Good Intention/Bad Idea
I did an assessment on a guy a couple days ago that was a total mess. He had terrible neck pain and stiffness and he was a postural nightmare. He told me what he does with his trainer, which consisted of 60min. of working out.
Not a 60min. personal training session. But, 60min. of working out! 60min. of non-stop exercise.
When I asked what they did as far as stretching and flexibility goes and if they do anything to address his soft tissue (foam rolling, etc), he told me that all that stuff is “up to him to do on his own.” He said his trainer wants him to get a full 60min. of the workout, so they don’t really have time to do the “other stuff.”
Well, it isn’t my job to police other trainers and “expose them,” nor do I care to do it! I tried to explain to the gentlemen the type of situation it seems that his trainer is in. A lot of times in these chain gyms, trainers feel that if a person is paying for a 60min. workout, they should get a 60min., butt kicking, beat you into submission workout, and nothing less. The other stuff (stretching, soft tissue work, mobility exercises, etc) is not as important because that is not what you are paying for. I let him know that he needs to tell his trainer that being pain free is part of his goal of overall health, as it should be! I mean seriously, who cares if they look great if they have chronic pain?
Also, realistically, who needs to be doing a full 60min. of non-stop weight training anyways? I would think you could be more efficient than that.
Anyway, the point is that when you are working with someone really take the time to analyze what his or her problem areas are. Then, take the time to develop a good program, which aims to correct some of these problem areas. Be efficient in your program set up, and make sure to include the necessary components that are going to be needed to correct these problems (whether that is flexibility work, mobility exercises, or soft-tissue work, is up to you to decide. Usually it is a combination of all of them.). Being a healthy person is more than just losing some body fat and looking good at the beach. It is also about feeling good, moving well and being pain free. Whether you are training for a sport, or training for the game of life, everyone deserves to operate at his or her highest potential.
Patrick
Not a 60min. personal training session. But, 60min. of working out! 60min. of non-stop exercise.
When I asked what they did as far as stretching and flexibility goes and if they do anything to address his soft tissue (foam rolling, etc), he told me that all that stuff is “up to him to do on his own.” He said his trainer wants him to get a full 60min. of the workout, so they don’t really have time to do the “other stuff.”
Well, it isn’t my job to police other trainers and “expose them,” nor do I care to do it! I tried to explain to the gentlemen the type of situation it seems that his trainer is in. A lot of times in these chain gyms, trainers feel that if a person is paying for a 60min. workout, they should get a 60min., butt kicking, beat you into submission workout, and nothing less. The other stuff (stretching, soft tissue work, mobility exercises, etc) is not as important because that is not what you are paying for. I let him know that he needs to tell his trainer that being pain free is part of his goal of overall health, as it should be! I mean seriously, who cares if they look great if they have chronic pain?
Also, realistically, who needs to be doing a full 60min. of non-stop weight training anyways? I would think you could be more efficient than that.
Anyway, the point is that when you are working with someone really take the time to analyze what his or her problem areas are. Then, take the time to develop a good program, which aims to correct some of these problem areas. Be efficient in your program set up, and make sure to include the necessary components that are going to be needed to correct these problems (whether that is flexibility work, mobility exercises, or soft-tissue work, is up to you to decide. Usually it is a combination of all of them.). Being a healthy person is more than just losing some body fat and looking good at the beach. It is also about feeling good, moving well and being pain free. Whether you are training for a sport, or training for the game of life, everyone deserves to operate at his or her highest potential.
Patrick
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