In order to become a Certified SCI Recovery Trainer (CSRT™) you are required to complete the courses under the CSRA guidelines as well as the additional classes listed below, hands on training under the supervision of a Project Walk® Specialist, and tracking the recovery of a SCI client for an entire year. The classes will prepare you to successfully evaluate an SCI client's injury and create a baseline evaluation through the use of the Developmental Activity Scale™ (DAS™). You will also be instructed on specific training techniques for clients in Phases I – V of The Dardzinski Method™ and required to take hands-on modalities classes that will help you train your clients. At the end of the year long client tracking you must successfully complete the Level I written examination and receive a satisfactory review from the Certification Review Board.

Client Evaluations (required)
This course will give you the foundation for beginning your client recovery tracking. You will be trained how to conduct a client evaluation using both the Developmental Activity Scale™ (DAS™) and a muscle function test. The DAS is one of two tools used at Project Walk to aid both SCI Specialists and clients in the tracking of a client’s recovery and categorize their ability level.

Please note that if you participate in the Train Your Therapist/Trainer Professional Track program you will receive this class. You also need this class in order to begin your year long client recovery tracking.

Phases I-V Introduction (required)
There are Five Phases of Recovery™ that every client goes through. At Project Walk, there are clients in every phase of recovery, some of which overlap. This course will give you an overview of each phase, what traits a client may possess during these phases and training tips for each phase of recovery. This class will help you to understand how to create and adapt your training programs as your clients’ progress through their recovery.   

Phase I & II Training
Phases I & II coincide with one another because the goal of each phase is to stimulate the nervous pathways and ultimately prepare the body for the latter phases of recovery. This course will teach you how to reactivate the nervous system, develop muscle strength and joint stability. These are the most difficult phases of the program and can be the longest in the road to recovery.

Phase III Training
Phase III of training is the most exciting phase of recovery because the client can create muscular contractions and movement.  Physical and mental workouts will be stressed in this course which is designed to teach trainers how to create a balanced workout.

Phase IV Training
This course will train you to work with clients whose nervous system is no longer dysfunctional but still developing. These clients have the ability to move and control their legs and arms, but do not have the strength or coordination to walk on their own with an assistive device. You will be exposed to various training techniques specific to muscle coordination and function along with the suggested modalities and symptoms of a Phase IV client.

Phase V Training
The goal of Phase V training is to provide advanced physical and functional gait training for those with SCI. This course emphasizes proper workout design and how to prepare your client to perfect their gait. This includes designing a home program workout routine as well as educating your client on the final steps of their recovery. 

Active Nervous System Recruitment I – Phases I-III (required)
Active Nervous System Recruitment™ (ANSR™) is the most important tool used in Project Walk’s recovery program and also requires the most training to effectively learn. An effective trainer can use ANSR to stimulate a client’s nervous system in various positions and sequencing. ANSR can be implemented with no equipment and can allow for free flowing and easily adaptable workouts for your clients. This class will specifically address the client with a dysfunctional nervous system and how a trainer can reorganize and illicit the proper responses he/she needs in order to create voluntary muscle contraction and joint stability.

Active Nervous System Recruitment II – Phases IV - V
The specific focus of ANSR for clients in Phases IV and V is primarily coordination. Most clients in these phases are still dealing with a developing nervous system and need specific coordinated movements and the guidance of a trainer who has worked with clients in all phases of recovery. ANSR for these phases helps the client’s body prepare for larger more dynamic movements in the workout.

Adductor Machine
This course will show you how this common piece of gym equipment can be used to train SCI clients. Trainers will learn to target core stability, lower body strength, and upper body strength. You will finish this course with a complete understanding of the benefits of the adductor machine and SCI along with safety concerns associated with it.

Core Strength Training I – Phases I-III (required)
This course introduces you to the basic techniques Project Walk Specialists use with both C-Level and T-Level clients in Phases I through III of their recovery. The workouts address core strength, endurance, range of motion, and stabilization while a client is either standing, sitting, or lying down.

