Glossary

Circuit Training- Quickly going from one exercise or lift to another to keep the heart rate up and fatigues muscles
Cross-fit- The mix of different activities and exercises into your regular workout to cause muscle confuion, to keep your workouts fun, and to get a more complete workout. These activities include swimming, cycling, and running.

Fast Twitch Muscles- Muscle fibers that contract more quickly than slow twitch muscle fibers that equate to overall quickness and power.

Free Weights- Weights that are not attached to a machine with a cable or chain.

Kinectic Lifts- Exercises that involve covering a distance. For example, bear crawls, plyometric box jumps, sprinting, etc.

M.A.D.- Making a Difference

Plyometric Exercise or "Plyo"- Where muscles are quickly loaded for an action, the action is completed, and the muscles are loaded again. For example, jumping onto a bench then jumping off, and then back on again for multiple repetitions.

Repetition or "Rep"- How many of the lifts or exercises you do. For example, if you bench press ten times you have completed ten reps.

Set- A given number of reps in an exercise or lift. 3 sets of 8 reps would mean you have done 8 reps of a particular exercise 3 times.

Static Lifts- A prticular lift where the person doing the lift does not cover any distance. For example, bench press, curls, squats, etc.

Superset- A combination of a certain lift and a body weight exercise that are done together. For example, after doing a set of bench press, immediately do 10 pushups.

How Am I Connected to the Culture?

Being an athlete throughout high school and college, weight training has been a significant part of my atheltic career. In high school, I went to the local gym and I wasn't too sure about what I was doing, but I was lifting weights and I saw improvements in strength and muscle tone. I started trying to educate myself and research about the proper way to weight lift and safely become bigger and stronger. In college we always had a set plan so I learned some things from every regimen I've been a part of. After four or five years of learning as I go, I can adequately get a beneficial workout in by myself. There are people like me that are knowledgable enough to conduct their own workouts that still choose to be personal trained. Is it worth the money? Does a personal trainer reap many more benefits than an indivdual can on their own? I have always wondered how many people see improvements after working hard and paying a pretty substantial amount of money. Another reason this topic is relevant to me is because I work with younger baseball players when I have free time and enjoy it very much. Things could work out where I might have an opportunity to train for a living one day. I think this would be very helpful information to know.

Helping Answer My Question

My ultimate question is how often are the clients expectations met when they are personally trained. It was interesting getting the trainers aspect of these goals and how they are met. Wilson Tucker, a trainer at M.A.D. Sports Training told me that he works with his clients to make a tangible, but challenging goal or goals. They set up short-term and long-term goals. Wilson told me these goals are accomplished everyday. I can't wait to the some of the clients takes on these goals.

Interview with Wilson Tucker

I interviewed Wilson Tucker, a trainer at the facility I'll be in and out of this semester. Wilson has worked at M.A.D. for 5 years now and is head of baseball specific training. When we were trying to schedule this meeting he said he was really busy and he didn't have a lot of time so I had to keep this interview short, precise, and efficient. The main thing I inquired about was how his expectations for his clients and his clients expectations for themselves are different, and how does he compromise and get everyone on the same page. He works with a lot of younger players that are usually 10- 16 years old so parents are also involved in this process.
TB: Do you enjoy training and why?
WT: Yeah I do, I like seeing them become better athletes and better men. It's also cool getting to see their abilities grow because of the work we have put in together.
TB: What are some of the expectations you usually have for your clients?
WT: I'm just looking for progress. I expect perfection out of them and myself so they expect the same. That's how I earn their respect.
TB: Do you ever alter these expectations and why?
WT: Yes, I have to find otut what the kids really want because at the end of the day they're the ones that are going to be putting in all of the hard work. Sometimes their parents will want things for them that they don't want and that's where the trouble starts. I believe if you want something you gotta work for it. We hold each other accountable so we can be as close to perfect as possible.
TB: How offten are these goals met?
WT: Everyday. I have had one client that has not responded well and has not improved, but his parents were a big problem. Another big part of my job is to motivate the people I train. It's just like running a business. It's the same concept as managing people. I have to find a way to get everyone on the same page and motivate them to get the job done.