Things that must change

Posted on 01. Jun, 2009 by Keith Scott in Blog

This is a ‘small’ list of things I think need to change!

Leave me a comment and let me know what I left out! Would love to hear some of your list!

· People thinking that eating a huge breakfast that consists of pancakes, syrup, fruit and a huge glass of orange juice is somehow good for you. Think about the amount of sugar that you are eating in this one sitting. Americans generally see breakfast as a time to get away with eating gobs of “dessert.” You know; things like cakes, pastries, sugar coatings. Think about what we buy and eat…Pop Tarts, Cereal with tons of extra sugar, Waffles covered with butter and more extra sugar. We wash down this meal with a huge glass of milk or orange juice. More sugar. No wonder we are so fat

· The Fear of lifting weights – I hear it almost everyday. “I don’t want to get bulky!” Don’t worry, you wont unless you neglect to take care of your diet. “I really don’t want to get bigger, I don’t need weights, I just want to lose weight and get fit.” – That starts with resistance training coupled with eating a good diet. Stop fearing the weights. I have 80 some year old women that train with weights and do very well. You can too.

· Long Slow Cardio to lose fat. This just doesn’t work well. You want to lose fat? Try ramping up the intensity in your “cardio” workouts. It works and works better than anything I have done with clients. Do you want to spend a lot of useless time on the treadmill or Elliptical not getting anywhere? Do long slow cardio.

· Guys who never train their legs! I see this way too much. There are a few guys at the gym where I train that are huge in the upper body, and strong too…but, they have pencils for legs. I don’t ever think they have performed a squat or deadlift in their lives. I understand why they where long, baggy shorts or pants all of the time, but where next to nothing for a shirt.

· Teenage girl’s obsession with Paris Hilton. What has she ever done to deserve any status of a celebrity? She was born rich and has rich parents and became famous for going to parties and drinking. Am I missing something here?

· Not Practicing what you preach – I cant stand seeing trainers and others for that matter dispensing advice and working with people on fitness goals when they don’t do a fraction of anything to stay fit themselves. People need to walk the walk while they talk the talk. There is nothing worse than seeing a fat, out of shape trainer who has zero mobility, 20 orthopedic problems, and eats like a pig.

· The dogma that training with body part splits is the only way to build muscle. People need to get real, do some reading and research and learn that body part splits are mainly for body builders and chances are, you are not a body builder. “Building” your body does not make one a body builder. Ditch the perception that working 10 sets of biceps curls is better than doing 5 sets of hard core chins. Its not!

· People that actually celebrate the fact that they have 1000 + posts on an internet message board. Why would anyone celebrate the fact that you sit on your ass and post messages all day long instead of living life? I got news for all of the 1000 plus posters out there…don’t celebrate that fact, instead, reevaluate your life and your time.

· Letting high school and college kids run a muck on internet message boards claiming expertise in every facet of fitness, body building, weight training, fat loss, etc… More news for you people…you don’t know anything. Sorry to say but experience is king in most endeavors, but in the fitness and performance field you need in the trenches experience before you really know what you are doing or talking about. Dead Lifting 400 pounds does not make you an expert. Hanging out on a fitness message board and racking up your post count does not make you an expert.

· Biting off more than you can chew! You have heard that expression before and it is very true in the fitness industry both with clients and with trainers. Don’t assume that you can change your entire diet over night, start working out 5 times a week, add mobility training to your workout, and stick to that program long term. Take small steps for change. Change one thing this week or month and another the next. Too many people want to do everything at once and although its possible to do so, its tough and most people fail because of it. Trainers are just as guilty of this. They will allow and push their clients to do “everything” at one time. Not a good practice. Know you client and know you own limits as a trainer.

· Everyone and their mother claiming to be a Sports Performance Coach or Enhancement Specialist. Walk into any gym these days and there are trainers that have a sign up that claims they know how to train athletes. Maybe they do and maybe they don’t. The part that must change is the fallacy that just because you took a Kinesiology course in college and have your personal training certificate, does not make you a sports performance coach. Get some experience. Don’t be afraid to shadow or intern with someone that has been around. I watched a “trainer” last week work with a Division I athlete. It was sad and scary at the same time. This “trainer” had this athlete doing the following: Leg extensions, seated biceps curls, kick backs, and leg curls.

· Teenage guys who wear girl pants and skin tight, small t-shirts (which are baggy on them.) I see these guys all of the time. They have a zero waist size, and where skin tight “girls jeans” Somehow this style is considered “sexy?” to other teenage girls? Wow, a lot has changed.

· People who talk on their cell phones while they are working out. Come on! If you can talk on your phone, are you really training? Worst is when I see some guy take time between sets to make a phone call. I am all for multitasking, but if you feel you need to make calls, and text message doing your training session, you have other problems.

· Women who complain about not being able to lose weight but still insist on drinking every Friday and Saturday night. No problem going out and having some fun, but if you are looking to lose weight, having drinks on the weekend is not going to get you there.

· Women who are losing inches and major sizes but still worry about what the scale says. I know this is a huge issue with most women, but if you are dropping inches, don’t worry about the scale. It means nothing.

· People who stare at me like I am a freak when I dead lift. This says a few things: (A) They need to get a clue, and (B) I need to find a new place to train. (working on that one)

· Women who train like “women” What I mean is… the dogma that girls should stick to machines and never go near free weights. Women need to squat and dead lift…however, if you go into most gyms, the machines are filled with girls doing 10 sets of 30 reps on the hip machines.

· People who think that they just cannot lose weight no matter what they do, like they are cursed. OK, if I put you on an island for 2 weeks with nothing to eat but the native fruit and fish, do you think you would lose weight? Is that because it is a “magic island?” Think about that.

· Men who train like “women.” See the above. This is even more disturbing to me. Nothing worse then to see a guy doing “thigh master” exercises.

· People who abuse the “post workout meal” idea by stuffing their faces with pounds of crap after they workout…not realizing that the 20 min treadmill “walk” doesn’t comply with a hard training session.

· “Tony-Talks-Too-Much” needs to stop talking to everyone in sight and just get his workout on. You know the guy I am talking about…usually slicked back hair, very overly friendly and wants to talk to everyone that is in his line of vision. Not only does he not get any work in, but neither do the people he “kidnaps” for a 20 minute conversation.

· “Trainers” that celebrate and brag about how badly they kicked their client’s asses, and made them puke….like that is the end goal?

· “Clients” who think that they only got a good workout from their trainer when they got their ass kicked and puked. Stop watching “The Biggest Loser” that is not real life!

· Internet Training “Gurus” who don’t even train anyone in real life, and are only 24 years old, yet they write books, sell products and lie about their resume. Yes, you are probably reading their blogs and articles everyday. You would be very surprised.

· People who use Facebook to complain about their lives everyday. FB is filled with people posting about how busy they are and how they have no time for anything…yet they find time to post about their busy lives, play “Mafia Wars”, and send people Shamrocks, candy bunnies, and Valentines crap…while taking quizzes on how well you “know them?” And becoming “fans” of sleeping, smiling and taking a crap.