katrina. Katrina, strong as hell Oh, my God. She knows what she’s doing. And she’s doing it fluidly. Yeah, like we recognize that too. There’s some individuals who really apply and integrate what they’ve learned here and not just here, but from other practices, other methodologies or their philosophies and integrated them into their practice. And it creates a conversation and creates curiosity. Yeah. And it’s like, why is she? Why is she moving so well, like we can’t judge a book by its cover to on the outside like okay, Katrina’s girl coming in, it’s kind of short, like, she looks athletic, but damn, she’s pushing that heaviest weight. Okay, now, now I have questions. And it’s not about Nestle, pushing the heaviest weight going faster. But recognizing the energy with which you put off as you work out is inspiring. It really does encourage others to be like, I can push a little bit more, I can find the extra edge. I’m kind of slacking today. I’m being a little busy over here. I need to step it up and quit doing this. My attitude needs to be adjusted quickly. So I appreciate you having that mentality and still coaching without coaching. But that over started to overflow and okay, I know I can have a conversation with this and step into that authority in that leadership and really saw especially these past past few months, how natural that comes. And it really is inspiring for anybody who’s out there. That is a personal trainer in your peer group trainer, therapists what you’re in movement. You’re helping other people or you’re serving yourself through this. Recognize that your body has a language. And it has an energy and others can pick up on that too.
Katrina
Definitely, yeah.
CJ
Do you kind of own your own weird too? You know, you do your own thing. And yeah, there’s little tweaks and stuff that you throw into these workouts. I guess it was just what I do I enjoy doing and you own it? Yeah. So for those trainers out there, those therapists out there that have a personal practice that don’t share it, know, that you’re sharing has power to, and people will start to ask questions. And a lot of times you can create a bigger community and a bigger conversation around. Not right versus wrong. But in what is possible, what is the potential in your movement, and in your practice, and when we work together and move together? How much we can grow together? You stepping into the MDMC after having that whole personal practice? It kind of skyrocketed. Your it kind of pushed you forward quickly. I think you’re just driven already to have some time to dive into it. Yeah, but you can’t do that course. How long did it take you to get to the full MDMC course from start to finish? Like when you did the first video to completing your quiz
Katrina
test at the end? Not very long. About a month, I think five weeks. Yeah.
CJ
And typically, the course takes about three to six months, sometimes longer, sometimes a little bit quicker, but it’s a dedication. When you first started the course, what are some things that came up? What were some things that you’d questioned and what we kind of like getting stoked about because it is a build up?
Katrina
Oh, yeah. I mean, I was getting stoked about every single thing. Like, like, it’s just like, it was natural for me. It felt like oh, my gosh, yes. Oh, that’s that little bit. Oh, yes. Details. I love this. I felt like I was getting a look inside of Gymnazo. And since I you know, what’s your everyday anyway? It was just really cool to see the little details of why we do certain things. I yeah, all of it. I mean, where do I start, I feel like I could give a give a summary of all of it. But really just coming to a full understanding that the body is connected, you have a right and left side, but they are the same. Right? They’re connected together. Instead of thinking of my separate sides. That was a big thing. I knew that. But I didn’t really actually know it. You know, I didn’t actually feel it. I don’t think all the way. And after that, realizing that, you know, one of the lessons with the dyad, diagonals and spirals. Oh my gosh.
CJ
So yeah, dive into that too. Because the the course isn’t just listen, no, and watch the course isn’t just do and apply the course isn’t just think about these things. What was that process like for you, because we built it in a way that does, especially initially, it’s doesn’t get right into the course material. It’s about setting your mind. It’s about recognizing who you’re serving. It’s about understanding that you are not alone. There’s a team that surrounds you. And it may not be a direct team, it may be just people who are also in this mind of serving others. And recognizing that our own service for ourselves is important, too. We need that in order to serve other people. How do you How could you describe that process in terms of how we balance those things out and how you get to integrate and apply what you’ve learned to then set you up for the next stage? Because it is a lot of application. And you do have to do stuff and you get to listen a lot. But what was that like for you?
