CategoriesProgram Design Strength Training

Factors to Consider When Training Around Pain

Getting hurt is a drag.

It’s even more of a drag when you’re someone who’s used to being active and an injury prevents you from training consistently or prevents you from training as hard as you’d like.

There’s generally two approaches many people take:

1. Complete rest.
2. Conjure up their inner Jason Bourne and grit their teeth through it.

Neither is ideal in my opinion.

I take the stand that injury (or training with a degree of pain <— sometimes) is inevitable. As I’ve jokingly (but not really) stated in the past…

…”Lifting weights isn’t supposed to tickle.”

Pain, pain science, and how to train around pain is a very complex and nuanced topic. This is a blog post, not a dissertation.

To that end, today I want to take some time to discuss a few strategies on how to train around pain that don’t revolve around the extremes: Sitting on the couch watching Netflix or plotting to take down Treadstone.

Full Disclosure: Much of what I’ll cover below is in Dr. Michael Mash’s online resource, Barbell Rehab, which is currently my new spirit animal of favorite continuing education courses.

Copyright: yacobchuk / 123RF Stock Photo

Factors to Consider When Training Around Pain

Let’s begin with the definition of “pain.”

Pain

/pān/

noun

1. A localized or generalized unpleasant bodily sensation or complex of sensations that causes mild to severe physical discomfort and emotional distress and typically results from bodily disorder (such as injury or disease).1

2. That feeling you get when your significant other wants to talk about feelings or what your eyes see when you watch someone perform 117 kipping pull-ups.2

More precisely we often associate pain with actual damage. However, pain doesn’t always have to gravitate around that denominator.

Pain can also be equated to a smoke alarm alerting the body that something is awry:

  • Hey, bicep tendon here: I think I’m close to snapping, can you tone it down on the bench dips?
  • Hey, knee cap here: I’m about to end up on the other side of the room if you don’t fix your squat.
  • Look out – a ninja!

More to the point, pain is multi-faceted and can manifest a plethora of ways, which is why it’s imperative to educate people that it isn’t always centered around a physical injury.

Take for instance this cup analogy highlighted in a 2016 study from the medical journal Physiotherapy: Theory & Practice titled “The clinical application of teaching people about pain” by Louw, et al.

Pain is like a cup, and there are many factors that can fill it up.

Moreover, you can address people’s pain in one of two ways:

1. Reduce the contents of the cup.

2. Make the cup bigger (via appropriately progressed strength training)

As Michael addresses in Barbell Rehab, there are several ways to build a framework to train around pain that don’t involve being passive, subjecting yourself to corrective exercise purgatory, or in a worse case scenario…surgery.

1. Technique Audit

When someone comes to CORE for an assessment with me and they go into great detail on how bench pressing bothers their shoulder(s), rather than spending 30 minutes assessing how much shoulder range of motion they have, waxing poetic on the myriad of drills they can perform to improve thoracic extension, and/or going into the weeds on diaphragmatic positional breathing mechanics I’ll instead do this really out-of-the-box thing where I’ll ask them to…

…wait for it.

…wait for it.

…here it comes.

…show me their bench press.

 

More times than not, all that’s needed is a subtle technique fix on their set-up and execution of the lift itself and their shoulder hates them less almost instantly.

This isn’t to say we’d ignore other factors like thoracic mobility and breathing mechanics altogether; especially of deficits exists. However, I’ve found that most people are less inclined to want to light their face on fire from corrective exercise boredom if I just cut to the crux of the issue at hand.

Their shitty technique.

2. Programming Audit

This is a point I remember Dr. Quinn Henoch of Juggernaut Training hammering home when I listened to him present a few years ago.

How often do you audit your programs?

Has it ever occurred to you that maybe, just maybe, the reason why you (or your clients) are hurt is because you were a bit overzealous with an exercise variation – or, more commonly, you were too aggressive with loading – and that that was the culprit of your’s (or their) low back pain…?

…and not because your left ankle lacked two degrees of dorsiflexion, or, I don’t know it was windy yesterday?

Load management (or lack of it) is the lowest hanging fruit we often overlook.

via GIPHY

Here’s an example of what I mean.

Using the same person above who’s shoulder bothers them when he/she benches: Let’s say they like to bench press 1x per week, on a Monday of course.

Like clockwork, the day after they bench, their shoulder feels like Johnny Lawrence used it for target practice with his fists.

It feels like that for a few days, dissipates, and then by the time the following bench day arrives it feels better and the same cycle continues.

A more cogent approach may be to spread out the same volume over TWO workouts rather than one.

Here’s what they normally do:

Monday: Bench Press: 6×5 @ 185 lb

(Total Tonnage = 5,550 lb)

Here’s what they should do:

Monday/Thursday: Bench Press: 3×5 @ 185

(Total Tonnage = 2,775 lb) x 2

NO MERCY!

3. Change Modifiable Factors

Pigging back on the above, when something hurts or is painful always, always, always look at volume/load first.

From there you can ascertain at what load does something hurt – what’s the symptom threshold? Find that and when you do, train just below it to build tolerance and resiliency. The result will be twofold:

1. You’ll be encouraging an actual training effect.

2. Eventually, you’ll surpass the original symptom threshold because you forced an adaptation.

An easy example here would be squats. If someone experiences knee pain at a certain depth – maybe at parallel or just below it – have him or her perform a box (or free) squat ABOVE that spot.

Likewise, maybe all that’s needed to make the squat less painful is to change the stance width, or degree of toeing out?

You can also tinker with bar position or even the tempo. The point is: Assuming we’ve ruled out anything nefarious, I’d rather someone keep squatting with a variation/tweak that reduces their symptoms dramatically than omit them altogether,

4. An Exorcism

But only as a last resort.

Categoriesmindset Motivational personal training

4 Tips I’d Give Myself on Day 1 of My Fitness Journey

As I type these words on my keyboard I am aboard an Irish Rail train en route to Galway. We just spent the past five days in Dublin being tourists making the typical pit stops at sites like Trinity College, the Temple Bar neighborhood, and I even had a Guinness at the renowned Gravity Bar atop the Guinness factory.3

We still have several more days lined up exploring the sites of Ireland with everything culminating in Belfast where we plan to hit up the Titanic Belfast Museum as well as the Giants Causeway and a few filming locations of Game of Thrones.

#nerdlife.

Suffice to say I am in no mood to write new content. Thankfully my man Paul Levitin was thoughtful enough to send me a guest post before I left on my trip. He’s written a handful of excellent posts in recent months and this one no different.

Enjoy!

Copyright: nithid

4 Tips I’d Give Myself on Day 1 of My Fitness Journey

After working in a gym for nearly a decade, and collecting every certification under the sun, it’s easy to become jaded and say “everyone knows this stuff.”

Factually, most people do not.

Today, instead of thinking about where I am now, with 10 years of experience, I want to go back.

