ALL IN IT TOGETHER

This title was selected as I believe it captures the diverse elements that contribute to human

functioning.

Our diet, hormonal balance, environmental toxins, psychological stressors & diseases are interconnected & can influence each other positively or negatively.

Explaining how all these elements interact would easily fill a multi-chapter book, which is unfeasible therefore this brief article aims to provide you with a quick overview of my background & how this concept originated.

My Introduction to Functional Training.

I completed my undergraduate degree in 2004 & 18 months later I became a personal trainer & began applying this at a gym in Central London.

I received a call one afternoon from gentleman who was looking for a trainer to work with his mother.

His first question to me was whether I was a CHEK Practitioner.

I didn't get too long into explaining what I did have before it became clear he wasn't interested.

This gentleman himself was a CHEK Practitioner & clearly only trusted those with the same title.

The Institute

I knew of Paul Chek.

I knew he had his own training institute based in California & that it primarily specialised in applying corrective exercise.

What struck me the most during our conversation was the confidence he had in the program & this intrigued me.

So much so that not long after I applied for the entry level of the CHEK 4 stage course.

Within 5 minutes of flicking through the information pack onc it arrived I was blown away by how superior it was in every way in comparison to the PT training certification I'd recently done.

That's when I understood why the caller requested someone trained under this system.

The courses are considerably more expensive & are of much longer duration but as in many things in life, you get what you pay for.

In essence, the main characteristic is the integration of physical, emotional & chemical systems to optimise health & although this was back in 2007 it is an approach that I feel is not as widespread as it could be.

In short, the less you know about a client the less chance there is of achieving a successful health outcome with them & in some cases things could be made worse.

A client may have a stiff lower back & an inexperienced trainer may attempt to stretch the back not realising that it could be tight hamstrings, or even constipation to name a few.

In being trained to understand the importance of recognising the body as a whole integrated system that works in unison means that every client is different & requires a different approach.

Functional Medicine

Similar to the CHEK Institute the Institute of Functional Medicine (IFM), as opposed to conventional medicine (which is largely based on symptom led drug prescription) is a model that focuses on the aetiology of illness & disease by incorporating the biochemical, genetic, emotional, physical & environmental factors of each patient.

These are the principles that I apply because as accurate & detailed as exercise or nutritional advice can be it is only as good as the other mechanisms that influence it.

The following diagram perfectly illustrates just a few mechanisms that can result in different types of ill health that were triggered from different causes.

Source: The Institute for Functional Medicine

It is therefore impossible to apply one intervention to blanket suit everybody.

Understanding a root cause of a health problem requires an in-depth analytical approach & the contribution of all the potential helpers to achieve the required health goal.

If you are a gym member, planning to be or are struggling to put an exercise, diet &/or lifestyle plan together which is aimed at improving your long term health then get in touch for further advice & guidance.

Reference

What is Functional Medicine? The Functional Medicine Approach. Viewed 28th July 2021, https://www.ifm.org/functional-medicine/what-is-functional-medicine/