Client Profile

The Yamagata Athlete Lab was founded in Yamagata Prefecture by Megumi Ikeda, a former fencer who competed in the women’s individual epee events at the 2004 Olympics in Athens and the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. Having trained at R-body for many years, Ms. Ikeda obtained her R-body Certified Conditioning Coach qualification after retiring from competitive sport. She now works with local governments to promote initiatives like community health development, and is also working to create new regional sports that combine sports with agriculture, forest conservation, and so on.

Client Requests

The client’s initial goal was to train local Yamagata residents as conditioning coaches and build sustainable community health initiatives, while emphasizing the concept of “local production for local consumption”. However, due a lack of practical coaching skills, inexperience in delivering these kind of programs, and the general challenges of implementing such an initiative, R-body was finally brought in to provide coach development services and overall program support to ensure a higher quality of knowledge and service.

Services Provided

1. Conditioning Coach Training
   We implemented the R-body ACADEMY Conditioning Coach Training Program for a team of local residents led by former Olympic athlete Megumi Ikeda.
2. Advisory Support
   We provide ongoing support by visiting the local area on a monthly basis to conduct follow-up training programs for local coaches. We also join in with the conditioning classes held for local citizens, providing further on-the-job training support.
3. Comprehensive Consulting
   We make proposals for developing regional health initiatives, and offer advice for promoting conditioning and exercise programs within the local communities.