WHAT MAKES A CLIENT A GOOD STUDENT?
I always like to stress that I provide clients with a service, but I am not at their service. This has nothing to do with power, rather commitment and accountability. I like to think of it in the following terms: my clients borrow my knowledge, catch a glimpse of the “members only” club, for an hour or so. That still doesn’t answer the question, however, just makes me look mean (but it’s for your own good. I set standards and expectations from clients and myself very high).
To paraphrase something I heard recently at a workshop for fighters, the defensive tactics teacher said the following at the beginning of the workshop: “a good student is like a dog; even when sleeping, ears are always up, alert and listening. A good student is like a hawk; always scanning, watching, observing and quickly grabbing what it’s after. A good student is like a stork; waiting patiently, sometimes on one leg, sometimes on the other, until it finds what it’s looking for. A good student should also be hungry, to avoid desire” (interpret the last one however you wish).

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE
These two attributes are necessary and intrinsic aspects of learning and progressing. One may choose to get a book, DVD or watch a Youtube video. Inevitably, unless you record yourself on video, play it back and correct your form assuming you actually do that and possess the skills to rectify and understand what you did wrong, you will miss something, create an imbalance, miss an important point. That falls under the category of experience, which is essentially doing and you will NOT achieve your goals without it. Knowledge, however, you have to acquire from someone else, in person, directly because that person, that coach/trainer/teacher can find, tweak and improve what it is you need to accomplish, regardless of what it is you are learning.

BETTER STUDENT=BETTER COACH
I’d like to think that I’ve always been a good student. Attentive, disciplined, hard working. I constantly seek knowledge and am humble to recognize what I do not know. Sometimes, the humility comes from an ego-crushing injury, where you find yourself unable to perform at the level you targeted. This in turn becomes an opportunity to fine-tune your work.

RECENT EXAMPLE
I’ve been a martial arts veteran of 24 years in a variety of styles and hold 2 black belts. Yet, I recently learned of ways to refine my kicks, punches. I acquired the knowledge from 2 very learned people, and gained the experience by practicing. Some techniques did little, others did a whole lot! Not because some were better than other, but simply because I am an individual with my individual abilities and weaknesses. Recognizing that is what makes the work of a coach personal, in your training, in your relationship with your trainer and that cannot be acquired in a book or magazine.

First, those must be some awesome and dexterous horses, trying to piece together a busted egg-shell.

Second, the road to success is paved with good intentions, but the map may be off, or the directions, or you can find construction on the road which forces a detour.

As always, I draw these conclusions from both training and non-training experiences. Today’s entry comes from both based on yesterday with family in town and clients having specific needs. Too much to tell in a blog, too little time, so I’ll cut to the chase.

EVERYTHING MATTERS
I can be anal, specific, detail oriented even if I appear flexible. I’m flexible with the approach, and if I can get you from A to B, how I get there doesn’t matter. What matters is that you get there. And each step is clearly defined, every factor taken into consideration.

COMMUNICATE IT ALL
A change of plan, condition, mood, medication, shoes, meal or any other variable can single-handedly offset your course, like a snowball rolling down the hill, or dominoes. If you’re dealing with someone who is invested in you, trust them with empowering them with that knowledge. Being a professional means you know how to adapt and be discreet, factor in and deliver a better approach for the given situation.

WHEN IGNORANCE IS BLISS:
A great pitfall for a trainer is to confuse what clients want and what clients need. When you’re just fresh off your cert’, ACE, NASM, ACSM, AFAA or any other nationally recognized brand, and your level of experience is low (in terms of paid client hours worked), it takes little more to a training session than just direct traffic from big body parts to smaller ones, tell folks “do your cardio”, all following a basic bodybuilding routine, whether the clients wants to gain mass, lose fat or “tone up”. I mean really, it’s all a variation of the same song and dance.