Core Strength Training II – Phases IV-V
Core strength training in Phases IV and V mirror traditional workouts for able bodied clients. They include more dynamic sequences with the client in a vertical position which will require the client to use both coordination and stabilization of their entire body, not just their core muscles. This class will help you target specific muscle groups in what is still a developing nervous system. 

Gait Trainer Proprioception
This course teaches trainers how to use a traditional weighted pulley system to create movement throughout the client’s hip and lower leg, while advanced clients can use it to control movements and stimulate the small muscles deep inside the body. Emphasis will be on what types of clients should be trained on this equipment, safety concerns and the benefits of such training.

Kneeling I (required)
Kneeling can be used for both T-Level and C-level clients in all phases of recovery to strengthen the entire body or to specifically target the lower body. This course will give you the basic skills and knowledge to implement a kneeling routine with your clients.

Kneeling II
This course is designed to teach trainers how to work with clients in Phases III through V or for clients who have exceptional upper body and core strength that allow them to stay in a kneeling position without the assistance of a trainer. Advanced balancing and coordination positions will be taught. The use of additional equipment will be presented in this course.

Physioball Phases III - V
This course teaches trainers to use a physioball for clients in Phases III through V. Most trainers understand how to apply physioball training with able bodied clients but this class will help you modify activities for clients at various phases of recovery.

Pilates Reformer
The Pilates Reformer is very versatile and will allow you to train clients in different planes of movement while in different positions (prone, supine, sitting, standing and kneeling). The course will present you with the various benefits of the reformer, safety concerns, and workout routines for a variety of clients.

Reducing Spasm and Tone without Medication (required)
This course is specifically taught by the founder of Project Walk, Ted Dardzinski. Here you will be given insight into the secret behind The Dardzinski Method™ of treating spasms and tone without medication. This treatment option could mean a life free of pain and spasm medication and allow the client to take control of their body and ultimately improve their quality of life. There is no guarantee that clients will regain function, but the majority of clients that attend Project Walk for over a year have reduced or eliminated their spasm and pain medications while increasing muscle mass and bone density.

Spin Bike
This course will introduce you to an effective form of gait training that engages clients at various levels of recovery. You will learn how someone without concentric contractions of the hips and legs can pedal a bike, benefits of this training, and who should refrain from it.

Seated Calf Machine
The seated calf machine aides the client in achieving and maintaining an anterior tilt in their pelvis by putting a stretch on the calves and pressure onto the hip flexors, giving nervous system feedback and closing the chain throughout the body. Exercises which may be performed in the calf machine include sit-ups over a BOSU® with the assistance of resistance cables, rows using resistance cables, seated upper body balance/coordination exercises, or any combination of the previously mentioned.

Standing
This course teaches you to modify equipment in order to help a client in Phases I through III stand and possibly perform a variety of exercises. The equipment used for this class includes the standing frame, a balance bar, the Total Back machine, and Total Gym®. Areas of hip flexion, stability, coordination, core strength and upper body strength will be addressed while the client is standing. The course will also review the mental and physical benefits of standing. Standing can be used as an exercise and as a test to determine what areas of training need to be addressed.  

Total Gym I – Phases I - III
This course builds on the skills learned during basic modalities. Trainers will be taught how to implement different equipment such as medicine balls, BOSU balls, and stretch cords for client at various injury levels and phases of recovery.

Total Gym II – Phases III - V
The Total Gym is a versatile piece of equipment that can be used in Phases III through V because of its safe and controlled nature. Trainers will be taught how to create dynamic movements on the Total Gym and proper sequencing for clients to learn coordination, balance and improving their gait patterns

Upper Body Strength Training I Phases I – III (required)
This course is necessary for all SCI trainers because of the basic exercise routines that need to be performed with C-Level clients. Trainers will be introduced to upper body strength training that is similar to traditional weight training exercises but are modified for the SCI client special needs.

Upper Body Strength Training I Phases IV – V
Clients in Phases IV and V require an advanced set of upper body strength training exercises because of the need to incorporate the lower body and core strength. You will learn how to incorporate the lower body during a primarily upper body workout.

Wall Routine (required)
The wall routine will get your clients to develop correct posture which will help them with advanced skills like sitting, standing, and walking.  This is a very important tool that should be used consistently in all training programs and phases of recovery.