This was my first awareness that repetition DOES NOT increase quality, nor does it necessarily produce results. Practice does not always make perfect, especially if programming of the practice is flawed. Fitness has to be function-first and movement patterns need to be deconstructed. The primary goal is not ‘doing fitness’, but receiving an individualized exercise prescription required to adapt fitness towards promoting and individual’s increased function.

Adding components of meditation/relaxation, and resistance-training, I began to increase my muscle mass while learning proper diaphragmatic breathing. For the first time in my life, my asthma became manageable. And to this day, before I reach for my inhaler, I do a heavy set of controlled pressing movements whenever I feel constricted.

Now with an ability to perform work (power, compound movement) over time (cardio and muscular endurance), I began to learn more and involve myself in multiple fitness and sports related activities (fencing, football, gymnastics). I also began to share my knowledge of health and disease management, by undertaking the training and conditioning of others. While coaching, I began to advocate for fitness to become a wellness modality, a vitality and longevity instrument, a recuperative and function first strategy, and an emotional and mental regulator.

I pursued academics as well. I earned my junior/high school teaching credentials (B.Ed.), and also a B.A., M.A., Ph.D.-ABD in Comparative History, International Relations, Military and Strategic Studies. I became a professor within multiple universities and the military. I lectured courses on knowledge production, transmission, communication, global history, cultural relations, diplomacy, peace and conflict studies. I also published and delivered conference papers.

However, I retained my passion and interest for adaptive fitness and education curriculum development. It seemed to me that whatever I was involved with, no set program for either education or fitness served everyone. Moreover, due to individual circumstances, many required tailored exercise prescription or academic outreach in order for them to successfully participate.

So I decided to complete another Ph.D., this time a specialized joint collaborative degree. While being a Doctorate in Education, it affiliated me with multiple faculties (Educational Psychology, Curriculum and Leadership, Social Justice, Comparative International Development). It was during this journey, that I began to pull together my two halves: education and fitness. My collaborative doctorate focused upon adaptive education pedagogy and instruction. A critical finding within my research and experiences is that physical literacy, functional movement, music, and cognitive support education, are essential components of adaptive fitness and education. These components increase the transformative ability of fitness for everyone. They increase performance and goal-success metrics. They lead towards greater sustainability and lifestyle changes (fitness and education not as a ‘thing to do’ but a way of being). They also increase access to fitness and wellness, enabling and empowering our elderly, neuro-diverse, and differently-abled populations.

The pandemic didn’t change my vision of education…it reinforced that adaptability, access, and equity, are an essential part of quality education. More than half of my 30 years of experience, consists of fundamentals instruction to lecture theatres of over 200 students, working with differently-abled and neurodiverse individuals in both an education and fitness capacity, facilitating function and rehabilitation with the elderly, or coaching sport and conditioning individuals. My educational outlook admits multiplicity and reciprocity, rather than a singularity of meaning, dogma, formula, explanation, or theory.

Success goes beyond knowledge acquisition. Learning and attainment whether in academics, music, fitness, or sport, is achieved after proper: assessment, programming, facilitation, re-evaluation, and application.

It is unfortunate that it took a pandemic for many in the education and fitness community, to realize this. What is more telling, is that during the pandemic, the shortcomings of over-specialization became evident. Have you experienced the situation where the person whom you seek for help, tells you that they can only diagnose a single issue, or that there is a specific model for your solution?

Education should neither be compartmentalized nor formulaic. It should be dynamic. Specifically because diversity exists in the material we learn, and our learning process. EduFit Services strives to integrate so that whatever your specific requirement, you are provided a broad approach and holistic solution.

However we encounter each other, in person or virtually, my commitment is to provide you with quality personal training, coaching, instruction, and teaching, in a learning environment that meets your requirements and progresses you towards your goals.