The Actionaut

There’s a bunch of trainers our there. What would make you pick me over another? I am not the bee’s knees, but then maybe I am. It’s a matter of perception. I am not going to talk and gloat about my constantly upgraded, humbled, broken down, improved or reality-checked skill set, because I have coaches and mentors who would slap me 36 ways till dinner and then continue, because I know only a fraction of what they know.

I am a father, a husband and this is not a job. Training is a career, a passion, a true calling. I am not a fair-weather trainer, in-between acting gigs or waiting for some better thing to come around.

I understand struggles, life, responsibilities and everything that falls into that. I learn more so I can discard more and simplify.

I’ve simplified so much that in 6 short weeks, I maintained my weight and dropped 2% body fat without trying, just following a simple plan. So simple, I only did 2 exercises per day and kept my workouts short, very short.

In the following 6-week round, I have already packed on 3lb of muscle and over 12″ around my frame, and I’m only 3 weeks deep into it. I packed 3″ on my chest, 4″ on my shoulders, 1″ on each leg, 2″ on each arm and 1.5″ around my hips/glutes between October 10 an October 31, 2011. Body fat remained the same.

Yes, I am in “bulking up”, but not really trying. I am more in a “non-prep” prep phase for a tough 11-mile obstacle course. I just want to have the strength and stamina to do it. The bulk is a bonus.

I am watching my eating, though I am flexible and do not deprive myself. This isn’t a weight loss program. But if I did watch what I eat, the same program would make me lose fat. Because the first 6 weeks where I maintained body weight and lost fat means I added muscle, but got leaner. That’s to 1/2 the population out there, who wishes to lose weight. It can be done, easily, correctly.

My eating fueled my recovery and my ability to push through the next phase, and only half-way through, I made tremendous gains. That’s to the other 1/2 of the population, and more specifically, to all the hardgainers out there who waste hours at the gym and do not put on an ounce of muscle or walk away sore but unable to do any of the things they wish they could do. I am a hardgainer, so imagine what you can achieve if you are not one!

Remember, my being the father of a toddler and husband means I do not have the luxury to kick around the gym for a few hours, doing two workouts a day and watch myself in the mirror. I do not have the cash flow to operate a body fueled on illegal substances. I am 37 years old. I can push as hard as anyone ten years younger or more. It also means I am no rookie.

The race is my personal goal, and I want to prove that I can design a program that will both allow me to get ready and be ready anytime, even now. I know it works, I tested it.

I have the experience so you can have the education. I overcame challenges so you can do it better. I work hard because I didn’t win the genetic lottery and was busy the day God was giving away natural talents. Then he had mercy on me and gave me the gift of teaching. That also motivated me to be the guy that can and does, not just teaches.

Wanna know how I did it?

Wait another 3 weeks… I will keep you posted here and there. But I got something coming your way you won’t want to miss.

Comments (1) Oct 31 2011

The past two blog entries have been about simplicity, conditioning while being able to move well, so it is only logical that I end the series with something about strength endurance. I have to admit, this topic should have been mentioned first, as it is the basis of all training. Yes, ALL training, be it for the marathoner or the powerlifter, the martial artist or the triathlete. Why first? Training should always start and end with strength, just like movement starts and ends with the core. Develop strength, EVERYTHING ELSE gets better.

STRENGTH MAKES EVERYTHING BETTER
Work on your “cardio” by running only. You’ll get good, improve your cardiovascular endurance, maybe destroy your knees or toes in the process, and continue feeling low back pain, with a crap looking body.
Work on getting stronger with squats and deadlifts, which are compound exercises working many muscles over multiple joints, your running will become much better, with a lesser probability of injuries, a more efficient muscular recruitment, thus less fatigue (and even more speed) all leading to better cardiovascular endurance if better “cardio” is your goal. You burn more fat, experience less pain and improve the way your body looks.
WINNER: he/she who trains with weights.

CHALLENGE ME, GO AHEAD!
I’ve said before that I have never had a client come to me and ask to get weaker. However, indirectly, some have made this odd request because all they wanted was to lose weight, and weight loss is obtained through cardio, as sycophants and ignoramuses (ignorami? Spell checker can’t decide) would have you believe for the last 3 decades. As indicated in the previous paragraph, if you develop your muscles, your abilities improve, your protect your joints, you burn more fat and feel and look better. Runners who lift run faster: easier stride for long distance running, while sprinters work those biceps and upper body, pumping their arms which helps their speed (and have you seen their bodies? Very muscular bodies with caloric furnaces!).