If you’re in it for the long haul, you start to become more knowledgeable, curious, educated and will invest a lot of time and money, which you recoup with greater results and client retention. And then, it happens…

WHEN IGNORANCE HURTS:
The aforementioned type of trainer, blissfully following a routine from a fitness mag, certified with just the basics and the knowledge of their own body and Myosplash or CreabombX super supps they ingest, will likely not correct your form, “stack fitness on top of dysfunction” (Gray Cook) and make you feel “hurter”, which in the language of the neophyte means “wow, this really works!”. To me, that one millimeter of imbalance is what makes the tower crumble later down the line. More often than not, I end up being the one to correct some other person’s work. I know tattoo artists don’t finish someone else’s tattoo, but I need to eat and if I can make your life better by moving better, I will.

WHEN KNOWLEDGE HELPS:
The trainer who invests into more education, training, research etc, will shine by comparison. It should be apparent at the first session already, with a good assessment of movement, abilities, form etc, as well as a progress map outlined for the client to follow. That type of trainer will justify your investment in the long haul.

WHEN KNOWLEDGE HINDERS:
Sometimes, trainers who know a lot become almost too rigid in their approach, by going into what Pavel calls “Paralysis by analysis”, wherein too much knowledge stops one from doing work and always be correcting. In other areas, this is a form of perfectionism which also leads to procrastination and lack of progress, like rewriting the first sentence of your Pulitzer prize winning article, thus never completing it.

WHEN TO STOP:
Sometimes, the client just wants to work out. So, sometimes, you let them. Yeah, you make sure there’s nothing wrong in the execution, allow the muscles to feel the pump, let them enjoy their process. You’re still getting them fitter and better, even if it strays from your adamantium-clad program design. The same goes for music. Sometimes, you need to sit down and listen to a piece, dissect it, appreciate its nuances and theme variations. Sometimes, you just need muzac in the background. Doesn’t make you a bad person. Makes you flexible and human.

VALUE
If I could train for free, I would. It’s been a calling, a lifestyle, a passion that has not extinguished the fire because I’ve been so thirsty for knowledge, I constantly find new things, new ways which often end up being old ways and even older tools, going back to birth or ancestry. Because it never feels like work, I have a hard time putting a price on years of practice and research, over 12,000 hours of training hundreds of clients (conservative figures), input and validation I received from some of the world’s best coaches in their respective fields. I just look at the market, what’s out there and price it about right, not enough to make me rich, enough to pay the bills and keep people coming back, happy to get the results they seek.

“BACK” STORY
It’s been 10 years since I was laying in traction, with multiple disc herniations and nerve damage. Years of hard martial arts practices, hard landings from throws, triangulation chokes, neck cranks, car accidents and lifting with sub-par form led me to that period of rehab which took 2 years for me to be considered “normal” (which was nowhere near where I am now, in terms of abilities, strength development and freedom of movement). I was working in TV production, live events, pre-taped, working in many countries on many subjects. I was training people on the side, for fun mostly, until a close friend of mine helped me get a job as a trainer. That’s when I started to educate myself more.

EVOLUTION (GYM MEMBER TO TRAINER TO COACH)
My hobby became a profession. Part time, then full time. Working for the man, then working for myself. Getting certified and thinking inside the box to questioning and working outside the box. Seeking what works in real life vs what’s in a vacuum of non-reality. Listening to the body vs following a cookie cutter approach. Wildfitness opened my mind, RKC improved my skills, martial arts, my first passion, reminded me of how it was there all this time, and why it’s been there for centuries before me. The birth of my son and his first year of development validated it all.

HAVE NO LIMITATIONS AS LIMITATIONS (BRUCE LEE)
I am not the fastest, strongest, biggest, leanest, most knowledgeable, most flexible coach and athlete. Hardly sounding like overachieving qualities, you may wonder… But that’s exactly it, where the “Oblique Strategy” is! First of all, you can’t be all of the above, certainly not at once. “There will always be someone else better than you” said a beloved martial arts instructor to me once. I first perceived it as an insult, only realizing once I matured that this was a call for self-improvement and constant drive to instill others with the same focus and determination.

