In my life I already attended a lot of meetings and conferences. I have seen how it should be and how it shouldn't be. When organizing my own workshops, I will try to respect the following principles:
1. Action & interaction
I loved to sit back and relax, at the back of the auditorium, enjoying the stories of the university professor. However, working together in small groups and discussing ideas is real fun and probably the most effective way of learning !
2. Facts & friends
In my twenties I thought that knowledge is power. As I grew older, I began to understand the power of the human capital, i.e. the people with whom you can share that knowledge.
3. Science & Experience
If we were training according to the results of the most recent academic studies, we would be training like in Ancient Greece. Of course, scientific insights are not to be neglected but to they are to be complemented with experience.
4. Know your why & Know-how
On YouTube you can collect a lot of interesting ideas for your workouts, but it's not the place to learn the essentials. Workshops are for both. Because sometimes 'nothing is as practical as a very well explained theory'.
5. Eye-openers & question marks
Coaches nor science have ready-made answers for everything. Sometimes we just know 'that something works because it works'. I hope my clinics will bring you answers but that they will also start to question yourself: 'why am I doing what I am doing?'.
6. Specific tips & tricks
When you head home with ideas for the following day, we succeeded to a certain extent. If many years later you still remember something you learnt in our clinics, we are satisfied.
7. Discussions & No diplomas
Trainers sound convincingly, but they don't earn the truth. Some biological principles apply to every athlete, but many ways lead to Rome. We therefore want to discuss ideas and learn from each other during our clinics. Diplomas not only contain a certain pretension, a trainer with the right mindset wants to prove himself every day. In each clinic Karel Pardaens will be your 'host and moderator'.