Some folks talk about strength endurance and it’s been noticed that few people work on their strength to achieve that. To have strength endurance implies you must have strength first. You cannot do a snatch test (100 reps in 5 minutes with a 53lb kettlebell for men, 26-35lb for women) if you don’t have the snatch down.

WHY ARE YOU POSTING THIS LAST?
Yes, why indeed. Because I want you now to go back to the first 2 blogs in this series, the one about grunge training, simply lifting heavy stuff and the one about moving better while conditioning your body, and I want you to get stronger. Keep your cardio, running and biking however you have it, don’t change a thing. Just take notes on how it’s getting better. Go back to the blog about mobility, which should be concurrent with your strength training, and see how you breeze through it instead of wheeze through it. Put it all together and you have Strength Endurance.

First thing to work on, then you can have it all!

Comments (0) Oct 18 2011

So, while I am developing an online fitness program which I cannot discuss in details, and am developing a piece of equipment which fills a blank in most people’s training, I am careful about putting my stamp on products that represent my sense of integrity, knowledge, education and training beliefs. At the same time, it’s brought an awareness of what others’ awareness in fitness is, that being of the general public and the marketers of products.

BEHIND THE SCENES OF AN INFOMERCIAL
When you see a product such as the AB ROCKET TWISTER, you hear testimonials of folks who have lost X inches in record time, or simply state ” I rock and I twist, now I have abs”. And you see a bunch of attractive models in amazing shape, as well as a “celebrity trainer” host, doing drills on the tool (implications of the word tool extend beyond the device itself). Another one is called Steel Abs, not released yet, and since I am not bound by any confidentiality agreement, simply have observed the behind-the-scenes while training, I can reveal what I have witnessed. What you are not seeing is the fact that:
1) Large groups of people work out intensely 6 days a week (large groups to manage drop out rates and maximize testimonial and results potential).
2) Folks taking part receive all their meals provided 6 days a week (unsure of the 7th) with only 1200 calories.
3) The use of any promoted device amounts to maybe 2 minutes out of the intense hour of working out.

THE DEVICE ITSELF
It’s flimsy, cheap, poorly designed but brilliantly marketed to minimize production cost and maximize profit. Geared at the buyer looking for the quick fix and then quitting after realizing it actually takes work and the device in question provides a teeny tiny percentage of the work to be done, not counting the nutritional aspect.
I even spoke with the trainer in charge of one of the groups who would never use it with his clients, agrees that it doesn’t even target the advertised body parts if you don’t have an existing knowledge base to properly recruit muscles. If anything, it promotes tightness in areas already tight from real life, like sitting at your desk with bad posture (no need to go into further detail). It’s so cheap, a really overweight person would fall off and/or break it! Good guy, good trainer, but he’s getting paid, therefore trying to find an angle so he can justify selling out.

THE COMPANY
Launch DRTV is the group. I am giving them exposure right now and good for them. That don’t mean I endorse them. Quite the contrary. But they are experts at selling you fitness stuff. They have an impressive roster of products you are familiar with. And they will continue getting rich of of people looking for an easy way out who are willing to drop a few dollars, hundreds of thousands of times. I snuck in a few snapshots from my phone while training a client.

UNAUTHORIZED PICTURES
Check out the device called Steel Abs. Couldn’t you do that with a bench or chair or even on the floor? Notice also the other moves (squats, pushups, lunges…) which really make up the majority of the “weight loss routine”, not the toy itself!

THE ALTERNATIVE
Everything is already out there. if you need a good program, learn how to use your body, its range of motion. Develop your mobility, technique, form, and anything you do will yield effective results, so long as you know there is no lazy, easy answer or magic tool that will “do it for you”. Better yet, if you need the guidance and accountability, stay tuned for the project I am involved with which will only require that you use what you already have at your disposal and get creative with it. If MacGyver could rig a machine with bubble gum, an elastic and some bleach, you can also use a jug of water, a broomstick, a chair or even your kid as a training weight!

CONCLUSION
Wanna lose weight? Read my previous blog authored by guest writer Jay Chavez. Book a session with me for training or with him for nutrition. There are simple ways out, not easy ways out!