It’s easy for me to say “I don’t count calories anymore,” but that’s because I counted calories for nearly a decade, and I have more nutrition labels memorized than I do phone numbers at this point.

So If I had to start from scratch, if today was day 0 of my fitness journey, where would I begin? 

Knowing what I know now, what would I do to most leverage my time and energy? 

via GIPHY

One thing is for sure: When I first started, I had no clue what I was doing. I wasted a lot of time, literally years doing the wrong things. I wasted money, buying useless supplements and other gimmicky products like sauna suits.

So if i could travel back in time to the first day of my fitness journey, here are my 4 tips that I would give my 17 year old self:

1. Don’t Overlook the Simple. Don’t Overvalue the Complex

Some things are so simple, so easy, I just couldn’t understand how they might be helpful

Things like, parking farther away at the parking lot, taking the stairs instead of the elevator, walking to the store instead of driving.

Like, yea, I get it, you get some steps, but could the hundred steps it takes to get from one end of the parking lot to the other, or the extra two minutes it takes to walk three flights of stairs instead of taking the elevator really make a difference?

It turns out that yes, yes it can. 

via GIPHY

Most people think that exercising, whether it’s lifting weights or doing cardio or anything else, represents a huge amount of calories being burned.

In reality, an hour of even the most high intensity exercise will only burn a few hundred calories, a small percentage of your daily calorie intake and burn.

The vast majority of your calories are spent each day simply living. Between bodily functions, like keeping your blood pumping and keeping the lights on in your head, to doing daily tasks like walking, eating, typing, and everything else you tend to do.

It makes sense, since simply proportionally, even if you spend an hour in the gym five days a week, that’s only five hours out of 168, which is 8.4%. Just logically, we have much more opportunity during the remaining 91.6% than we possibly could in the exercise time, no matter how hard we try to push it during those 4 or 5 hours.

A key step towards health then becomes trying to do more in your non exercise time. That walk from the end of the parking lot here, taking the stairs there, getting off your train a stop early and walking, or deciding to explore a new city on foot rather than take an Uber, these things can seem trivial, but over days, weeks, months, and years, they add up.

They keep you moving, they keep you burning, and it’s a key habit that all healthy people adopt, either consciously or unconsciously.

2. Eating for Health and Eating for Weight Loss Are Not Necessarily the Same. Exercising for Health and Exercising for Aesthetics Are Not Necessarily the Same

This one throws people through a loop. It definitely took me some time to wrap my head around.

I saw countless clients as a nutrition coach, as well as myself, getting frustrated saying “I’m eating so healthy, but I’m not losing weight!” That’s because these goals are not one in the same, and taken to extremes, can actually be counter to one another.

The problem comes from the ambiguous definition of “healthy.” To many people seeking to lose weight, they use the terms interchangeably.

A doctor, nutritionist, or health blog however, might use the term “healthy” to mean more nutritious, with more healthy fats. This however might mean more calories, which means that a big bowl of almonds every day might be hurting your weight loss, more than helping it.

Nuts in assortment, Walnuts, pecans, almonds and other. Healthy food snack mix

Or, some “naturalist” type, might say “healthy” to mean less artificial ingredients. To them then, a 200 calorie kombucha would be “healthy,” but a zero calorie, zero sugar diet coke, would not, even though the latter would result in less calories consumed, and thus more potential weight loss than the former.

The same can be said for exercise. Hang around any heavy duty lifting gym for long enough, and talk to enough jacked and shredded bodybuilders and powerlifters, and you know what you’ll hear?

Stories of torn rotator cuffs, blown out backs, and bad knees. Probably some disordered eating as well, and quite potentially, the use of some illicit substances.

People might look “good” (whatever that means), but their health is actually suffering because of it

Now, does this mean these things are mutually exclusive?

Of course not.

You can eat in a way that is both healthy and ideal for weight loss, and you can exercise in a way that makes you look and feel sexy af, while also improving your overall health and longevity.

I am simply saying that this is not inherently the case, and the sooner that you come to grips with that, the less frustrated you will be.

That brings me right to the next point…

3. Optimal Is Only Optimal if You Do It. Don’t Optimize Yourself Out of Consistency

For a long time, I tried to force things,

I was a personal trainer, so I studied the science. I studied the studies.

Squats are more optimal for muscle development than leg press. Cool, no more leg press, only squats.

Girl doing back squat

The optimal weekly routine has you hitting each body part 2 to 3 times per week, that means more focus on big muscle groups like back and legs, and less on arms, abs, and anything smaller.

Optimal cardio is low intensity steady state, those HIIT days are killing your gains. Ok, no more HIIT, only walking. (Jury is back out on this one).

As time went on, I continued to optimize and tweak and adjust, until where I started was nowhere at all where I began.

Now, this in and of itself, certainly isn’t a bad thing. It was the constant learning, optimization, and tweaking that allowed me to achieve the results that I had, like reaching a 500lb deadlift or sub 10% bodyfat.

But that was me. I was a personal trainer, spending seven days in the gym, eating, breathing, and sleeping fitness and nutrition information. It was my life. I was uniquely dedicated, and there was nothing that was going to throw me off course.

Often, people would see what I was doing, be it friends, family, or clients, and try to do the same. Unfortunately, they weren’t me (Sad, I know).

What I mean is, they weren’t coaches. They had lives outside of the gym, they had responsibilities, they had families, they had limited time.

Because of that, often what the science might have said was the most OPTIMAL workout might not fit with their lives.

Beyond that, what is more important, is that what is OPTIMAL does not take into account what is ENJOYABLE.

I was nut, I was going to do whatever it took to get lean and strong.

Normal people, which you might consider yourself to be, might want to, oh, I don’t know, enjoy their exercise routines?

Eat food that doesn’t look like it could be fed to a rabbit?

Traditional Russian dishes, sweets and vodka

Crazy huh?

The thing is, in the quest for optimization, individuality is lost.

If we are assuming that there is ONE optimal way, (which we can argue about, and people on the internet surely will) that means that anything other than optimal is inherently deemed “wrong” or “worse”.

That can be disheartening for people who are already struggling with just getting to the gym or getting off the couch, now they are being told they are doing it wrong too.

So while I do think there is a time and place for doing what’s best, not if it comes at the expense of actually doing the damn thing.

So many people these days hear that strength training is the end all be all of exercise. And for good reason, it’s the bee’s knees, the benefits are basically endless.

BUT, if you’re someone who loves Zumba and going for long runs, should those be poo-poo’ed because they aren’t as optimal as lifting weights?

