Do This One Thing & You Will Achieve Every Health & Fitness Goal You Ever Have
When we decide to sell the family home we call a real estate agent, if our car breaks down we get in contact with a mechanic and when we are sick we visit the doctor. When we encounter problems that require professional knowledge the logical approach is to hire someone with this skill set.
In all of these cases, acknowledging the bounds of our own ability is not a demonstration of weakness, instead it exemplifies the desire to be efficient with our time and to do things correctly. In keeping with this logic it would be reasonable to assume that if you wanted to improve a facet of your fitness then you would hire the appropriate professional, a coach. Right? Well the evidence points to the contrary with estimates indicating that the portion of gym regulars with a coach is in the range of 10% to 20%. Fitness professionals operate in a world of extememes, with the correct approach they can lead their client down a journey of life changing health improvements but with a poorly prescribed or executed plan have the potential to injure their client. This is why as a member of the fitness industry I can’t help but be concerned by how low this figure is.
In an effort to understand this phenomenon - the reluctance to invest in fitness coaching - this blog will look at the prevailing archetypes I have observed in a commercial gym and the decision making drivers of people within these groups. This will be followed by a discussion into some of the compelling reasons to invest in a coach irrespective of training goals and experience.
To invest in a personal trainer or to self-coach?
Working on the floor of the gym there are ample opportunities for people watching. Infact, to succeed as a personal trainer it’s almost imperative that you're aware of your environment to identify opportunities to engage a new lead to simply help someone to avoid an injury. During my time working at a commercial gym a profound observation I made was the relationship between length of time people had frequented a gym and the likelihood that they were investing in some form of personal training. Now is probably a good time to preface that this is anecdotal; however I believe it can offer insight into the decision drivers of gym members.
Most of the time when someone starts out at the gym they are going to be supported by a personal trainer, this could be the personal trainer that signed them up, a sports coach or an external professional such as a physiotherapist that has assigned them a program. People at this stage of their fitness journey are generally aware of their limited knowledge and therefore can easily rationaise the cost of professional services to establish a foundational understanding.
Many will eventually reach a point within the first 18 months where they decide to part ways with their personal trainer and begin what the industry considers ‘self coaching’. The motivations for this change vary with some even reflecting a natural end point such as a finishing injury rehab. However in my experience it's more likely because the person doesn’t have a good experience with the coach or is over confident in their own ability to train themselves. Not to demonise this concept of self coaching but it’s important to accept that without professional guidance your ability to achieve goals is likely to be slowed as you are forced to progress through trial and error.
Eventually (often after 12+months self coaching) most athletes become frustrated by performance plateaus or avoidable injuries and realise that they would benefit from additional personal training. By now clients are often more discerning about who they want to work with having been exposed to the industry for some time, but are also more forthcoming about investing in a personal trainer given a renewed appreciation for the value of this relationship.
Based on this anecdote it’s clear that during the early stages of fitness journey’s many assume that a personal trainer has the greatest value in the short term while the learning curve is steepest, leading to a fickle relationship between trainee and coach. While it is true that this period holds significant opportunities for learning, it is naive to believe that there is nothing left to discover after 12 months of training experience. This couldn’t be further from the truth as every year there are updates to training protocols based on scientific research and improved understanding of the human body. Given the high risk and reward of engaging in a fitness routine and the depth of knowledge required to optimise training I firmly believe in three reasons why most people would be best skipping the period of self coaching and continuing to invest in coaching.
Personal trainers eliminate the guesswork out of training
Achieving fitness goals generally relies on the human body undergoing some physical adaptation - such as improving strength or increasing a vertical jump. This means progress towards said goals is limited to the rate the body can naturally adapt. Unfortunately, as you would know if you’ve ever committed to a goal-specific training program this can be very slow. This fact presents a challenge for self-coaches as individual sessions must be designed to fit into a 12+ week plan that includes incremental progressions and document progress. While recording performance can be dismissed as burdensome this data is crucial to manage the load of an individual and track improvements. Although the documenting and planning of sessions seems reasonable on paper, my experience tells me even the most committed athletes can fall off the bandwagon when they are having to self-prescribe.
Beyond the administrative burdens a personal trainer can help to carry, a (good) personal trainer should also provide expert insight that can expedite progress towards a goal. A by-product of the fitness industry's growth has been the increased noise created by brands, persons of influence and researchers alike. While this availability of information can help to educate the discerning trainee it can also lead to the propagation of mis-truths aided by the unbound influence of social media virality. Coaches provide a voice of reason in the chaos by ensuring trainees are not distracted by the fads and illustrious claims, instead remaining committed to tried and tested protocols.
Personal trainers provide accountability and motivation
Regardless of the sport or training modality that you are involved with there will inevitably come a time when you lack motivation to participate in a session. It may be because you had one too many beers the night before, have got more important commitments or simply feel low in energy either way this begs the questions ‘train or not train. If you choose to self coach then this decision rests solely on your shoulders. Having been in this position myself it takes only a moment of doubt before excuses start creeping into your mind, in my experience this would present as an internal dialogue where I try to negotiate for an easier training day. Under the guidance of a coach the same thoughts can creep into your mind however in my experience knowing that a coach is going to review your performance can help to fortify your will power to resist these urges. Psychologically this is because the coach represents an additional extrinsic motivator that adds to the ‘why’ you should complete the prescribed work.
Personal trainers bring objectivity to your training
Many of you would be familiar with the quote “you don’t know what you don’t know”. In essence it means that not only are there gaps in our knowledge, but often we don't even know what the gaps in our knowledge are. As previously discussed, the breadth and ongoing updates of fitness literature presents a compelling reason to invest in a coach, and extension of this - that warrants it’s own mention in this blog - is the importance of objectivity in your fitness journey.
If you spend enough time following a fitness routine eventually you will begin to include this facet of your routine in your identity you craft for yourself. The same will also occur at a social level with observers noting that you are frequently exercising and therefore attributing it to you as a part of your character. While this high regard for a particular interest can reinforce intrinsic motivation it can also inhibit one's ability to receive critical feedback. In the context of the gym, an experienced participant may find it difficult to accept or even flat out reject pointers on technique improvement or training protocols under the impression that they are competent. The power dynamic created by hiring an ‘expert’ can help to eliminate the ego that is preventing a participant from receiving feedback. Furthermore, as the coach is independent and not participating in the activity they are in a better position to provide constructive criticism and not succumb to cognitive biases.
Personal training will benefit any stage of your fitness journey
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