❌❌Why I Stopped Training My Clients Like I Trained Myself... ...and Why “Crappy Training” For You May Be Just What They Need Ep 95

In a candid discussion, the host explores the intersection of fitness, business, and individual needs. He challenges the conventional gym model, advocating for a shift from daily specialized workouts to three full-body sessions per week, emphasizing profitability and client sustainability. The host reflects on personal experiences and biomechanics expert Bill Hartman's insights, revealing the trade-offs between performance, aesthetics, and long-term health. He advises gym owners to tailor fitness programs to clients' unique personalities and goals, rather than imposing their own preferences, to foster adherence and well-being. Ultimately, the host underscores the importance of a balanced, risk-aware approach to training that aligns with business viability and the diverse needs of clients.

• The speaker had a conversation with a gym owner about transitioning large group classes to three sessions a week.
• This advice is based on a mathematical assessment of space utilization and profitability.
• The speaker notes that training more frequently can lead to full capacity without achieving profitable margins.
• Gym owners often have a belief system that training every day is necessary, which can limit the gym's financial success.

"You should transition your large group classes to three sessions a week. And that's purely math."

This quote explains the speaker's advice to gym owners to reduce the frequency of large group classes to three times a week based on mathematical calculations for optimal space usage and profitability.

• The speaker reflects on their own experience starting a gym and wanting everyone to follow their personal training regimen.
• They realized that not everyone they were training was like them, leading to a more reserved and generalized approach to fitness.
• The speaker acknowledges that gym owners often project their own fitness beliefs onto their clients without considering individual differences.

"When I started my first location, I wanted every single person to lift weights and count their macros. Right. Because that's how I trade."

The quote illustrates the speaker's initial bias towards their preferred method of training and how they initially wanted to impose this on all their clients.

• The speaker discusses the ultimate goal of fostering a lifetime commitment to fitness and lifestyle change in clients.
• They observe that different fitness disciplines attract different personality types, suggesting that people's brain chemistry might be more suited to certain activities.
• The speaker emphasizes the importance of recognizing these differences and not just giving clients what the trainer prefers.

"It's lifetime commitment for those people. Like lifestyle change."

This quote highlights the speaker's belief that the goal of fitness training is to encourage a lifelong commitment to health and lifestyle changes, not just short-term results.

• The speaker notes that people with different fitness preferences often have different personality traits.
• They suggest that people are attracted to certain types of exercise because of their brain chemistry and personality.
• The speaker implies that understanding these differences can lead to more personalized and effective fitness regimens for clients.

"Certain personality types are actually attracted to different types of exercise."

This quote supports the theme by suggesting that there is a connection between a person's personality type and their preferred form of exercise, which has implications for how fitness programs should be tailored.

• The speaker challenges the notion that discipline is the sole reason for someone's commitment to fitness.
• They argue that people often continue with a fitness regimen because they enjoy it, not necessarily because they are disciplined.
• The speaker points out that prescribing what works for oneself does not necessarily work for everyone, emphasizing the need for personalized fitness approaches.

"We all trained because we liked it, right? And then we kept doing it."

This quote refutes the common belief that discipline is the primary reason people engage in regular fitness training, suggesting enjoyment is the key factor.## Personalized Fitness Approaches

• Fitness programs should be tailored to individual preferences and lifestyles to ensure adherence.
• Gym owners often follow a traditional workout split by muscle groups on specific days, which may not suit all clients' schedules.
• Transitioning from a body part split to a full body split accommodates varying client schedules and still provides balanced training.

"I went from like a push pull leg split to a full body split every day. Because then, from a business standpoint, everyone could come at different days."

This quote explains the strategic shift from a traditional workout split to a full body routine to accommodate clients' varying schedules, ensuring they can still receive a comprehensive workout regardless of the days they attend.

• Full body workouts can be effective, as demonstrated by the speaker's personal success in setting state records with this approach.
• Switching from a body part split to a full body split is not a disservice to clients but an adaptation to their real-world constraints and goals.

"Can people still get good results? Training full body, which I thought was, I'm only laughing because I think I trained the first eight years of my career where I set multiple state records training full body."

The speaker shares a personal anecdote to support the effectiveness of full body training, indicating that it is a viable approach for achieving significant fitness results.

• The speaker has experienced various injuries over 15 years of intense training.
• Seeking expert advice for injury prevention and rehabilitation is crucial for continued progress and health.

"I've had back injuries. I've had knee injuries, I've had hip injuries, shoulder trap, bicep. I mean, like, everything that you can name, right?"

This quote reveals the speaker's extensive history of training-related injuries, emphasizing the importance of addressing such issues for long-term training sustainability.

• Strength training can lead to decreased mobility due to the body becoming more rigid to efficiently transmit power.
• The principle of specific adaptation to imposed demands (SAID principle) explains the trade-off between strength and mobility.

"The stronger you get, the less mobile you become, because the sturdier you are, right. It's specific adaptation to implied demand, said principle, right?"

The speaker discusses the SAID principle to illustrate why increased strength from weight training often results in reduced mobility, highlighting a common physiological adaptation.## Physical Training and Long-Term Mobility

• Long-term intensive training can lead to a fit appearance but may sacrifice mobility later in life.
• Speaker A reflects on whether they would have chosen the same training path with the knowledge they have now.

