Physiology First Ambassador Academy: Test of Concepts!

The Internet is the land of cheap learning. I’m as guilty of it as anyone. I’ll scroll through posts, listen to podcasts, and watch YouTube videos then ask myself at days end what I actually learned. Our goal for the Physiology First Ambassador Academy is create a deep learning experience. Every 14 days we’ll have a test of concepts to make sure that you feel prepared to offer physiology based education in your community. Have fun with these assessments and let me know if you need anything from us or from the program structure to make the learning experience more optimal and conducive to growth, engagement, practical application, and goal attainment!

Let’s rock and roll with our first test of concepts!

1. ) What drives us to take a breath? Explain the process in two clean, concise, and powerful sentences as you would to a group of students, teachers, or industry leaders in your community. (Think of it as your elevator pitch for why how breathing works. This can be super valuable as you’ll avoid fumbling through an overly long and potentially confusing explanation that makes people feel overwhelmed by information overload. It also helps make this one part of your presentation a repeatable and increasingly well delivered explanation so that you don’t have to reinvent the wheel every time that you prepare to present.)
2. Why does breathing matter? How does it impact stress, improve energy, or peak athletic performance? (Same as in question one, this is your opportunity to craft a succinct statement that you can always build upon. Think of writing a mission statement as a company and how much thought goes into every word…this is your opportunity to craft a powerful presentation with a simple, engaging, and motivating explanation of why learning about breathing can be a powerful, empowering, and transformative experience.
3. What is heart rate variability? How would you explain the purpose of training heart rate variability and its utility in retraining the stress response?
4. Why is nasal breathing in workouts beneficial? Same as in questions 1 and 2-how do you present this as a concept that engages, motivates, and empowers people to learn about this element of their physiology? Don’t limit yourself to two sentences here but strive to be succinct. (I’ve lost the attention of waaaay to many people by diving into hemoglobin and the role of nitric oxide before getting the main takeaway across in a way that participants could easily understand and feel excited about!
5. List one exercise that you might suggest for someone with a wider ISA. List One exercise that you might suggest for someone with a narrower ISA. (It’s easy to get super hung up on ISA measurement but outside of a physical therapy session or 1–1 private training session its simply a guide for how you might teach someone about the the value in selecting exercises that work best for their body. We’ve found it helpful to ask “where do you feel that?” or “what are you feeling” or “which exercise feels better” and put the power of adaptation in the hands of our participants through an exploration of high autonomy exercise selection.

Shoot me a note at physiologyfirst1 with your answers and let me know if you have any questions at all! Thank you for being part of Physiology First University and looking forward to turning this information into impact together!