u/Peachessandcreammm

Lots of medical personnel get trained at the studio I work at. I currently train an eye surgeon, spinal surgeon, head of internal medicine at a teaching hospital with an ivy league name, the list goes on. I always feel weird training them, because it's like, why am I telling a goddamn spinal surgeon what to do??? I shouldn't know more than a spinal surgeon about anything??? Especially the human body??? And then I feel they actually don't take me seriously because I'm telling them it's okay for your knees to go over your toes and that you actually want to have some natural curve to your spine rather than a flat back during a bench press. It's actually super hard to correct a doctor or surgeon about multiple things and not feel like an asshole and get imposter syndrome, lmao.

I've been at my first personal training gig 1 day a week on the side since November. I'm picking up a couple more days a week on the regular starting this month. While I don't believe the clientele or style of training is the perfect fit for me, it's been a great place to build up my skills and learn a style of training that a lot of clients (gen pop) seek out.

There are a couple things I'm having trouble with. First, at least 50%- if not more- of our clientele are older, 60's+. I find it hard to push this population because, well, I've never been that age and I genuinely don't know when they are being resistant to progress because they don't want to do it, or if it's something they actually can't do. I always listen, but I also feel like it's my job as the trainer to push them-- not over the edge, but just enough to progress their strength and keep them strong and mobile into their old age. Usually I just end up doing what they ask even if it means not progressing their program for 8 weeks straight-- this makes me feel like a bad trainer.

Second, when people are experiencing pain, I feel totally clueless. I've done some powerlifting from my mid 20's into my mid 30's and had my fair share of injuries/PT visits, so I have a sense of some things, but other things I am totally off-- when I try to do something to help, sometimes it recreates the pain, sometimes it helps it go away. I consume biomechanics content in my spare time, follow lots of PT's, and try to carefully think about what may be happening when someone is experiencing pain, but the truth is I'm new to other peoples' bodies and just don't know enough.

I'm looking for advice, resources, maybe some affirmation that this is normal for someone who's only been in this for 6 months. I've had moments with clients that give me a great feeling to chase, where I actually feel like I'm making a positive change for them. I want more of that, and I believe it begins with simply knowing more.

I know some people are having a hard time in the job market right now, this doesn’t even seem specific to social work, it’s kind of every field right now. Since I am an anxious planner (I don’t even start my MSW until September) I want to get some ideas for things I can do during the program— besides get good grades and do well in my internships— that will stand out on an application in a tough job market.

I’m thinking maybe organize some fundraisers over the two years I’m there, but whether or not I’ll have the capacity for that between being a full time student and working ~30 hours a week in addition remains to be seen.

What do we think/how do we feel about it? I’ve recently heard a little bit about tech social workers, specifically those working in trust & safety/policy/user safety for tech products and online platforms. I also remember seeing (on here, I believe) someone saying they work in a hospital setting doing risk assessment for patients; that one stuck with me because I could see myself doing that. What are some other non-traditional routes for an MSW with or without licensure? Thoughts and feelings?