"But most of the people who come in, if I were to say, hey, the body that you want is going to have massive sacrifices in terms of what you're able to do from a mobility standpoint later down the road, when you actually achieve what you want. I don't know, and I'm being really honest with you, I don't know if I would have signed up for this if I had known what I know now."

This quote emphasizes the potential negative impact of intensive physical training on long-term mobility, which may not be apparent at the outset.

• The podcast relies on word-of-mouth for growth, without the use of ads, sponsorships, or sales.
• Speaker B encourages listeners to share the podcast as they learned about it.

"The only way this grows is through word of mouth. And so I don't run ads, I don't do sponsorships, I don't sell anything."

Speaker B explains the organic growth strategy of the podcast, emphasizing the importance of listener recommendations and shares.

• Speaker A's training has altered their body structure, making it more sturdy but with some negative consequences.
• They describe the physical changes and the impact on their daily life, questioning the balance between performance, aesthetics, and health.

"And so what happens is my skeleton has literally compressed inwards so that I can handle more weight. Right. I'm more sturdy. It's a wider base, and my hips are so rotated down, I can touch my toes like this."

This quote illustrates how Speaker A's body has physically adapted to their training regime, showing both the benefits and drawbacks of such modifications.

• Speaker A has stopped training their clients like themselves, recognizing that most clients have different goals.
• They advocate for a more balanced approach that aligns with clients' desires to look and feel better without extreme measures.

"So I'm going back to the headline of this, which is like, why I stopped training my clients, like myself, because they're not us."

Speaker A discusses the rationale behind changing their training approach for clients, acknowledging that their personal goals and training intensity are not universal.

• Speaker A discusses the reality of muscular gains and the role genetics play in physical training.
• They admit to not having gained much muscle mass in recent years, focusing instead on strength and structural efficiency.

"Most people are going to achieve 80% of their muscular gains within their first nine months. Twelve months of training. Real talk, right? And that's the talk of where genetics really plays a factor."

This quote highlights the natural limits of muscular development and the significant influence of genetics on training outcomes.

• Speaker A questions past training decisions based on current knowledge and experience.
• They recognize that their pursuit of growth and progress may not have been beneficial for their health.

"I don't know if I would have made the decisions that I"

Speaker A expresses doubt about their past training choices, suggesting they might have chosen differently with the hindsight they have now.### Training Philosophy and Client Goals

• The speaker emphasizes the importance of recognizing individual client goals and capacities.
• Tailoring training programs to suit clients' unique needs and limitations is crucial.
• The speaker argues that most clients' goals can be achieved with a three-day-a-week training schedule.
• A profitable gym should offer sustainable training that keeps clients engaged for life.
• Incorporating both cardio and weight training caters to different personalities and preferences.
• The aim is to create an addictive, enjoyable, and safe training environment that encourages long-term commitment.

"And so I'm just saying this to you so that if you have guilt around, like, well, I don't train that way, it's like, okay, but they're not you."

This quote highlights the speaker's point that trainers should not project their personal training preferences onto their clients, as each individual has different needs and goals.

"Most of their goals can be achieved at three days a week, so you can have a margin and have the amount of capacity to fulfill those people and actually stay in business long enough to see them through the goals that you originally promised and signed them up for."

Here, the speaker is explaining that a moderate training frequency can be sufficient for clients to reach their goals and is also more sustainable for the business in the long run.

"It's okay to train full body. It's okay to have people train three days a week. They're going to get great results as long as they stick with it."

The speaker reassures that a full-body training regimen, even if it's only three days a week, can yield significant results provided that the clients are consistent with their workouts.

• The speaker discusses the balance between the benefits of certain exercises and the potential risks they pose to clients.
• It is suggested that there are safer alternatives to exercises like deadlifts that can still effectively target muscle groups such as the glutes.
• Trainers should consider the risk-to-reward ratio of exercises, especially for clients whose goals do not align with high-risk training.
• The speaker implies that understanding various training methods and their safety is essential for a trainer.

"What does a house mom really get from increasing her deadlift? Are there other ways that we can train her glutes so that she has more developed glutes that aren't deadlifts?"

This quote questions the practical benefits of high-risk exercises for clients with everyday fitness goals and suggests that trainers should know alternative, safer exercises.

"It's probably exposing her to too much risk given the reward for her. Right. Her life is not going to really get any better if she adds 50, 80 pounds to her deadlift."

The speaker is pointing out that for some clients, the improvement gained from increasing the weight of high-risk exercises may not significantly enhance their quality of life, thus not justifying the risk.

• The speaker links the success of a gym to its ability to offer a profitable and scalable business model.
• A training model should be optimized for the maximum benefit of the greatest number of clients.
• Personalized, time-intensive sessions are not seen as a scalable or profitable approach.
• The speaker encourages finding a balance between passion for training and the practicalities of running a successful business.

"And if we had, okay, every single session is 2 hours or an hour and a half, and we do mobility, which a lot of us do, is that going to be a profitable business? No."

The speaker questions the profitability of lengthy, highly individualized training sessions, suggesting that they may not be sustainable for a business model.

"So you need to optimize it based on the maximum good for the maximum amount of people so that you can have a business."

This quote emphasizes the need for a training model that serves a broad client base effectively and ensures the survival and profitability of the business.