Welcome to Potentia
My name is Conrad Nel and I am excited to guide you through your fitness journey. I have been coaching and educating clients since 2012. I have my Masters in Human Kinetics and Ergonomics and I am a Certified Nutritional Advisor. The sectors that I have specialized in during my career are:
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Strength gain (beginner to advanced), mobility and functionality training with a strong emphasis on injury prevention.
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Nutritional Guidance, Diet Creation, Weight loss and Body re-composition.
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Sports performance and increased work capacity.
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Improving overall health and quality of life.
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Limiting the progression of chronic conditions such as osteoporosis, diabetes and hypertension though exercise and diet.
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I offer an in-depth knowledge on the technical aspects of lifting technique.
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Effective client injury rehabilitation and long term maintenance.
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Comprehensive and up to date knowledge of exercise, nutrition and sports conditioning.​
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My passion is to improve the quality of life and health of my clients. I give them the skills and tools that they need to make their health, fitness and performance goals a reality through safe and sustainable means.
Academic Background
2017: Blackford Institute: Diploma in Nutrition with Distinction
2015: Rhodes University Masters Thesis: A Comparison of Muscle Fatigue Responses between Static and Quasi-Static Exertions
Background: This study examined localized muscle fatigue responses from submaximal quasi-static work protocols and additionally how it compares to purely static work. The goal was to produce research that enhances the understanding of the demands on muscles during manual work to aid in preventing injuries stemming from localized muscle fatigue. Injury rates remain a problem in manual labour sectors, particularly for the lower back and shoulder regions for the manufacturing, service and construction sectors, and for knee and elbow flexors in the sports sector. This comparison is particularly important due to the fact that risk assessment tools that are currently utilized to assess risk in the working environment are based on fatigue studies that focus on purely static or purely dynamic work.
Method: Four experimental conditions were tested, each on four muscles, namely the medial deltoid, bicep brachii, bicep femoris and erector spinae muscles. To test the two objectives of this study, 16 volunteers performed a five minute fatigue protocol, that either entailed a fully static condition which involved: 1) producing a steady force at 25 percent of maximum voluntary force, 2) a quasi-static condition with fully dynamic muscle force that alternates the required force level between zero and 50 percent of maximum force, 3) a quasi-static condition with an underlying static component of five percent of maximum force, or 4) a quasi-static condition with a large underlying static component of 15 percent of maximum force. All the experimental conditions in this ii study had the same average workload of 25 percent of maximum voluntary force over time and thus total workload. The dependant variables of interest were ratings of perceived exertion, changes in muscle fibre recruitment (% of maximum EMG activity), maximum force and center frequency from a spectral analysis of the surface electromyography. These were measured throughout the protocols at one minute intervals to determine how muscle fatigue progressed, and how the fatigue responses differed between conditions.
2011: Rhodes University Honors Thesis: Sex related differences in strength capabilities with regards to manual materials handling in South Africa.
Background: Legislative changes at the time of this research made it mandatory for all organizations to have at least10 percent of their workforce comprised of females. This also applies to organizations that required their workers to do physically demanding work, such as manual materials handling. This meant that females will now be performing physically demanding work alongside males. Very little was known about the physical capabilities of the South African female workforce at the time. Thus, the objective of this research was to give insight into some of the female strength capabilities of South African females, and how it differs to that of South African males.
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Method: In order to establish these strength differences, manual materials handling specific strength tests were used, namely: maximum weight lifted from floor height to knuckle height (Task 1), maximum weight lifted from floor height to chest height (Task 2) and maximum number of repetitions done with a 10 kg weight lifted from floor height to chest height (Task 3).