Intuitive Movement Counseling & Strategic Athlete:

Hello! And welcome to my site. I am an Exercise Physiologist based in Bellingham, Washington. I offer a different perspective on Personal Training. Instead of meeting clients in a gym for exercise, I work to collaborate with clients on developing what I call an individualized Movement Paradygm. I focus on the whole person and strive to understand what a person's emotional relationship to exercise and human movement looks like. The reality is that the best form of exercise is movement that elicits pleasure and feels personally rewarding. If elements of happiness can be achieved through movement, then our brains will strive to form patterns around it. In another scenario, if exercise simply makes us feel miserable, then there is no intrinsic reason to do it. 

My mission is to pull the focus away from "exercising", and instead shift our attention to "moving". 

It is well documented in public health research that upwards of 75% of Americans are living with the Metabolic Syndrome. Also known as the final inflammatory chapter of insulin resistence, Metabolic Syndrome increases the probability that we will develop heart disease, cancer (all types), Type-2 diabetes, Alzheimer's, strokes, and dementia. Further, if left untreated, insulin resistence accelerates the rate of cellualar aging and reduces our "Healthspan" (the years of our lives that we are healthy and physically able). 

Over a century of research has shown that regular physical movement is not simply good for health....It is THE central mechanism for sensitizing our muscle cells to insulin. Further, research also clearly indicates that we don't need to train like Olympic athletes to reap the benefits. In fact, quite the contrary: There is such a thing as too much exercise! Balance is key. 

At Intuitive Movement Counseling, I provide personalized exercise & lifestyle strategies with the collaborative goal of improving metabolic status, enhancement of quality of life, and athletic performance. I base my practice around evidence-based scientific research, principles of athletic training, client accountability tracking, & over 15 years of personal experience. I have a Master's background in advanced exercise physiology, sport science research, metabolism, sports nutrition, and exercise with osteoarthritis. Further, I am a current graduate student studying Rehabilitation Counseling, and I am developing a unique practice that blends the worlds of mental health and exercise science. 

In our modern world that is full of screens and deadlines, tthere can be countless intrusions to achieving a balanced lifestyle. Popular culture likes to teach us that watching our calorie intake and hitting the gym at 5am before work is what we "need" to do. I'm here to say that I disagree with these norms. For many people, simply getting more sleep will do more for their metabolic health than losing sleep to go exercise. Instead what I focus on is building a movement platform that respects your busy schedule, and foundationally considers your current stress levels and state of rest. If simply holding you acountable to going for an hour long walk in the evening is what balances your stress hormones, that's what we'll doo. If anaerobic strength is what we need to work on, then together we can build a progressive resistence training and explosive movement program. Lastly, what if you plan on getting out into the mountains this summer for some long hikes? Then we'll build a system that focuses on your aerobic base of fitness. 

Intuitive Movement and Strategic Athlete are terms built around the scientific reality that physical health, performance, body weight, and mental health are in fact independent variables. I'm here to promote balanced stress management and the elevation of physical fitness and performance, not low calorie diets or extreme exercise programs. In fact, research clearly shows us that low calorie dieting triggers starvation pathways in the brain that always leads to weight regain and reductions in cardiometabolic health. My practice is centered around the science of metabolism, athletic performance, and the dynamic interplay that these variables play with mental health. 

Services: 

• Advanced Personal Training:

  • Outdoor focused aerobic base training.

  • Indoor/Outdoor strength and conditioning.

  • Explosive muscular power training.

• Metabolism Education: 

  • What health conditions has your doctor diagnosed? I work within the parameters of clinical exercise prescription. 

  • Foundations of balanced nutrition. 

    • Intuitive vs. mechanical eating. 

    • Fueling exercise and reducing starvation signaling. 

• Movement Counseling:

  • What does exercise mean to you? 

  • What positive or negative relationships with movement can we identify? 

  • Body image, confidence and motivation. 

  • Goal creation: 

    • Health goals. 

    • Performance goals. 

    • Mental Heatlh goals. 

Educational Research Experience: 

• • • Spontaneous physical activity as a brain-derived biological signal. 

    • Exercise metabolism & gas exchange analysis.

    • Strength & condition of elder adults (>65 y/o). 

    • Overtraining & Overreaching Syndromes. 

    • Endocrinology of Exercise. 

    • Sarcopenia & osteoporosis exercise intervention. 

    • Cardiac rehabilitation following myocardial infarction.

Additional areas of expert coaching: 

Private coaching for Mtn Biking, Pump Track & Dirt Jump skills training, backcountry splitboarding & avalanche awareness, biomechanical analysis of snowboarding performance, rock & ice climbing, and fitness requirements of alpine mountaineering.

My services are offered outside of the traditional gym setting where client goals steer everything. Appointments consist of 60, 90, or 120-minute sessions, as well as multi-hour days that allow for larger outdoor activities (ie. hiking, biking etc.). I also offer educational tutorials on the principles of exercise physiology and metabolism. 

Contact Information:

russman109@strategicathlete.org

425.941.6617