One of my favorite people in the world is Eric Malzone. I mean, he’s a really good friend, so of course it makes sense he’s ranked high on that list.
Somewhere lodged between my wife, my kid, and Jason Bourne.
Eric’s a great coach, and he works with a litany of other fitness professionals on how to grow & build their respective businesses and brands. He also runs a very popular podcast, one of which I’ve been invited on as a guest several times.
In my latest appearance he and I discuss how being an introvert in the coaching industry can be an asset, but needs some slightly different approaches. We also talk about sawing a couch in half and when life serves up hot dumpster fires.
There’s no question we’re living in polarizing times; no one can seem to meet in the middle on anything:
Politics
Religion
COVID/masks/vaccines
Who’s the best Batman…
If there’s any degree of disagreement the brass knuckles are coming out. We see a fair share of the same sentiment in the fitness industry and with today’s guest post, Shane McLean pontificates on that point a bit further.
Remember when you used to meet up with a friend and you would meet in the middle? They didn’t want to go all the way over to your house and you didn’t want to go all the way to theirs, so you met in the middle. When I was a kid, it seemed a fair deal because I rode my bike everywhere.
Now it seems (to me) we live in a world of extremes, and no one meets in the middle. It’s either this or that. It’s fact or it’s fiction. You support me or you’re dead to me. Plus, if there are two differing points of view, you must side with one or the other.
This is often exacerbated (in my opinion) by the mainstream media and even on TV shows.
Extremes sell and get you fired up.
If you support one side or the other for whatever reason, it’s easy to draw a line in the sand and put your money where your mouth is. How’s that for back-to-back use of clichés? On second thoughts, don’t answer that.
Although today’s political climate has its fair share of extremes, I also see this in the health and fitness realm.
I’ve read, written, coached and performed a lot of exercise. This doesn’t make me an authority, but it does make me a loud mouth with an informed opinion. If you dislike opinion pieces, stop reading. If you wish to be more informed as to see clearly through the murky waters of the fitness realm, hold on to your keyboard.
It will be a bumpy ride.
The Middle Doesn’t Sell Well
Extremes sell because they get attention.
Nothing brings this more to light more than social media because it takes a lot to get consumers attention while they’re doom scrolling. And being on social media more than I should, here’s what I’ve gathered about what sells and what doesn’t.
Nothing polarizes trainers, coaches, and consumers more than diets and methods of exercise. Whether it be Keto, Atkins, Vegan, (insert all diets here) or high intensity training, CrossFit, Zumba, or kettlebells (insert all training methods here).
To get attention in a crowded marketplace and more sales, you need to stand out from the crowd. And some trainers, coaches, etc. go to extremes by either
Performing circus tricks that kind of look like exercise
You’re exercising all wrong and you must do this for gains
Eliminate this and add this (whatever their selling) to get long-lasting results
Stop making these diet and exercise mistakes and do this instead.
Or variations of all the above.
Now, I’m not saying this is wrong and I’m not denying people trying to make a buck no matter how dubious their claims are. Because (cliché alert) fools and their money are soon parted.
But I’m going to let you in on a little-known secret that seems obvious that you’ll be smacking your hand into your forehead repeatedly saying ‘why, why, why didn’t I think of that.’
Are you ready?
Everything works. Yes, even the Thigh Master. Or Zumba.
The trick is what to do when the extremes stop working.
Here’s What Doesn’t Sell
Extremes do work because there is a time and place for most things. There are times to go to extremes to get the results you want.
Plus, people are entitled to their extreme opinions too. My only problem is when these people are presented with overwhelming evidence to the contrary and they still hold on to their beliefs.
But that’s a story for a different time.
Here’s what I feel aren’t the biggest sellers nor doesn’t it generate lots of attention.
The basics and moderation, otherwise known as the middle.
The middle for resistance training involves the regression and progression of hinging, squatting, lunging, pushing, pulling and locomotion (carries, sled work etc.) And the middle for nutrition is a caloric deficit for fat loss, caloric surplus for muscle gain and eating more like an adult and not a child.