Katrina
Yeah, I. So I really appreciated how there’s a story to MDMC. And so we’ve got the storyteller. And then we have someone who’s you in the videos going for a practical application. So you’re standing up and you’re going through these movements, these exercises, and you’re encouraged to reflect on it, and see how you feel journal about it. Think about it, think about things that you could improve on change. And just being completely aware of everything. That’s a huge thing. Because most of us are not aware of what we’re feeling. Just like we said before, my foot hurts. Oh, well, when does your foot hurt? Well, most of us, even coaches are not aware. I mean, I am now but there has been a long time where I wasn’t. And I know a lot of people walk through life like that. So that was good. And then doing the homework, having situations where you have little case studies, and you’re going through a case study game you need to solve for this problem. I mean, those are all huge for learning. Otherwise, if you’re just watching a video, and you have no one to check in with ever, it’s like you watch a video, the information just kind of goes in and goes right out. So you have the opportunity to cement it into your brain. And really just go for it if you want to.
CJ
I think one of my Yeah, this is one of my favorite things that I think we have in the beginning part of the course. I think it’s in the very beginning is the squat matrix and the toe tap matrix and the question is, describe what you feel and what you experienced in each one of these and there’s six different ages. It’s seven Sleep creates a framework from which to explore further. It’s not the solve all. It comes from great institutes 3d maps, yeah. In a sense that we’re working in the sagittal plane, the frontal plane in the transverse plane, we call it an anterior lunge opposed to your lunge, the same side, lateral upside, lateral, same side rotation, upside rotation. And we can lunge we can step we can squat we can we can do a lot of things from those positions. But just establishing what does it mean to move along your north and south pole, your front and back motion? And then what does it feel like to move along your lateral direction? And what does it feel like to rotate along the axis, right and left, and just having that front to back that satisfied that rotation gives us a sense of calibration, and also forces us to reflect and take more time through each position, we can go through life in a lot of different positions and funky positions and never train them specifically. But our body is going to self organize in terms of the spiral dynamics principle that it will organize and find attractor wells and find the path of least resistance. Yeah, and then organize those and make that a very efficient process. But over the course of 1020 3040 50 plus years, we are now drilling and mining deeper into these attractor wells, and even being 2030 or 40 years old, in your 20s 30s and 40s. Doing this drill we’ve had we’ve had life lived before this time, yeah, that then has changed our fascial web or it’s, it’s created the way we hold ourself. Right? And so we can worry about all that past or we can just recognize it, and then say how do we want to move forward and create a more open path. And so in that that initial stage of frame working forward backside side, if we can do that as individuals and feel it for ourselves and articulate it, that is a challenge in and of itself, just to articulate those cysts, six different directions. Yeah. And then talk about different areas of our body that came up in our awareness. Oh, we felt a little twinge in the ankle, with Oh, grabbing the back. Oh, that felt really good on my left side, but really tough on my right side. Oh, I love the first five on my left side. But that last one was really challenging. On my right side, they all felt great. Yeah, it doesn’t give us an answer. It gives us more opportunities to be curious about what our body is capable of, or incapable of right now. And so I love I love seeing how before we get into any nomenclature and stuff in the course, the course asks you to turn in or to put on our Discord channel, and communicate with other people what you experienced. And it is a vulnerable thing for a lot of people because like I, I don’t know if I’m right or wrong on this. Everything’s right. Just explain yourself and learn how to articulate it in simpler and less words. Yeah, but more thorough. But remember that drill?
Katrina
Oh, yeah, I do. Yeah, I remember actually going through and looking at the nomenclature pages, trying to trying to make it a little bit shorter. Yeah, it was, it was tough at first. But that is one thing I love is that you have to be vulnerable and put your homework out there, and everybody can see it. And, you know, like you said, it’s not wrong. It’s just
CJ
what it is. Oh, and you got to film yourself on stage. You have
Katrina
to film yourself. Which at first was crazy. I’m like, I don’t want to do this. This is awkward. But then once I did it, I felt so good. I was like, Yes, I felt like something opened and I was free.
