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Thursday, Dec 03, 2009
Money Talks, BS Walks
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Thursday, Dec 03, 2009 01:23
Our industry is often filled with people trying to make a quick buck. They see something new and are all over it like flies on stink.
Sometimes this can be a good thing -- some of these groups have enough money to create big campaigns around things and boost awareness of good training methods. But usually what happens is a great product or idea gets watered down and the real genius behind it is lost.
Take indoor cycling classes for instance. Cycling is a great endurance activity -- it can boost both aerobic and anaerobic power, is low impact and can be a safe way to get time on a bike for those not courageous enough to ride on the road. But the real benefits of cycling are from what is called TITS by those who ride, or Time In The Saddle. To really gain the best benefits of cycling you need to go and ride, and ride easy and aerobically for long periods of time. You will not find many cyclists who go and do two 40 minute hard sessions twice per week and gain much from their riding.
Yet that is what indoor cycling is. It's a 40 minute class to nowhere. It is too short to gain aerobic benefits from plus the intensity is too high and has been turned into aerobics on a bike. That's not necessarily all bad -- anything that gets people to do something, anything, is better than them sitting at home on the couch. But in comparison to real road or trail riding it is a very poor relation in terms of benefits.
And cycling isn't alone. In Australia a couple of years ago Fitness Australia decided (rightly) that to use boxing in personal training sessions you had to have undergone some kind of accredited course. As someone who has been around combat sports for his entire life I think this is wise. The chance of injury is high from a boxing workout if it isn't structured properly and the trainee's techniques aren't reinforced correctly.
At the time this rule came out there were two courses performing this function - Thump and Punch. Now there are eighteen providers performing the same function. Now, some of these are competent and skilled operators, but many are just trying to make a quick buck. The difference in terms of the skill of the presenters (which I'll talk about in a moment), the structure of the course and the experience of the guys running the course are going to be entirely different.
See, the actual sport skill of the presenter isn't always so important. Does it really matter if your cycle workshop is being taught by an ex-Tour de France rider, or if the boxing workshop is being led by a guy who was Australian champ? Of course not. What matters is how well the material they present is put together, their skill as a trainer and their experience using the system. They should obviously have a lot of experience at the thing they present too, but it should never be about them. Great presenters almost never talk about themselves when they speak. For them it is all about the system, the material and about transferring their knowledge to the student. A bad presenter, on the other hand, will find ways to drop into their spiel a lot of talk about their background.
The internet hasn't made things easier either. Now days anyone can start a blog or a webpage telling all and sundry that he or she is the best at some kind of training. Mostly, these comments are made by wet behind the ears trainers vainly trying to win over customers. Perhaps some will be fooled by their outrageous claims, but not for long. There's a saying in business "The money walks when the bullshit talks". People can spot fakes and they can spot people trying to make money off something they're not really passionate about.
This is why its so important to know your market, to cater to your niche. Once people recognise your specialist skills and obvious passion for a subject they come running. But try to swindle them in the short term and you will spend years trying to regain their confidence long term.
Our industry is filled with liars, frauds and charlatans. Most so called trainers are nothing more than modern day snake oil salesmen and hucksters.
With the internet being so easy to use and having such a massive audience anyone can make themselves out to be an expert.
But real life is no different. There are plenty of people who will lie and tell mistruths right to your face, or the faces of their clients. PTs tell their clients they can help them lose significant amounts of weight in short periods of time and then can't follow through. PTs who have no experience with a particular type of training taking on clients, promising them the world (this is particularly common with sports specific training).
Even the people teaching the courses are guilty too! Where I used to work there is currently no one with more than 4 years PT experience teaching. In fact, I have more PT experience on my own than all the rest of the department combined. One of the teachers has never even worked as a PT!
So is it any surprise that the quailty of information being taught to new trainers is less than ideal? Is it any surprise that these trainers then go out into the world and shoot their their mouts off when they don't know any better?
Gyms are to blame too. Classes don't work. Period. I'm going to anger most of the big gyms in the world with that comment, but its true. Machines don't work either.
The world is filled with people who want nothing more than to make money. This absolute greed - from cereal companies to equipment manufacturers to gyms to educational institutions - is what is ruining our industry and the health of our planet.
Before you blindly accept something as gospel do some research on it. Just because its on the net doesn't mean its true. Be particularly sceptical of people with limited experience claiming to be experts. Its seldom the case.
It's said that you are what you eat. While I have long told my customers that if that is true then the last thing you should want to be is cheap, fast and easy.
I know, from my own personal experience, that despite what "experts" may say, when I eat better food choices I not only feel better but I look better too. For many who come to us as clients their main goal is to lose weight. While I agree that losing weight is a healthy choice for many and also comes with its own set of psychologically beneficial returns, is losing weight the be all and end all goal of an eating plan?
