There are a lot of personal trainers out there. When I say a lot, I mean like a shitload of trainers out there. This has the potential to be a good thing. Kind of like saying, “there’s a ton of doctors out there.” This can be fantastic because there are enough doctors to treat all of the sick in a timely fashion. It can also be a not so good thing. If the majority of doctors are terrible, not only will people stay sick and potential get worse, but they will BELIEVE they are getting better. If this number of bad doctors is high in proportion to good doctors, then there is a real big problem. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not comparing a trainer to a doctor. The doctor is just an example that I think applies to everyone. But let’s get back on track.
I don’t bring this to your attention in an attempt to shame my fellow trainers. I would be foolish to put out a blanket statement regarding most trainers because simply I have not seen them or had a chance to talk to them about their training principles. Rather, I bring this up because there are things that bad trainers bring up and use to try to attract clients. Typically, these are things that you would hear over a late night infomercial. Things like 3 minute abs, results in a week, and even the age old trick of “I did this for myself, so I can do it for you”.
I will tell you right now, anyone that promises you any sort of results in less than 3 weeks is full of shit. Furthermore, the results seen in the first 3 weeks are usually the most at risk of losing when you stop training. For example, if I lose 5 lbs in my first 2 weeks of training, this 5 lbs can come from a variety of places and is NOT fat loss. I repeat, the first 5 lbs you lose is NOT fat loss. Your body takes a while to respond to changes when the conversation is fat loss and muscle gain. Oh and by the way, that first 2 lbs you gained in the first week of training…. Not muscle gain… It works both ways. The good news is that on the flip side, one cheat meal will not instantly pile on 5lbs of fat. When you first start training, your body does respond, but it is almost like it has a memory. It thinks, “Okay, so we just did an hour of hard work, but we haven’t done that in a long time, so why waste energy building muscle or depleting our fat storage to just sit around for another long period of time.” After the 3 weeks, the body starts to realize that this is its new normal. Now, you will begin to see it respond. The body will use its fat stores as an energy source or conversely, start “seeing” the rationale of building more muscle so you can lift more weight. I am obviously simplifying the process hear, but I don’t think anyone wants a 15 page physiology lesson. The point is that long lasting changes won’t happen quickly. The best way it was put to me was that it took your body 3-5 years of doing nothing and poor diet to get in the shape it is now, why do you think its going to take a lot less time for it to get better?
Another thing I see often is the idea of “Oh this person went from fat to skinny to a bodybuilder, so they must know how to train me.” While this line of thinking isn’t always wrong, this should never be the sole reason for training with someone. The same can be seen (and probably seen easier) with athletes. How many times have we seen star athletes try their hand at being a coach just to find out that they may not be so talented at it. On the flip side, sometimes we see the mediocre athlete who turns out to be a stellar coach. The missing link here is that just as you are looking for a guide to get you to your goals, they had a similar guide. Your job is to put in the work and trust your guide/trainer. Have a discussion with the person you are thinking of working with. Get to know them a little bit. Test their knowledge and most importantly, be picky.
Now, all this is great and all but not the main point of what I was trying to get at. The first point is relative though. Just because you begin to train, does not mean all the benefits present themselves right away. In fact, unless you take a holistic approach to your training, the benefits will either not come at all, or won’t stick around long. What does it mean to take a holistic approach with training? It means you take your fitness lifestyle with you outside of the gym. It is so easy to get stuck in the trap of “well, I put in my time at the gym today. Did my one hour session and now I can grab some food on the way home and dive into that case of beer.” That’s not to say you can’t indulge yourself from time to time, but if getting in shape, losing weight, gaining muscle are your goals, you cannot look at training as your day job and junk food and alcohol as your pay. The minute you start looking at training as just simply putting in your time is the minute the countdown starts to you walking away from your fitness journey. When you think of training in this fashion and it becomes like your job, you slowly begin to lose interest. It becomes a chore, and no one likes to do chores. Eventually, you come across an overload of life stress and the first thing to break is the thing you least like to do….. train/workout. You can argue all you like but I’ve seen it. I’ve seen people say they don’t have time to workout or don’t have the money but in the same conversation tell me about the new T.V. they bought and how they binge watched Game of Thrones last night…. But yet there is no time and money to train. This is fine for them, if they are happy with the state they are in. But these excuses fool no one but yourselves.
Now, what is the solution to this issue? Make training a lifestyle. If living a healthy life is important to you, you have to jump in with both feet. Don’t think of training as something you plan to do for the next 6 months and then that is it, otherwise the old habits will come back stronger and those old habits got you here in the first place. Rather, now is the time to start turning your life around. Get your physical training in order, get your nutrition in order, start meditating (or whatever helps you get rid of your stress). Just tackle all aspects of your life and make them healthy. I’m not saying never have a slice of pizza again, because you can. Just in moderation. Get your life to 80% healthy and the other 20% can be spent eating pizza and playing video games. I guarantee though that once you feel the benefits of that 80%, you won’t be willing to give 20% to your unhealthy habits.
I have found personally with both myself and others I have trained that when you tackle a healthy lifestyle, you are more likely to succeed. It can just begin and end at the gym door. That only accounts for 1 hour out of a 24-72 hour period. That leaves a lot of time that you are personally responsible for being healthy. Eat healthy food alongside your hard training. Don’t give yourself more resistance. Lastly, take care of the mental side of things too. What good is it if you are physically healthy but your mental health is filled with stress?! And vice versa! Find healthy ways of handling stress and anxiety because life will throw it at you. Once you start putting effort into the holistic approach to training, you will start to really see the benefits come around. These benefits will last. Training sessions last an hour but a healthy lifestyle lasts forever. It will stick with you, it will stick with your kids, and it will make your lives easier and more enjoyable. Just give it a try.
