- Percent of adults 18 years of age and over who met the Physical Activity Guidelines for aerobic physical activity: 46.9% (2010)
- Percent of adults 18 years of age and over who met the Physical Activity Guidelines for muscle-strengthening physical activity: 24.0% (2010)
- Percent of adults 18 years of age and over who met the Physical Activity Guidelines for both aerobic and muscle-strengthening physical activity: 20.4% (2010)
[PDF - 9.8 MB]The burning question remains: why is this? Why don't more people engage in enough exercise? In my opinion, it has very little to do with a lack of time (everyone has the same amount of time in a given week), an increasing reliance on technology, a "convenience" society, a lack of information or resources about "how" to exercise, or outright laziness.
No, instead, I think it has EVERYTHING to do with the public's expectations about what exercise is SUPPOSED to be doing for them and how fitness and physical activity have long been marketed to the public. You see, exercise and fitness programs have long been marketed as weight loss and "body transformation" programs. Many-sometimes well meaning but often not-fitness professionals and slick marketing snake oil salesmen who sell exercise books, gadgets and DVD's have INCORRECTLY shaped the public's expectations about what exercise can and cannot do for them.
The problem is, exercise, by itself-and I don't care how much you are doing-is an extremely ineffective weight loss method. However, "experts" have repeatedly portrayed exercise as a "panacea" for weight loss. Again, these people, people in the industry I work in day in and day out, have incorrectly shaped a well meaning public's expectations about exercise and the weight loss it can produce. The public then buys into this, have high expectations, and then are very disappointed in their results.
When results do not meet expectations, there is a problem. How do we expect to improve our nation's physical activity statistics and expect people to be more consistent and compliant when the so called "leaders" of the fitness industry are sending the wrong message?
In a prior post to this blog, one of the more popular posts I've ever written, I broke down how many calories can be burned through exercise in a given week, and, also, how much weight loss can be expected from an "exercise only" approach. I encourage you to read the entire post, but, if you choose not to, here is the take home message: someone performing 3 one hour strength training workouts and 4 one hour cardiovascular workouts each week-a 7 hour time commitment-will burn about 3200 calories. There are 3500 calories in a pound of fat.
Given the above, do you see why I feel the public is receiving the wrong message? See why I think fitness pros and marketers are incorrectly shaping peoples expectations? So, someone hitting the gym EVERY day for an hour, after a month's time, assuming they are not ingesting more calories than they are expending, may lose 3 or 4 pounds. This is isn't exactly motivating for the end user, especially when the experts have made exercise out to be a great stand alone weight loss method. What typically happens is the well meaning exerciser who has been making a huge time commitment will say "screw it", and abandon exercise all together because they think they are not getting anything out of it. I mean, who can blame them when guys like me have been telling them otherwise?
If you are a fitness professional reading this blog, I challenge you to continually educate your clients about the reality of exercise and weight loss. Don't bullshit people for the sake of making a front end sale. Be honest with your clients and potential clients about what kind of results they can expect from participation in your program.
The following comes directly from the manual all of the new clients who train at my gym receive upon starting our program:
"What most trainers will not tell you is it is nearly impossible for them to transform your body by having you come in to see them 2-4 times per week. Sure, they may tell you that in order to get you in the door, but, the reality is, without a commitment from you outside of the actual personal workouts you perform under their supervision, your results-especially in terms of weight and fat loss-will be disappointing.
We are different than the vast majority of fitness trainers in that we are completely up front, honest, and transparent from day one about what we can and cannot deliver. We also make no bones about the fact we expect your adherence to our advice outside of the workouts you perform with us. We are certainly responsible TO you BUT NOT FOR YOU!
We will provide you with all of the coaching, advice and resources possible to ensure your results, but it is UP TO YOU to act on it and be internally motivated enough to do so. If we subtract 7 hours each night for sleep, there are 119 hours in every week where you can choose to make healthy lifestyle choices and follow our advice…or not. If we assume you will be spending 2-3 hours per week under our direct
supervision, we can ensure you’ll make a healthy choice, which will take you closer to your goals, for those 2-3 hours. However, that still leaves 116-117 waking hours where it is up to you.
One of the common questions we receive from potential clients is: “If I don’t change my eating habits and do nothing else in the way of exercise besides train with you 2-3 days per week, what can I expect in terms of results?” Here is the answer to that question:
1. Increased muscular strength in all major muscle groups
2. Maintenance of lean muscle tissue
3. Improved cardiovascular fitness and work capacity
4. Improved mobility and flexibility
5. Improved, more efficient movement with less pain
6. Improved motor skills and overall athleticism
7. Less stress, improved confidence and psychological well being
8. You will experience a comprehensive and systematized training program, tailored to your individual circumstances, which addresses all the components of fitness, and which consists of the most up-to-date 21st century training methods currently available.
9. A source of accountability (you are paying us and we are expecting you to be at the facility for your scheduled appointments) which will ensure better compliance to an exercise training program.
In short, you will be stronger, be in better condition, you will move better and with less pain, and you’ll ensure your resting metabolic rate does not decrease because you’ll be maintaining your lean muscle tissue. PLEASE NOTICE I DID NOT LIST A SPECIFIC NUMBER OF POUNDS LOST, INCHES LOST, BODY FAT LOST, ETC. If you train with me or one of my staff members 2-3 times/week, choose not to follow our nutrition advice (covered in your “Weight Loss 101” resource) and do not perform workouts on your own (which this resource will guide you on), you will receive nothing more from your training than what I listed above."
You see, I develop and set expectations with our clients IMMEDIATELY. They know what to expect and I can deliver the results. In the end, this means a happy-and often life long-client because I was honest with them, set the expectations, and delivered what I told them I would. I sell them on improvements in health, strength, conditioning, movement quality, and overall well being. And why wouldn't I?? After all, these are the true objectives of a training program.
If you are a current fitness enthusiast or someone just starting out with exercise, please take a second look at the excerpt from my client training manual above. You should be gauging the effectiveness of your training program based on improvements in performance...NOT on how much weight is being lost. You wouldn't expect your deadlift to increase by 50 lbs. by going to Weight Watchers, so don't expect the scale to move much by participating in a training regimen. Can exercise make a contribution towards weight loss? Absolutely...after all, it burns calories. Can exercise, specifically strength training, help to maintain lean muscle mass, therefore preventing a decrease in your resting metabolism? Absolutely. But, if you are not monitoring the quality AND quantity of the food you eat, should you expect working out 3 or 4 days per week to transform you into a fitness cover model?? Absolutely NOT!
It's time for a paradigm shift within the fitness industry. If we want more people to reap the benefits exercise provides, it's time fitness pros start re-educating their clients...relentlessly. The focus needs to be on improving strength and conditioning and NOT on weight loss and cosmetic changes. If things continue on as is, the physical activity statistics will continue to worsen. Let's get it right. NOW!
1 comment:
I have only just spotted this blog. Finally someone in the fitness industry is making sense. I get that people buy into all the hype and marketing about weight loss and looking good. Its promoted everywhere.
What I don't get is why gyms are not promoting the health benefits of exercise and healthy eating. (I see you are in the USA I am not, so can't comment on the gyms there) Weight loss and looking good are a side bonus, but the real gains come from reducing your chances of getting diabetes, heart disease etc. Getting more energy, fantastic for mental health issues. Surely this is how gyms and the fitness industry should be promoting exercise, yet I see or hear very little of this at the gym.
How often have you worked with a client who has followed your advice and have heard them say how much "better" they feel? Now if you could put that feeling in a bottle and sell it, you would change peoples thinking in "healthy" heart beat!!
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