Muscle System Specialist Course – ONLINE COURSE

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The on-line version of the MSS Course is videotaped from a MSS LIVE! course.

All 108 hours of the course have been captured and divided into the 24 sections of the workbook manuals. All paperwork relevant to the course is provided via PDF files for each section.

The on-line course will be done with a cohort group and a specified start and stop date with 20 weekly review and progress meetings facilitated by a qualified instructor.

This is a convenient and dynamic way to experience the material.

Once you have completed the coursework you will continue to have access to the online platform for an additional year.

Course Description & Instructor Bio

This is the foundational course for Exercise Professional Education.

It is 108 hours of live course delivery covering everything from how to meet an individual in your community and determine if they are a qualified candidate for your service, to all of the technical information for gathering the critical data to analyze and make a decision about where to begin working and planning that work, and then developing a lifelong client relationship managing that individual’s exercise and muscle system health.

There simply is no other course like it on the market.

 

Instructor Bio

Greg Mack’s earliest experiences in the fitness industry inform the current perspective offered in this course. Greg attended the 2nd Annual IDEA Personal Training Summit in Washington, D.C. in 1991. Jeff Bensky, Ph.D, an Educational Psychologist, who at the time was President of the Benfield Group, delivered one of the continuing education workshops. Dr. Bensky was presenting demographic research in the area of healthcare that was summarizing some of the issues surrounding the emerging “baby boomer” population and their interests regarding managing their health. One of the research points revealed was that this population wanted their personal trainer to coordinate their exercise programming with their doctors. Greg took this to heart, got certified as a personal trainer through the American Council of Exercise, built a business plan, and raised money for a company he operates to this day called Physicians Fitness. The fundamental idea driving this company was to do what Dr. Bensky’s research recommended. For the last 32 years, the Physicians Fitness exercise specialists have been working to partner and collaborate with the medical community. This proved to be a controversial process as the medical community’s highly defined, and rigorous, academic requirements – and its legislated scope of practice, with its own language – and the hierarchical inter-practitioner relationships, did not readily match up with the academic process (or lack thereof), language, and the absence of legal standing of personal trainers and exercise professionals.

The medical-fitness relationship was, and continues to be, difficult to establish and maintain given the professional turf issues and non-clinical status of the personal trainer. Finding someone with the formal training to meet the exercise needs of those individuals who have been diagnosed, and treated, by the medical community who still have health issues that are affected, or could be exacerbated by exercise was, and continues to be, a real challenge.

As Founder and CEO, Greg’s vision for Exercise Professional Education were shaped over 30 years ago while working as a lay assistant to physicians in a sports medicine clinic. It was during this tenure that he noticed the unfortunate reality that most of the patients of the clinic were there as a result of poor physical conditioning. He observed that the patient base consisted of individuals who would return to the clinic for treatment of re-injury to a problem area, or the development of new symptoms, due to compensation patterns created by the original pathophysiology. The medical and chiropractic staff encouraged these patients to participate in exercise and fitness programs but did not have the time or resources to effectively assess, develop, and implement a safe, individualized exercise plan to improve their muscle function and health. That’s when he decided to start Physicians Fitness (www.physiciansfitness.com) Since then Greg is also a co-founder and partner in the Muscle System Consortia LLC, (www.musclesystemconsortia.com) an education and research company dedicated to creating and teaching a more mature and comprehensive understanding of the dynamic nature of skeletal muscle and its influence on the other body systems in order to appreciate its vital contribution to lifelong human health and performance, ultimately changing the world’s perspective on its care, use, and maintenance.

His experience in working in such diverse venues as community gyms and medical practices enhanced his awareness of the wide gulf that exists between the medical community and fitness facilities, particularly for those individuals trying to recover from and manage a diagnosed disease. This led to the development of a comprehensive documentation and communication system that coordinates fitness programs for individuals with diagnosed diseases from the medical community, the core of Physicians Fitness operations.

As a graduate of the US Navy’s Nuclear Engineering School with an emphasis in Mechanical Engineering and a qualified US Navy Diver, Greg uses his foundation of practical engineering knowledge and skills, his enthusiasm for exercise, academic certifications ACE- Personal Trainer (CPFT), ACE-Medical Exercise Specialist (CMES) (American Council on Exercise), and Resistance Training Specialist Mastery (resistancetrainingspecialist.com) – and his experiences working with a wide variety of medical professionals (e.g. physical therapists, chiropractors, pain specialists, internal medicine physicians, physiatrists, psychologists) to develop the philosophy and methodologies that constitute the Muscle System Specialist ™ Training and Certification Program.

Greg has taught courses for several industry education companies on topics ranging from functional musculoskeletal anatomy, manual muscle testing, biomechanics, selling philosophy and methodology, physical assessment, decision-making, and science-based methodologies in muscle and motor control assessment and data interpretation. He has written articles as well as published in IDEA Personal Trainer Magazine, American Fitness Quarterly, Body Conditioning Magazine, IDEA Health and Fitness Source Magazine, and The American Journal of Medicine and Sports.

He achieved the “Master Level” designation as a personal fitness professional from IDEA (www.ideafit.com). Greg received the IDEA International Personal Trainer of the Year Award for the year 2003 and was the Chairman of the IDEA Personal Trainer Committee, an influential body steering important issues related to fitness professionals.