I think it's important that health and fitness be recognised as two facets to an intelligent eating plan. Health refers to how often someone is sick, the condition of their skin, hair and nails. It is linked with lifestyle factors such as the amount of alcohol drunk; hour slept each night and overall training versus recovery strategies. Fitness, on the other hand, refers only to specific muscular traits that the body can exhibit -- speed, power, strength, aerobic endurance, etc. It is entirely possible that single mindedly pursuing fitness will not lead to health. For an example, check out this post: http://relentlesspt.wordpress.com/2009/08/17/weekend-with-a-world-champ/ It details a weekend I spent with an Australian sporting hero, Rob de Castella. Rob was quite open about how despite being fitter when racing, he now considers himself to be healthier. This has come about through a combination of diet and exercise changes of the years.
Looking at some of the popular "diets" around it seems that all modern culture cares about is the end result.
Take the Lemon Detox Diet as an example (Please note, I hate, absolutely hate, giving any more press to bad ideas, but there is simply no other way…): Its main premise is that if you drink their drink for a period of 7-14 days you'll lose weight. I don't know why people seem to think that this is so gosh darn clever -- I can personally guarantee you that if you don't eat for 7-14 days you will lose weight! I'm going to call this the Andrew Read POW Diet.
Just so everyone can get an idea of what can eventually occur if calories are restricted for long periods of time, check out some of these problems which were found in service men who had indeed been interred in a POW camp during any war since WWII:
"Mussulman" -- atrophied body, loss of muscle tissue, sores, ulcers, limited or no growth of hair or nails.
Beri beri -- inflammation of feet, nerve inflammation, optic atrophy (reduced eye sight and ability to operate the eyes), heart disease leading to death.
Liver damage led by change in fatty acid profiles in the liver, higher incidence of hepatitis, cirrhosis and even gynecomastia (growth of breast tissue).
Extreme dermatitis.
Lowering of primary sex hormones leading to "castration syndrome".
Increased incidences of intestinal and stomach parasites.
Now, I'm not suggesting that some of these things, such as the intestinal bugs, weren't also caused by the squalid conditions that people were forced to live in, but in my opinion it is pretty clear to see that a diet that just focuses on calorie restriction is not such a smart way to go. Yet, this is precisely what the manufacturers and marketers of the Lemon Detox Diet have done. They produce a cheap citric based potion to drink and people lose weight.
But is it healthy?
There are many famous diets that all seem to work -- if followed correctly the victim will lose weight. But at what cost? I can personally say that the idea of lowering my testosterone output bothers me, as does ending up with any kind of skin problem such as ulcerated sores simply from trying to have a six-pack.
Like with most things in life, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. A diet that promises astonishing weight loss results in the short term can not be healthy for you in the long term. If you are what you eat the choice is simple. I want to be fresh, healthy and free of chemicals. I don't want to be starved, laced with a deadly cocktail of chemicals, cheap and convenient.
The next instalment on this series will be posted in the Member's Section. To read all about the chemicals that are in the foods we eat, why some foods should always be bought organically and why grass fed, free range beef is the healthiest thing you can put in your body go here: https://www.ptreference.com/public/5.cfm
Andrew Read, Australia's leading kettlebell trainer, is holding another beginner seminar on kettlebells. These seminars are designed to teach trainers the basics of kettlebell use so they can start using them with their own clients.
The next seminar is going to be held at Dominance Mixed Martial Arts, 555 Victoria Street, Richmond, on Saturday September 12. The seminar runs for 4 hours, from 2pm until 6pm.
Cost is $300 although if you book before August 30 you save $50.
For bookings email webmaster@ptreference.com
Don't miss out on these upcoming workshops at Australian Fitness Academy!
Is it any surprise our world is filled with overweight or obese people when their heads are being filled with such idiotic headlines?
Exercise won't make you lose weight? Really? How about "poor exercise choices done with no intensity won't make you lose weight" instead?
Let's look at it deeper.
1) Intensity trumps program design.
I don't care if you have a program designed by the smartest trainer on the planet. If you don't attack it with ferocity it won't do anything for you.
2) Some exercise choices are lame.
In broad terms, if you're after weight loss, anything that doesn't both build muscle and get your heart rate elevated at the same time is a waste of time. Pilates, yoga - waste of time. Spinning - waste of time. It needs to have both a strength and conditiong element to it. That means circuits performed to intervals. Whether you choose to do these with resistance such as kettlebells or with bodyweight its up to you, but you need to build muscle and burn fat simultaneously to get the best effect for your clients.
3) You can't outtrain poor nutrition.
This is the crux of it. It doesn't matter if you're performing amazing workouts that burn 1000 calories an hour if you go and stuff your face with 1500 calories straight after.
The bottom line is this:
Clients need to go flat out and its our job to help them learn how to do that.
We need to educate them on intelligent workout plans. We need to teach them to move daily and not get sucked into the infomercial 3x30 minutes a week garbage that surrounds them.
We need to teach them how to eat healthily and with discipline.
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