Carrots and Celery and Priming People to Kick-Ass

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Do you recall a few years ago when (then) NYC Mayor, Michael Bloomberg, initiated a proposed ban on the sale of large-sized sugar-sweetened beverages such as sodas, sweetened teas and coffees, as well as energy and “fruit” drinks?

The Big Gulp Experiment

The idea was that by prohibiting restaurants, delis, sports arenas, movie theaters, and food carts from selling sugary beverages larger than 16 oz – with a hefty fine of $200 for failing to downsize – people would be less inclined to drink copious amounts of said beverages.

What’s more, they’d be healthier, happier, smile, and say “good morning” as they passed one another on the street1

It worked, right?

People stopped drinking those ginormous ‘Big Gulps’ and instead starting crushing almond milk kale smoothies laced with organic acai berries harvested from a unicorn’s rectum (<– I’ve been told they’re super delish).

Um, no…it didn’t work.

First: We’re talking about NYC here folks. A lovely city by most counts, full of diversity, sports, art, music, fashion, food, and an obsession with hip-hop loving dead Presidents.

Second: People in general, whether we’re referring to NYC or not, hate being told what they can and cannot do.

When this happens, we revolt.

Just look at teenagers. We tell them not to drink alcohol and not to have sex and we usually end up with more costly and less than ideal consequences.

In much the same way, the soda experiment didn’t work.

Consumption of sugary beverages DOUBLED!

Why?

It’s a topic I first heard a handful of years ago from Dr. Gnel Gabrielyan of Cornell University’s PHENOMENAL Food & Brand Lab.

In short, he brought up a litany of valid points with regards to our food biases and how (ir)rational we tend to be when it comes to the decisions we make.

Let’s just say the food industry is sneaky and shady as f*** when it comes to marketing their products. Portion distortion and how that interplays with recommended serving sizes comes to mind here.

Likewise, ever notice how many sugary cereals have their characters looking down?

Do you know why?

It’s to target the kids looking UP at the shelves. They feel the character on the box is looking at them.

“Tell your mom to buy me little Johnny. No, beg her. Fall to the ground and scream and flail your legs until she submits. Do it. DOOOOOOOOO It.”

I mean, talk about brilliant marketing.

However, one point I remember Dr. Gabrielyan highlighting – which I felt helped explained the phenomena of what happened during the soda experiment above (and why it failed so miserably) – is the concept of REACTANCE.

“Reactance is a motivational reaction to offers, persons, rules, or regulations that threaten or eliminate specific behavioral freedoms. Reactance occurs when a person feels that someone or something is taking away his or her choices or limiting the range of alternatives.”

Basically, you tell someone that they can’t do “x” or that they have to do “y,” and they’re going to get a little irritated.

Possibly punch you in the face. Who knows.

Framing

Another point Dr. Gabrielyan touched on was the idea of framing.

“The framing effect is an example of cognitive bias, in which people react to a particular choice in different ways depending on how it is presented; e.g. as a loss or as a gain.”

A quintessential example of framing would be the North Dakota Wine Experiment.

  • 117 Diners; Pre-fix meal of $21.
  • All diners given the SAME wine, but with two labels. One marked “Wine from California” and one marked “Wine from North Dakota.”
  • Post Meal Measures: People rate “California Wine” as tasting better than “North Dakota” wine and believe that the food served with the California wine tastes better too.
How we “frame” a product or service can absolutely effect its perception by the consumer.

Priming

Another Jedi mind-trick to consider when attempting to change people’s perceptions or behaviors is the concept of priming.

“Priming is an implicit memory effect in which exposure to one stimulus (i.e., perceptual pattern) influences the response to another stimulus.”

While a bit sensationalistic, here’s a good example from the Will Smith movie, Focus:

 

Another great example of priming people is a well-known grocery store study whereupon the premise was this: Can exposure to healthy samples lead to healthier shopping?

  • 118 participants at a large grocery store.
  • Conditions: Apple sample, cookie sample, no sample.
  • Amount spent on fruits and vegetables then recorded.
  • No surprise: people receiving an apple sample spent more money on fruits and vegetables.

Note to self: Figure out ways to “prime” my wife into buying me an Xbox for Xmas this year.

Even cooler (and bringing this whole conversation full circle), another well-known and relevant study to bring to light is one where participants were given a carrot prior to sitting down to eat at a restaurant to see if it would increase the likelihood of them making “healthier” good choices.

It didn’t go quite as planned, because, as we learned above, people don’t like being told what to do, and more to the point, people like CHOICES.

