A couple weeks ago I woke up perhaps a little cranky, but mostly just fed up with some of the motivational tactics which have been floating around more and more in regards to health and fitness. Below is the Facebook result:
Clifton Harski
The over the top inspirational quotes by some people in the fitness industry are starting to blow my mind. In a comical way…maybe I’m just a little cynical, but….for example “You can’t have a training goal without first having a life purpose.” Please share your thoughts, do you like these types of quotes, or do they seem out of place coming from? Do we really think that fitness programs are that intense/serious?
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Glad to see I wasn’t alone (admittedly, one person say she “loved” those types of quotes, but I edited that out to support myself. It’s my blog). I just don’t think that we as trainers should be trying to act like Tony Robbins. Or at least we shouldn’t need to be AT ALL POINTS. In fact, if you have to resort to motivational speeches then you might be doing it wrong! And if that client really takes that much effort, they might not be worth it. We should be able to fire up our clients in different ways, such as
- Hotness. Mark and the staff (what’s up Kyle and John?) at markfisherfitness.com do this amazingly well. In a more GLORIOUS fashion than many (probably any) other gym in the country-and it WORKS. They get people hot (and also fit, healthy and moving well). And people want to be hot. And calling it hotness is genius! It makes it seem less serious because it acknowledges the goal to improve one’s body composition through humor which effectively takes away some of the pressure. This is healthy, but when it becomes an obsession to get ripped, or skinny or whatever, it becomes unhealthy. A fine line I know, and to help you navigate it I suggest you go read this articleby The Whole9 who break down dysfunctional thinking on body image MUCH BETTER THAN I COULD (I really want to give them a TomKat type name, I’m thinking Dallissa…)
- Performance. This is my favorite. To me performance just means working towards specific goals, because I’m not a professional athlete, and neither are 99.9% of your clients. Getting them excited about performance goals is awesome. Now, lots of trainers will say that this is a better goal than an aesthetic goal, and I would agree long term—but here is the problem. Lots, or most, of trainers are like me and have always been in shape and have no idea what it’s like to not give a shit about how much you bench press because all you want to do is be able to go shirtless or wear a bikini without wanting to hide. So those of us who are trying to push performance goals on people who just want to get hot, need to tread those waters carefully….listen to the client. I think an industry leader in goal setting are the girls over at Girls Gone Strong, and I don’t just mean for girls either, these ladies are smart, and their blogs are better than mine.
- Health. This is actually pretty hard to motivate people with, because it’s harder to quantify like inches on your waist or pounds on your squat. BUT! If you are successful with the lbs and “s, you can start to point out how GOOD the trainee is feeling, and that’s when you’ve got them. Because once you’re healthy and feel great…you want to stay that way. Unless you’re dumb.
Now, the reason I wrote this today is because Nike has just put out one of those give you goose bump motivational commercials. I mean it is damn good. And if you’re gonna do motivational videos or pictures, it better be to this standard, otherwise you’re just not cutting it.
Finally, I’d like to know your thoughts on this CrossFit ad. Is it vulgar, cheesy, poor taste, effective marketing, or what do you think about it?
If you’re in San Diego, go to www.batrainingsd.wordpress.com to come out and train.
The Nike video gives me goose bumps…and borderline makes me want to cry. Different ages, cultures, genders, socioeconomic status….it has it all and is accessible to all. Our drive to create our own individual goals and fight until we achieve them brings us all together. The 2nd video (and I’m not doing this to be a Crossfit hater – I have seen some Crossfit videos that were inspiring) did nothing for me. It’s probably some upper-middle class young woman with a hot body doing some hard core fitness – but it didn’t make me feel anything. I don’t think it is vulgar or in poor taste, but as a marketing tool I think it is ineffective.
That’s Andrea Ager and she is a pretty badass Crossfitter…
who is? The girl in the CF video?
I just bought my first pair of size 10 slacks in 20 years. Wasn’t my original fitness goal, but sure made me do the happy tippy-toe dance! Hotness counts, even at 60.
AWESOME
Clifton, I really am appreciating your blog. Great stuff, great post. Keep them coming. Will you be at AHS?
Thanks for the support. I won’t be at AHS, I get shoulder surgery on wednesday