DEREK PLATH

Favorite movement: thrusters
Cheat meal: Ben & Jerrys
Place to travel: Colorado
Hobbies: Olympic Weightlifting, Snowboarding, Softball, Volleyball, Eating
Certifications: American Council on Exercise CPT

DEREK PLATH

BACKGROUND

From the day that I could walk I have been living a super active lifestyle centered around sports - specifically football, basketball, and baseball. I've always loved competing, but I always HATED training. Running, lifting, circuits, etc. were the absolute last thing you could find me doing in my free time. It wasn't until my undergrad at the U of M that I found a love for training and physical fitness, and began working as a personal trainer while switching majors from pre-vet to kinesiology.  Fitness gave me the ability to get back to competition after my baseball career ended, and I have since done anything from marathon running to competing in olympic weightlifting; which also means I’ve lived the life of eating whole pints of Ben & Jerrys after long runs to meticulously dieting down to make low weight classes for meets. 

Along with finding fitness in college, I also found a love for rehabilitation and helping others through medicine, particularly through physical therapy and the methods of both "prehab" and rehab. My dream is to be a provider with a holistic approach to wellness, helping others in every single aspect of physical health to ensure that we all get as many healthy years out of our lives as possible. 

VISION

I've been involved in the field of fitness for over 6 years and I have come to learn that there is a lot of romanticizing and extremism that goes on. People either want to tell you that you can get abs working out six minutes a day or that you need to embrace the suck 24/7 and eat broccoli and chicken ten times a day in order to not hate yourself. I'm by no means an advocate for complacency, but I am an unapologetic believer in balance and sustainability as opposed to extreme measures for short term results. I love the idea of eating and exercising for life, and working to develop habits that shape a lifestyle that is sustainable for years to come. Creating and maintaining a healthy life can be a lot of work, but luckily we’ve all got the rest of our lives to fine tune that process; it all just comes down to managing expectations and making sure that the journey is an enjoyable one. 

EXPERIENCE

Since graduating from the University of Minnesota with a kinesiology degree in 2017, I had been working in the rehabilitation field to gain hours and experience for my applications to physical therapy school this upcoming cycle. I worked as a personal trainer during my undergrad and am returning to the field now that I have gotten a sufficient amount of prerequisite clinical hours. I’ve learned a ton in both the therapy side and the training side of health & wellness and use that knowledge to execute a well-rounded approach to training and fitness!