300 days report

I will post the report of 300 days here.

Also my personal comments.

First the report:

Report on 300 days Management

On August 17^th, 2009 it will be 300 days of my management in Flex Resorts.

I proudly present the report on these days.

Proud of the generosity of the company to me.

Proud of protection the company provided me.

Proud to be part of a big Family.

From the first week working in Flex I noticed a problem with Trust. I commented with Mr. Khalid and the other managers at that time (they’ve all gone!) that the employees do not trust the high management. For many reasons: miscommunication, delays, mistakes with salaries, unclear salary policy, etc. I am still trying to clarify all the issues as much as I can with meetings, memos, conversation one to one. Sometimes I am misinterpreted, sometimes they are grateful.

My only concern is the RESULT. I observed the clubs are increasing number of members/ revenue in comparison with last year, which makes me satisfied, but not entirely happy.

Still there are mistakes in the management and these same managers are the ones dealing with the instructors and receptionists that are in direct contact with our customers. The members will always suffer if we don’t break this bad circle.

Why am I talking about the managers? I remember clearly Mrs. Amani telling me: “The instructors need motivation. They are very demotivated!” And she was right.

Digging deep in the lack of motivation, I found managers against instructors and vice-versa.

That’s why I insisted in Leadership Training for ALL Managers – 17^th floor, 18^th floor, 19^th floor and branches. The leaders have to know how to deal with their staff and to do it as one voice. Same proposal=success.

Allow me to copy a small part of the book ‘The 8^th Habit’:

“THE WHOLE-PERSON PARADIGM

At the core, there is one simple, overarching reason why so many people remain unsatisfied in their work and why most organizations fail to draw out the greatest talent, ingenuity and creativity of their people and never become truly great, enduring organizations. It seems from an incomplete paradigm of who we are-our fundamental view of human nature. The fundamental reality is, human beings are not things needing to be motivated and controlled; they are four dimensional-body, mind, heart and spirit.

We can co-relate:

Body- to live- survival;

Mind- to learn- growth and development;

Heart- to love- relationship;

Spirit- to leave a legacy- meaning and contribution.

PEOPLE HAVE CHOICES

So, what’s the direct connection between the controlling “thing” (part-person) paradigm that dominates today’s workplace and the inability of managers and organizations to inspire their people to volunteer their highest talents and contributions? The answer is simple. People make choices. Consciously or subconsciously, people decide how much of themselves they will give to their work depending on how they are treated and on their opportunities to use all four parts of their nature.”

‘The 8^th Habit. – Stephen R. Covey’

Just to illustrate the problems we have in Flex are well known around the global companies.

My suggestion – that I collected in Flex and in my years inside clubs – are:

- Every department in Flex Resorts might deliver their tasks on time and without mistakes;

- Prepare the managers to deal better with employees needs and duties;

- Promote professional growth to all employees (training, trips, challenges);

- Listen to the employees solutions for company’s problems;

- “Promises” for the employees should be avoided.

Some subjects covered last 250 days (50 Days report sent on December 4^th, 2008)

- - Hiring new instructors: locals, from abroad, travelling to Syria to contract instructors (DONE, to be continued);

- - Creating set of rules to avoid bad exercises among that instructors that cannot understand principles of anatomy and exercise physiology (DONE);

- - Promoting Meetings among Managers (DONE, to be continued);

- - Detecting extra materials and equipments and relocating some among branches (DONE, to be continued);

- - Constant training and evaluation instructors (DONE, to be continued);

- - Following up with HR all instructors issues (vacation, sick leave, salary discounts, disciplinary procedures)(DONE, to be continued);

- - Following up with Mad. Iman hiring of instructors by advising her on technical levels of the candidates (DONE, to be continued);

- - Checking and reporting Accommodation conditions (DONE, to be continued);

- - Work Shops for members about "how, when and why exercise" (DONE, to be continued);

- - Reviewing PT payment procedures (DONE);

- - Preparation for Paul Brown's visit and training. Full follow up of the training. Evaluation of all staff in F2F (DONE);

- - Following up Paul Brown's suggestions for F2F improvement-commission on appointment (DONE);

- - Participation in Graduation Parties (DONE);

- - Training Syrians Instructors to Flex Standards before let them start working in the clubs. Helping me: Sara(DONE);

- - Welcoming new instructors at the Airport (DONE);

- - Support for new instructors (out of working hours) (DONE);

- - Prepared the "Fitness Pack" for managers to know what to check in instructors classes(DONE);

- - Following up with new managers in Family(DONE);

- - Helping the Family in manager vacation (DONE);

- - Special Classes all Branches (DONE);

- - Standard for schedules per colors(DONE);

- - ‘5 Steps of Costumer Service’;

- - Re-organizing Supervisors Job Description (DONE);

- - Writing articles for Feminine Magazine (DONE);

- - Collecting information and ideas from instructors for new classes and implementing the reasonable ones (DONE);

- - Promoting new class and training :"Flex Jump", created by Jonathan (DONE), AeroBoxe, helped by Jonathan (DONE);

- - Promoting full Swimming Training. Helped: Paulo (DONE);

- - Training Wa'El (new Executive instructor) in F2F, Helped: Douglas, Paulo, Sara (DONE);

To be ended in 2009.