Comments (0) Jul 08 2011

We don’t always know what’s best for everyone.

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.

Comments (0) May 09 2011

I have a confession to make.

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.

Comments (0) Apr 21 2011

Everyone of my blood relatives is an artist of sorts and makes a living at it. My father is a musician, my mother paints, as does my grandmother, my younger brother does graphic work and music and my youngest brother directs music videos and is a visual effects director on movies and such. I used to joke around that the only arts I practice are “martial”. While that may be true, not until I starting reading LINCHPIN by Seth Godin did I realize I was a little off on that comment

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!

Comments (0) Mar 31 2011

Happy New Year, fellow Actionauts!

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).

Comments (0) Jan 08 2011

Agility is defined as the ability to move quickly and easily. Athletes such as basketball players, tennis players, martial artists, surfers, soccer players (among many others) possess the quickness to perform their tasks, fluidly shifting their bodies in one direction then another.

SAQ IT TO ME!
There are many tools available to the training world for drills designed to develop SAQ drills (speed, agility, quickness), where you develop not only mobility and power quickly, but also hand-eye coordination.
Everybody benefits from agility drills because they tend to incorporate (if designed properly) all the muscles you’ve been training because it puts them to use for their intended purpose. Not only that, agility drills program your muscle memory and require your complete focus on the task at hand, dialed in to what you’re doing instead of doing mindless repetitions of one exercise.

PLAY-BASED ACTIVITIES
Boxing drills with focus mitts, medicine ball wall bounces or partner drills, running drills with sudden change of direction, to name a few, all belong in the Agility “bag” of your “Origin Motion Fitness”.
Personally, I love to have fun with such drills and even more so, love to participate in activities that require agility because of the fun factor. Play-based activities are great for hormone regulation and general physical development (tied in to hormones anyway). Look at lion or cubs, puppies or kittens. They’re playful and rambunctious, but behind their cute wrestling lie the foundations of their skill development as future awesome predators. I remember in ground grappling practice when my instructor wanted us to just “play” and move from drill to drill. An hour later, we’d be tired but never felt like we worked! How about when you go shoot some hoops for fun with your buddies, or toss the old pigskin? Pretty good workout, yet your approach to it isn’t about work.

Agility develops reflexes, visual acuity, sharpness of the mind. It allows you to make quick, efficient decision in a split second and can prevent an injury, avoid a car crash, allow you to fall and minimize impact, or throw the punch that wins the fight!

For more info, check out Origin Motion Fitness.
To read the about the first F.A.S.T Pillar on flexibility, click HERE.

Comments (1) Oct 16 2010

Last week I delved into how just because you pay boatloads of cash for your membership at the “plasma screens’R'us” and “supermodels work the front desk” doesn’t mean you get the best trained coaches. Yes, they are certified, went through an in-house training program (some parts they had to pay for, yet is mandatory if they want to work).
Now I’m going to tell you the nitty-gritty stuff that only an employee knows, and to get access to this, I had to be undercover.

BODIES IN MOTION:
Just like I do, they offer sliding scales rewarding frequency of training and volume purchase. The more you buy and/or the more frequently you train, the more you save (or the less you pay per session). Makes sense, good business model and the prices are also all spelled out for you. As a matter of fact, you get to see all the options up front, and they throw in an incentive which is your Day Of Join, and another on your Day Of CPT (Complimentary Persona Training session). They have 60 and 30-minute long sessions to accommodate your busy schedule, or your limited budget if you do want training but can’t quite afford or spare 60 minutes to achieve your goal (that’s what TiVo’s for, or last season’s DVDs of Nip/Tuck if you want to save on cable, by the way, or save time, but that’s another story).
The rates are fair, to be honest, and given the choice, I’ve seen some good trainers there (Encino location), though some could benefit from reading my post on functional training (and so can you if you don’t want to get duped by a fancy word that helps sell). All trainers are at the same rate level. Their payout is dependent solely on their productivity. The more they train, the more they get paid (obviously) but the greater their percentage, or cut.
Here’s how they break it down:
1) Trainer gets 30% of what you pay if they train less than 15 hours a week.
2) 35% between 16 and 30 hours per week.
3) 37% between 31 and 35 hours per week.
4) 40% for anything above 36 hours per week.

