Comparisons

So here I am, still slogging my way through this book about Functional Movement Systems recommended by that guy who must hate me my friend Matt for helping me learn about how the body moves, etc. before I go for a certification in training.

Okay, it's not as bad as all that. It is, yes, a very difficult book, and I don't feel I'm retaining a huge percentage of information. It's a slow read, and I'm thinking that might be a result of trying to flip around it on a Kindle. I might bite the bullet and invest in the actual book (fifty bucks, as opposed to my ten bucks Kindle version) just to maintain my sanity.

But some things are working out. If I get stuck on something, I can text Matt or talk to him at the gym and he's happy to answer my questions.

Yesterday, I sent a lengthy text message off to him asking a particular question I had, using squats as an example because they're an exercise I understand well enough:

 This is all pretty straightforward, but being me (a teacher), I had to find a way to make it stick in my head. I also needed to find a way to explain to him where, exactly, I'm coming from in this whole effort:

And YES, please, let me use that anatomy book!

Matt responded a few minutes later, and of course, he's not able to imagine analyzing harmonic structure (he's never had so much as a piano lesson). I chuckled at his response, and then, an amazing thought came to mind, and I painstakingly tapped out a long, crazy response that makes perfect sense in my music-nerd-trying-to-learn-functional-movement-systems mind:

 

Matt, for his part, thought it was awesome that I could find a way to make the concept stick. It's not an entirely accurate comparison--tonic chords in music keep things going, as well, while secondary dominant chords function more to add harmonic interest (this is pretty much a sum total of what I took away from the third semester of Music Theory in college). But for my purposes, it works. If my body is exercising in the key of C Major, the I, IV, and V chords are providing stabilization and balance while that V of V chord is making me move.

Or something like that.

This folks, is how music nerds become personal trainers.