CJ
Yeah. Amazing with filming yourself and reflecting. Working in working out with a mirror is one thing. Yeah, working out without a mirror is a whole nother thing. Working out without a mirror while there’s a phone recording you or a camera recording you and then looking back and hearing yourself talk is a whole nother experience. Yeah, how much self reflection and self growth happens in there? vulnerable? You have to be with yourself.
Katrina
Yeah, I mean, you have to just be okay with it. It’s like you could sit there and pick it apart for days. Right. But why?
CJ
And end up being perfect. We’re already there. It’s just a matter of articulating ourselves more clearly.
Katrina
Yeah. It’s all good.
CJ
Good, awesome. By the way, it’s fun to watch. And we really get to know each other through that, like every every coach that goes to MDMC you have to record yourself doing stuff and it is uncomfortable. I mean, when I first started recording myself for those videos, like what the fuck am I doing? Yeah, I’m talking to a blank screen. I have no energy in this room. And how I mean, I spent a few times re recording things because I was talking to a blank screen. And that’s what my energy was. Yeah, was that blank screen? I have no reaction. I have no idea as much as it’s coming through. But then coming to terms with that was myself process of creating, creating this with Michael was like, we just gotta jump into the deep end. Yeah. And then we got to it and then reflect and then make it better and then do it reflect to make it better, but be okay with non perfection because the perfection is in the experience and in the growth. It’s not in the one video. It’s in the conversation that happens beyond it’s in a podcast app. It’s beyond it’s in hearing about somebody else who went to the MDM see course helping a client who’s been in back pain for 30 years and hasn’t had any help and thought they needed surgery and they leave with two or three sessions going my back pain is completely gone. Yeah, or have strategies now to relieve that sensation. And it’s not all about relieving pain, though pain comes up. It’s about coming to terms with that pain. It’s also about coming to terms with what do you want to do with your movement? In, as Leo savage says, like, do something beautiful with your strength. Yeah, well, if you’re not strong, it’s really tough to make something beautiful. But you can be strong and in pain, and work to solidify some certain areas that may be lacking. Or just shifting into areas of like, I need to mobilize these parts of my body so that I can be strong in these, these movements. And then how beautiful it feels to be strong, to be stable to, to unlock things that have been locked away for 510 1520 years, or whatever the case is a couple of weeks, even a couple of weeks of having some knee issues like I can’t hike, I can’t run, I can’t walk. Oh, getting out of that, like, freedom. Okay, wait, I’ve been a few weeks of compensations. I need to kind of reintegrate the life as a process movement as a process. Were there other parts in the course initially, that made you feel out of touch initially, and then you gain more awareness of yourself or certain areas that you found, like restricting you? And then after coming through this, this discomfort of filming or posting something like, I know a lot more than I did, before I knew it already. I just blocked myself from knowing that things didn’t have an inlet.
Katrina
Yeah, I definitely felt that way. I felt well, getting over the filming. That was a big deal. So anybody who hasn’t put their videos on MDMC, you should go do it. Because it actually I felt like it really changed a lot of things for me. Confidence wise. Yeah, not having to look perfect. And also what you said about the energy bringing that energy is so hard when there’s no one around. It’s like, Oh, I’m gonna talk to this Blink is great. And so growing through that, that was awesome. And then unlocking, that was the question.
