In my
current line of work as a fitness instructor for Planet Fitness, it often
surprises me as to what brings people to the gym to see me. Day after
day, I sit down with clients and conduct consultations, where I gather
information to help me be able to effectively create workouts, specific to
their goals and backgrounds. The very first question that I always ask
everyone is "What brought you here today to see me?" As you can
already fathom, I receive a multitude of responses to this question. What
I have learned extremely quick and somewhat had known before I started in my
professional career in fitness is that the answers to this very simple question
are most times very complex and have a story attached to them. In the
almost two months that I've been doing the work that I am doing, I've talked
with run of the mill people; those who just want help to drop a few pounds,
look good and feel good. But, I've also talked with people who have been
through some horrific things.
So
before I get into this further, here's a scenario for you to make what I'm
trying to say a little clearer. You know that situation when you get an
evaluation from your boss and he or she tells you about 37 things that you do
really awesome but there's always that one thing, an 'opportunity for growth'
that you could just do or perform a little bit better? Well, this is kind
of how my work is. Because when I ask people about their successes with
their weight or health, they always tell me about their most excruciating
experiences with going to the gym, dieting and so on. Usually what this
amounts to in the long run is a sense of shame or fear of disconnection.
A notion of "Is there something about me, that if people know it or
see it, that I won't be worthy of connecting with this personal trainer
guy?" Now, this might be a little too dramatic but it's 100%
true...and we do it all the time, not just in a gym setting, but wherever and
whenever we feel vulnerable. But anyway, back to people who have gone
through horrific things in their lives and why that has so much impact in not
just my line of work but for anybody who works with people on a daily basis.
From trauma to various other things, for the people I mentioned in my
first paragraph, sometimes the need for change has been laid upon them by what
they have experienced. Gym-goers in general go to the gym for one reason:
to get stronger and the people I just spoke of usually have an edge when
it comes to keeping their goals in sight and accomplish things that lifting
weights could never provide. Strength comes in many different forms and
each of us, no matter what hand we've been dealt in life, all have an ace up
our sleeves that we haven't played yet. Because usually, our strongest
cards are those we haven't even played yet.
I tend
to think I'm not like a lot of trainers.... but maybe I am, who knows?!
Remember how I said that strength comes in many forms? Listening to
people's struggles about how they got to their current situation can weigh on
you because, consider this: Clients come to see me every day,
sometimes as a last resort because they wholeheartedly believe that what I tell
them and the exercise plan I prescribe is going to improve their health as well
as their entire lives. Now this may seem a bit dramatic (I'm all for
the drama in this post, right?!!!) but I personally take my job so much
more than just 'helping people lose weight' or 'look good for beach season'.
I tend to guide clients on at 50/50 journey when they sit down with me.
Let me explain.
When I
sit down with a client, I start out on a journey with this person. It's
not about saying all the things they want to hear, most times they want to hear
the facts, no matter how difficult they may seem at the time. Here is a
typical scenario that illustrates this:
“So what brings you in today?”
“I’ve really let myself go and
would like to lose 20 pounds by the end of July for a wedding.”
“Well, let’s talk about this
for a few minutes. Healthy weight loss
is usually one pound a week and that can be dependent on how consistent you are
with not only just your workouts but more importantly your diet. About 85 to 90% percent of this whole fitness
and health battle is going to be in your diet and what you feed your body. I like to use the analogy that ‘Your body is
like a car. What you feed into it is
ultimately the energy output you get from it.’
I could go on and on but you
get the gist of it. As the consult goes
on, I’m usually able to fill in the blanks upon the REAL reasons a person wants
to lose the weight, our mental barriers and roadblocks that we have created in
our heads about how we are supposed to look and who we’re supposed to emulate. I was speaking to an individual just last
night during a follow-up consult about diet habits and it paints a perfect
picture of what I just described about our mental demons and how the
detrimental effects they can have on us, without or without our knowledge. The consult began just as they usually do….”
How are ya today?” “Are you feeling okay, how’s the soreness?” But this person sat down and looked at me
with a serious tone on their face and asked me, “What am I doing wrong?” I was taken aback a little, “What do you
mean?” This person wanted to know why
they were feeling lousy, not really gaining muscle and continued to ‘just
maintain things’. After a few minutes of
chatting, I determined that the very reason for the sluggish feelings, no
changes in their body was a mental barrier that they had built up over time,
dating back to when this person was caring for an elderly family member in
hospice care. I brought up the question,
“How is your life different now, as opposed to then? What diet changes could you be making instead
to give you more energy and stamina during the day BEFORE you get here?” I saw the look on their face and knew that I
hit home with what I had asked.
Sometimes the simplest answers to our questions require long roads of
dead ends before we can come to the destination but if we hadn’t gone down
those roads, we’d never grow into the people that we currently are or want to
become. What changed for this person is
that 1.) Someone took the time to invest in her problems on a humanistic l and
offered some encouragement and support. 2.) The realization that we are
constantly having to modify and change our habits to fit the current person
that we are.
If we stick with old habits,
we yield old results. Although for some,
that may be a safe way to play the hand, we often find that we are missing out
on things that are often exciting and new every single day. Now, as for this client of mine…..I can’t say
that it was 100% me that made them have an epiphany and completely change at
that moment. But…. I planted a
seed. And now, this individual can
either use what I’ve told them or stay the same. I’m just the Guide on my clients’ journey. Ultimately, it’s up to them to take what I’ve
taught them and get in there, hit the weights, crush their diets and live a
healthy life.
I think writer Stephen Grellet
said it best:
“I shall pass through this world but once.
Any good therefore that I can do or any kindness
that I can show to any human being, let me do it now. Let me not defer or
neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.”
Our
goals in this life should be continuous, when we achieve one, begin
another. If we were created to be
anything but stagnant, hollow beings without a purpose, we wouldn’t be
here. Our jobs on this mission require fast
thought, delicate care and should motivate us to better for the world because
by doing better for the world, we better ourselves all the more.
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