If you try to force yourself into a box, there’s a chance you might fit, but there’s always also a chance you might get claustrophobic and go crazy

This takes experimentation, and some knowledge of self

I’m not saying don’t try to optimize or ever do what’s best. Just saying, tread carefully, and a non-optimal workout routine done consistently for years is infinitely better than the most scientifically optimal workout that you do for 6 weeks then quit because you hate it

Which, brings me to point four,

4. In the Long Game, Consistency Wins. This is the Long Game, Whether You Like it or Not

When I was 17, I cared about one thing, and one thing only: looking good. More specifically, looking good right now. If I absolutely had to wait, I would accept results tomorrow, but beyond that we were really starting to push it.

Unfortunately, at the time, I was living in this dumb stupid super annoying place called “reality.”

It really was the worst.

Every day, I’d go to the gym and do abs, then lift my shirt up, and NO ABS. It was like a cruel joke.

Now you might be saying, been there Paul. And if you have, maybe you know what my next step was: obviously, logically, it was, more.

  • More abs!
  • More cardio!
  • More more more!

Looking back now, I can see how the logic might have been a little flawed. What I’m not doing isn’t working? Hmm, let’s do more of it!

Poor exercise selection and actual workout programming aside, this route couldn’t work for one key reason: it was unsustainable.

I’d sit doing abs in the gym for 2 hours some days, and be so sore the next day I couldn’t move, or so tired and lethargic I’d skip the day’s planned workout.

And simply logistically, there was no way for me to do 2 and 3 hour workouts like that consistently.

The problem was, I was looking at everything with a short-sighted view. Life, on the other hand, is long. So all my plans revolved around getting results as fast as possible, even though I was a teenager, and barely even started my life

And this is unfortunately how most people look at exercise, eating, and health in general. It’s all about now. Some people think about longevity, but it’s an afterthought at best

The thing is, life is going to happen, whether you want it to or not. You are going to get older. You are going to be 30, 40, 60, 80, whatever, at some point. So for better or worse, you might as well start thinking about it now.

Internalizing these 4 tips will help you create a lifestyle that works for you, and you can keep up with. That way, you can be healthy and enjoy it, not for weeks, or months, but years and decades.

About the Author

Paul Levitin spent a decade as a personal trainer & strength and conditioning coach, becoming the number one trainer in his entire company, while collecting over 30 certificates (CES, CSCS, PRI, PN1, FRC, & many more).

Wanting to better serve his training clients, he began to study behavior change, and eventually became a Board Licensed Health & Wellness Coach (NBHWC). This led him to create his education and mindset coaching company “The Healthy Happy Human Academy,” where he now helps clients deal with things like self-sabotage and perfectionism, to allow them to build a healthy, happy life.

He seeks to bridge the gap between the worlds of fitness and nutrition, and the frustrated, overwhelmed masses who just want to move more, feel better, and live a little longer.

https://www.instagram.com/paullevitin/
The Healthy Happy Human Podcast
The Healthy Happy Human Academy FREE Facebook Group

 

Categoriespodcast

Training While Injured: How to Safely Continue Weight Training With an Injury

I had the lovely opportunity to be invited onto the Fitness Pain Free Show hosted by my man Dan Pope recently. Dan and I have known each other for several years (the facility he works out of, Champion Physical Therapy & Performance, is located about 20 minutes away from my training studio in Boston) and he and I have conversed over shared clients/athletes during that time.

I’ve long championed that personal trainers and coaches need to be proactive and go out of their way to develop and curate relationships and networks with local physical therapists.

it not only enhances the results for the (injured) client, but it never hurts to have two sets of biceps eyes on the same problem.

Training While Injured: A Thoughtful Convo With One of My Man Crushes

In this episode Dan and I break down how we connected and how we’ve continued to hone our professional relationship in order to get our clients the best outcomes possible.

We also discuss the idea behind the TRAINABLE MENU and how it came to fruition during my own achilles rupture rehab. What’s more, Dan and I also discuss why it’s important for fitness professionals to respect scope of practice and why it’s important to NOT treat injured clients like a patient.

I think you’ll really dig this episode.

You can listen to it on Spotify (HERE) or iTunes (HERE).

Or you can watch the episode below…

CategoriesUncategorized

Standing Out From the Crowd: Appearance On the Your Fitness Money Coach Podcast

I was recently invited onto the Your Fitness Money Coach Podcast hosted by Billy Hofacker. Some of you may recognize the name because Billy has penned several informative guest posts on this site surrounding financial literacy in the past year.

HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE.

I was thrilled to post his content here because he has expertise in a topic that many fitness professionals need dire help with. To speak candidly, I wish I had access to this kind of content earlier in my career.

Nevertheless, Billy invited me onto his show to discuss what ended up being a bevy of topics. He ended up titling it “Standing Out From the Crowd,” and I think it was the right call. I mean, I personally would have gone with something like “Tony is the Wind Beneath All of Our Wings,” or “Tony’s Pecs Had me at Hello,” but whatever.

I’m not here to split straws.

Copyright: amasterpics123

Standing Out From the Crowd

Billy is an excellent conversationalist and I enjoyed going back in time to discuss how I went about differentiating myself from the masses creating content and building my own brand from scratch.

I hope you give the episode a listen and be sure to check out more of Billy’s stuff.  I’m not kidding: He’s an abyss of information and practical knowledge around business and finances.

Listen HERE (direct link) or HERE (iTunes)

Categoriespodcast

Appearance on the Becoming Ronin Podcast

It was an absolute pleasure to be invited onto the Becoming Ronin Podcast recently hosted by Jim “Smitty” Smith & Brian Oberther.

SPOILER ALERT:  We did not use the hour to break down or discuss the 1998 Robert DeNiro classic, Ronin, which has one of the best car chase scenes ever filmed.

(sad face).

Samurai sword on shelves store weapons on shop center.

Appearance on the Becoming Ronin Podcast

We did, however, dive into true Ronin territory. This show is not meant to solely cover sets & reps, the differences between concurrent vs. conjugate periodization, how to master a bicep peak, or anything related to lifting heavy things.

It’s no doubt imbued with those “ingredients” and themes, but the Becoming Ronin Podcast goes a bit deeper into other, more robust “takes” and conversations into what it takes to truly live a life of fulfillment and meaning.

It was an honor to be invited onto the show and I think you’ll dig the conversational style of the episode.

Give it a listen HERE (direct link) or HERE (iTunes).

CategoriesFemale Training

How I Respond When Female Clients Use the I Don’t Want to Get Bulky From Lifting Weights Cliche

I received a question recently via my Instagram DM’s and figured it prudent to take some time to write a more thorough response I could share with the masses here.

1. I hope it helps and makes sense.

2. Um, why aren’t you following me on IG?4

Here’s the question:

“What is your response to female clients who use the cliche of not wanting to get bulky when training? Any practical scientific routes that you speak about to dispel this myth?”

Copyright: milkos

My Response 👇👇

I gotta be honest and forthright out of the gate…

…I really do feel this sentiment and way of thinking is shrinking and becoming less of a “thing” in 2022. Granted this is just my N=1 experience, but since this is my blog, pretty much anything I say here should be taken as fact.