What’s your story? I’d really like to hear it.

LINCHPIN VS COG
Having been recently unceremoniously terminated from a corporate training facility who shall not remain nameless, Gold’s Gym Venice, for the unscrupulous bullshit reason of violation of their terms of employment, where a part-timer like myself is apparently not allowed to make a living in their chosen profession with private “non-Mecca” clients, I realized this was a really good thing (the getting fired thing).
Corporations are built to amass a fortune at the expense of others. If it can be standardized, put in a manual, outsourced, exploited and replaced easily, it will be the way. Gold’s in Venice has a slew of independent trainers that were grandfathered in when the Mecca went corporate, and only a dozen staff trainers. The staff trainers have a huge cut taken out of their pay, which makes them all unhappy and eager to train outside or leave. Such is the business model for corporations: high turnover so you don’t need to give raises or incentives, milk people for as much as possible and get rid of people like me who actually have a business mind and realize they don’t need to be there. With such a model, there is little difference between a mediocre and a great trainer. The great trainer only yields a slightly bigger profit, but if they’re anything like myself, voicing your opinion and knowing what’s out there, outside of the gym, it creates conflict. A mediocre employee by comparison will abide like a beaten dog and if no longer useful, will get terminated.
In my case, if they’d let me march by the beat of my drum, they could have continued to profit. But I would then be dying inside and the flame that fuels my passion for my work would soon extinguish.

TRAINING AS AN ART
Pavel Tsatsouline uses the expression “paralysis by analysis”, whereby people who rely solely on their academic knowledge, test-tube vacuum mentality miss the big “human” picture and become cogs in a mechanism themselves. While I recognize the importance of education, knowledge and experience, the artistry involved in creating and developing a program that’s suitable for the client’s needs and wants is intrinsic to a good trainer. There are many ways to skin a cat. There are many ways to burn fat, put on muscle, sim down, improve time for a race. Not everything is cookie-cutter. Not every disease is treated the same by a doctor. A good doctor recognizes and acknowledges many factors and variables. There is an art to that. Same with the software engineer who will design an interface that’s pleasant and gets the job done. When you become an artist, as Seth Godin often mentions (and I paraphrase), you become indispensable, unique. Sure, a client can find another trainer, but it will not be a trainer like you. Go to Equinox and you can switch trainers any time because they force clients and trainers into a set design. Put it in a manual, abide and comply and voilà. Do yourself a favor: if that’s what you want, save some cash and buy a fitness magazine instead.

I am going to end this blog with a “status update” I posted on Facebook recently, because it sums up what I am talking about:
A great trainer doesn’t just spew knowledge and science and rehash it. It takes a certain artistry to put together, cue and build that is not taught academically. It’s a balance of knowledge, education and unquenchable thirst for self-improvement that relays the passion coaches have for what they do. It IS art.

In the meantime, get the book I am referring to here. Easy read, great motivation. I’ll keep you posted of what it inspired me to do, redoubling my fire to expand my passion into other areas and share my knowledge and philosophy!

Even though I’ve posted a blog since 2011 started, this one’s really important for you to know (not that the other one isn’t, but when one has to prioritize, I’m STRONGLY suggesting this makes the top of your must-reads!)

So, to the point, I have promised you the TOP 3 mistakes people make and why they ultimately do not achieve their goals and here they are:

REASON #1
NEED vs WISH: IT’S NOT IMPORTANT ENOUGH TO YOU!
You wish to lose stubborn belly fat, you wish to get bigger, you wish to ________________ (insert wish here). That’s hardly a goal, the stakes associated with it are low. You NEED to make it a super high priority goal, something that will cost you greatly if you don’t achieve it. A morbidly obese diabetic will die if they don’t start eating properly and exercising. A student won’t get into Law School without the LSAT. You won’t get a loan without good credit. You won’t achieve your fitness goal, whatever it is, if you don’t do what it takes consistently. When dealt a death sentence, ill people try anything, any treatment available, even some they would frown upon when healthy. Some atheists even found religion. I’m harsh to make a point! If it’s not a “must do”, your compliance will be 0%, and so will be your success rate.

