Connection of the Week- Pain Talk

Lucy Hendricks on July 11, 2018

Learning about why and how people have pain was something I put off because of constantly being told it was out of my scope.

Even though TREATING pain is out of my scope, working with people who have it, is definitely not.

I’ve had to learn how to work around it, how to communicate with them, and most importantly, talk them out of maladaptive beliefs they’ve picked up by other trainers, therapist, and practitioners.

Maladaptive beliefs like thinking the amount of pain they’re experiencing equals the amount of damage that is occurring. Believing they have vertebras crushing together or joints out of place after going through a palpatory assessment. And the worst one, thinking their body is so fragile they constantly need a practitioner to put their joints or discs back in place.

The words other professionals use have left my clients and loved ones scared of moving, scared of lifting, and in some instances possibly left with unnecessary pain.

I’m not sure why my client’s neck pain started increasing, but I can’t help but wonder if it had anything to do with her chiro’s comment on how her arthritis in her neck was getting much worse after he touched the area with his hands.

It’s hard to determine how much arthritis contributes to someone’s pain. Someone could be bone on bone and could experience zero symptoms. On top of that, there’s no way of assessing how progressive someone’s arthritis is without imaging. For a chiro to say that to her is just flat out wrong.

I’m not sure why my client’s back pain increased, but I can’t help but wonder if it had anything to do with the exaggerated reaction the neurologist gave her when he saw her MRI.

MRI results don’t always match the symptoms a person may feel. You could have two people with meniscus tears one could have symptoms and one could have zero pain, but both would have the same MRI results.

I’m not sure why my client has kept the same weight for her floor press for the last two years, but I can’t help but wonder if it had anything to do with her physical therapist telling her that shoulder blade protraction could injure her shoulder.

The lack of knowledge on pain within the rehab, medical and fitness industry needs an upgrade because I’m sick of all the maladaptive beliefs being put in people’s heads.

YOUR WORDS MATTER.

Your words could destroy someone’s quality of life, they could send people into unnecessary pain, it could send people to a surgery that was not needed.

Your words could really fuck some people up and I see it happening every single day. Just two weeks ago I heard of a professional assessing one of my student’s neck and they yelled out “HOW ARE YOU EVEN LIVING?!”

Are you serious?!? How are you even living?? GTFOH.

I hope you can start seeing why I’m frustrated. I’m also hoping you’re feeling a little frustrated too because then you’re more likely to do something about it.

How can we start changing how to we talk to people in pain? How can we better serve our post rehab clients and create a world that is less threatening for them?

The answer to all those questions:

Education.

You can’t send a client to an MD or PT every time something feels unpleasant for them. You also can’t let your clients feel broken and fragile because of the words other people have used. You need to learn about pain, even if it’s out of your scope to treat it. You need to learn why it happens, how it happens, when it’s time to refer out, and when to calm the person down.

My education started with Zac Cupples.

We set up a couple movement consultations with him last year and by watching him talk to my clients out of their maladaptive beliefs made me realize there is a HUGE need for his information to be known. Not just in the fitness industry, EVERY industry. Doctors, massage therapist, chiros, trainers, yoga instructors.…everyone is guilty. Including myself. Young Lucy totally told clients that they had an anterior pelvic tilt that would cause back pain and neck pain.

So if you’re frustrated seeing your clients suffer, you want to learn about pain, and you want to better serve these people, start following Zac.

He’s got a online presentation on Pain and it’s totally free!

<<Practical Pain Talk>>

He also has written a couple of articles that help you work with these people:

You’re Hurt, Now What? 

How to Communicate with People in Pain 

Refer in: When Trainers Can Work with People in Pain

Here’s a warning though, once you start learning all this you’re going to start getting frustrated and reach out to me to say “OMG! Soo many people are being misguided and mismanaged! All these professionals are putting ideas into my clients heads!”

Or maybe not. Maybe I’m just an angry person.

To sum everything up:

  • YOUR WORDS MATTER.
  • If you work with people, It IS your business to learn about pain.

 

Until next time ?

Lucy

How to WOW a Potential Client in 20 Minutes

Lucy Hendricks on July 8, 2018

The number one question I get is “How do I get clients to buy into the breathing?”

Breathing is like the veggies on the plate that kids don’t want to eat. It’s not sexy, it seems weird, no one else is doing it, and it’s a really hard sale.

Fortunately, there is a way to make breathing activities look more like a juicy rib-eye vs the overcooked soggy asparagus no one wants. What if you could produce results on the spot and get immediate buy in? And you could find the right words to make warm-up activities meaningful for each client depending on what their goals are.

