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Weee! This weekend was a productive weekend! I worked a half day on Friday because I had to meet with my internship advisor, which was cool. My internship is done remotely (aka my house) so I’ve only talked to my advisor via phone and email so it was nice to actually put a face with a name/voice. In order to receive my MPH I must complete a 120-hour internship experience in public health. Myself and two other students are working on creating an epidemiological profile of HIV/AIDS in Haiti for the National Alliance of State & Territorial AIDS Directors (NASTAD). It’s a pretty cool project in that the Ministry of Health in Haiti is going to use our findings to implement prevention and treatment programs in the country. I’m currently working on the “meat and potatoes” of the project now, which requires me to use SPSS, a statistical analysis program, to calculate prevalence and incidence rates of HIV from over 160,000 cases that NASTAD has collected through surveillance and electronic medical records (EMRs) over the past 10 years. It’s certainly tedious and not so fun at times, especially since I have no experience with SPSS. However, I really like the fact that our project has real world implications.

I spent most of the day Saturday running errands and hanging out at the gym organizing my mess myself and working out. Previously, I have always done my cross-training strength work in running shoes, but that is actually not good for you because a) with a thicker heel you have a higher chance of twisting an ankle and injury (plus running shoes are built for forward motion and cross-training generally and should occur in all planes of motion), and b) they ruin your shoes faster and running shoes are expensive! So I decided to pick up a pair of cross-training sneakers. I haven’t worn Nike for years, but so far I really like these shoes. I might go back and get the blue and gray pair.

On Sunday I finished up my literature review for my thesis paper (that was due a couple of weeks ago. Oopps!)! Over the holiday weekend I plan to bang out my rough draft of the paper so I can begin the process of editing. Anyone want to edit my paper for me? 🙂 Then I did some studying for my test….

Speaking on test… I PASSED! I am now a certified personal trainer through the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA)! Yay! I took my test yesterday morning at the testing site at H&R Block. I know, weird huh? I was super nervous I was going to fail. I don’t standardize test well. I much prefer essay-based tests. This test was pretty hard too. I studied for it, but I definitely could have spent more time studying for it. I’ve been told by a few people that about half of the people who take the test the first time fail it. I can see why. If you don’t know anatomy then you are screwed. Plus they asked some super random questions. Nordic walking? Orthostatic hypotension? What the heck?! After looking those up I’m pretty sure I got them right, but I don’t remember those terms in the book at all. Anyway, I didn’t get a super high score, but I passed and I’m glad that I don’t have to take it again!

I’ve been hinting at for a while that I have already been moonlighting as a personal trainer. I got a job at Family 24 Fitness in Scarborough, Maine and it’s a pretty cool little gym run by some super awesome and experienced people! I love it already! The gym will be expanding after January and will include fitness class space and also an athletic conditioning area, which will be my area! I’m super excited and I can honestly see a future career at this place so I’m pumped! If you live in the area and looking for a personal trainer… come see me! 🙂 I promise you a good time… just not in that Maine Zumba way!

I also completed my take home class of the Functional Movement Screening. I am now a certified Functional Movement Expert! FMS is a ranking and grading system that documents movement patterns that are key to normal everyday function. By screening for movement patterns, the FMS can identify limitations and asymmetries within the body. After determining limitations and asymmetries the trainer can provide the client appropriate corrective exercises to “fix” the problems. The FMS system is great for athletes and I plan on implementing its use in the athletic conditioning program I’ll be developing at the gym. However, I still need to practice with the system so if anyone living in the Greater Portland area would like a FMS let me know! 🙂

Big things coming in 2013! So excited! 🙂

~ Happy Training!