REASON #2
HOBBY vs HARD WORK: DON’T CONFUSE TRAINING WITH RECREATION
Playing baseball, golf, doing yoga sure can be fun and is great for you: enjoy the sun, the outdoors, move better, feel better. But you can’t measure it. There is no direct cause-effect, meaning if you do A, it needs to lead to B. Doing yoga will not make you lose weight, no bull! It’s the change of lifestyle and desire to be healthier which, associated with the mindset and a likely improved eating lifestyle reducing excess which will lead to weight loss.
You need a PLAN, a proven path to success. Resistance training can and has been measure. Do A and it will lead to B 100% of the time (unless you get hurt, fall of the wagon etc…)

REASON #3
MINIMUM NECESSARY vs OVERTRAINING
There is a difference between “you should at least do X” and “you only need to do X”. Sometimes, to achieve a goal, you only need to do this much work, and give yourself this much time to recover, and do it this many times. Other times, people think that if they do MORE of X, they’ll achieve their goals faster. Truth is, doing MORE exercise can lead to overtraining, failure (muscular and mental) and what you should be doing is the minimum necessary to yield results, and use the spare time to correct or ensure other variables in your program are observed. Translation: knowing that you can’t out-exercise a bad diet, training more will not lead to a better body; instead pay closer attention to your nutritional intake, your rest periods (in-session and in-between sessions) and make sure the program matches your goals (don’t train like a marathoner if you want to build mass, don’t train like a fighter if you don’t fight).

Neurolinguistic programming patterns are nothing new. Advertisers, teachers, hypnotists, motivational speakers, sales people us some form of it to help you perceive value in a product you want, but may object to get out of fear (am I going to get my money’s worth?)

The concept of psycho-cybernetics is clearly illustrated in the video below. Watch it and map out your success. Don’t watch it and you’re faced with the poor choice to stay in the hole and not crawl out, or you can decide to spend 10 minutes of your time for something worthy, rather than a Facebook update, or chain spam email. I’ve even filtered the most important part for you, as this is a 4-part series, which you can choose to watch at your leisure later. This one has got what you need, as do I!

Invest in yourself, your health.

I’m even going to offer you something I’ve never offered before: a MONEY BACK guarantee.
Seriously, folks you have nothing to lose. If you follow my program, you will get results and your investment is backed by a guarantee even the Federal Government cannot offer!

If you landed on this post because of my email newsletter, you understand already quite well what’s at stake.

I hope to hear from you sooner than later!

Miyamoto Musashi, arguably the greatest Samurai of all time, expert at using 2 katanas (Japanese swords) at once, wrote in his masterpiece The Book of Five Rings (Bushido–The Way of the Warrior)
about 9 principles to follow, which happen to lead to a fully enlightened life.

I’ve learned these principles in Ninjutsu, and have been applying them my whole life. There are many translations, with varying wording, but they essentially mean the same thing. Here they are, slightly out of order (but that’s not what’s important here). You can click on the image also to get the book. Any manager, any martial artist, any businessman or simply anyone can read this series of strategies and essays and enjoy them!

1. Do not think dishonestly.
2. The way is in training.
3. Know the ways of all professions.
4. Become acquainted with every art.
5. Distinguish between gains and losses in worldly matters.
6. Develop intuitive judgment and understanding for everything.
7. Pay attention to trifles.
8. Perceive what cannot be seen.
9. Do nothing which is of no use.

I have these committed to memory. These suggestions come from observation and cover just about any aspect of life. Even if you think it doesn’t, it does. Just look deeper, or harder. The gap may be an inch wide, but it goes a mile deep!

Other fun book like that, though very powerful, that I suggest as a shelf mate is Sun-Tzu’s THE ART OF WAR

And if thinking differently, laterally is your bag, check out my post on Oblique Strategies at Josh Hanagarne’s web site www.worldsstrongestlibrarian.com.

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