Yes, there is a lot of wiggle room as I’m taking the broad view here.
Moderation is taking the long-term view and not just the short-term strategy of losing 10 pounds in 6 weeks.
Quoting a well-known coach, he suggests you need to spend more of your time doing either a:
“Moderate diet (not a huge caloric deficit, surplus or mass elimination of food groups). Combined with Hard training (more sets, reps or more days exercising).
Hard diet (bigger deficit or surplus with elimination of foods) Combined with Moderate training (less sets, reps, and training to support you goal).”
Now extreme dieting and training programs (at the same time) are doable but only for a limited time. Think of it (another cliché alert) as burning the candle at both ends. You burn bright for a while and after a while there is no wax to burn.
But moderation and the basics aren’t as sexy or sell as well as extremes.
Wrapping Up
This is not a knock-on trainers or coaches who use attention grabbing content or exercises to generate sales, likes and followers. But be aware there is plenty of room in the middle performing the basics with moderate diet and exercise.
Because doing a little over the long haul will give you the best chance of success. Save the circus tricks for the professionals.
If you’re looking for an exercise program to get you back on track, check out my 6-week program right here.
About the Author
Shane “Balance Guy’ McLean” is an A.C.E Certified Personal Trainer working deep in the heart of Louisiana with the gators.
I’m excited to announce that I will be part of the Raise the Bar Conference. An event focused on the missing links in our industry: Communication, collaboration, connection, behavioral psychology, business & marketing skills, and much more.
I’d garner a guess that most people who have worked with a really good personal trainer for a year are better trainers than most other trainers out there.
I’d also garner a guess that if I were somehow recruited into a Squid Game I’d lose first round.
We heard this phrase all through the height of the pandemic; yet there’s a twinge of Inigo Montoya’ness whenever you hear some people shout it through the rooftops.
“You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.”
As always Doug pontificates deeper and at a level most people are unable to get to.
I’ve been following Sarah’s work for awhile now and she’s impressive. Not only is she stronger than She-Ra and Wonder Woman combined, but her approach to training is accessible and actionable, and that take talent to pull off.
Anyhow, this is a short-n-sweet post by here that I know most people can get on board with.
One of the more flagrant “mic drops” I toss down whenever I speak to a group of fitness professionals (remember when we used to be able to do that in person?) is that forcing people to adopt a symmetrical stance while performing basic lifts such as deadlifts or squats is more likely hurting people rather than helping them.
In fact, I’ll go a step further and tell them symmetry in the human body doesn’t exist and then yell something like “UNICORNS ARE REAL!” and walk away.
You’re Not Broken If You’re Asymmetrical. You’re Normal
We need to stop thinking we’re broken if we display any degree of asymmetry.
It’s 100% normal, actually.
The human body is designed asymmetrically. If it were so deleterious I think natural selection would have fixed it by now don’t ya think?
Admittedly, I appreciate it’s a tough nugget to swallow…the whole “symmetry is a myth” thing.
I had a hard time tackling it myself. For years all I read was how we should strive for perfect balance and symmetry both statically (posture) and dynamically (think: maintaining a symmetrical stance during a set of squats).
However, the more I worked with people – with varying backgrounds, injury histories, and body-types – and the more I coached, the more I realized it was all B.S. Holding everyone to the same standard didn’t make sense.
The tipping point for me was my introduction to PRI (Postural Restoration Institute ®) a number of years back. Neil Rampe stopped by Cressey Sports Performance and did a 1-day workshop and opened my eyes to just how UN-symmetrical the body really is.
Not long after Michael Mullin stopped by CSP several times and took the entire staff through a number of in-services which further slapped me in the face with the whole Morpheus “blue pill/rep pill, we’re asymmetrical creatures, open your eyes” schtick.
More currently, guys like Dean Somerset, Dr. Ryan DeBell, Dr. John Rusin, Dr. Stuart McGill, and Papa Smurf agree: The human body is all sorts of effed up.
But in a good way.
In some facets of life symmetry is the goal.
