Situations where I find it challenging to find words to describe and convey my thoughts, impressions, feelings, and/or conclusions, or to come up with a starting point for something are extremely rare. Today is one of those situations, but solely because the impressions are still relatively fresh, and my experience with this education has left me extremely satisfied. I am proud of the dedication I put into it, a meticulous, patient, and take-your-time approach, as reflected in the image in the comments and the final result, of perhaps the most complex exam in my life.
My belief has always been that coincidences do not exist; things happen when they must, 50% due to our active effort and the other 50% because it is destined to be, regardless of what you believe in. My intense contemplation last summer about nutrition as a call, a supplement to my current education, and consequently an addition to our offer, has already begun to lean towards researching and weighing options, offers, prices, and so on. “Magistra” was the closest, the institution where I completed my studies six years ago and obtained a certification as a personal trainer. Less than a week later, on one of the few YouTube channels I follow, the Renaissance Periodization team, led by Dr. Mike Israetel, announced they were opening pre-registrations for their own nutrition course. As I mentioned, since I don’t believe in coincidences, I saw this as a sign, thought a lot about it since it involved a foreign certificate, but ultimately had more than enough confidence in regards to the quality and depth of knowledge I believed I would gain. I was not disappointed on either front, my introductory expectations were exceeded, and in regards to the first thing, even though the certificate I earned is not officially recognized in Croatia, it is something valued globally because it comes from a company with such an immense reputation.
The formal part of the education is divided into three main sections, consisting of 19 modules (chapters). The first six are introductory, focusing on the basics of nutrition. The next five delve into behavior and habits, the psychology of human behavior, and its role in setting and achieving fitness-related goals. Despite nutrition being the main course topic, this section fascinated me the most. I’m extremely pleased that this is part of the course, and it’s truly incomprehensible to me how little people focus on this aspect of human functioning when seeking change. One reason is that it’s not easy to change one’s own, let alone others’ habits, but this is what I will focus on in working with people. I look at it as something that can lead to the most significant and sustainable results, something that will stay with you for a lifetime, not just a few months of dieting. This section of the course was prepared by another doctor, Melissa Davis, a neuro-biologist with 10 years of research experience. Finally, the last seven modules focus on the practical part, covering in great detail everything from the initial assessment of a person who contacts you, through creating an individualized program for them, to how to proceed when you encounter various obstacles. That part is rather inevitable because such changes never entail a linear process, and you need to prepare yourself for that, both as a coach and in order to explain it to the individuals you’ll work with. The last three chapters literally involve creating a program from start to finish, both behavior and nutrition ones, and the added bonus is that you can later compare it with RP coaches program since they provide real examples. That way you can see where you thought similarly or differently in regards to them. In addition to all of this, you get an explanation of each specific step and a video insight into the case you’re solving.
In conclusion, I will say that I am extremely grateful to the entire RP team for what this education has taught me. During the course, we had an active Facebook group, and all the leading people followed everything we asked and responded in a very short time, providing further explanations. Such community was of immense help during learning and preparing for the exam. Likewise, as mentioned earlier, I assert that the quality of knowledge we received is fantastic (a word I rarely use) and incomparable to anything out there. One company I also considered in this context that offers a similar course is “Precision Nutrition,” which I’ve also heard very good things about. However, individuals from our group who took both mostly highlighted RP as being (slightly) better. Ultimately, although we are the first group of participants, several American universities have already recognized this course, and their students can earn a certain number of credits based on this certificate, which speaks volumes about the strength, reputation, and all-out seriousness of the company.
Regarding the exam itself, it consisted of 160 questions with four possible answers, requiring a pass mark of 80%, or at least 128/160. We had two attempts to pass it. It took me about six hours to complete the entire exam, although we could save our progress and continue on another occasion. My favorite and also the most challenging aspect of the exam was how the least represented were so called “generic” questions, like, “define this or that.” There was an incredibly high number of practical examples and calculations and even more questions that truly forced me to think logically and make deductions and conclusions. After I went through all the questions for the first time, I had as many as 36 flags, marked answers I wasn’t sure about and would like to return to later. After the second one, 17. I genuinely thought it was possible to have around 20 wrong answers because many questions had more than one correct-sounding answer. For some, I literally wanted to flip a coin and see what happens. Ultimately, the result of the exam was influenced to a small extent to the factor of luck but to a much greater extent to my commitment, the mentioned meticulousness, and the preparation itself. By the end of the course, I had manually written 84 pages of notes and revisited them several times before the exam.
What follows and what I will announce by the end of this month is how this education fits into my story and what we offer at SpartanFit. I believe that on that front, anyone who decides to take that step will be genuinely satisfied. Perhaps, for the first time in their life, they will approach the entire process properly, whether they want to lose weight, gain mass, or anything else. This is something that cannot be achieved overnight, regardless of what many Instagram and TikTok “influencers” claim, often in an attempt to sell their own or sponsored products. But ask yourself, do you want another diet that will last few months where you will be starving yourself, only to regain those kilos back through the popular yo-yo effect or even gain a few more? Or do you want something that you will gradually turn into your lifestyle, something that will become second nature and through which you will achieve lasting changes that you can maintain for the rest of your life? If you are in the latter group, believe me, I can be of great help on that journey, and stay tuned for details on how we can achieve this together. All of this is possible without extreme sacrifices, without eliminating certain foods or food groups, and without being miserable, irritable, and low on energy every day. I know this may sound too good to be true, but all you need is determination, discipline, and patience. Leave everything else to me.
Original release date: February 17, 2023.