distance running, marathon training, running, swimming, triathlon, coaching, exercise, fitness

Learning styles theory implies that individuals learn more when the educational experience is geared toward their preferred style of learning. There are multiple learning styles, including visual, auditory, kinesthetic (feeling), and even olfactory (smell). Whether an individual’s preferred learning style is something we are born with or acquired with practice is debatable.

As a clinician I think it is important to recognize what a client’s preferred learning style is. Physical Therapists primarily work with musculoskeletal pain syndrome and movement system impairment. A majority of what a Physical Therapist does is to educate the client to move better. If an individual’s preferred learning style is visual, my intervention will be more effective if I can present the necessary information in a visual format.

There are self assessment tests available on the internet to determine an individual’s dominant learning style, but clinically I find the answers to the following questions provides some indication as to an individual’s preferred learning style.
• What is your preferred learning style, do you learn better by hearing it, seeing, or doing it?
• What adjectives would you use to describe a day at the beach?

If they say it is bright, sunny, their preferred style is likely visual. If they say warm sandy, with a gentle breeze, their preferred learning style is likely kinesthetic (feeling). If they say the waves are crashing, their kids are laughing their preferred learning style is likely auditory. If they say “I smell the sun tan lotion” their preferred learning style is likely olfactory. Of course there are some individuals who use adjectives which would be associated with more than one learning style.

Video Technology:
Whether your preferred learning style is visual or not with the development of Web 2.0 (second generation web based communities, networking sites, wikis, blogs) digital video technology, and access to high-speed internet allows individuals especially those in the hinter land to access knowledge and information that was previously not available. There are a large number of video clips available on the internet. We are familiar with the comic video clips of bull dogs on skate boards, or celebrities in moments of embarrassment, but there is a growing wealth of serious information and educational video clips available via internet.

Searching the internet using the standard search engine and using a key word of a particular musculoskeletal injury or diagnosis typically leads to results in narrative and picture format, but will not list video clips. Adding the word video to the key word search or using search function in one of the specialized websites dedicated to videos will result in video clips on a particular topic. An interesting web site with videos on the topic of running is http://www.runningmovies.com/instructional.htm. I am sure there are similar web sites on other topics such as swimming, posture, or knee pain. As with any information that is obtained via the internet the reader/viewer should beware, view the information with a healthy dose of skepticism.

Recurring repetitive use injuries often occur because of faulty movements. Being able to see and visualize what is considered ideal movement patterns via video clips especially in slow motion video via the internet can be a powerful way to learn to move better. Being able to see an example of a professional athlete move in an ideal way helps our minds eye identify a goal. However knowing what we are supposes to move like and actually doing it requires practice and feedback. Web 2.0 networking sites, discussion groups, and video blogs allows an individual to share their own individual video clips with others via the internet so that they can access either peer feedback or expert feedback on their particular movements.

Resources:
I have started to collect video clips on my www.Youtube.com (search under the term “motion analysis”) channel of ideal running form, as well as, some examples of individuals who submitted video clips that I converted to slow motion with suggestions on how to correct movement faults.

Learning to move better requires identifying what is ideal movement, getting feedback as to whether your movement is ideal, and practicing ideal movements.

Damien Howell MS, PT, OCS
www.runningvideoanalysis.com

	Author:	Damien Howell (Damien Howell's profile, Damien Howell's blog)
	Posted On:	Tue, 2008-05-06 16:01
	Tags:	distance running, marathon training, running, swimming, triathlon, coaching, exercise, fitness, injury, training, conditioning, endurance, overtraining, technique, training programs and winning
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