At Enhancing Life,  within 20-30 minutes into a consult a new/potential client usually mentions how they’ve never experienced anything like this before. They’re usually WOWed after 3-6 warm-up activities, before we even get to any training. If you can WOW someone with a warm-up, just imagine how they’ll feel when they start training?

A Lazy Bear done correctly can improve a client’s movement quality right on the spot, it can get rid of tightness and limitations, and it can help gain them access to ranges of motions that are required to lift without compensating. When it’s done right, clients feel like they’re working hard, muscles burn, it gives them a rush, it challenges them in the right place, and most importantly, it gets them to buy into the this whole “breathing thing”.

A Lazy Bear done incorrectly will possibly produce little to no results, a client will feel like they’re wasting their time, they wont be challenged, and all the sudden, the whole “breathing thing” seems silly and unnecessary.

New clients are very disconnected to their own bodies, they don’t take cues well, and they struggle following simple instructions. When you attend courses you practice coaching these activities on other trainers, and guess who can take cues really well? Trainers. Guess who don’t? Your clients.

One of my biggest tools I use to get someone to buy into the boring breathing exercises is my ability to coach them through it. If coached correctly, I need zero buy in, because they immediately feel the results. They feel how their knee hurts less when they squat, they feel how their core is more active while they lift, or they feel the huge difference when they get up and start walking around.

If you produce results and you use the right words, you don’t need to worry about the selling/buying in part.

So if you struggle with the coaching part, or you struggle with the talking part, I’ve got some great news for you 🙂

If you subscribe to my newsletter, you will receive a password to give you access to OVER AN HOUR worth of videos of me teaching the students of The Lexington Healing Arts. I go through the most common breathing/warm-up activities, I show you how I coach them, how I prevent clients from compensating, variations that I use, what words I use while taking them through it, and much more!

AND you will also get a 45 minute video on how you can make breathing exercises and the assessment meaningful for each client depending on their goals. Are they post rehab? or do they just want to get strong and lift heavy weights? You can run them through the same assessment and same breathing protocol but the words you’ll use are different. With this video you’ll learn a few different ways you can increase buy in by saying the right things 🙂

If you want to get immediate buy in and WOW all clients just by running them through a simple warm-up, click on the link below!

<<<I WANT TO WOW ALL MY CLIENTS>>>

Until next time 🙂

Lucy

 

 

 

Connection of the Week- Meat Eaters and Vegetarians Unite

Lucy Hendricks on July 5, 2018

I want to connect you to information you can trust, and I don’t want to be limited by social media. From now on, it’ll be called “Connection of the Week”. I’ll connect you to people, books, products, documentaries, social media post…the list can on and on ?

I have a good one for today!

I want to tell you about my friend, Diana Rodgers.

Corrupt corporations, big pharma, and factory farming have left my clients confused and misguided. They’re scared to eat fat and meat, they don’t know the impact of where their food comes from, and they’re left with little to no results.

Diana’s work has been a lifesaver because she is not afraid to speak up to these misleading ideas.

“A Vegan diet will save all the animals”

Lie. There’s blood on all of our plates. Diana wrote an article on that:

Am I less “Woke”Because I Eat Meat

 

“I bought canola oil because the AHA said coconut oil is bad for me!”

Diana wrote an article on that:

Why Coconut Oil Won’t Kill You, But Listening to the American Heart Association Might!

 

“But beef is using so much water, it’s killing our planet!”

Diana wrote an article on that:

Meat is Magnificent: Water, Carbon, Methane & Nutrition

Diana wrote an article on that:

Why You Should Test Your Blood Sugar – Even if You’re Not Diabetic!

 

“I don’t eat red meat, it’s unhealthy”

Diana wrote MULTIPLE articles on that:

Dear Mark Bittman & NY Times: Stop Vilifying All Meat

What Would Happen if Everyone Stopped Eating Meat? An Open Letter to Vice and the Independent

 

“Protein is not important”

Diana wrote an article on that:

More Protein, Better Protein

 

“I’m going to start substituting some meals with shakes”

Diana wrote an article on that:

Food Form and Satiety – Should You Drink Your Calories?

 

I could keep going but I think that gives you an idea of what her work entails.

Here’s the best part ->

She is making her own documentary!

Kale vs. Cow

This is where we all must help spread the word. Start educating your clients because THIS IS IMPORTANT.

This documentary is going up against factory farming and promoting sustainably raised cattle. It’s busting all the myth and misconceptions that the population is fed about consuming and raising animals. This is where meat eaters and non-meat eaters need to stop fighting each other and help promote sustainability and end factory farming, the true enemy.

To learn more about Diana’s work and her documentary check out her website Sustainable Dish, and follow her on social media.

Until next time 🙂

Lucy

 

 

 

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