CJ
Yeah, like, were there parts of yourself? I mean, I recognize it. That’s why I bring this up. Because there’s stages of the course that we know we go through this mindset and understanding what’s physical, what’s behavioral, and what’s biological, and recognizing that actually, those are all can be one in the same, they all influence each other. Yeah. What do I do with this information? And then we kind of change gears a little bit and go into some practical frame working and understanding what a matrix is, then going into a little bit deeper of understanding that there there are, there’s nomenclature, there are words, there is a language of movement that is universal. It’s not doesn’t belong to anybody, we just happen to have this living document which clean it I just did a podcast on last week was on nomenclature and recognizing the importance of it, the value of it, because it can be somewhat boring, just learning a language like alright, I know, I know, English, I know how to talk movement. But then you go to write something down, like short handing something and then you go back to the client, like, Ah, damn, I have no idea what it did it this person you’re working with one or two clients is one thing. But if you got like 510 people that you’re working with, you better have a good way of notetaking. Yeah, and know when you come back to that person that you still have to serve them and build and progress or regress depending what’s going on. But if you don’t know what you did at the person, how do you really know? Yeah, where do you want to take them? Or them specifically, how do they know where they’re going? Right? Yeah, so we get into this whole nomenclature piece. And that combines that the behavioral piece, so understanding how our words matter, and how when we talk about movement, if we say too many words, nobody’s going to get what you’re doing, especially as it goes to functional movement, like you can say, a squat, and a lunge, and a press and a pole. But that becomes mundane and boring to a sense that, yes, we’ll get stronger in those things. But there are multiple dimensions to explore in terms of your sagittal frontal and transverse plane specifics, but then also more dynamic, transformational zones of sport, and like cutting and changing direction, and jumping down, like more complex pieces, which we haven’t G one G two g three Gymnazo, when you have the complexity, but when you go through the course, most people don’t have the Gymnazo ecosystem to work with. They’re working from whatever location they’re at. So it’s kind of a building of understanding that this doesn’t just take us this takes a whole army of people that are that are moving forward in this industry. Were there parts of like, when you got into these different pieces that were like, Ah, got me like, pumped up or inspired? Or even like combat ish, like, I don’t know, if I believe this. I’m gonna go with it. But were there anything that stands out?
Katrina
Honestly, most of it for the courts, I felt like I had a little bit of a cheat code because I’ve been here for so long. It was all to me, it’s all gold. nomenclature. I know a lot of people are struggling with nomenclature. And to me that was just like, it wasn’t tough at all. Just because I seen the board’s every day. And I just, yeah, like just the way that you guys always spoke during coaching sessions and the way you still do the way you speak during coaching sessions. I’ve learned to try to speak that way as well. It’s very understandable. It just yeah, all of it just seemed great. I
CJ
if you did have a cheat code because you’re experiencing it by osmosis and you’re probably looking at porn. Like, okay, figure this out in a sense that you’re already playing the game of. Okay, coaches are trying to work out yet I see the board, I know what it says on there. And I’m kind of deciphering it, you can get like a 90 to 100%. Correct, just like watching the board. And so bringing that nomenclature pieces of it, it’s just brings in some more depth. For somebody on the outside listen to this going well, I don’t really understand the value of nomenclature, I have my language as this field of fitness, wellness, holistic health alternative, how healing continues to unify, if we don’t have a language that unites us, and a way of communicating through movement that is not just specific to us, but it’s more universal to every person’s body. If we don’t use that, we will never find unification, right, because we’re communicating on different waves, we may be talking about the same thing, but You call this a split squat, swing. And we’re calling in our xx LXX, squat, knee tap bilateral hand Viper swing from hip to overhead height, three diagonal swing, they both may be the exact same thing. One’s more complex and one’s not. But one, the more complex one gives you opportunity to explore each little piece of that position of the feet, the position of the piece of equipment, the action in which we are performing the range of motion in which we are performing it, the triangulation. So not just the range, but the direction and the right height. And then also, the other OEMs have speed, duration and load, we can throw those in and now we have 10. We have 10 things to consider in every single exercise, if not more, but 10 main things. And if we’re not aware of those 10 things, we may not need to communicate all 10. But we need to be aware of all 10 If we’re going to be able to communicate in the same level. Because you may know the split squat diagonal swing. But that’s all you know, and you haven’t even thought about the spectrum of effort. So somebody you cannot do that. You don’t take them away and they can’t do that thing. They have to do something else. Versus Wait, can I change your foot position, facilitating a slightly different chain reaction that now is not uncomfortable. So it’s something that you can do. Right now we have an entry point into more success,
Katrina
right? Yeah, it’s the ability to ability to be very specific. And just be able to pass it on without explaining it. Right? You could just read that line and know, okay, we got that. So you can do this. And then you know what to change, right? Because you know exactly where you started from. So yeah, super important. Super cool. I’m a big fan.
