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13 Feb 2012 17:47
Everybody has their own idea about what are the biggest "untruths" that the personal fitness industry tells. Most lists mention spot reduction, a pound of muscle burns 30 calories a day, you can turn fat into muscle, etc. All myths, for sure. And I am sure there are trainers out there who don't mind crossing their fingers behind their backs and lying about those things, if it suits their figures. It may not be very original, but I have another such list in mind. So here are my top five picks (for now):
1. I've trained thousands of clients.
2. You shouldn't strength train or work out without consulting a personal trainer.
3. I am a nutrition/diet expert.
4. The key to losing weight is to workout more.
5. This is the program I used to get jacked.
Some trainers really care about helping their clients achieve the best results. Some only care about making a buck, or a million, judging by the internet crowd. And some want to care but are forced to make personal training about sales rather than results because they work for a commercial gym. Although many trainers would never actually utter the words, they may be pressured or tempted to imply certain things. That free consultation is meant to be a sales pitch not a true consultation. The following 5 things are big big lies, but maybe not for the reasons you think!
I've Trained Thousands of Clients
This is the grandaddy. You see, most personal trainers, working in commercial gyms, do not TRAIN anybody. To train someone means that there is a beginning and an end and a particular goal is reached, or at least is attempted. Supervising someones workouts, counting reps, etc. for a few sessions until the client decides the fees aren't worth is is not "training" someone. It's just being in the same room and taking more than a casual interest in your workout. Training requires a lot of time and effort and a very personalized plan. Trainers may have consulted with thousands of clients and ran a whole lot of clients through a workout. But as far as taking a client through a prolonged training process to a defined goal, well, to have done this thousands of times, your trainer better be Yoda. There just ain't enough hours in the day or days in the year for your twenty something gym trainer to have actually trained thousands of different people. You think I'm just being pendantic? You don't want to be a fool soon parted with his money, you'll get a bit pedantic yourself, once in a while.
See, most people just looking to get in shape don't need to be trained. They need a little advise and a bit of motivational support. And this brings us to the next big lie:
You Shouldn't Work Out Without Consulting a Personal Trainer
I'm surprised how many times I hear this one. Folks, a personal trainer is a LUXURY, not a necessity. What did I just say above? Training is a specific, highly detailed, and prolonged relationship bent on achieving a particular goal. Most people's goals are not realized as a specific event, such as a competition, for instance, but are an ongoing pursuit, such as weight loss. In fact, most people's reason for exercise seems to be weight loss. And this leads us to the next big lie:
The Key to Losing Weight is to Work Out More
Commercial gyms don't make money from your great diet plan. They make money by selling you a membership and personal training sessions. If they can make you believe that working out more often will result in more weight loss, it is in their interest to do so. But for the truly overweight, any workout plan is doomed to ultimate failure unless the diet is in check: The true key to weight loss. And this gives us the next big lie:
I Am a Nutrition/Diet Expert
Most probably do not know this but the typical training certification does not allow a personal trainer to give specific nutrition advise unless they have a particular nutrition certification. This should tell you that you do not need to be an expert on fat loss nutrition to be a personal trainer. Many of them are less qualified to help you in that regard than Nutrisystem, Jenny Craig, or some other popular fat loss product and among those who are certified in nutrition, very few should claim to be EXPERTS! The best professional to PAY for eating and diet help is a Registered Dietician.
None of this should be taken to mean that there are no non-RD's who are not absolute stars in the diet and nutrition world. I happen to know of a few myself. So, if you are one of those stars, before you get offended, know that I am discussing generalities, and you know good and well that the nutrition knowledge of the average personal trainer…SUCKS.
Many times, personal trainers use their bodies to imply that they are an expert in nutrition. They are cut up and obviously not over-weight. So they might like to imply that they can help you achieve the same results through diet. And of course, they use their bodies to sell clients training sessions! A trainers peronal appearance is the biggest immediate selling point they have. And commercial gyms have no shortage of huge bodybuilder types selling personal training. Which leads us to the last big lie:
This is the Program I Used to Get Jacked
All the time we see muscular and shredded models demonstrating new fitness devices on televison. If you believe that some guy became jacked using a little metal rack doing body weight exercises, then you are being a bit gullible. Well extend that same thinking to the guy pressuring you to sign a contract at your gym. Chances are, the "program" he gives you will be quite generic and nowhere near the specialized work he used to develop such a huge muscular body.
The personal training industry does not enjoy much credibility. Sometimes there is good reason for that. There are however many many highly dedicated men and women who are right now striving to change that image. Why, then, did I write another blog post like this one, helping to further cement this less than stellar reputation? Well, for one thing I've always made it clear that I am about the people, not the industry. But that was not my motivation here. It is very simple: If the industry is to improve, the public who pays for it's services needs to learn how to recognize quality! Once the public is able to make educated decisions and demand the best, the industry will have to give it. The fitness industry counts on the ignorance of it's customers. To be honest, I believe that most personal trainers are good people who really want to make a difference in people's lives, but through financial necessity have to tow the line the commercial gym industry makes them. By learning and asking questions, we help them as well! When clients expect more, gyms will have to deliver more to get their money and the personal trainer who work for them will be able to do more of what they got into the business to do: Help people.
One of the biggest and most effective thing you can do to make the commercial gym less an aimless wander through high-tech machines with the confusing "common sense" shouts of a bunch of trainers: Have a clear and defined idea of exactly why you are there and what you want to achieve. The more specific the better. You may think that "I want to be in shape for soft ball" is specific enough. Well it isn't. That could just as well become an excuse for a trainer to have you running back and forth over bosu balls. Specific, in terms of gym workouts, means specific performance related goals. Whether it's lifting a heavy barbell, doing more pullups, or even just getting more than half-way through a punishing circuit routine, the more you set your sights on destinations you can clearly visualize, the faster will come your "light bulb moment," after which you will begin to LIKE what you're doing. And look at it this way, if you don't have clearly defined goals, why pay money? The outdoors, even your backyard, is free.
Maybe the above are not always verbal lies. Maybe they are implications. Maybe the word lie is no better for a blog post title than the word truth, but would you have read this if I had called it "5 Things Personal Trainers Say?"
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