Not many people accepted the carrot(s).

The next layer to the study was to then offer participants a choice of either a carrot or celery.

Ding, ding, ding…..success.

More participants grabbed a vegetable prior to sitting down to dinner and subsequently were “primed” to ingest more vegetables at dinner.

How Can We Frame & Prime Our Clients?

As personal trainers and coaches, anything we can do to set our clients up for a higher rate of success and enjoyment in their training, the better.

Some Suggestions

1) Allow your clients to choose their main lift of the day. Squats or deadlifts?

2) Allow them to choose the variation of the lift: Back Squat vs. Front Squat? Sumo Deadlift vs. Trap Bar Deadlift?

3) Allow them to choose their mode of exercise: Barbells only? Kettlebells?  Maybe they dig Landmine exercises?

4) I often like to give my clients a window at the end of their training session to do whatever they heck they want. If they want to thrash their biceps, go for it. Add in some additional glute work? Go! Push the Prowler around (you psycho), have at it. Turkish get-ups dressed as He-Man? Whatever floats your boat, dude.

4) Here’s a cool trick I did with one of my female clients this week to “prime” her into lifting more weight. After a “top set” of deadlifts I was like “that looked awesome. Easy! Wanna maybe add 5-10 lbs and up the ante on your next set?” 

I gave her the choice to stay put or go heavier. Either way it was a win, but she chose correctly…and added weight.

[Cue evil strength coach laugh here]

Giving your clients a sense of autonomy and control over their own training is a powerful tool in their long-term success.

Don’t get me wrong, you should still be the boss. They’ve entrusted you to coach them and write programming that best fits their needs and goals.

However, it’s never a bad thing to give them a little of what THEY want.

Even better: Provide them a sense of choice.

Did what you just read make your day? Ruin it? Either way, you should share it with your friends and/or comment below.

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  1. Most likely on their way to reading scripture to a pack of orphaned kittens.

Comments for This Entry

  • Marci Nevin

    Great article, Tony! In most cases I try to already implement the suggestion you made about asking clients if they want to add weight. It usually works, but I find that with women (98% of my clients) they typically are hesitant to say yes. I usually get the response of "Well, um, I guess. What do you think?" Even though I am essentially telling them they should, they still don't have the confidence to just say YES! But I really like your idea of giving them some free time at the end to do what they want. Again, I think this would work well for my female clients who typically need that elevated heart rate/heavy breathing effect that comes from doing some conditioning at the end of their training to really "feel" like they got a good workout. Thanks for this!

    April 7, 2016 at 4:12 pm | Reply to this comment

    • TonyGentilcore

      The other approach is just to hand them the heavier DBs or load the barbell heavier without even asking them or letting them know. I always love the response when they realize they just lifted 10-20 lbs HEAVIER compared to the previous set.

      April 12, 2016 at 11:26 am | Reply to this comment

  • TC Lee

    Hey Tony thanks for sharing your findings. I had actually being giving my PT clients some level of autonomy over their training by asking what lifts would they like to work on. I had believe all along this will give them more ownership of their training and makes it easier to motivate them to train harder and better. And I just never believe people like to be told what to do. And like you and Marci I always asked if they want to add weight to the lifts and usually works and lead to a PB. Btw, definitely great article. :)

    April 7, 2016 at 9:21 pm | Reply to this comment

  • Steven Pinto

    Hi Tony, great article a usual. I've read it a few times this week and it rings true on a lot of levels. By and large I believe the majority of the population wants to do the right and / or better thing.Whether that is helping the little old lady when she drops her groceries, or in the fitness arena, making better food choices or going for that extra rep. Alternately, most humans are resistant to change overall, so if you try to TELL them what is best or what they have to do, it's unlikely to happen. As I've indicated to you in the past, that's why folks like you are so important in this industry. People who are looking to improve their lives on a physical (and often emotional) level need to do their research and find someone who has the ability to coach them successfully in the areas that they would like to improve in. For that you need folks with a very wide background in all aspects of physical development and well being. Although the 45 year old overweight desk jockey feels like 100 bicep curls will get him get big guns and will help him improve his life overall, professionals like you can explain why that doesn't work, help him to understand what does work, and help him feel like he is involved and invested in the process.

    April 10, 2016 at 11:02 am | Reply to this comment

  • Matthew Woodard

    Have you read Persuadable? If not, check it out.

    April 12, 2016 at 9:55 am | Reply to this comment

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    April 19, 2016 at 12:27 pm | Reply to this comment

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