Like:

  •  Hacks is the funniest show on television right now.
  • Baseball players can (and should) perform overhead pressing.
  • I think my cat wants to kill me.
  • No, really, I’m not kidding.
  • Why are you looking at me like that, Dagny?
  • No, wait, stop. STOP.
  • Ahhhhhhhh.

I joined my first commercial gym in 1996. I came home for the summer after my freshman year in college and was elated to find out my hometown had suddenly gotten a bit more badass and opened up a gym.

(it sure beat having another pizza shop open up)

It was stellar and it served as my “home-base” until I left for New England in the fall of 2005. In those nine years it was very rare to see a woman in the free-weight area lifting weights. I felt it was fantastic anytime I saw it happen, but it was a rare event.

Akin to me wearing shorts in public.

Anyway, once I moved to New England (and subsequently Boston) I ended up living in a proverbial strength & conditioning bubble where people of all shapes and sizes (as well as non-Y chromosome havers) performed full-rom pull-ups, were more inclined to squat on Monday than bench press, and salivated when it was deadlift day.

Young woman power lifting training indoor gym alone

And that’s where I lived until this past Fall when I joined my first commercial gym since 2005. I’ve been training there for the past several months and it’s night and day in terms of the general vibe.

Everyday I see various women squatting, deadlifting, thrusting, and lifting appreciable weight. It’s awesome and I love that the mentality and attitude toward strength training has shifted to reflect a stark contrast compared to a generation prior.

That said, it’s not lost on me that the stigma of “lifting weights will make me bulky” still stings in today’s society and that it festers in the psyche of some women still.

The best way I can answer this question is in two parts:

1. What to NOT say and do.

2. The opposite of that.

What to NOT Say and Do

The question sent to me asked if I have a “practical scientific route” I take when this issue comes up. I do (or I should say did), but it rarely (if ever) works.

If I’m honest, early in my career I took this approach and it makes me cringe to think about it. If a new female client brought up her concerns about putting on too much muscle it took a lot of will power on my end to not have my eyes roll out of their sockets.

And then I’d get all “mansplainy” and wax poetic about hormone profiles and how women have waaay less testosterone than men and that it’s really hard to put on muscle.

I’d say something snide like:

“It’s hard to put on muscle. 100% of guys wish they could add muscle as fast as many women “think” is possible.”

Then, to top it off, like an a-hole I’d continue…

“You won’t turn into He-Man in a week. Or a month, or a year for that matter.”

Like I said, I cringe when I think about how I used to handle this sort of conversation. I’m willing to bet I lost more potential (female) clients then gained taking this approach.

Here’s What I Now Do Instead

At this point in my career I tend to get a lot of self-selected clientele. Meaning, by the time someone walks through the front door the day of their initial assessment or session, they’re already perfectly aware of what they’re getting themselves into.

They’ve either read a lot of what I have written and know my general approach to training or they look up at the sign above the door and read my tagline…

Surprise!

Nevertheless, while I still like to endorse some level of education on the topic of women and strength training, I’ve since rescinded my global approach to a large degree.

I still play devil’s advocate at times and will say something like “saying you’re going to get big & bulky from strength training is like me saying I’m going to win a gold medal in the Olympics because I went out and did some sprints yesterday.”

(and then I keep my fingers crossed that there’s nothing but crickets chirping afterward).

Instead of going on and on about women’s limited testosterone levels, how toning isn’t a real term (one of my biggest pet peeves fitness professional do), or how they’ll never attain the results of elite female bodybuilders, yada yada yada…I dig deeper, and ask more questions:

  • “Why do you feel strength training will make you big and bulky?”
  • What does bulky mean to you? What does it look like?
  • “Is this something that happened in the past?
  • “What exercise(s) in particular do you feel cause this?”

Maybe their perspective projects that of a trainer they worked with previously. Maybe they never took the time to learn nor where they shown proper technique. Or, I don’t know, maybe they have a hard time letting go of certain myths and think the Abominable Snowman exists.

Either way…

Sometimes it’s more helpful to take some time to peel back the onion and to ascertain someone’s root cause for thinking they way they do, rather than chastise them out of the gate for the sole purpose of proving them wrong.

I have found that this approach has been a far more efficacious way of handling things and has helped me build far more powerful and lasting relationships with my female clients.

And not for nothing: After a few weeks of consistency I find the switch flips anyway. Once the foreignness and stigma of the barbell is no longer a part of the story – and we begin to build & increase autonomy and competency – I find most of my female clients begin to strive to be more (adding muscle is cool!) rather than wanting to be less.

Categoriesbusiness

Get Rid of Money Stress For Good

Fitness professionals are notorious for myriad of things:

  • Wearing sweatpants to work everyday. It’s definitely one of the perks of the job.
  • Always forgetting about the protein shake shaker in their gym bag (or in their car) that invariably, three weeks later, ends up melting someone’s face off once it’s opened.
  • Their affinity for smedium t-shirts.
  • Never talking about financial literacy (I.e., planning for retirement, investing, and/or general business savviness).

The latter is just something we never discuss and is our version of an unspoken rule; kinda like talking to a pitcher during a no-hitter.

My friend and colleague, Billy Hofacker, is back with another fantastic post geared toward helping fitness professionals better wrap their brains around money. This time around, specifically, centered around the stress of seemingly never having any.

What’s more, he even includes a special (and FREE) “master class” video for my readers that I feel everyone should check out.

Enjoy!

Copyright: ilixe48

Get Rid of Money Stress For Good

Note From Author: Since finance can be an overwhelming topic, I also recorded a video diving deeper and providing more support with these topics.

You can access the video HERE.

I remember starting out in business. I was fortunate enough to have a free session with a guy named John, a CFO of a huge company. I’m talking about a company that was doing hundreds of million in revenue. 

You see, I have my own personal journey with money that included being suffocated by 130K in non-mortgage debt and working my way out. 

Now I was going to use some of the principles I was learning from my personal journey and apply them to business. 

Needless to say I was excited for my free session. I remember standing behind him as he was showing me how a business budget worked. He would mention “budgeting” certain amounts for certain categories. The curious person that I am, I asked him where that money actually was. I said something like, “If I have $500 allocated towards equipment, where does that money actually go? It seems to me like it’s just sitting in the account like all the other money. What’s to stop it from being spent?”

His response didn’t make sense to me.

He said, “You just know.”

via GIPHY

One of the most common reasons Fit Pros hire me as their financial coach is because they want a plan for their money.

Not having a plan is painful.

It results in a lack of confidence and results. Many people think that businesses fail due to a lack of profit but are surprised to learn that in fact, 82% of businesses fail because they lack an understanding of cash flow. 

