Dealing with Over-Promised and Under-Delivered Results
Many trainers got their start due to injury or deciding to make a change themselves. Most of us were athletes in middle school, high school or college and found ourselves without direction at one point or another. The gym brought us peace, it brought us sanity. Eventually, we decided we wanted to share what it can offer to others. Many over-enthusiastic promises come from a good place. We are so glad you decided to start working out, and even more excited you decided to hire a trainer to help you. We see all of the positive outcomes headed your way and want you to feel the same way we do. On the flipside, a lot of the promises you see online or in the fitness ad space do not come from a good place. They make you believe you’re in worse shape than you are, and they pretend to be the only ones with the answers to the problems they just told you you have.
Believe it or not, a lack of muscle is oftentimes more detrimental to our overall health than an over-accumulation of body fat. I don’t say this to tell you that you shouldn’t try to lose fat, rather to make sure our assessment of our current status and goals are properly aligned with what will benefit us in the long run. A trainer could make an easy sale telling you you’re going to lose a certain amount of weight in a certain amount of time. What’s not as easy to buy into is that in 6 months you may not see the scale change, but if you put in the work you’ll be able to see the difference in the mirror, all while being more healthy and feeling better than if you were to lose the weight the trainer promised.
A good trainer will help you set a goal that checks the boxes you are looking for while still prioritizing your health and performance. Taking into consideration the chances of sustainability, program adherence, as well as maintaining overall health and a positive health & fitness experience. Nothing will de-rail someone's fitness venture quite like missed goals or a lack of results. That usually comes down to expectations and a trainer’s ability to communicate them from the beginning. Losing 10 pounds in 6 weeks can be done. It can be done in a healthy and sustainable way, but it can also be done in a way that is detrimental to your health and relationship with diet and exercise. A good trainer won’t compromise the latter for a short term goal. If they do, run.
A plant doesn’t grow while you watch it. It grows when you notice it the least. Watering the plant, doing all of the things we know we should do, being patient and adjusting the dose & frequency as needed leads us to one day notice the massive growth we would have missed by obsessing over the plant each day. We know it takes time and patience to see results, but we don’t always accept that getting there faster is rarely better. Instead of watering a plant one morning and expecting a tree by dinner time, adjust the intentions to be process oriented. “I’m going to care for this plant, give it what it needs, and let the process play out.” You’ll end up exceeding expectations and achieving surprising results.
Nothing feels worse in health and fitness than missing a target. Whether it’s a weight loss goal or a strength mark you’re aiming for: falling short feels awful. Short of what? The expectations we put on ourselves, or allowed a trainer to fool us into. Don’t let misguided expectations dictate your future health and fitness routine. Individual weight loss and strength training is an ongoing experiment. If we are getting underwhelming results we need to look into the other factors at play. This can be an uncomfortable look in the mirror, it can also mean firing a trainer. Don’t let it be something that causes you to quit because someone sold you something they shouldn’t have. When we have a well-calibrated checklist of goals and expectations, we can hit targets along the way and install systems that help provide a fail-safe for getting our desired outcomes.
A good trainer will key in on what motivates you and why you have the goal you have. We decide which exercises to incorporate based on how it fits your body physically, mentally and how it gets you closer to your long term goals. 95%+ of people who lose over 25lbs put the weight back on (and more). One of the main reasons for this is miscommunicated expectations. Anyone can prescribe a list of exercises that achieve a specific goal. Taking on a program that allows for life to happen and fits into where you are at as a client is what helps you move towards your goals. Programming for the individual rather than whatever particular studies a textbook suggested to them.