A ballet dancer needs to elicit “symmetry” when performing, as does a figure athlete or competitive bodybuilder when strutting their stuff on stage. No one ever won Ms. Olympia or Mr. East Lansing Stud Muffin with a yoked up right quadricep and a teeny tiny left.
But those examples aren’t necessarily the same thing as what I’m referring to in this post. Aesthetically, symmetry is visually pleasing.
90’s Mariah = pleasing
Crazy Eyes from Mr. Deeds = not pleasing
However, for performance or function, symmetry shouldn’t necessarily be the default goal or expectation.
It’s a hefty statement to make, and whenever I say something so seemingly egregious it often invokes a little push-back.
“Well, what about cars?” someone may blurt out. “If we don’t maintain alignment (symmetry) the car will start veering to one side or the other, causing additional wear and tear on the tires, and run the risk of further damage.”
To this point, I agree. Cars are designed by engineers and manufactured by computers and machines with precise precision to be replicated over and over and over again to (hopefully) ensure a quality product and return business from consumers.
The human body is not a Volvo.
This isn’t to insinuate the human form is any less fantastical, beautiful, intricate, or complex of a design. But, you know, we’re not some Clone Army to be replicated en mass.
Dare I say: This is a rare moment where “we are, indeed, all special snowflakes.”
During our Complete Shoulder & Hip Blueprint (dates are in the works for a return in early 2022!), Dean Somerset and I try to reiterate to attendees that asymmetries are normal and that, often, we’re doing a disservice to our clients and athletes by forcing them all into a standard, one-size-fits-all way of doing things.
It’s important to recognize everyone has variances in bony structure.
Using the hips as an example we know:
Pelvic structures differ person to person.
Femoral angles vary person to person.
Hip socket depth can vary (Scottish hip)
People have two hips (surprise!) and either side can have retroverted or anteverted acetabulums, as well as retroverted or anteverted femoral heads. All of which affects someone’s ability to flex, extend, abduct, adduct, externally and internally rotate the joint.
To that end, when coaching someone up on the squat why not use those variances to better set up your clients and athletes for success?
Much like what an optometrist does when fitting someone for a new pair of glasses, sitting someone down in front of that thingamabobber (<— I believe that’s the technical term) and flipping back and forth between lenses to see which looks and feels better – is this better, or is this? – why is the parallel approach all of a sudden wrong when trying to figure out the best squat stance for someone?
Shouldn’t it be our goal to figure out what stance feels more stable, powerful, and balanced? I’d make the case we’re trying to fit square pegs into round holes much of the time when we force people to use a symmetrical stance.
Why?
Especially when we know there’s a multitude of structural anatomical variance from person to person.
If you’ve somehow developed a mutant power of X-ray vision:
1) That’ll help
2) Can we hang out?
Performing a thorough assessment – something both Dean and I cover in depth HERE (hint, hint) – will provide a ton of feedback and help peel back the onion of what will be the right approach for someone.
You could also watch Dr. McGill take someone through a hip scour here:
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve encouraged someone to use a staggered stance when squatting, or maybe to externally rotate one foot more than the other, and then they perform a few repetitions and they look up and say “holy shit-balls that feels so much better.”
And we hug.
Why would I disregard that?
We’re not causing irreparable harm by accepting asymmetry.
My man Gavin McHale is back with another excellent guest post this month. If you missed his last article on lead generation you can check that out HERE.
This month, as the title implies, is all about how personal trainers can (and should) lean into more of a “hybrid” training model that doesn’t rely on IN-PERSON training only and allows you to better leverage your time in order to 1) make more money and 2) resist the urge to throw your face into an ax from work overload.
Give it a read. It will make a lot of sense and I hope afterward it’ll provide some inspiration to you to make some subtle changes in your approach to the services you provide.
I climbed into my truck and sat back with a huge exhale. I had just finished another ‘day at the office’ and, as usual, I was absolutely exhausted.
It was early afternoon, I had been up since 5AM and on the training floor since 6:30, eating and drinking coffee on the go. I was finishing up my 4th cup of coffee for the day, knowing it would affect my sleep but needing it to prop myself up for the evening full of clients that I had in about 4 hours.