The good news is that there is hope. A solid cash flow system can do a lot for your business. Clients who have developed a system report that:

  • Decisions Become Much Easier – They know when and how much to invest in marketing, hiring, and marketing
  • The Path Becomes Clear – They are able to focus like a laser as they know what the next step towards their goal is
  • Confidence Increases – Sure, Fit Pros want to do better financially. They want to earn more but what’s perhaps more important is the person they become in the process

There are a few common mistakes or myths when it comes to cash flow plans.

I will relate all three to fitness. 

The First Mistake: People Don’t Stick With It Long Enough

Just like some fitness clients, if they aren’t completely transformed after a couple of months, they throw in the towel.

Young woman making pilates and functional training at the gym

Just like fitness, financial improvement takes time. You don’t erase 20 years of poor financial habits in five minutes with a spreadsheet. This boils down to behavior change which we know takes time.

The work precedes the results.

The Second Mistake: Thinking There Is a One Size Fits All Program

Should everyone become a competitive endurance athlete? Not necessarily. Some people have other interests within fitness and/or aren’t suited for it. Some trainers (e.g. the kettlebell guy or gal) make the mistake of forcing the program they like on the client when the modality might not be most effective for the client.

They neglect the concept of bio-individuality. 

Some financial coaches do the same thing while they would be better off working with the client to develop the best plan for them.

While certain principles may apply, the exact how-to’s may differ from person to person. 

The Final Mistake: Thinking That the Cash Flow System Will Be Boring Or Restricting

Author and leadership consultant Jocko Willink says that discipline equals freedom. When you are disciplined with your fitness or your finances, the result is more freedom, not less. If you aren’t fit, you’ll have less options in what you can do physically.

If you aren’t financially fit, you will also be restricted in what you can do. 

Click HERE To Get Access to the full video training.

The Problem

One of the reasons it’s hard for people to create and stay on a financial plan is the chaotic nature of how money comes in and goes out. 

Cash sticking out of a red piggy bank

Depending on your situation, you may:

  • Not pay yourself at all
  • Not pay yourself consistently
  • Be on salary
  • Pay yourself monthly 
  • Pay yourself bi-weekly
  • Pay yourself bonuses 
  • Have a side hustle
  • Have recurring revenue
  • Have various programs

There are so many situations people find themselves in and that’s just the income. 

Let’s talk about expenses.

You most likely have automatic monthly expenses. These would occur the same day every month and for the same amount. A prime example would be your rent or mortgage.

You most likely have daily expenses. These are things like food, coffee, toiletries, etc.5

We all have random expenses. These are the ones that really throw people off. An example is that car insurance payment that’s due every six months. You can have a plan for everything else but if you don’t have a plan for these, your budget could be busted. 

checking a receipt by analyzing the numbers, expenses and profits

The good news is that we have a plan to account for all of these and then some. While it’s beyond the scope of this post to cover every detail, I’ll provide an overview as well as a next step. 

Of course, I’m a huge proponent of “paying yourself first” so if you’re not doing that, I’d make that a priority. 

Now let’s cover a plan for the three types of expenses I mentioned.

Check out my video HERE where I explain everything.

Monthly Automatic – These are probably the easiest since you know the dates and amounts. You would just coordinate the dates they are due with when your income comes in.

These are automatically paid from your main checking account. 

Daily – Call me old school but I like to use cash for daily expenses. If I can’t use cash, I’ll set up a separate debit account at my main bank so I can at least keep things separate. I recommend people do the same for daily expenses, at least for a period of time so they can really see what’s going on. 

Random – As I mentioned, these are the ones that throw people off the most. For that reason, it’s essential to have a plan for these infrequent expenses. You’ll want to open up a bank account at a separate bank (an online account is perfect) and save the breakdown that you will need each month. For example, if you’ll need $1200 to buy Christmas gifts, set up an auto transfer for $100 each month to that account. 

In a Nutshell

That’s the simple plan you can follow to get rid of money stress for good. I realize this can be overwhelming if it’s new to you and that you also may have unique circumstances. 

For that reason, I recorded an exclusive video for TG’s list (i.e. YOU) which dives more into the details and should help more with the how.

Of course, I’m available if you have any questions. 

Watch the full video HERE 

About the Author

Many fitness professionals get stuck in the day to day and have little to show for their hard work. Billy Hofacker helps them get on a plan to achieve financial freedom. You can learn more by listening to the Your Fitness Money Coach podcast or visiting www.yourfitnessmoneycoach.com.

You can also opt in to get a digital copy of his book Fitness Profits HERE.

Categoriespersonal training Program Design

Why Attempting to Set PRs Every Week is F&*#!@# Stupid

Attempting to set a PR every single week is silly.

It’s an approach to training I have long advocated against (and a hill I will die on). Well, that and saying Sydney Bristow is the best character in television history…;o)6

Training to get stronger isn’t necessarily about hitting PR’s on the regular. In fact, if you break down the training programs that most really strong people follow, they’re only hitting an actual PR once, maybe twice per year. And that’s even a stretch.

Today’s guest post by personal trainer Lance Goyke (whom I first met back in the day when he was an intern turned employee at IFAST in Indianapolis) helps to shed light on why chasing weekly PRs likely isn’t going to do you any favors.

Copyright: ufabizphoto

Why Attempting to Set PRs Every Week is F&*#!@# Stupid

“PRs never look pretty.”

Well they could look pretty good, but most people don’t have the discipline for that kind of training.

If you’re the type of person who often has two weeks of awesome training followed by two weeks of remedial rehab, then it’s likely you spend too much time testing strength instead of building strength.

In this article, we’ll talk about strength, how it’s not quite what we think it is, and how striving for strength prevents you from actually building strength. I’ll give you a few examples of how biomechanics can change during max effort lifts, hopefully leaving you with a new, healthier, and more effective way to approach your training.

What is Strength? How Do We Measure It?

Strength is “the capacity of an object or substance to withstand great force or pressure”.

We measure it using the weight we lift in a training session, but that’s only an approximation of force production. And there are two types of forces: internal and external.

Internal forces sum to become an external force. Using deadlifting as an example, the calves, quads, hamstrings, glutes, and back muscles (internal forces) all combine into pressure through the feet (external force).

Internal forces combine into a single external force during deadlift

We mostly picture muscles and tendons producing forces, but the joints and ligaments do as well. Though bones and ligaments don’t shorten like muscles, they also don’t collapse under heavy loads.

Err, well, hopefully they don’t collapse. “Bend and not break” as they say!

I find it helpful to think of these bones and ligaments as really good isometric contracters, i.e., they maintain length even under load. It reminds me of hitching a deadlift or putting an Atlas stone in your lap. They won’t pick up the weight for you, but it sure is nice to have a short break in the middle of the rep.

Since muscle is the only thing we have that changes length and can actually move a weight, we should aim for more muscle force production.

But setting PRs isn’t about training muscles, it’s about lifting weight. And this has consequences.