CJ
What do you think was the biggest growth in the course for you specifically, when you’re going through it? I know it took a month, you’re streamlined and you’re already coaching. But there were there moments of growth or transformation. Or just moments like man I I feel changed or adapted or something had shifted in you. Because I’ve certainly seen a confidence shift. You have a lot of confidence. But now coming through, I’m like, Man, she speaks the language now.
Katrina
Honestly, I’m going through the MDMC program. Honestly, the biggest thing for me was doing those videos of myself, that was my biggest I did not really want to do that. I just never had it just wasn’t something I desired. So I didn’t. But once I did, I felt like it just really did open something up for me. I don’t know what it was, it was like, oh, okay, that was easy. Gosh, why? Why have I been hiding from this. But after I came in here and started coaching, that’s when things really changed for me. As you guys helped me grow through that process I was, I was nervous, which was kind of nuts, because this is like my comfort zone in here, you know, and then found myself in a spot where I was like, oh, gosh, I’m not as comfortable as I thought I was I don’t know. And I just like feeling confident with my knowledge that I have. After I realized that I do have this knowledge, I actually understand what I’m saying. It’s okay for me to tell people things and give advice to people because they do actually understand why I’m saying it so MDMC without that I wouldn’t have understood, honestly. So
CJ
that’s beautiful. Yeah, beautiful, beautiful, you have experienced a run off of it. And I think it’s why like MDMC so much is that it gives you direct experience. To graduate you have to go to through you have to coach a class and also class Gymnazo level Gymnazo standard from warm up, to work out description to work out and coaching and cueing and tweak ology. and problem solving for somebody who might be in pain, yeah, to then cooling people down with some mobility work. And if we haven’t practiced any of those things for ourselves, how much more challenging it is, right? Yeah, so we will don’t include any cooldown or mobility after their workout. Right? You just don’t see the value until you do it and like, holy shit, I’ve been missing a key component into my own experience. And so coming through that that full spectrum of coaching the classes I’m glad that you said that because that is the real experience. Yes, actually coaching a class you might have all the tools, all the skills, all the knowledge, but not the experience. Now what do I do? Oh, man, I’m really nervous. And the thing holding you back from actually doing class is your own confidence. then being able to portray and trip the knowledge and education and coach a fun class to those athletes. And a lot of times, it’s the lack of organization of what we’re trying to portray what we’re trying to bring to our community market to our community serve with our community. So a group class or I’m going to do, I’m gonna do a group circuit class. Yeah, that could be anything. You know, there’s so much there, we have an organization that that we found works with our community. And generally, it’s the work at the warmup, 10 minutes, the workout description, five to 10 minutes, the workout itself about 30 to 40 minutes, and then a 510 minute cooldown. And in that time, you can share, you don’t like throw up all your knowledge. Yeah, because that’s one thing we talked about is like, hide your cards, like you might have a pocket aces, don’t show him yet, you got to, you got to just kind of build the pot up, build success. And then you’ve got this really cool tweak. It’s really cool movement, you saw that you’ve you’ve done yourself, and it felt amazing. But your your team isn’t ready for it. Okay, we’ve got to kind of, we got to set the stage of building a progression in that hour, or the hour and a half, whatever you have for your class. Yeah. And then MDMC, we set you up with that pathway. So that then you can, you can branch off if you need to. But without that that organization, either we don’t take action, we don’t offer the class as an individual, not not Gymnazo. But let’s say you’re somewhere else in the world. And like, well, I’ve never led a group class or I’ve never had more than three or four people in one session, I want to do a 10 person 15 person session, how do I do it? Oh, I can’t do it. You would immediately write yourself off. Yeah, well, you can go I have a structure,
