Fit for Life: Change. Embrace it.
Saturday, October 04, 2014
I admit, I do have an old school mentality, and I do prefer a time when things were less complicated, especially in the fast moving world of technology. But, I realized that if I didn't change I would be left behind and out of touch with the business world. The words "evolve or die" carry great importance to me, and that saying has helped open my eyes and realize that all change isn't bad. I try to explain this to my mother, when she used to get upset that the teachers in my nephew’s school didn't "call" every parent when something happened or changed at school. I explained that sending one email was far more efficient than making 500 phone calls. She got it, and now has an iPhone and texts people all the time!
You need to be willing and able to be coached if you want change to happen. I have trained numerous people that have difficulty making changes to their lifestyle and habits, and that gives me great difficulty getting them the results they want. I usually start a relationship with a client by saying that I am only with you 2-3 hours a week, and what you do with the other 165 is just as, if not, more critical, than our time together in the gym. I let them know that unless they change their eating, sleeping and exercise habits, I can't do much more than give them a good workout and good advice. “Help me help you,” I tell them. You supply the discipline I will supply the knowledge and together we can make it happen. If they are willing, it happens; if not, it doesn't. Most of the time it is easier and the results come faster with someone new to exercising because they are a blank slate and I do not need to change bad exercise habits and movement patterns. I have worked with people coming from other trainers and coaches and hear, " but my other trainer did this, or my high school coach said this." If it makes sense I will listen, but most of the time it doesn't and I give an obnoxious reply like " obviously that didn't work, so let's do it my way."
Even as a professional, change is necessary if you want to be the best at what you do. Mike Boyle is a coach and presenter from Boston that tells it like it is and bluntly says "if you know an exercise isn't great, or even worse, harmful, and you keep doing it because everyone uses it or it is something you always do, you are a moron" he humbly admits that he had clients doing exercises that he discovered were wrong or not beneficial and quit doing them. His philosophy is that a good coach will change for the benefit of his clients or players, and not let his ego dictate his actions. This is from an expert that trains trainers and coaches. 10 years ago I was putting my clients on leg press/extension, and numerous other weight machines, because they were new, smooth, shiny and cool looking, and everyone was using them. Did they isolate and make your muscles bigger? Yes. Did they cause imbalances, joint pain, and feed postural dysfunction? Yes! So guess what? I haven't put a client on a weight machine in over 10 years. Your muscles will respond just as well, if not better, doing free standing squats, or moving dumbbells, and free weights. The human body should still move and function the way it did hundreds of years ago.
So when you seek out a professional coach to help you with whatever it is you want to accomplish, remember: you sought help because your way wasn't working. Make life a little easier for your coach and be ready not only to MAKE changes, but to embrace them.
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