- - Planning VIP Corner to Flex Woman with Florina, Branch Manager. (To be presented);

- - Planning new approach for Flex Family. Helping; Melissa, branch manager and Dalia, Sales Manager. (To be presented);

- - Detecting material and equipments stored in improper places (member access), helping: Mr. Ayoub. (under process);

- - Uniforms (under process) ;

- - Replacing hopeless instructors (under process);

- - Cardio Training developed by Anny, fitness instructor;

- - Jiu-Jitsu Classes in Executive and maybe for teen agers boys in Family, developed by Neudson and Andre.

It is a great honor to work for Flex Resorts.

Best Regards,

Marcia Novo Lopes

Fitness Manager

August – 2009.

My sincere feeling is that everyone improved, from bottom to top, the clubs are better organized with the exception of Family which concept is all wrong. We are going to work on it.

The financial situation is better, technically there were some improvings. New classes took place, many trainings were done, technical discussions, "forbidden exercises" appeared, thousands of emails sent and received, recognition of some talents, recognition of irreversible cases, fellowship developed, rudeness of others at the surface.

The team is still far away to happen. They cannot put themselves in other people's shoes.

To improve every and single instructor is a hard mission, just because there are some of them that don't know they don't know...

I guess another 300 days will be necessary to reach to the point of having a good team, with stars that help the sky to bright, making the small stars shining and leaders happy!

Let's go for that!

Flex Jump

Third meeting of Flex Jump by Jonathan.

One sentence Iman said has to be posted:

"- Thanks Jonathan, you put as all together. It is very good."

The feeling of being part of a group makes us do unbelievable things: we go on even tired, we get inspired by the exercising fellows, we want to feel the good energy of friendship.

Instructors that does not work like a team lack this, but my experience proves we NEED to be part of a alike group.

We need to go on with some one else in our mission.

The road of excellent prefessionalism when traveled with colleagues,

is away much more intense and unforgetable.

I hope this instructors never forget the feeling of training together,

sweating at the same time in the Intense track, shouting because the legs were burning and celebrating when get to the end of a track.

They are reaching to a very good point: the point of enjoying learning.

When they get there, I can go some where else! The seed will be already a small tree, thirsty for the Good Water of feedback and tips to grown even more.

And Jonathan helping me to get there. Thank you boy! Excellent Job! We are changing the Fitness in Kuwait! Thanks.

"We get old too soon and smart too late."

Amazing knowledge to be shared.

Enjoy.