Katrina
you really doesn’t need to take a class. Right? Yeah. For you, before you coach a group class, find a place like Gymnazo, take do a virtual whatever, you know, take a group class, you know, I had been taking group classes, sessions for three years. And I still when I got to that coaching moment was like, Oh, my gosh, wait, what order do I go in when we do this warmup. And then okay, but I couldn’t even remember it. It was just so if you even if you haven’t had that experience, think of how much harder it will be. So I would definitely suggest taking some sessions and seeing how it is,
CJ
yeah, learn from other coaches, everybody’s got different energies, different styles, and you as an individual have your own. Yeah, and good way to learn is to copy a little bit here and there. Because you can go completely off the wall. And people like I did not enjoy that that was so disorganized. I have no idea what that person who is really cool, but I didn’t really enjoy myself. It’s like, we need to understand the behavioral side of things. Who’s coming in? Who are we serving? Who’s our target audience, and do the MDMC, we open up that discussion and there’s opportunity to communicate, we are very accessible. It may not be within five minutes, and when you respond to something, but it will be within that day or that week. I’ve seen something in turning something into that course. And we offer feedback, yes. And a lot of encouragement to like the we are here to encourage each other really,
Katrina
yeah, that’s anytime it’s a big deal to get that feedback and know like, Oh, hey, I need to work on this, or Oh, I did so great. Yes. And there’s
CJ
nothing wrong with messing up here and there. And that’s how we grow. In fact, we say fail faster, fail early and fail fast fail often, so that you know what you can build from if you just have success when something goes wrong. Oh shit, what do I do? We talk about handling situations. We talk about how to hug people without hugging people, you know how to speak to people’s hearts and their brains and their purpose without having to force anything on them. You’re just sharing and opening opportunity a channel for them to open up.
Katrina
Right? Yeah, that is what that’s one of the things that makes MDMC so great is that you have all those things added in. And also understanding people’s different personality types and being able to see that as they walk through the door and, and finding ways to connect with people. I mean, all that stuff. It’s invaluable for business,
CJ
small pieces, but they but they definitely add up. Yeah. Katrina, is there anything else? After completing this course, congratulations. By the way, it’s such a huge achievement. And the MDMC squad is certainly growing this year. It’s like it’s taking off. Yeah, it’s like every week, we got somebody graduating, it’s like boom, boom, boom, three people graduate is like, oh, my gosh, this is awesome. And people are finding success and departs the world we’d never even met as a team, two of our coaches. Currently, they came from our MDMC program. Yeah. And they coach our virtual group sessions. And it’s, it’s, it’s awesome to witness it’s awesome to be a part of and to see, not only coaches grow within our community, but coaches growing in there, they have their own gym, or they’re working at a gym in their own box, whatever it is, and they’re finding new ways to find success with their clients. And they’re finding growth that can last a lifetime. Versus it’s a six week program, and then I’ll maybe never see you again. It’s like no, you may have a lifetime client that you develop because of going through MDMC or because of understanding the behavioral, the physical and the biological components and speaking to somebody in that whole way versus just parts of them. Oh, you’re just a body coming in as a transaction. Here’s your workout. Good luck. Go. No, where’s the heart? And
Katrina
that is definitely personal. We live in that it does feel like you get to know people even though you haven’t actually met them through discord. Right? You can comment on other people’s stuff. And it’s like the it’s a whole group supporting each other. It’s pretty awesome.