Anatomy of a Personal Record

When attempting a (literal) max effort lift, there are two main factors that decide the outcome:

  • Mindset
  • Biomechanics

The strongest people in the gym are good at mindset: I will get this done at any cost. If you don’t think you can lift it, your brain puts the brakes on your muscles. You don’t have to be totally insane, but you do need to believe that it’s in the realm of possibility.

Biomechanics is harder to predict.

Even isolation exercises like lateral raises hardly occur in isolation. The intricate web of neurology means that moving one joint moves all the others.

During a PR attempt, your brain gives commands and listens for feedback. You might go into a bench press with the intention of keeping your shoulders set down, but when the weight slows to a near stop, your brains says, “BATTEN DOWN THE HATCHES! SHRUG THE SHOULDERS! LIFT THE BUM!” And before you know it, you’re doing an Unsupported Decline Press from Shrug Position instead of a Bench Press.

We’ve all seen someone do this, but why does it happen?

Technique Changes During PR Attempts to Temporarily Increase Force Production

If the pecs, deltoids, lats, serratus anterior, and triceps can’t stabilize AND press the weight, a useful strategy is to shrug the shoulders, jamming the shoulder into the acromion process while stabilizing the rib cage and clavicle with the neck muscles. This not only removes stress from the primary muscle groups of the lift, but also subtly changes the length of these working muscles. If the pecs are getting weaker because they’re getting shorter, let’s just elevate the clavicle to lengthen them and our force production capability will return.

But this comes at a cost. The shoulder joint wears out, rotator cuff gets injured, and the neck stiffens. All for a temporary increase in weight lifted.

And it’s difficult to argue that you’re even getting stronger! Yes, you might lift more weight, but most of that came from passive tissues instead of muscle. Even if you don’t get injured, are you planning on training your glenoid labrum to lift more weight next time? I hope not.

This type of technique change works for testing the max weight you can lift, but it’s not building strength.

Learning Technique Consistency

When a lifter tests strength by compromising biomechanics every week, she never learns how to maintain technique under duress.

Undesired Response to Increased Intensiveness

With time and extreme discipline, however, technique stays pristine even in the most difficult sets:

Desired Response to Increased Intensiveness

Many moons ago, I was having trouble staying consistent with training. I wanted to lift, but I had this two-week cycle of feeling good vs. joint pain. I stayed “broken” until I became strict about periodizing my training intensity and maintaining technique during really heavy sets.

If your training oscillates between wonderful sessions and remedial sessions, learn to be more consistent with technique across all sets and remember to deload your training monthly.

Examples of How Technique Changes During Max Effort Attempts

To cement this idea as a reality, here are three more examples of how changes in technique can prevent you from building strength. These will increase in complexity as we go along.

Deadlifting with Hitching Into Lockout

There are three main ways to lock out a deadlift:

  • Squeeze glutes (good)
  • Squeeze the low back (bad)
  • Hitching (you do what you gotta do)

Using the glutes keeps the spine neutral. Using the low back muscles arches the lumbar spine, introducing tons of wear and tear.

Hitching a deadlift is when the lifter briefly rests the bar on the thighs while trying to lock out.

Here’s a timestamped video showing a clear hitch, though it’s difficult to nit pick when the weight is 937lbs (@ 6:12).

 

This has many advantages for lifting more weight:

  • Short “rest”
  • Squat knees underneath the weight for support
  • Shorten moment arm on glutes
  • Increase moment arm on quads

If you hitch to lock out your deadlift, you’re deloading the glutes and hamstrings.

Squatting with Forward Weight Shift

Shifting forward at the bottom of a full squat is a common compensation for squatting more weight. You see it a lot with Olympic weightlifting due to the mobility demands of the sport.

Here’s a timestamped video example (@ 2:58).

 

This does a few things to help the lifter:

  • Stretches the quads and calves, stimulating a strong reflex which helps straighten the knee
  • Short break time with the butt and hamstrings resting on the calves and ankles
  • Removes stress from the glutes and hamstrings
  • Helps maintain a vertical torso

The biggest long-term issues with this forward weight shift are that the lifter is more likely to experience knee overuse injuries, hip mobility limitations like butt wink, and inconsistent performance. The latter is an especially important topic in technique-intense Olympic weightlifting: if you only get six attempts at a meet, you don’t want to miss one because of technique.

Additionally, quad overuse often makes people feel persistent tightness. They search for quad stretches, perform some, then feel better for a few minutes until the tightness returns.

You can still get the stretch reflex benefit out of the bottom of the lift even when avoiding a forward shift. Sitting down and slightly backward to full depth stretches the quads and calves, but also increases the stretch on the glutes and hamstrings. This is one reason why posterior chain exercises like the Romanian deadlift and good mornings can improve your squat.

Bench Press with Torso Twist

Alright, I wanted to throw in one complicated scenario: twisting the torso on a bench press.

Up until now, all of our compensations have been pretty symmetrical. But there’s asymmetry in the real world. Time to take off the training wheels.

When attempting a max effort bench press, the sternum will often move to the right. This changes a few things:

  • The right abs go into overdrive
  • The left ribs and elbow flare out
  • The left shoulder rises up due to this rib position
  • The bar tilts and twists, loading the right side even more
  • The lifter makes a face that’s not usually very cool (obviously most important)
Here’s a timestamped video showing the right sternum twist (@ 1:29); you can see it on rep 7, hard to not see on rep 8, and impossible to ignore on the 9th, failed rep.

 

Here’s a timestamped video showing the left elbow flare and bar twisting (@ 1:59).

 

And here’s a timestamped video showing both; the sternum start noticebly twisting on rep 15 (@ 3:29) and it’s really easy to see the left elbow flare on the failed rep.

 

And briefly, notice that it’s harder to nitpick mistakes in this 675lb bench press (timestamped @ 5:00).

 

We contort ourselves this way because of the normal asymmetry in the body. The heart on the left supports the left rib cage flaring. The big liver on the right supports the right abdominals. And because everything is connected, these asymmetries permeate all the way through our limbs.

This is a tough compensation to fix. You might consider warming up with some dedicated shoulder mobility exercises. Utilize more unilateral training like the split squat. If this problem is unfamiliar, you might find it useful to slow down as this gives you time to notice when mistakes happen (it’s usually around the sticking point). As you get more proficient, you can speed up.

In any case, you’ll need to be disciplined about your technique when you’re exhausted.

Building Strength vs. Testing Strength

Hopefully by now you have a better idea of how your body might compensate during a max effort lift. Remember: it’s okay to try hard! The point is that technique must remain pristine if it’s to be considered training.

Save the strange body conformations for your personal record attempts. And give yourself time to train between testing sessions.

I like to push my clients hard on week 4 of a 4-week training program. This gives 3 weeks to practice technique and acclimate to the training volume, preparing well for testing your body and mind.

