Precision Nutrition Level 1!

I am more than happy to announce you that I just enrolled to The Precision Nutrition Level 1 Certification…which is a certification  PrecisionNutrition.com propose.

Precision Nutrition, who, what?

Well it’s a coaching company, founded by Phil Caravaggio and John Berardi. Call him smart would be an euphemism.; Precision Nutrition (PN) has been proposing for years an online coaching model, that thousands of clients successfully validated. With years of expertise, PN’s reputation is rock-solid.

I heard about PN a couple of years ago, when John released a case-study on himself, about Intermittent Fasting. I found his style and his philosophy an excellent mix between the pertinence of his observations and cleverness in his conclusions; something that is not legion…

Since that day, I haven’t ceased to follow them, follow their clients, the results they publish online; and I must say, at PN, they definitely know their stuff.

Articles John himself publishes are excellent, and encompass many aspects, such as “good habits”, protein needs, how to be a kick-ass coach, how to lose weight and take care of your own health, etc…

PN Certification Level 1 ?

This certification is composed of two units:

• Nutritional Sciences
• Coaching

And every unit contains several chapters. For instance, the chapter I’m currently studying discusses cells (how energy is produced, how molecules are moved across, how the organelles cope with substances, how vesicles are used for, etc…).

The test, which lasts two hours is made of 100 questions, about both units. Here are some questions I could be asked:

• “Provide an example and brief description of a protein receptor initiating a signal transduction cascade.”
• “What role do T-tubules play in muscle contraction?”
• “What is the best way to approach coaching with a new client?”
• “What can you suggest to clients that lack social support?”

As you can see, this is a very advanced certification in both ways, something quite rare. This certification has been forged by years of knowledge and experience, through thousands of clients. No need to say what is taught is everything but useless. Moreover, I personally think this is the best certification of the whole world when it comes to applied nutrition.

This is also the reason I decided to pursue it. As you know, dear reader, I’m quite nitpick, but I do not have yet the knowledge in order to become an excellent coach. To be trained by John and his team is a bit like learn painting with Picasso, or Rembrandt. We can also say: learn to design sexy products with Jonathan Ive, or make good rice with uncle Ben.

I’m quite happy to have enrolled, and I do know there will be work, I should be ready in 6 to 8 weeks (more 10 to  15 weeks to me, given the 500 pages book I need to study 😀 ). So far, I’m simply wondering how I could learn everything and not to mix everything. I imagine, question 79: “What is a good coach?“, answer: “ATP, proteins, enzymes, you know man.”

Benefits?

First and foremost, there is only one person that I’m aware of that has it in France. No need to say my ego feels like Cheshire cat.

But also…it provides credits if I want to become a qualified PT. Here are the different organisms I can continue with if I can or I want:

• CE
• ACSM
• AND
• CPTN
• NASM
• NSCA
• Fitness Australia
• PTA Global
• REPs UK

This certification, through these amazing partnerships, allows the student to pursue in order to obtain extra qualifications. There are also legal considerations; not everybody can become a PT in some countries without certain qualifications

Well, before this, I’m already thinking about the…

Precision Nutrition Level 2

Not only the level 1 is selective (they work with small groups), but the second level is even more! The level 2 is an online internship and research reviews. I quote:

Level 2 is an invitation-only program for students who pass Level 1. The student is required to do an online internship and perform regular research reviews and client case studies showing that they can actually deliver results. Level 2 certifies that you know the theory and can apply it with clients all the way through a successful body transformation.
So unlike other nutrition certification programs, the PN Certification has both a theory component (Level 1) and a practice component (Level 2). Those students who complete both levels will be among the best body transformation experts in the world.

My Motivations

I also decided to pursue this certification as a personal challenge; to prove to myself that I can become great into my favorite domains. The second reason, as discussed, is that I could talk for hours about shakers, but many people….don’t simply give a heck about it 🙂

Clients expect results; and a good coach able to drive and lead them towards the achievement of their own goals. A good coach doesn’t discuss the nutrients transport efficiency. Moreover, I never took biochemistry courses, or even less coaching courses, as I left school pretty early to become an IT nerd. I’m a technical consultant, and everything I do around sports or nutrition is only something I work on my spare times, before going to bed or during lunch 🙂

I expect somehow to validate for myself and the others that I can become an “expert”, and that the quality of my personal investment will be seen as something.

We could also bring up some freudian rigamarole, about some latent inferiority complex that slowly touches with its fingers the intention to do something with my life. We would have a good laugh after that by reading Sartre.

To be honest, this is the reason I do not propose any coaching service online, I’m not ready yet.

What Comes Next?

Well, I could simply say I’m a cool IT nerd, nutrition and applied nutrition nerd as well. I could also say I have some certifications;

We would sit with a nice cigar, telling ourselves we are the kings of this world…