The ‘00’s Pop Punk’ playlist had played at least three times through on repeat that morning.
The plan was to whip home for some lunch and some work on the business before heading back to the gym – another few hours of client sessions on deck. In reality, I knew I’d get home, crush some food and pass out for the entirety of my time at home, barely dragging myself out of bed to get there on time.
I loved my training clients and I got to provide them with the best hour of their day on the training floor.
And, by this point, I got to do it a lot.
I had built my personal training business up to nearly 30 clients, with upwards of 25 semi-private and private training sessions a week.
Business was buzzing… but the thoughts started creeping in…
My girlfriend of two years and I barely got to see one another. When we did, I couldn’t even keep my eyes open for a full movie and had to leave any social gatherings by 9PM thanks to my 5AM alarm the next day.
How long was she willing to put up with an absent partner?
I knew I wanted to have kids at some point in my life, and I wanted to be the dad who could do school drop-offs and pick-ups and coach the sports teams; not the one who always ‘had to work’.
We loved to travel, even just for extended weekends. But I couldn’t enjoy my time away, panicking about lost revenue and possibly unhappy clients.
But the worst part was that I wasn’t making the money I knew I could be. I wasn’t having the impact I knew I could.
I was making a decent paycheck every month, but it was just enough to pay my bills and allow me a bit of freedom. I was pinching pennies and living paycheck to paycheck while working a ton, with a university degree and numerous certifications behind my name.
And honestly? I was just fucking tired…. ALL. THE. TIME.
It didn’t add up.
Especially since the only solution I knew was to take on more clients and do more of the same… something I didn’t have the capacity for without sending myself down a spiral to burning out and being single well before my 30th birthday.
That’s when I was forced to get creative.
I began by asking myself the one question every single service provider should start with (I was just a little behind the curve): How can I best serve my clients?
(GIF added by me, Tony, because if nothing else I keep thing professional.)
I knew they loved their workouts and I loved working with them, but the majority of them weren’t getting the results they wanted because that 1-3 hours a week they spent with me would never offset the poor lifestyle choices they were making during the other 165+ hours every week.
Let’s be real, even though I loved doing it, grinding it out on little sleep and caffeine was not the best service I could provide. The cup I was pouring from… was empty and I didn’t have the systems in place to help them change their lifestyle beyond a couple sweat sessions a week.
And since I had no more capacity for more training sessions and they didn’t have the time to come to the gym every day,
I had to find a better way.
Enter, the Hybrid Training Model
This model created a win-win for me and my clients.
The win for me is that I got to stabilize my monthly income by charging for an entire package instead of session by session and got some of my time back, all while providing a better service to my clients.
The win for them? Straight up better results without having to schlep to the gym and back every day or pay thousands a month for a trainer.
This model would allow me to continue doing what I did best, training clients on the gym floor, but not have to live there, eating every meal out of tupperware, trying not to spill it on the turf and taking bites between coaching cues.
The hybrid model I built and refined since includes 5 key areas:
In-person coaching
Regular activity programming
Nutritional guidance or intervention
Belief and habit building
Accountability
If you look at the traditional training model – the one that left me half sleeping in my truck at the end of the work day, I covered maybe 1 or 2 of those bases… at best.
And, in most cases, the trainer isn’t being paid for anything but their time spent in the gym with each client. You can say the pricing reflects programming time and nutritional information and accountability, but it really doesn’t.
When your clients are paying session by session, they see the value in having you in the room coaching them.
That’s it.
Your clients are also financially incentivized by this model to actually miss sessions. If they’re low on energy or just don’t feel like it, they’ll miss a session and either save money that month or stretch their current package out over a longer period.
Bottom line: your income is unstable and they don’t get the best service.
In order to build this model out and be able to market and sell it, you have to ask yourself a lot of questions and completely reshape the way you provide your service and charge for it.
1. In-Person Coaching
How often do they need instruction lifting weights?
How often do they want to come to the gym?