CJ
Yeah, and you on the other side of that we have our movement collective, which is a free communication through discord to we got a bunch of different tabs in there talking about anything from just chit chat and some encouragement to podcast topics to check out this video. Here’s a case study of what I did with this client, hey, I’m working with this client who has this this this this this and I’ve never worked with somebody with this as anybody have any experience? Can you share? Yes, it’s an open forum. It’s an open opportunity of not even really like minded individuals in terms of our methodologies. It’s like minded in the in the service that we are in to better serve our community and every community is different. But there are similarities. We do have a brain, we have a mind, we do have a heart, we do have a gut, and we got to speak to those pieces. We’ve got to create programs that come from there, and then share the success with others or share our failures with others. And recognizing that it’s not always full success, and rainbows and sunshine a lot of times like, I could have done something way better with that client. But man, I’m so glad I went to that hour session so that now I can serve them better. Or if they don’t come back, I can serve the next person better. Yeah. And that’s that’s how we go especially with somebody who doesn’t have a ton of experience. Or you’re new to this field, or you’re shifting careers. And you want to come from a place of service for your community through movement training, through helping people get out of pain, because you were in pain yourself and got out of it. And you want other people to experience that freedom. Yeah, that. That opening of potential, it’s liberating. And we have the opportunity to share that with other people. So Katrina, our time is running short for this podcast, but I’m sure we will have deeper conversations as you progress this year, on the first year of coaching at Gymnazo. So thank you so much.
Katrina
Thank you.
CJ
You guys have questions. This one’s got questions, or want to find out more about our movement collective. Check the links and our Spotify here. And also check our Instagram gymnazoedu Gymnazo, which is just a slow local Gymnazo Instagram, and then Katrina, how can they find you?
Katrina
Oh. Katrina, AK, is it? I don’t even know.
CJ
Just forget it. Check her go look up Katrina on Instagram page, she’s tagged in something there. I
Katrina
think it’s Katrina. action. We
CJ
build some stuff. She’s a badass mover. She’s at least tagged an awesome stuff.
Katrina
I haven’t quite Yeah, I’m not there yet. I’ll get there soon.
CJ
You can check us out also on. On YouTube. GymnazoYouTube. And you can find me at movement exploration channel on the IG where we just continue to dive into the potential of movement using our matrix. So until next time, y’all peace, and hope to hear from you soon.
Michael Hughes
Hey all. Hope you guys enjoyed today’s episode. And if you did, please share with your fitness obsessed friends and peers who are also navigating this world of fitness and trying to succeed the trends and misinformation. As you guys can see, this podcast is basically a masterclass for trainers wanting to level up in their coaching skills, and a fitness business model. We launched this in 2020. Because you and your fitness tribe deserve to see an unfiltered look at all the aspects of what it takes to stand out as a next generation coach, and build a successful fitness business. So share it far and wide. And please, when you do do me a favor, take a screenshot of this screen and share it to your social media accounts and use the hashtag Gymnazo podcast that’s hashtag Gymnazo podcast that way we can see you and share your posts with our audience. And finally, when you’re ready to go to the next level as a coach, or in your business, and to reach more people, please go check out gymnazoedu.com, we have put together the best 90 Day coaching program on the market for trainers who want to become a masterful practitioner, and build a business that gives them the freedom and impact. So let us help you do just that. We have online training and one on one coaching to guide you through a whole 90 Day certification. We even get you 20 Our clients live because it’s always better to work out your kinks on someone else’s clients than yours. But we promise you this, your clients will be blown away by the transformation our program will help you make you’ll be masterful at a whole new level and part of an incredible community of coaches worldwide, taking their skills to the next level. So if you thought this episode had some fire to it, and inspires you to take action, wait until we see what we deliver on this program. So just go to gymnazoedu.com. And we’ll see you on the other side. Remember that turning your passion for fitness into transformation and sustainable business is critical to reaching the people and lives you were put on earth to help it matters and truly can make an impact in other people’s lives. So hope you do that. Keep sharing your passion and we’ll talk to you soon.
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