Perfect technique does not mean the lift is light and easy. In fact, it should be harder to do because the muscles are reaching their limit and your brain must override your body’s instincts. This is real discipline.

I’ll leave you with a bulleted list of tips.

Guidelines for Building Strength

  • Test strength at most one out of every four weeks
  • “Testing strength” does not mean a single rep maximum, but a max effort for the pre-planned training program set and rep scheme
  • Train like a bodybuilder; aim to feel the right muscles working
  • Using less weight doesn’t mean you’re detraining; strength can fluctuate up to 18% in any given day
  • Don’t forget to deload your training roughly one out of every four weeks
  • Don’t forget to train endurance
  • Use cardio to speed up your recovery from strength workouts

And remember: spend more time building strength than testing strength.

About the Author

Lance Goyke, MS, CSCS has been a personal trainer and strength coach for over ten years. He’s currently working remotely with clients all over the world, including at Google, America, Scotland, and New Zealand. In addition to coaching, he also produces educational fitness writing, videos

Categoriespersonal training psychology

The Words We Use Matter

NOTE: In six weeks I will be in Dublin, Ireland with my wife, Dr. Lisa Lewis, to present our Strong Body, Strong Mind Workshop.

In an effort to give insight and to help highlight some of the content we will be covering I figured today I’d re-publish an old(er) post from a few years go.

Much of what stresses us out as fitness professionals and gym owners is the psychological side of things as it relates to our clients:

  • Why won’t so and so listen to what I am saying?
  • If they just simply followed the plan as outlined things would be fine.
  • If I hear one more client bring up the Carnivore Diet I am going to jump through this pane glass window.

Nevertheless, motivation and long-term success in the gym often begins with possessing the soft skills necessary to communicate more effectively and efficiently.

As a reminder: I will be in Dublin on July 24th – HERE, in additional to Belfast, Northern Ireland, the weekend of July 30th – HERE.

I hope to see you there!

A few weeks ago, while in LA presenting, I was asked a simple question by one of the attendees:

“What’s the one thing you’ve adopted or changed the most as a coach in the past 2-3 years?“

A simple inquiry to be sure. However, it required a bit of heft to answer.

I mean it’s not like they asked my thoughts on Linear Periodization7, kipping pull-ups8, or, I don’t know, the atomic mass of Manganese,9all of which can be answered with witty footnotes.

My response was likely a bit of a curveball.

While I could have easily gone into the nuances of assessment, program design, and the importance of positional breathing and what philosophical pivots I’ve made on each in recent years – or waxed poetic on why “textbook technique” doesn’t exist – I didn’t choose to.

Instead, I brought up the “words” we use as coaches.

Copyright: alphaspirit / 123RF Stock Photo

Words Matter

Let’s start with an inane example.

A word.

A word we use all the time in the fitness industry and one that serves as a cornerstone for what we do as a profession:

Assessment

For us (coaches, personal trainers, physical therapists, athletic trainers) the word infers or implies a start. We use an amalgamation of our expertise in anatomy, program design, bodily movement, and exercise technique/prescription (amongst other thing) and apply all of it to best fit the needs, goals, and ability level of the person sitting in front of us.

In other words: We attempt to find the most efficient, safe, and straightest line possible between Point B (where the client wants to go/goals) and Point A (where they are presently).

Alternatively, for them (clients/athletes/pirates), the word “assessment” can mean a plethora of things:

  • An evaluation
  • A screen
  • A test

Above all, though, I think most people feel an assessment is nothing more than 45-60 minutes of a complete stranger judging the shit out of them:

  • Your shoulders are internally rotated and rounded.
  • You have anterior pelvic tilt.
  • Your core is weak.
  • Your glutes don’t fire.
  • Your left eye is lower than your right. That’s weird.

In short: It’s a window of time where some douchy trainer takes every opportunity possible to showcase how much of a walking ball of fail someone is.

via GIPHY

I’ve personally taken steps to try to omit the word “assessment” from my vocabulary. I just feel the connotation breeds a negative tone out of the gate and is something I’d rather avoid.

Instead, I’ve opted to using terms such as “success session,” “meet and greet,” or “diesel deadlift house of fantastical dreams power hour.”

It just feels less judgy, doesn’t it?

The Power of ‘Of Coursing’

I have many friends in the fitness industry and it’s not uncommon for us to commiserate with one another about asinine things we read on the internet or maybe share a frustrating story regarding a client.

Here’s a recent back and forth I had with a friend:

“I have to share this with you…

Yesterday a lady who was given a gift certificate to take my women’s strength training class approached me after class to tell me she would have to take a month or two off from my class so she could “get some of this weight off…”

While I tried to control the stream coming out of my ears I said to her…

Well that’s kinda counterintuitive

She says:

I’m gonna start taking spin again! It really helped me lose weight…

Me: still trying to control the rage monster…

Well, have you done anything to change your eating over the last month? No. When you were taking spin, what did your diet look like? Well, I was tracking my calories and writing everything down that I ate.

So, you think the spinning helped you lose the weight?

Crickets

I burned 800 calories in spinning…. And I forgot to mention she sleeps horribly due to triplets (age 4 😳🙄) and she’s a DIETICIAN!

So I went on to explain what I thought she needed to do and how three days of spinning would be equivalent to pouring gasoline on the hormonal shit storm her body currently lies in…

Just ugh…”

Admittedly, after reading his description of events, I too had to resist the urge to jump in front of a bus. Why are people so adamant on repeating the same thing(s) over and over and over again to the tune of the same inconsistent results?

Not-to0-long ago Tony would have handled things the same way my friend did.

Present day Tony had this to say:

“Next time something like that happens do this:

Say, Of course.

Of course, you’d want to go back to spin class again. You enjoy it and it seemingly helped you lose weight. And, of course you want to go back to the same classes as before because they’re familiar and comfortable and not so intimidating.

However I do feel there’s a more efficient way for you to attain your goal(s) and to MAKE THEM STICK.

Give me 60 days. Let me take the reigns for 60 days. Do what I say, learn, try something different. If you don’t feel better after 60 days and feel as if you haven’t made progress, I’ll buy your next spin package.”

This is a tactic I stole from my wife few years ago and is a keen example of the plethora of tactics she covers during her block in the Strong Body, Strong Mind Workshop.

Instead of berating or guilting a fat-loss client who ate a bowl of Golden Grahams before bed – “you’re weak,” or “I guess you don’t want it bad enough,” or “I’m not mad, just disappointed” –  I’d opt to “of course” him or her to death.

“Of course you want to eat Golden Grahams before bed. They’re fucking delicious. However, let’s see if we can come up with some healthier alternatives together that may be a better fit for your goals.”

Or what about the client who misses a few workouts?

“Of course you’d rather go to a Norah Jones concert rather than come to the gym to deadlift. She’s a delight and a national treasure. I have all her albums myself. That being said, no matter how many times you listen to “Don’t Know Why” it’s not going to help you hit your goal. Let’s see what we can do to prioritize your sessions more?”