Training over 30 hours is honestly hard to achieve in a week. Not impossible. There will always be a cancelation here and there, be it with 24 hours notice or not. No pay if proper notice, pay if under 24 hours, but since you didn’t work the hour, it doesn’t count towards your “fulfillment pay”, meaning you can get 35 hours paid at only 30% if 5 people canceled without proper notice. That’s rip-off #1 by the gym to the trainer.

EQUINOX:
At Equinox, rainers belong to 3 “tiers”. Top tier gets paid the most. Bally’s used to have that system, which was based on certifications (the more specialties and certifications you have the more you can charge, like a car with many options), but I understand it changed. At Equinox, the tiers, or levels, only have to do with your seniority in the gym. You can have a Master of Kinesiology, a Ph.D in biology, NASM and RKC, you’re still going to start putting weights away, handing towels and do floor time, or prospecting, for $8/hr. If you’re RKC (Russian Kettlebell Certified), you’re not allowed to touch a kettlebell (for instruction) until you’re Tier 3, sometimes Tier 2 if you pay for an Equinox-designed kettlebell workshop (with questionably knowledgeable instructors).
Now, YOU pay even more than at Bodies In Motion, but your trainer gets just as little! And, if you are a fit, coordinated, advanced lifter/athlete, your trainer, though potentially overqualified, is still not allowed to train you at YOUR level, with HIS/HER expertise. It’s a great way to keep you doing the safe stuff. While I am a fervent proponent of the basics, there are some things I just don’t believe in and cannot ethically make a person do them just because some bureaucrat decided for me, not knowing my client. Result: you don’t get what you asked for. Rip-off #2

STAFFING:
Gyms like to overstaff their facility, resulting in trainers competing for the same pool of clients. Instead of having a trainer work say, 10 clients for 20 sessions, you have 5 trainers fighting for those 10 clients, getting 2 each and working 4 hours each instead of 20. Great for the gym: same amount of training, but less salary to pay out to trainers, thus more profit for the gym. That’s rip-off #3.
At Bally’s for instance, you get $2 pay cuts in increments: Full pay at 50 hours per pay period (25/week), -$2 at 20-50 hours, and another -$2 at 20 and under, and another cut at under 10 hours. That’s up to $6 less per hour the trainer is not getting, but you’re still paying for it. AND, you could have been conned into a top tier trainer, because you paid the asking price, but your trainer might not even be certified! (Some trainers there have trained that way for years, with a Photoshop cert, or lapsed one, or not even having one). Rip-off #4.

Why Should You Care?
Since this doesn’t affect your bottom line, you’re still paying your 75 bucks for the training, why is this important for you to know? Well, look at it this way: you pay $75, but your trainer only gets $22.5 for the hour. “Hey, that’s not bad, that’s more than I make, or about the same, and this trainer’s getting paid for working out? He/She should be lucky for such an easy gig!”
If that’s how you think, which I know some of you do, allow me to retort: if it’s such an easy gig, then your trainer is not doing the job. I, for instance, know nothing of how to code a web site, design a 3D character for a video game, clean your teeth or rewire your ignition. But I know physiology, form, progression, assessments of posture, gait, working with injuries, how to treat it, individual program design, biomechanics, neuromuscular facilitation, a multitude of training protocols, endocrine and CNS effects on the body and that’s only the tip of the iceberg. What’s underwater is what the lay person doesn’t know, or think they know from reading a magazine, which more often than not is the reason why they’re not achieving their goal. Most people are actually walking around injured, but are asymptomatic. Some people even got offended when I exposed weaknesses they touted as strengths.

But I digress. The point I want to make is: You may make $20/hr, but you make it consistently, every hour you’re clocked in. You get benefits (retirement, health insurance), bonuses, vacation, sick days, holidays and have your infrastructure paid for. You also are not RUNNING YOUR OWN BUSINESS! Whether the trainer works at Bally’s or on their own, they run their business. You’re not paying your trainer for the hour. You’re paying your trainer for all the years of experience and thousands poured into their education. If your trainer is happy getting so little for that, QUESTION their ability! Trainers need to hustle all the time (as I mentioned before) and oftentimes, Management does little to help. And when they do, it’s to promote the business, not the individual. Please read on.

