HEALTH & FITNESS
Why You Should Just Stop Reading About Diet & Exercise
You don’t have an Information Problem, so why keep researching?
When I first started out as a personal trainer in 2008 I was all about the Customized Workout & Diet programs.
It was in BIG LETTERS on my website.
In my opinion, everyone needed a customized eating and training plan, preferably snazzily formatted in Excel, with exact grams, macros, sets, reps and everything. This information was most definitely what out-of-shape folks needed to finally turn things around.
Clients were always super-impressed with these programs, and I felt like a great personal trainer.
Turns Out I Was A Sh*t Personal Trainer
Thing is, nobody really made any progress with my researched-and-formatted-to-death customized programs!
I learned the hard way that most unfit and out-of-shape people haven’t been lacking the perfect program.
They don’t have an Information Problem (none of us do since the dawn of the Internet).
Nope, most folks have an Implementation Problem.
The Coaching Predicament
The problem with this for any coach is that prospective clients often still believe it’s a lack of the ‘right’ Information that’s holding them back.
“My diet’s fine, I’m pretty healthy, I just need the right training plan”…
…is a genuine quote from a 5'9" 260lb man who came into chat with me in my training facility.
This is understandable. To put on my Grumpy Old Man hat for a second, let me say that social media has messed with our heads.
We are led to believe anyone in good shape knows Secrets:
- new wondrously-effective exercises
- snazzy killer fat-loss recipes
- underground herbal supplements…
something that we don’t know yet, that these gurus will share with us if we just hand over enough cash.
In fact, unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve already read/watched enough information about fitness and nutrition to be in amazing shape, and could probably write your own weekly health and fitness newsletter ;-)
But even if you didn’t already have enough Information, you could quickly google:
- “simple fat loss diet” and
- “3 times a week strength building program”
and have the Information you need within minutes to be a super-fit, healthy, lean mean fighting machine in 6 months.
And yet you’ll probably still struggle with Implementation because as humans that’s where we fall down when trying anything new and ambitious.
So the predicament for a coach is that you need to give clients what they say they want, but you know they don’t really need (a fully-customized workout and diet program, where some basic guidelines would suffice)…
…while sneakily giving them what they truly need (help with implementation, stress control, time management, accountability, habit building).
Why I’m Not Writing About Your Glutes Any More
If you’ve read any of my previous articles you’ll have noticed I am drawn more and more to helping you with the Implementation side of things, instead of writing articles about:
“The 5 Best Lower Body Exercises For Glutes You Can Bounce a Penny Off”.
Believe me, guys and gals much more buff and beautiful than me have already shot Youtube videos on that, so the Information is available!
But what I find lacking in the health and fitness writing space is Implementation advice.
- How to change your habits and environment
- How to manage your time so you can do The Thing
- How to avoid procrastination
- How to stay on track if progress is disappointing
- How to fit everything in around your home/work life.
Because after more than 15 years now of working with clients, talking through their struggles, I don’t hear:
I didn’t know what to eat for lunch.
it’s
I didn’t have time to make myself the lunch I should have had.
It’s not
I didn’t know what exercises to do.
it’s
I felt so tired and stressed after work I didn’t want to work out at all.
Are Those Your Stumbling Blocks Too?
If your crazy-busy life, lack of sleep and high stress levels stop you being remotely disciplined, motivated or organized around your eating or workouts, then just ‘knowing’ what to do is pretty pointless.
If that’s the case for you then it really doesn’t matter if a fresh-faced trainer has given you a beautifully formatted diet and training plan.
I’ll leave you with the Goethe quote so good I got it graffiti’d on my studio wall:
