Evolution
During the 1950s and ’60s, the goal for gym-goers was massive explosive power, like Olympic lifters. By the ’70s, fitness started to become more socially acceptable. More people flocked to gyms and started to realize the importance of strength and health as they relate to each other. In the early 1980s, Body by Jake or “Body by Whomever” started the evolution of the personal trainer. Basically, a personal trainer was for the rich and famous. In the mid to late ’80s, “gym instructors” (clipboard transporters) and coaches (pro want-a-be) were now taking the title of personal trainers. The wealth of technology exploded with laborsaving devices, personal computers, cell phones—all this to ease the workload at the job site. In 1990, the international obesity task force called the prevalence of obesity in America an epidemic. We became chair-borne and sedentary. Today 43 percent or almost half of all Americans are—or soon will be—obese. People are working longer hours, moving less, and no longer spending their free time in activity.
And we all know… inactivity will lead to joint injuries, degenerative conditions, altered postures, muscular imbalances, faulty movement patterns, and more. However, a Ft-Pro professional can promote positive changes.
My Guru Can Beat Up Your Guru!
Muscle heads and fitness gurus were on every street corner trying to capture a piece of the opportunity to make four to five times the minimum wage. Celebrities were flocking to personal trainers for the undivided nurturing attention. The big boom came in the early to mid ’90s, and certification programs were developed to assure industry standards. From ACE to RTS, nationally accredited programs were for the true professionals, providing seminars for continuing education, liability insurance and the almighty piece of paper that ensures the client that they are the best.
What happened from there? Trainers flocked to seminars to learn new cool moves to add as tools in their toolbox. They listened to keynote speakers and top educators, attempting to soak up the knowledge that would make them stand out from the rest. But did they educate you on how to have a successful personal training business? Did they show you “hands-on” what the client truly wants? Most seminars today are directed toward the competitive athlete. (That’s where their functional equipment sales increase.) Is this the norm, the majority of your client base?
After a seminar, I see trainers come home all pumped up and ready to rumble! The first client in the door gets a toolbox full of NEW COOL MOVES. The moves are correct, but there is a vital component missing: Did “Super-Trainer Dan” assess his client’s active range of motion before wrenching her spine? Did he notice she was exceeding her active range and is now so far into the joint that it is becoming an excessive and risky range? I think not. Moreover, we see top professionals fail in regard to application. The professionals or “Fit-Pros” know—and we want you to know—where your financial future can be. You have a choice to venture in any direction you choose. After 25-plus years, we have held our ground, excelled and exceeded the million-dollar revenue mark, but most important, we have built a solid reputation for “service intensity.” This is not a way for us to shine, but to teach all our apprentices/pre-Fit-Pros the most efficient and successful way to feel confident in their own abilities. We want you to write your own financial ticket. Let’s face it: it all comes down to the cost of living, enjoying your professional training environment, and living a great life!
Fit-Pro’s Personal Training School Personal Statement
At one point in time, we all tried to perform exercises with weights or some fancy machine. Fitness instructors at the local gym taught these exercises. Today there are many so-called experts giving their versions of a particular exercise. They all have one major thing in common: they are based on opinion and favored by perception, sensation and a feeling of a movement. With all these exercises and so-called experts, picking or learning an effective training program can be as difficult as gaining 5 pounds of pure muscle per month. The negativity that trickled into the fitness industry stemmed from the so-called experts in the gyms. These experts had the genetics and physical ability to learn a movement based only on the goal of muscle building (maximum hypertrophy). This form of training had no application for the three-dimensional, multi-plane world in which we all live. Moreover, it had no application or carryover to our “real” daily life. Today there are hundreds of companies promoting products for the personal training industry; most are just making a quick buck. (“Vibrate this… shake that…” while you apply a “high-risk” movement pattern based only on someone’s invention or idea.)
Remember these sound bites:
“Just because you can, does not mean you should.”
“Your structure dictates your function.”
“Stability before Mobility”
“Exercises should be chosen based on a risk to benefit ratio”
“There is no such thing as a “wrong” exercise, only inappropriate application”
Fit-Pro’s: All rights reserved. Library of Congress 5/12/2015 0001029384707
All Rights Reserved: Library of Congress. Fit-Pro’s Personal Training School is a registered trademark of the American Association of Fitness & Nutrition. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, transmitted, copying, recording, or otherwise, without the written permission of the president of Fit-Pro’s Personal Training School, and the A.A.F.N.
