Flux Coaching Team - Spotlight #1: Featuring the Spectacular Coach Mieka Boehmer

Flux Coaching = Expert Coaching!

Introduction to our New Coaching Profile Series

As you are all aware, education is critical to the elite level of coaching you receive at Flux - School of Human Movement.  Where else will you find full time coaches with highly specialized knowledge in the fields of: movement, mobility, gymnastics, capoeira, olympic weightlifting, CrossFit, and bouldering? At Flux - School of Human Movement we have all of this in house!

What should you look for in a coach? Does your gym support education initiatives for your coach beyond CrossFit "certs"?

Has your coach taken any courses outside of CrossFit certifications? Does your coach make an effort to travel to learn from elite teachers outside of the city, the province, and the country? Does your gym bring in experts and specialists in their respective fields for courses, workshops and residencies?  If your gym offers specialized classes in mobility and gymnastics, do they have to bring in outside sources or do their in-house coaches have the required knowledge to teach? After all, it makes sense if a gym is going to offer a fully integrated system of moving and learning that each coach has the knowledge and experience to teach in an integrative matter. Movement is all encompassing. The body in practice is not compartmentalized, so why should a teacher's knowledge be segmented into isolated fields? When you do a CrossFit WOD at Flux, you can be confident that coaches such as Coach Mieka have the knowledge to help you work through mobility issues and nagging injuries from days gone by. Quite frankly, without our coaches' tireless enthusiasm to always be learning, Flux would not be such a unique place. 

After 4 years of being the ONLY CrossFit affiliate in Saskatchewan - and for many years the world - to offer courses in mobility and gymnastics, Flux is constantly raising the bar. In the past year we have witnessed many CrossFits add Gymnastics and Mobility classes to their schedules, whereas at Flux, elite levels of movement, mobility, and gymnastics programming and coaching has been integral for many years! At Flux, we understood very early on the importance of movement freedom, and our integration of mobility is well beyond foam rollers and bands. Our level of expertise in the disciplines of mobility and movement complexity are higher than most other gyms because of our commitment to education initiatives, and our focus on working with world renowned experts. You can be assured that at Flux - School of Human Movement, our coaching expertise sets us far apart from other CrossFits, gyms, and studios!

Charity and I are truly proud of the hard work and ongoing commitment to education that our Flux coaches, such as Coach Mieka highlighted here in this first coaching profile, put into their daily practices. Coach Mieka trains a minimum of 10 hours a week and part of this time is dedicated to researching movement practices. This is a critical element of her job as it ensures that each progression of a movement is well thought through. 

We hope you enjoy our new Spotlights on our Flux Coaching Team. We will be posting one each week over the next couple of months. We encourage you to take some time to read about your Flux coaches, and learn about their coaching expertise, passions, and current movement goals.

Yours,

Coach Darci and Charity

Spotlight #1 on Flux Coaching Team: Featuring the Spectacular Coach Mieka Boehmer

Below is a short bio of some of Mieka's accomplishments over the last few years. There is also a lovely video of Coach Mieka in action. Be sure to watch it!

I have been working at Flux for over 3 years and joining this community was one of the best decisions I have made. I started off doing a lot of CrossFit and competed a bit in Olympic weightlifiting and now over the last two years I have gravitated more into the movement, mobility and gymnastics areas. Movement has become my favorite part of my own training. As a result, I find the most joy in helping others discover their own movement potential. Going to Singapore with Coach Darci and Coach Derek for Ido Portal's Movement Camp in 2013 really finalized for me that the study of human movement is my true passion.

It isn't hard to stay motivated when you have people like Darci, Ido, and Odelia mentoring you and showing you how much better life is when you train to have movement freedom. I have recently started helping to program the Movement & Mobility class, as well as the Acrobatics and Teen programs. I have spent over 150 hours working under Ido and Odelia and that is where I have learned most of my gymnastics, acrobatics, movement, and mobility training. 

I really enjoyed learning under Coach Pierre Auge and Olympic medalist and multiple world record holder, Coach Alex Varbanov. In total I have spent 6 days training with them, learning about the Bulgarian Method for Olympic weightlifting. The first course I took with Coach Pierre was Agastsu Weightlifting Certification, then the Varbanov Weightlifting Course with Coach Alex.

In May of last year, Dr. Spina, opened my eyes to getting through some of my own mobility weaknesses. After completing his course on Functional Range Conditioning I have been able to eliminate my own old injuries completely. His course was very valuable to me.

In 2006 I graduated from Western College of Remedial Massage Therapy. My education and experience as a massage therapist has helped me understand movement as a coach even more. I really enjoy Anatomy and Physiology. To expand on those topics, I went to Arizona to work with James Fitzgerald of OPT for his Exercise and Physiology Certification. I feel very fortunate that Flux encourages and financially supports us to continue our education.

Some of the things I am currently working towards are a 60 second freestanding handstand, press to handstand, and competing in the 800m in track & field this coming outdoor season. My favorite movement to do is the QDR rotation!