Course Objectives & Goals

  1. The graduates of the program will understand their standard of care/scope of practice and role responsibilities and how to communicate these effectively to consumers of Muscle Health and Exercise services and their community at large.
  1. The graduates of the program will understand the dynamics of selling Muscle Health and Exercise services to individuals and conduct a professional initial consultation leading to a clear decision on whether Muscle Health and Exercise services are appropriate.
  1. The graduates of the program will understand and apply appropriate legal disclosures and informed consents prior to providing Muscle Health and Exercise demonstrations or services.
  1. The graduates of the program will provide and interpret an appropriate and comprehensive pre-Muscle Health and Exercise session screening questionnaire.
  1. The graduates of the program will be able to generate communication via, phone, email, and letter to health care professionals associated with a client, writing narratives and obtaining medical clearance when necessary.
  1. The graduates of the program will be able to effectively document their initial assessment of a client.
  1. The graduates of the program will learn to estimate the Allostatic Load of a client prior to performing an Assessment of Limb/Trunk Motion and subsequent Muscle Health and Exercise assessment techniques.
  1. The graduates of the program will learn to analyze and collate assessment data to determine the client plan.
  1. The graduates of the program will be able to present their assessment findings and defend their rationale for the client plan objectives and goals.
  1. The graduates of the program will be able to educate a client about Muscle Health and Exercise principles and procedures relevant to the individual needs of the client.
  1. The graduates of the program will be able to document their daily sessions.

What You Will Learn

Sections 1 through 12

1-01 – Program Introduction and Orientation

1-02 – Selling Muscle Health and Exercise Services

1-03 – First Contact Strategies

1-04 – Conducting the Initial Consultation

Sections 13 through 14

2-01 – Sales System Review and Documentation of Initial Consultation

2-02 – Assessment Philosophy and Methodology

2-03 – Performing the Initial (Phase 1) Intake Assessment and Collecting Client Data

Sections 15-19

3-01 – Conducting an Analysis of Intake Data

3-02 – Writing the Client Plan Objectives and Goals

3-03 – Writing Communicative Narratives

3-04 – Conducting the Client Education and Report of Findings

3-05 – Administering the First Session and Using the Daily Note

3-06 – Introduction to Intra and Inter-Session Decision Making

Sections 20 through 22

4-01 – Performing a Phase 2 Assessment

4-02 – Conducting an Analysis of Phase 2 Data

4-03 – Writing the Client Plan Objectives and Goals

4-04 – Writing Communicative Narratives

4-05 – Conducting the Client Education and Report of Findings

4-06 – Administering the First Session and Using the Daily Note

Sections 23 through 24

5-01 Making It Work and Controlling Professional Behaviors Necessary for Success

5-02 – Comprehensive Program Review

5-03 – Post Assessment Procedures

5-04 – Mobility/Stability Profile Analysis and Real-Time Decision Making

5-05 – Open Question-Answer Discourse and Exploration of Key Concepts

The practical portion of this course includes 3 hours of supervision with a qualified MSS Instructor. Your course fee includes this practical experience.

The practical portion is mandatory and must be scheduled as soon as possible following completion of the course. If you can not reasonably make arrangements to meet with an approved instructor then a series of Zoom meetings will be scheduled where you will need to find a subject to work with while the instructor observes and guides the practical experience, This is not ideal as the practical skills are technical and nuanced and really require in-person observation and coaching, but we will accommodate as much as possible.

Here is a list of the approved instructors and their locations (you will need to contact the one of your choosing to set the practical date and time):

Greg Mack – gtmack01@mac.com – Columbus Ohio

Charlie Rowe – chazrowe21@yahoo.com – Columbus, Ohio

Lance White – lance@nexuspersonaltraining.com – Toronto, Canada

Dominick Nusdeu – dominicknusdeu@gmail.com – Houston, Texas

Jason Weitzner – jay@symmetryexerciseclinic.com – Naples, Florida

Curtis Van Wyck – curtis.vw@curtisclaytraining.com – Bothell, Washington

Andrew Hoppert – andrew.hoppert@gmail.com – Glendale, Wisconsin

Brandon O’Connor – brandon@austinmusclerestoration.com – Austin, Texas

Tim Livingston – livfit16@gmail.com – Shelton, Connecticut

Hope Gaston – hopegaston@gmail.com – San Diego, California

Course Dates, Times, & Locations

This course is performed as a cohort with the next start date on July 10, 2023, at 3:00 pm EST.

Students meet weekly with a course facilitator to review the course content progressively over a consecutive 20-week period. (Unless otherwise indicated – See Calendar for Specific Dates and Times for the next course offerings).

The dates for the next cohorts will be (all start at 3:00 pm EDT and last for 60 minutes)

July 10

July 17

July 24

July 31

August 7

August 14

August 21

August 28

September 4

September 11

September 18

September 25

October 2

October 9

October 16

October 23

October 30

November 6

November 13

November 20

 

Course Pre-Requisites & Other Important Info

Please click on this link to view the course pre-requisites and other important course information

MSS Course Pre-Requisites 5.8.21

MSS Course On-line – What You Get

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