PERSONAL TRAINING IS RESULTS ORIENTED:
When I was fitness manager at Bodies In Motion, they wanted me to sell packages of as little as 3-8 sessions, for the 3x per week rate, for someone to only show up once every other week. I always refused to do that for my business, because you simply CANNOT monitor any consistent progress when you see someone 1 hour per week and that have 167 to screw it all up. Everyone SHOULD have a trainer AT SOME POINT, even I do, hence my investment in my education. Alas, not everyone can. The trainer, not matter what the trainee does, bears the sole responsibility for someone’s progress. We can motivate only so much, but if you don’t want it, or just expect it to happen, then sorry, you’re an idiot, you’re not accountable. When has ANYTHING worth doing NOT required some effort on your part? I recently read in a post someone asking to look like Brad Pitt in Fight Club. OK, it’ll take:
1) 6 months of training.
2) Perfect Nutrition, sleep, time management.
3) Training intelligently several hours a day.
4) A fit baseline (i.e. you can’t start looking like Jack Black or Dom De Luise).
5) Get his genetic make-up.
But, the person wanted that after training 2-3 times a week and not doing the rest?

So, why do we value the doctor, physical therapist or the lawyer? Because of their education, mostly. I’ve had some recent bad experiences with Western medicine doctors using medieval tools where I wound up more damaged than repaired, to the point of considering a malpractice suit. Alas, many idiot trainers plague the gyms and you, the public, do not always spot the difference because what you usually see in the gym is what you read in a fitness magazine, and that shapes your perception.

HOW MUCH DO I CHARGE?GET PAID?
Clients who have been with me for years understand that:
1) I run a business (and sometimes, those who still have an “employee mentality” need reminding).
2) I have overhead.
3) I am better: I have experience, skills and know-how. I’ve transformed my body many times, demonstrated by example and guaranteed results which, when all directives were followed, got people there.

I charge what I charge. How much is it? More or less than the 5 mile radius of Corporate Gyms… So what’s the difference in my take-home? A little more, but I am running my business, adapt instead of complain, deal with the boss directly and any setbacks our my own doing, can’t blame management, or poor member traffic. I am accountable for a product for which I have passion and investment. I am happy, the average “box” gym trainer is not, unless he/she takes you ‘under the table’. Don’t ask me for a deal if I present you a price. It’s already a deal. Take it or take your chance. You don’t haggle with your doctor, your lawyer or your grocer. You may look for the deal, the coupon, which I offer some times, but I am not a rug salesman or car salesman (no offense to those trades, but that is expected there).

Comments (7) Mar 02 2010

CONTROVERSY WARNING: I will name corporate gym chains and their practices. I will disclose things trainers should know when applying, as well as help people looking for trainer recognize when they’re getting a deal, ultimately helping both sides reach the best decision regarding what’s most important: training.

This article is not weeks, but at this point, years in writing and is based mostly on my own experience in the trenches, as well as feedback from colleagues, clients and members. Because of recent research of mine for a business plan, I decided that the best way to research my competition was to go work for the competition (and in one case, just investigate as a member). Part 1 today, we’ll talk about the veil that’s being pulled over your eyes. I had to break it up because of the amount of information, even though I can fill a library with what I know now!

The Tiffany Box Wrap:
This is a PR concept that centers around branding and social proof. If you take a lump of coal and place it in a Tiffany brand box and wrap it, your perception of the lump of coal elevates it to something of high value. And because it’s Tiffany’s, someone will buy it, which will beget another purchase, and another and so forth, regardless of the quality. That’s social proof: if someone else is doing it, it must be good.

Apply that concept to an expensive gym chain, say, Equinox. While there may be a few good trainers there, your perception of the quality of training you may receive is elevated because they can pump serious dollars into their branding, the amenities of their gym and the very high price of training, something an independent trainer cannot compete with. You’re mostly paying for overhead, while the trainer gets 30% at best. Back in the day, that’s why I chose to train at Bally’s, arguably a less fancy facility, but with better payout per session, meaning the gap between what the client paid and what I was getting was narrower (at the time, since they now have adopted the same policy as their competitors, making it even more difficult to build a business). For a place like Sports Club L.A., you will get a price that is “fair” compared to Equinox, as their facility is very dated, with nasty carpet, but the payout to the trainer is not any better than Equinox. What Equinox and Sports Club offers though is a more affluent clientèle, which means more likely to afford training. And the powers that be know that, so they punk you! So, that $220 session you pay for only gets the veteran trainer (over 3 years) around $50, if the trainer works a full time gig, which is extremely difficult to pull off, considering client cancellations and available hours in the day when people actually DO train. Starting payout is about $23 per hour, the gym makes the difference. Yikes! An average trainer is lucky to get in 15-20 hours a week in this economy, in a corporate gym. Too many other trainers around to fight with. So the hourly incentive is very hard to reach! I just looked at a payroll at Bodies In Motion, and unless those trainers go home to the 1950′s, there is no way they can sustain a living with $169-$224 every 2 weeks. Means they have to get “creative”…

