A recent piece on Good Morning America uploaded to YouTube has caused real up roar in the fitness industry and has divided opinion amongst its ranks. The piece was about a former underwear model and personal trainer who had the perfect rippling six pack, chiseled jaw line and made a living from having the ultimate body!
He then spent six months eating whatever he liked, ultimately gaining 90 pounds in weight, losing his pristine body, replacing the six pack and chiseled chin for a pregnant paunch and chubby face.
He did this in an attempt to better understand his obese clients.
His actions have been villified by many of his peers in the industry, claiming he is irresponsible, “lunacy” and not being a “good example” to his clients. My thoughts though are very different, because those same trainers who have attacked him really do not fully appreciate what it takes to coach their overweight clients to a better body. Whilst these trainers may have incredible technical skills and knowledge to teach their clients how to get fit, I question whether they truly understand what makes their clients tick!
The majority of trainers are a strange breed. The perfect guy or girl that runs your local aerobics class, bootcamps or personal training sessions is quite likely to be someone who became a trainer because they like working out, they like gyms and get a kick out of feeling fit and healthy. Making a living out of doing the stuff you like is cool, but they are probably the wrong people to help you lose weight!
I believe most people who need to lose weight hate the thought of working out, are absolutely NOT gym people, and really do not understand the feeling of being fit and healthy! From a psychological standpoint a personal trainer and someone who needs to lose weight are so far apart, the trainer might as well be speaking russian and the client will be speaking french!
So hould you be looking for a personal trainer who was formerly overweight in order for them to understand you? Well may be…
However, I do know of many great coaches, who have never had weight issues, who really do understand the barriers their clients have to working out or even stepping in to the gym for the first time.
The most important point here is finding someone who can empathise with you and the reasons why you have found training and the gym environment difficult before, as well as the addictive nature of your current eating habits. For someone who is overweight, male or female, gyms are the most unnatural, scariest and intimidating environment… but this is a whole different discussion for another article.
If you can find someone like this to train you, then your chances of success are multiplied, because you’ll at least be talking the same language!
Back to our overweight underwear model, my thoughts are that he will become the most important coach in his gym if not his area. The twist of the story is that after 6 weeks of following his own program he has lost just 10 of the 90 pounds.
Mentally he has found it difficult, getting over the addiction to sugar has been tough, but as long as he finds the right path back to his former body shape he will become an incredible asset to his clients, both from a physical and mental standpoint.
So instead of asking for your coaches academic qualifications to see if they are any good, maybe you’ll be inclined to review their history a little more and find out if they’ve been addicted to the gym or addicted to sugar :o)
Making dramatic changes to your body, requires a powerful goal to inspire you to change some of the barriers you have to working out or changing some eating habits. Tim Goodwin is a Personal Trainer from Luxembourg, his Goal Achievement Strategy workbook has help hundreds of people make a positive start towards a better body. Go to [http://goalachievementstrategy.com] to download your copy right now.
