Personal Trainer Gains 90 Pounds To Connect Better With His Clients.
A recent piece on Good Morning America caused real up roar in the fitness industry and has divided opinion amongst its ranks. The peice was about a former underwear model and personal trainer who had the perfect rippling six pack, chiseled jaw line and made a living from having the ultimate body!
He then spent six months eating whatever he liked, ultimately gaining 90 pounds in weight, losing his pristine body, replacing the six pack and chiseled chin for a pregnant paunch and chubby face.
He did this in an attempt to better understand his obese clients.
His actions have been villified by many of his peers in the industry, claiming he is irresponsible, “lunacy” and not being a “good example” to his clients. However my thoughts are very different, because those same trainers who have attacked him really do not have what it takes to coach their clients to a better body. Whilst these trainers may have incredible technical skills and knowledge to teach their clients how to get fit, I question whether they truly understand what makes their clients tick!
The majority of trainers are a strange breed. The guy that runs your local aerobics class, bootcamps or personal training sessions is quite likely to be someone who became a trainer because they like working out, they like gyms and get a kick out of feeling fit and healthy. Making a living out of doing the stuff you like is cool, but they are probably the wrong people to help you lose weight!
I believe most people who need to lose weight hate the thought of working out, are absolutely NOT gym people, and really do not understand the feeling of being fit and healthy! From a psychological standpoint a personal trainer and someone who needs to lose weight are so far apart, the trainer might as well be speaking russian and the client will be speaking french!
So am I saying your coach needs to be someone who used to be fat to understand you better? Well may be…
However, I do know of many great coaches, who have never had weight issues, who really do understand the barriers their clients have to working out or even stepping in to the gym for the first time.
And I think that this is the most important point here, finding someone who can empathise with you and the reasons why you have found training and the gym environment difficult before, as well as the addictive nature of your current eating habits. I really believe that gyms are the most unnatural, scariest and intimidating places for someone, male or female, who is over-weight… but this is a whole different discussion for another article.
If you can find someone like this to train you, then your chances of success are multiplied, because you’ll at least be talking the same language!
Back to our overweight underwear model, my thoughts are that he will become the most important coach in his gym if not his area. The twist of the story is that after 6 weeks of following his own program he has lost just 10 of the 90 pounds.
Mentally he has found it difficult, getting over the addiction to sugar has been tough, but as long as he finds the right path back to his former body shape he will become an incredible asset to his clients, both from a physical and mental standpoint.
So instead of asking for your coaches academic qualifications to see if they are any good, maybe you’ll be inclined to review their history a little more and find out if they’ve been addicted to the gym or addicted to sugar 
)
If you want to make a positive step forward to making dramatic changes to your body, then you need a goal, a goal that is really very powerful and gets you inspired to break down some of the barriers you have to working out or changing some eating habits. My Goal Achievement Strategy workbook has help hundreds of people make a positive start towards a better body. Go to http://goalachievementstrategy.com to download your copy right now.
What do you think? Leave your comments below.
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about 11 months ago
Hi! Waow, yeah… it is very courageous indeed. Some actors like Renee Zellweger and Jared Leno have also done this. Gained weight for roles and lost it again, mostly in a very unhealthy way, too fast. And this trainer probably does it right.
) !
I have been overweight all my life and have been involved in lots of sports until I went abroad. So, really, there’s a sporty person inside of me. What I find challenging is getting past self-destructive habits and training on my own. Think a programme like a “bootcamp” involving a small group is ideal, as it does not make you feel isolated in your endeavours and/or in your challenges. Goals are so extremely important and some people really need to stay objective that their goals are actually being achieved, even if it’s kinda slow. But the sole writing down of goals can already be very scary… because when is the moment to change? It’s always… to try and break vicious cycles is good at any time.
Setting goals is excellent and, yes, support is definitely needed whether you get it from therapy or friends. The click to change might then come. The person really needs to find out that she deserves to lead a healthy lifestyle and keep it. Obesity or overeating always has its reasons, even though some people might be lazy… which is more a lack of motivation and the thought that nothing will ever change. Many very brave and strong people can do it on their own though. To change any part in your life demands courage and mental strength. But, when you look at the media, how many people lost weight through training programmes and who must have been able to afford the best trainers (Kirstie Alley, Janet Jackson, etc.), some coaches still have to understand how eating disorders work, so it’s really great this guy has done that! But, yes, many many people fail in keeping off the weight even if they have had amazing trainers. So it’s gotta do sthg with the client’s mind. To find a universal psychological behaviour code that would work for every obese person might be on its way through trainers who used to be big or who do experiences like this. Thanks a lot for sharing and Sorry for this long answer
about 7 months ago
Good on you Paul there is hope for me to become a trainer!
I am overweight and have been slowly losing the weight. What I found was that if I eat large meals my body can’t digest the whole meal and while it is trying to digest a large meal my body is using all its energy trying to. I need this energy to break down the accumulated fat so I am eating less at each meal .
It is similar to alcohol if you drink a small amount the liver can cope but drink a lot and the liver becomes overloaded and takes hours to break down the alcohol.
But it took a while for my body to wake up to the fact that I am serious and it is now breaking the fat down and reducing my hunger also. But drinking water is incredibly important in the process as the breakdown of fat releases toxins into the body that the liver and kidneys needs to clear which requires water.
I am not exercising so if I did I would lose the weight faster.