Independent Trainers and Boutique Studios:
Let’s switch tracks a bit and go to your independent trainer or boutique studio. Depending on the location, your boutique-sized training studio will offer a smaller, more personal feel. If it has a few trainers teaching there, they are either staff (and get paid very little to baby-sit a boot camp or circuit class, merely keeping you accountable rather than offering real training advice) or independent trainers who pay rent. Those are the trainers you want to go with (more in part 2). The indie trainer or studio doesn’t have the luxury of pumping cash into branding. Their job is to generate leads and get clients. The cost of getting a client these days is very high, especially with this economy. It takes free sessions (corporate gyms at least pay the trainer around $8/hr for the free session, for new trainers only), mailers, social media tools, health fairs, flyers and more just to get a potential client through the door, then they need to purchase a training package. While the potential for income is greater for the trainer without the cost being hijacked for the buyer, the quality of training usually surpasses that of a corporate gym trainer (the few that do well in corporate chains either have no room for new clients, or simply take their clients away from the gym because their income is peanuts. The client and the trainer both know that and if management was tuned in, they’d pay their trainers better and thus wouldn’t lose revenue from those clients).

How Can I Say Indie Trainers Are Better?
The reason I say training with an independent trainer is usually better (I’ll name chain gyms with good trainers too, though) is because THEY NEED YOU TO SEE RESULTS to stay in business. Keeping a client is easier than getting a new client. They have much more at stake than in a corporate gym environment where member traffic is high, with a potential supply of fresh clients should some of them cancel. Knowledge and skill levels are much higher too. Take me for instance: I spend THOUSANDS yearly on education alone and am not recouping that cost. It only serves as a way to differentiate me from the next guy. I’m the car with all the bells and whistles for the price of a entry level luxury sedan (hey, no one ever said PT is for everyone!) vs. the same car without the options. Few corporate gyms offer the support and growth potential of an independent gym, Gold’s Gym being one of them, recognizing a trainer’s skill level and thoroughly checking their trainers out before hiring them.
While other gyms allege to provide you with the tools to grow, they really want you to follow a cookie-cutter approach to training, whether you are a client or trainer. This “in-the-box” thinking has the quality trainer leave, frustrated by their high qualifications not being put to use. How fun is it for trainers knowing their skills don’t transfer? They start at the bottom, and there will always be someone happy to take their spot, be they good or not. Regardless of your fitness level, background or health issues, they put everyone in the same boat. The client has to go through it, the trainer has to put you through it. The trainer may have greater knowledge, but is not allowed to showcase that knowledge if it doesn’t match the corporate structure. Where do you find that? Equinox and Sports Club L.A.

I don’t know about you, but that kinda takes the “personal” out of personal training, wouldn’t you agree?

In Part 2: What And How Trainers Get Paid I will show you how trainers are duped by management by setting difficult to reach goals, only to be blamed later when management doesn’t offer them the possibility to grow. Learn, as a trainer, which gyms do what and where is the best place to apply for a job as a staff trainer. This affects the buyers too, because it all boils down to money, and if your trainer isn’t making money, they ain’t happy. If they are satisfied, I would seriously question their abilities, because a truly knowledgeable trainer pulling from their vast education, knowledge and experience will not give it away for nothing. How much do you think you’re going to get out of someone making under $20/hr? You need to know what the trainer gets, not what you pay, to truly assess the quality of your training.

Also: Which gyms have trainers without certifications, or advertising trainers with certain skills but are lying about it!

Part 3: Negotiate The Rate will show you how to get the best bang for your buck. Trainers, build value! Buyers: be informed! Plus a list of local gyms I recommend (besides mine of course) based on your budget, where you live and what you want out of your fitness.

Make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed, bookmark this page or visit often, as this is information few are willing to disclose! I might even get in serious trouble for it!

Comments (1) Feb 25 2010