It Bothers Me...*Another Rant

[Allerious]

Originally Posted by PowerManDL

If your volleyball girl comes in out of shape and weak, and she thinks she knows better than you, you've got two options:

1) Argue with her over it, and if she's just that stubborn, she's not going to listen to you anyway

2) Just say "OK", throw her a few bones so that the know-it-all thinks she's getting her way, and when she's not looking, slip in the real training.

3) Find better clients to work with. Stop accepting pain in the ass clients. Establish multiple sources of income so that a temporary dip in your client base won't knock you out of commission.

Btw, what are you supposed to call "bro speak" when it comes from a girl? How about "client speak" vs "trainer speak".

I disagree with all this talk about "balancing what the client wants vs. needs". This should only be applicable to people who are new in the field and still working for others. I don't understand why anyone who is well established should continue to put up with such BS. After a few years of doing this, you should know whether your ultimate passion lies in performance or recreation, and then you should pursue either path to its fullest extent.

[ts.vassilev]

Originally Posted by Allerious

This should only be applicable to people who are new in the field and still working for others.

Kinda where Rich is at right now. When he grows up - he'll bitchslap anyone he wants. Right now - he'll work with whoever he can.

[stroutman81]

Originally Posted by Allerious

3) Find better clients to work with. Stop accepting pain in the ass clients. Establish multiple sources of income so that a temporary dip in your client base won't knock you out of commission.

Btw, what are you supposed to call "bro speak" when it comes from a girl? How about "client speak" vs "trainer speak".

I disagree with all this talk about "balancing what the client wants vs. needs". This should only be applicable to people who are new in the field and still working for others. I don't understand why anyone who is well established should continue to put up with such BS. After a few years of doing this, you should know whether your ultimate passion lies in performance or recreation, and then you should pursue either path to its fullest extent.

I have a hard time believing you've been able to establish an entire book of business without *ever* having to work around/with clients and their preconceived notions and beliefs.

Certainly a select few exists who will be completely receptive to your advice and will train exactly as you say from day one. In my experience though, these clients are few and far between.

Even the ones that seem receptive have a hard time letting go of their beliefs when they're outside of the gym.

To boot, I'm not sure I'd even want to have each client 100% receptive from day one. I enjoy the creativity required to lead someone away from their preconceived notions toward a 'better place.'

[John Izzo]

Even strength coaches have a hard time with non-receptive athletes and I consider them easier to train than the common general population client.

[perrogrande007]

Originally Posted by PowerManDL

Tsvetan pretty much summed up what I was trying to get at in my long-winded roundabout way.

To make it more concise: perception is reality

It's your job to pander to the perceptions of your client (no matter how much it sucks, and when you've got An Idea of how things are "supposed" to be done, it's going to suck) while bridging the gap to what actually needs to get done.

If your volleyball girl comes in out of shape and weak, and she thinks she knows better than you, you've got two options:

1) Argue with her over it, and if she's just that stubborn, she's not going to listen to you anyway

2) Just say "OK", throw her a few bones so that the know-it-all thinks she's getting her way, and when she's not looking, slip in the real training.

I've been just as guilty of #1 as anybody. But #2 is the more productive route, IMO. You've got your way of doing things, I've got mine, etc, but it all boils down to the same concepts and general guidelines of physiology.

Which is really what I meant about not ignoring any particular avenues - if somebody comes in wanting to shape up and tone up, hell you can do that while operating under a productive workout. Just remember that perception is more important than reality.

Sometimes the terminology will make you cringe, but you can determine a realistic goal from even the thickest of bro-speak.

Effin-A! Great post!

[kaiser S]

Originally Posted by Allerious

3) Find better clients to work with. Stop accepting pain in the ass clients. Establish multiple sources of income so that a temporary dip in your client base won't knock you out of commission.

Btw, what are you supposed to call "bro speak" when it comes from a girl? How about "client speak" vs "trainer speak".

I disagree with all this talk about "balancing what the client wants vs. needs". This should only be applicable to people who are new in the field and still working for others. I don't understand why anyone who is well established should continue to put up with such BS. After a few years of doing this, you should know whether your ultimate passion lies in performance or recreation, and then you should pursue either path to its fullest extent.

Powerful stuff. That's what's great about this field - As you get more established and successful, things become easier and you actually earn more by training only clients that YOU want to train.