Do you have the space and ability to do semi-private training with them?
2. Regular Activity Programming
Basically, this includes any part of the programming that doesn’t require you to be there, coaching them.
Can you program some or most of their workouts to be done on their own?
Do they have a gym membership or access to equipment at home?
Are there parts of the program where they don’t need to be in the gym like walking, running or mobility work?
3. Nutritional Guidance or Intervention
Any type of transformational program is incomplete without some form of nutritional guidance. If they already trust you enough to train them, then you’re probably the best person to guide them through some basic nutrition principles.
For most general population clients and goals, this is simple habit building. No need to go too deep and risk moving outside your scope.
You can either build your own curriculum or outsource this completely. When I was coaching, I outsourced this to Precision Nutrition and set my clients up on their year-long ProCoach software.
4. Belief and Habit Building
My most successful clients were the ones who made massive mindset shifts throughout my program. Over the time we worked together, they became better versions of themselves, which provided the outcome they wanted.
In my opinion, this is a non-negotiable in any coaching program, especially if you want to stand out from the Pelotons and the Orange Theory’s.
What do they need to learn to be able to shed their old skin and step into a new, better version of themselves?
Can you create a simple weekly or bi-weekly curriculum over 2-3 months that will allow them to do that?
5. Accountability
Finally, accountability is what they’re actually paying for.
Let’s be real – everything you (and I) coach can be found with a quick Google search if they know where to look.
Information and even education is no longer valuable like it used to be. What is? Accountability and a safe space to fuck up and learn.
Plus, the more skin they have in the game (i.e. the more you charge for this full spectrum service), the more accountable they’ll be.
I’m not sure how many free downloads you have sitting on your laptop, but I have plenty that I haven’t even opened… no skin in the game.
In Its Simplest Form, This is the Hybrid Coaching Model
I won’t lie, this will be more work upfront for you. But, as I learned throughout this process, if you can “work hard once” setting everything up, you make your life a whole lot easier down the road.
This will allow you to charge a monthly price for the whole package and stabilize your pay while actually working less and giving your clients the best chance at seeing the results they’re looking for.
No more never-ending selling of 10 or 20-session packages and no more needing to send out the same resources over and over to every single client who asks about keto or intermittent fasting.
You run the show and make sure all the bases are covered. They get the best of what you can offer and you get the most out of your time, energy and expertise.
About the Author
As a Kinesiology graduate, Gavin McHale quickly realized that following the traditional business model would lead to trading more time for more money.
Over the course of 8 years, Gavin built a 6-figure hybrid training business before founding the Maverick Coaching Academy in 2019.
Since then, Gavin has left the gym and gone all in helping other strength coaches build their businesses. He has made it his mission to fix the broken fitness industry and connect other amazing humans to the highest version of themselves.
In November my wife, Dr. Lisa Lewis, will be putting on a 2-day LIVE workshop in Boston that focuses on psychological skills geared toward fitness professionals.
I, admittedly, am a bit biased and think Lisa’s content is superb. I’ve stated on numerous occasions that what’s helped me develop most as a coach over the course of the past decade (+) is confiding in her and leaning into the idea that it’s the “soft skills” – empathy, compassion, listening, having a better understanding of the many layers of motivation – where I had the largest gap to overcome in my growth.
And I wholeheartedly feel this is an area where most other fitness pros need to grow as well.
I’ve laid out in recent weeks the general outline of the upcoming workshop, but in hindsight can understand how my explanation may have come across as a bit nebulous if not incomplete:
Why do I need to learn about motivation?
I’m not a psychologist, why does this stuff even matter?
Did Tony mention something about a tickle fight?
I mean, what the heck am I walking into here?
Lisa was kind enough to go into much, much more detail on what you can expect from the upcoming weekend and how the information she’ll share will help you become a better coach.
As a coach, your knowledge about programming, anatomy, physiology, getting people stronger, getting people leaner, and getting clients wherever they want to “go” is central to doing a good job. But your technical knowledge and acquired coaching skills aren’t the only tools you use.
When you coach, you build a relationship, using:
Rapport.
