KY State Clinic

This past Saturday I attended the NSCA Kentucky State Clinic at the University of Louisville. It was a great opportunity to gain some knowledge, meet some people, and better myself...and for only $25. It was a one day event with six presentations. The presentations ranged from nutrition, to unusual methods of training, to scientific application. Included in the list of speakers were Mike Robertson of I-FAST, Adam Feit, assistant coach of UofL Athlete Development, and Joe Kenn, head coach at UofL.




Mike Robertson spoke on the topic of low back health. He is an outstanding presenter and really made the presentation stand out. He discussed the issues of joint-to-joint training, stabilizing the lumbar spine, and improving posture throughout all aspects of training and life. I feel very blessed to have gotten the opportunity to see him present for such a cheap price.



Adam Feit, who also put the whole day together, presented on nutritional strategies for the collegiate athlete. Even though this presentation was directed towards collegiate athletes, I took a lot of good ideas away from it that could be used for clients of any population. The main thing Adam touched on was that most people will not be able to follow a perfect and strict diet. Since this is the case for most people, we need to find ways to compromise so that our client is making healthier changes that he or she can continue to do. Over time these small compromises will grow into larger lifestyle changes. He gave some good information on what to eat when eating at fast food restaurants, cheap ways to get good groceries, and effective ways to educate our clients on how to eat and how to improve performance through nutrition. I was very impressed with this presentation and hope to get another chance to listen to Adam talk.



The final talk of the day was in the weight room with the head strength coach for football at U of L, Joe Kenn. He went through the progression of cleans that is used by the U of L strength staff. I have had some experience in the past couple years with different progressions of Olympic lifts, but it is always good to hear it again. The approach they use is from the ground up. They start with working on the deadlift and improving that strength, working to pulls, RDL's, and finishing with the catch. As I listened to the presentation I started thinking about the ground up idea and feel that this approach should be used for anything. With any new client they need to be built from the ground up. I want to make sure there is a foundation before I start trying to strengthen everything else. Just more sculpting of my training philosophy.



Overall, it was a great experience and I will definitely be in attendance again next year. I hope to make some other seminars and clinics between now and then as well. Never too much learning.