Joint by Joint Approach to Training

Por Michael Boyle

"We get old too soon and smart too late." - Swedish Proverb My good friend, physical therapist Gray Cook, has a gift for simplifying complex topics. I envy his ability to succinctly take a complicated thought process and make the idea appear simple. In a recent conversation about the effect of training on the body, Cook produced one of the most lucid thought processes I have ever heard. Gray and I were discussing the findings of the Functional Movement Screen, the needs of the different joints of the body and how the function of the joints relates to training. One of the beauties of the Functional Movement Screen is that the screen allows us to distinguish between issues of stability and those of mobility. Cook’s thoughts were simple and led me to realize that the future of training may be a joint-by-joint approach rather than a movement-based approach. Gray’s analysis of the body was a straightforward one. In his mind, the body is a just a stack of joints. Each joint or series of joints has a specific function and is prone to specific, predictable levels of dysfunction. As a result, each joint has specific training needs. The following table looks at the body on a joint-by-joint basis from the bottom up: Joint Primary Training Needs Ankle mobility (particularly sagittal) Knee stability Hip mobility (multi-planar) Lumbar Spine stability T-Spine mobility Gleno-humeral stability The first thing you should notice as you read the above table is that the joints simply alternate mobility and stability. The ankle needs increased mobility, and the knee needs increased stability. As we move up the body, it becomes apparent that the hip needs mobility. And so the process goes up the chain: a simple, alternating series of joints. Over the past 20 years, we have progressed from the moronic approach of training by body part (sorry, bodybuilders) to a more intelligent approach of training by movement pattern. In fact, the phrase “movements, not muscles” has almost become an overused one, and frankly, that is progress. I think most good coaches and trainers have given up on the old chest-shoulder-triceps thought process and moved forward to a push-pull-hip extend-knee extend thought process. Interestingly enough, I now believe the “movement, not muscles” process probably should have gone a step further. I think injuries relate closely to proper joint function or more appropriately to joint dysfunction. Confused? Let me try to explain. Problems at one joint usually show up as pain in the joint above or below. The simplest illustration is in the lower back. It seems obvious based on the advances of the past decade that we need core stability. It's also obvious that lots of people suffer from back pain. The interesting part lies in the theory behind low back pain. My theory of the cause? Loss of hip mobility. Loss of function in the joint below (in the case of the lumbar spine, the hip) seems to affect the joint or joints above (lumbar spine). In other words, if the hip can’t move, the lumbar spine will. The problem is that the hip is built for mobility and the lumbar spine for stability. When the supposedly mobile joint becomes immobile, the stable joint is forced to move as compensation, becoming less stable and subsequently painful. The process is simple: • Lose ankle mobility, get knee pain. • Lose hip mobility, get low back pain. • Lose thoracic mobility, get neck and shoulder pain (or low back pain). Looking at the body on a joint-by-joint basis beginning with the ankle, this thought process seems to make sense. An immobile ankle causes the stress of landing to be transferred to the joint above: the knee. In fact, I think there is a direct correlation between the stiffness of the basketball shoe and the amount of taping and bracing that correlates with the high incidence of patella-femoral syndromes in basketball players. Our desire to protect the unstable ankle comes with a high cost. We have found that many of our athletes with knee pain have corresponding ankle mobility issues. Many times, this follows an ankle sprain and subsequent bracing and taping. The exception to the rule seems to be at the hip. The hip can be both immobile and unstable, resulting in knee pain from the instability (a weak hip will allow internal rotation and adduction of the femur) or back pain from the immobility. How a joint can be both immobile and unstable is the interesting question. It seems that weakness of the hip in either flexion or extension causes compensatory action at the lumbar spine, while the weakness in abduction (or more accurately, prevention of adduction) causes stress at the knee. Poor psoas and iliacus strength and/or activation will cause patterns of lumbar flexion as a substitute for hip flexion. Poor strength and/or activation of the glutes will cause a compensatory extension pattern of the lumbar spine that attempts to replace the motion of hip extension. Interestingly enough, this fuels a vicious cycle. As the spine moves to compensate for the lack of strength and mobility of the hip, the hip loses mobility. It appears that lack of strength at the hip leads to immobility, and immobility in turn leads to compensatory motion at the spine. The end result is a kind of conundrum: a joint that needs both strength and mobility in multiple planes. The lumbar spine is even more interesting. This is clearly a series of joints in need of stability, as evidenced by all the work in the area of core stability. Strangely enough, the biggest mistake I believe we have made in training over the last 10 years is engaging in an active attempt to increase the static and active ROM of an area that obviously craves stability. I believe that most if not all of the many rotary exercises done for the lumbar spine were misdirected. Both Sahrmann in Diagnosis and Treatment of Movement Impairment Syndromes and Porterfield and DeRosa in Mechanical Low Back Pain: Perspectives in Functional Anatomy indicate that attempting to increase lumbar spine ROM is not recommended and potentially dangerous. (Is rotation even a good idea?) I believe our lack of understanding of thoracic mobility has caused us to try to gain lumbar rotary ROM, and this is a huge mistake. The thoracic spine is the area about which we seem to know the least. Many physical therapists seem to recommend increasing thoracic mobility, though few seem to have exercises designed specifically for thoracic mobility. The approach seems to be “we know you need it, but we’re not sure how to get it.” I think over the next few years, we will see an increase in exercises designed to increase thoracic mobility. Interestingly enough, in Diagnosis and Treatment of Movement Impairment Syndromes, physical therapist Shirley Sahrmann advocated the development of thoracic mobility and the limitation of lumbar mobility. The gleno-humeral joint is similar to the hip. The gleno-humeral joint is designed for mobility and therefore needs to be trained for stability. I think the need for stability in the gleno-humeral joint presents a great case for exercises like stability ball and BOSU push ups as well as unilateral dumbbell work. The inability of joints to funcion normally places stress on the joints above or below. In the book Ultra Prevention (actually a nutrition book), the authors describe our current method of reaction to injury perfectly. Their analogy is simple: our response to injury is like hearing the smoke detector go off and running to pull out the battery. The pain, like the sound, is a warning of some other problem. Icing a sore knee without examining the ankle or hip is like pulling the battery out of the smoke detector. What we need to realize is that, as the opening quote says, “we get old too soon and smart too late.” Every day, I learn more and more about the body. What I learn allows me to be a better coach and a better educator. Often, what I learn contradicts what I formerly believed. Just remember, the world was once thought to be flat.

Spiritual approach

You may be ready to add more meaning to your life as mundane events at work require an increasing amount of your attention. Your workmates may not even realize how detached you feel when performing your tasks, and it's probably better to leave them out of your current dilemma. But this is not about escaping from your daily routine; it's about developing a more spiritual approach to what you must do.

Exactly the way I am feeling.

Every single discussion between cleaners turns to be a great moment of learning these days.

I see evolution every where!

I feel amazed by myself sometimes: how can I be so detached from commom feelings and so connected to the invisible?