Or what about the client who wants to give keto a try?

“Of course you want to try the ketogenic diet. It’s all the rage right now and everyone is doing it. If it’s sustainable and matches your lifestyle I see no reason why you shouldn’t give it a go. However, if after two weeks of not having carbs your response to your office mate saying “hey, good morning,” is to stab them in the throat with a stapler, we’ll likely need to have a talk.”

By leaning in and recognizing why someone would choose to do what they do – and not being an uppity curmudgeon about it (and more importantly…offering a solution or alternative) – you open up the doors for change to actually happen.

Try it.

I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised at the results.

Categoriespersonal training

Laying the Foundation: What to Expect As a First-Year Personal Trainer

Being a personal trainer can be a very rewarding career.

The first step to “success” in this industry, however, is understanding that there’s a difference between it being a hobby and you taking the necessary steps to make it a career.

The second step to success is expectation management:

  • You will not work with professional athletes or celebrities right away (or ever).
  • You will not be earning a six-figure salary right away (or ever).
  • You will not be working remotely from a beach in Hawaii while sipping a smoothie made from strawberries fertilized with unicorn tears and free-range protein powder grown in Wakanda right away (or ever).
  • You will be wearing sweatpants to work everyday. Score!

Year one is a challenging year. But if you prepare yourself well and are proactive in certain facets, you’ll easily separate yourself from the masses sooner than later. Read below for more tips via Virginia based personal trainer (with 20+ years of experience), Detric Smith.

Copyright: dolgachov

Congratulations, You’re Now a Certified Personal Trainer

You may have worked hard to get here either going through college or working through a personal trainer certification.  You may feel that you have learned a lot, but the learning has only just begun. When I first started on the gym floor freshly armed with my personal training cert and big biceps, I thought clients would be falling on my feet.

How wrong I was.

My first year as a trainer was difficult, no doubt. Lots of mistakes were made and now you’ll benefit from this.  Here are a few challenges, opportunities, and advice to help you survive and thrive in your first year on the gym floor.  

Let’s dive in.

What To Expect In Your First Year

 It will be fun, exciting, scary and you will be tired.

Those early mornings are great but that’s why you got into it right? To drink lots of coffee, wear tracksuit pants, and coach people up.

Personal trainer instructing trainee

Quick Tip: Don’t “coach” your clients like this. Creep.

Plus, the days will be long as you try to build up your clientele. You’ll be training people in the early mornings and early evenings with plenty of free time in between. This is the perfect opportunity to watch other trainers at work, read everything you can get your hands on, and ask plenty of specific questions.

When everything is new, every day will present new challenges and you will be nervous and apprehensive. Every day will feel different as you interact with people who may end up teaching you more than you teach them. This is why we have two ears and one mouth as listening is a skill that needs to be developed during your first year as a trainer.

Because there is a trap during your first year where you think you know everything, and nobody can teach you anything.

Don’t be like that. Keep an open mind on everything.

I remember overthinking everything 20 years ago.

I took hours to write a workout or two trying to write the perfect program when the perfect program didn’t exist. This was a rookie mistake. The trick here is not to be discouraged when making rookie mistakes or when things take longer than they should. 

Remember everything is a learning experience. Store it in the memory bank and move on.

Overall, it’s a great atmosphere being surrounded by people trying to make a positive change in their life. The people that actually make it to the gym would rather be there than work. For the most part, gym-goers are great. Stay away from those who are not. 

Money Will Be Tight

It can be a challenge financially until you start to develop your skills and build your clientele. And you might need to have multiple fitness jobs at the same time, or it might be a part-time job outside of the fitness industry. In this industry, most trainers have to work at two different places to make enough money. 

Concept of finance and economy with piggy bank

You will be discouraged about the lack of zeros on your paycheck and there is a tendency to equate your worth to your paycheck. Please don’t do that because you’re in the process of changing lives and getting your name out there. Not every success is measured with cash, and it helps to remember this if you’re struggling financially.

Other Challenges Beside Money

Time – to get your reps you might have to ignore the advice from the online training guru selling you the 4-hour workweek lifestyle. Most of us had to do those 5 am sessions, and long days at first. Train anyone at first, so you can pick and choose later. 

Job opportunities – you will be faced with tons of opportunities- some good, some not so good. And it is hard to know the difference. There are positives and negatives to all of the different types of places you can work with. This leads me to my next point.

Places to work – Just about every trainer prefers to start working at a studio or small chain, getting paid high dollars. Or at an exclusive high-paying big gym but the truth is most of us have to start with big-box chain gyms to get hours. And yes, some of those hours might be the dreaded floor hours where you clean and walk around and talk to members. This is all part of the learning process 

Impatience – it helps to have realistic expectations because you don’t have the experience to train the superstar athlete or the high profile celebrity. Keep getting your reps in and showing up every day is key.   

There is a business coach under every rock- there is nothing wrong with selling the dream, but I am here to give you realistic expectations. If you remember nothing about this article, remember this.

 “There Is no such thing as overnight success.”

I hate to see people leave the industry before they even get started because some “guru” gave them unrealistic expectations for success.  You can accomplish anything, but it takes time, patience, and lots of hard work. So, if a guru who knows nothing about your background tells you to train online and make 6 figures in year one…. Run.  

Here’s What You Should Focus On In Your First year

Now you have realistic expectations of your first-year experience, the long hours and money being tight, here are a few things to focus on for you to get better.  

Experience over money – this is not to say money isn’t important because you need to eat. But placing yourself in learning situations and extending yourself out of your comfort zone will pay off in the long run.

Networking – going to fitness expos, and local community events will help you meet like-minded people and potential clients. This is not only important in your first year but every year you’re a trainer.  

Find mentors – the path has been walked before by others before you. If you want to shorten your learning curve and set yourself up for a long career, it helps to have someone in your corner who has done it before.

Get better at your craft- a no-brainer really. Nobody wants to hire you if you cannot get results, but exercise and programming are only small parts of your job. Getting better at the soft skills and getting people to do the work when the going gets tough for them is important too.

Wrapping Up

Starting a new profession coaching humans is tough and there are a lot of pitfalls to navigate. Lack of money, long hours, and business coaches praying on your vulnerabilities just to name a few. But when you focus on getting better at your craft and putting yourself in learning situations to make you better, the rewards will come.

Remember you are laying the foundation for hopefully a long career of helping people be better. And you’ll be getting better together.

About the Author

Detric Smith, CSCS, ACSM EP-C, PN-1  is the owner of Results Performance Training in Williamsburg, Virginia. He has over two decades of experience as a personal trainer and sports performance coach. 

He develops personal trainers through his site DetricSmith.com, and serves as a mentor through various fitness organizations. 

Follow Detric on FB and IG