All I can say is, “WTF?!?!?”
Perhaps that isn’t the classiest way to start an article.
Perhaps it summons up verbiage that steps outside of political correctness . . . but there’s an element of human nature that, when pushed hard enough, can drive virtually anyone to give way to the urge to scream out the s-word, or . . . the dreaded f-word.
Then again, I can play this off as, not the build-up of explosive frustration leading to a want to scream “What the . . . . “, but as an acronym.
Yeah, that’s it, an acronym!
I wasn’t stepping over any lines. I meant, “All I can say is, “Want To Fly?”
Maybe I’m better off by telling you this is aimed at helping you get in touch with the true power of will, and WTF stands for “Will The Future?” Watch This Frog? Walk Tall Friend? Wash Thor’s Feet?
OK, forget the headline. Let me change it to “What in the world, what in the ever-lovin’ whole wide universe, what in the infinite wisdom of the galaxies, are personal trainers thinking?”
I caught one today (a personal trainer that is) training a client in my gym, pretending they were working out together.
It happens often and I believe we do a good job of catching it . . . but it begs the question . . .
. . . isn’t there any respect at all?
Imagine a doctor sneaking into a hospital to perform surgery. It isn’t likely. We may have criticisms of the medical field, but despite its challenges, there is professionalism, there are standards, and there is respect.
Personal trainers (no, not all, but more than just a few) somehow feel entitled to generate money inside someone else’s business without adhering to or even considering policy, the staff, the message being sent to members, and the liability. I pulled the trainer aside, invited him to apply for a job, and told him if he’s ever seen training someone in the gym again without authorization we’ll immediately revoke his membership. Harsh? Nah. Just a necessary response to trainer-think.
Is it only disrespect for the industry that irks me? Absolutely not! I’m quite irkable today (every now and then I make up a word . . . just humor me).
At a large-chain commercial club this week I saw a trainer “aligning” his female client’s body on a machine in a manner that looked . . . I’d have to say . . . inappropriate . . . very inappropriate. “Handles at nipple height” was the directive for seat adjustment, and the trainer was very . . . umm . . . hands on.
I see it all over the place. You do as well. I know you do. You see the trainer talking on his cell phone while the client does lunges. You see the trainer standing someone on a Bosu doing one-leg unbalanced movements that have absolutely nothing to do with the goal. You see the lies, the cheats, the unqualified, the incompetent, and . . . then you see the good ones. They’re few and far between.
So what brought me to the WTF moment? With the accumulation of episodes and incidents finding their way into my awareness, and my RAS being besieged by trainers who poorly represent what you and I chose to do for a living, my phone rang. It was a personal trainer who I’ve known for years. I always assumed he was successful, primarily because he talked a good game. He has a swagger, strong people skills, and conducts himself professionally. I immediately sensed this was a “can you do something for me” call. He sounded down, tentative, and uncomfortable calling me. We went through the niceties for a minute or two, and then I politely asked why he’s calling.
“Phil, I’ve been wanting to do this for a few months, but it took me awhile to do it. “
“Do what?”
“Ask you if I can come work for you.”
At first I was encouraged, and I saw potential for a win-win, but I’m always cautious when an independent trainer who’s had a taste of making his or her own way, asks to become an employee in a controlled managed environment. In the minutes that followed, he told me he’s broke, he’s desperate, and . . . here’s the WTF . . . he tells me it’s impossible to make money as a trainer!!? He said those words. “. . . impossible to make money as a trainer. “
WTF?
Understand the absurdity. That's what makes my brain risk exploding. Trying to absorb and understand absurdity when there is so much value in personal trainers simply recognizing and acting on legitimate opportunity.
You might stop me right in my tracks and say, "Dudel, calm down, that's exactly what this trainer did! He asked you for a job, seeking and acting on opportunity?"
Oh I wish it were that simple.
I could restate his request and accompanying statements as, “You can’t make money as a trainer because it isn't possible, so hire me as a trainer and dig into your own pockets to pay me enough money to get myself out of the debt I got myself into.” Does that make any sense at all???? If it is, in fact, impossible to make money as a trainer, where in the blue blazes would I get the money to pay him??
Oh, wait, maybe it’s possible. Maybe trainers can make money. Why, then would someone in quest of employment make such a statement? It defies logic. I’d have to guess it’s a self-preservation mechanism, an insulation of ego. It's hard to be responsible. It’s hard to say, “I fell short in attempting to build a personal training career,” or “perhaps I should have been wiser in the way I conducted my business.” The easier ego-insulating belief is, “if I can’t do it, nobody can.”
That might hold water . . . if he weren’t asking me for a job as a trainer. In that lies the absurdity. He’s indicting an industry as financially deficient and asking for a paycheck in the same breath.
I held in the WTF until after we hung up. In fact, I held it in until now, until I sat at my computer and let the words fly out of me.
So, this is my vent. This is my outletting of steam. I’m tired of hearing negative things about personal trainers or the personal training industry. You might have seen the People’s Court episode I posted about a month ago lowlighting a self-proclaimed Personal Trainer. It’s one of many assaults on personal training integrity I’ve been exposed to lately.
I decided a little more than three years ago that I would go beyond finding my own career security, but that I’d contribute to what might amount to a legacy. I decided that I’d create an oversee a mechanism to help those trainers who have desire, morality, and a willingness to accept responsibility, elevate above the abysmal standard of the present personal training industry snapshot.
I honestly don’t have the patience or even the desire to help those trainers who are ready to throw their potential right under the figurative bus. I declined to bring the trainer who called me on board (although I believe I pointed him in a valuable direction)..
With this vent comes an offer. I want you to understand the magnitude of this. I made the offer first a couple of weeks ago and I was called all sorts of adjectives, most of them synonyms for crazy, and I feel so good about the comments and feedback I’ve received, I’m keeping it rolling. I want to be able to shrug off the inadequacies that exist in our field by knowing a new type of personal trainer is coming to represent a new standard of excellence.
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