At the midway point in my time in Philadelphia, I am so excited to report that I’ve been doing great! I am beginning to really like it here and have been getting used to the area. I have been exploring the area each week by going on runs, shopping, or just walking around when I’m bored. I’d also like to report that I’ve been taking the trolley to get around the city, which, to me, is a big deal because they can be kind of intimidating when you come from somewhere that has nothing like it. I have also been able to visit New York a couple of times and got to go to a New York Yankees game, which was so much fun! Being able to not only experience Philadelphia but also New York and possibly New Jersey (I’m planning on taking a trip to the beach) has been so much fun because each one offers its own unique things, which have been so fun to experience.
Now, let's get to the reason I can experience all these things: my internship. After about 4-5 weeks of being a strength and conditioning intern at UPenn, I have learned so much about the field and myself as a coach. I think one of my favorite things that I’ve learned so far is the different Olympic lifts (snatch, clean, and jerk) because while I had heard of the movements, it was nice to be able to actually learn and experience them. Each week was dedicated to one of the Olympic lift movements, so everyday us interns would do the movement while being coached by one of the UPenn coaches on what we were doing correctly and incorrectly. This was greatly beneficial because it taught me how the movement should feel, as well as how it should look, so now I can start coaching up some of the athletes and providing feedback when they are performing snatch, clean, or jerk movements. I am also able to incorporate them into my own lifts, which has been a fun little challenge. Another thing that I really enjoyed, which provided me with some insightful knowledge, is that this past week, football was on break, so they didn’t have any lifts, so I was able to experience and help out with other teams/athletes lifts. It was just interesting to see how other strength coaches operate and do things, from their coaching style to how they program workouts.
With that being said, I have learned so much about the history of strength and conditioning just from talking to the strength coaches here. In this field, there are thousands of studies and research constantly being done and coming out, so while they can be very beneficial, they really only provide a starting point. No two athletes are the same, so it’s really important to understand your athletes and know them because not everything is going to work the same for every individual. Just by being in the environment here with these coaches, I have learned how important it is to create relationships with the athletes. So while I am gaining so much knowledge here that is going to be greatly beneficial to me in the future, I have to understand that not everything that I learn and observe here is going to work at other organizations/environments that I may be in.
My time in Philadelphia is so much more than just my internship, though, and I am excited to be able to use this experience to learn and grow as an individual.