Communication.
Collaboration
Facilitation of change.
You work hard to understand and help each client, with their own unique personality, tendencies, biases, and quirks. And, just as important, you are also a unique individual with your own tendencies, biases, and ways of thinking, feeling, and being in the world. In other words, you and your clients have a psychology – and that psychology directly affects the process and outcome of coaching.
Psychology is the study of:
Cognition (Thinking)
Emotion (Feeling)
Behavior (Doing).
Your psychology impacts how you:
Think,
feel,
and act about, toward, and with your clients.
In short, your psychology – and understanding it – matters.
In Volume I of Psych Skills for Fit Pros, we explored the nature of change, motivation, and the skills coaches need to facilitate those psychological phenomena.
In Volume II, we explore the coach’s psychology:
Your thinking style, strengths, and thinking “traps”
Your emotions, unconscious tendencies, and processes
Your professional boundaries, communication style, and self-care habits
You might be reading this and wondering, “What the heck does all this stuff have to do with me being a good coach?”
Good question. Two important reasons:
First, When you understand how your thoughts, emotions, and behaviors “work,” you can see people, problems, and situations more clearly. When you are familiar with your own biases, blind spots, triggers, and stressors, you can more effectively separate your issues from The Issue at hand.
Second, the constant variable in all of your work as a coach is you.
The clients change, the setting may change, the point in time and context changes – but there you are.
By developing awareness of how your mind works and how you impact coaching relationships and coaching outcomes, you develop personally and professionally. And as everyone reading this knows, personal and professional development are central to career-long growth, effectiveness, and enjoyment of the coaching profession.
On November 6th and 7th, 2021, Volume II of Psych Skills for Fit Pros will be live at Ethos Fitness and Performance in Boston, MA.
A. Psychology in Coaching: Why knowing your own mind matters B. Self-Awareness: A long game – but worth it personally and professionally C. Mindfulness: Mental Preparation for self-awareness and effective coaching D. Psychology 101: A Primer
II. Cognition
A. Thoughts, and how they work B. Thinking styles, tendencies, and traps C. How to identify thinking traps, and use clear thinking to coach effectively
D. Character Strengths
E. Application
Identify and correct thinking traps to improve coaching
Leverage your strengths to maximize coaching effectiveness
Case Study
III. Emotion
A. Feelings, and how they work B. Unconsciousness, and how it impacts coaching
There-and-then (your past influences how you see the present)
Transference in coaching
Countertransference in coaching
Content and process in coaching
C. Application
Identify emotions and processes that influence your coaching, triggers for negative emotions and processes, and a plan for correcting unhelpful emotions and processes.
Case Study
Day 2 (Half Day)
IV. Behaviors
A. Your actions, and how they work B. Interpersonal Boundaries C. Setting the “Frame” for coaching: Enactment of your mission, goals, and values D. Self-Care: maintaining physical and mental health for optimal coaching and thriving E. Application
Understand and outline your boundaries, coaching “frame”, self-care practices, and how those maximize your performance as a coach
Case Study
V. Bringing It All Together
A. Your psychology is the most powerful tool you have for helping clients B. Top Take-Aways C. Beyond the seminar
Strengths to leverage
Blind spots and biases to work on
More to learn
Who is This Seminar For?
Coaches who have the nuts and bolts competencies of coaching (sets, reps, programming), and want to further their skills and effectiveness as a coach.
Coaches who are open to looking within themselves, identifying strengths and weaknesses, and working on their own psychology, even though the benefits and payoff might not be immediate.
Coaches who get that professional and personal development is sometimes a “long game” and that investments you make in those areas can take time to yield positive results.
Coaches who know that psychology and mindset are just as important as physiology and fitness.
Who is This Seminar NOT For?
Coaches who need to focus on the nuts and bolts of coaching (sets, reps, programming)
Coaches who do not like thinking about, talking about, or looking within themselves, and who thinking psychology is not a part of fitness.
Coaches who want continuing education to yield immediate benefit, and don’t want to focus on longer-term improvements and change.
