The Health & Fitness Professional (Part 1)

What does it take to be a true Health & Fitness Professional? In the following weeks, I will share three short stories that will hopefully spark some thought about the brand that you or your company is creating. This week, I’ll share a story about The Exercise Trainer.

The Exercise Trainer

A fitness enthusiast decides one day he wants to quit his 9-to-5 gig, and pursue a job as a trainer. He rationalizes his decision by thinking — “I’ve been working out for over 10 years, can do 50 kipping pull ups, dead lift 400 pounds, look amazing with my shirt off …. especially when I workout, and am 10 percent body fat. People are always asking me for workout suggestions, so why not make this a full-time gig?”

So, he makes the decision and goes to the nearest health club to find a job. They tell him that he needs a certification before he would be considered for a position. After a long conversation with the club manager about how he “doesn’t need a certification because he won last year’s regional fitness challenge,” he goes online, finds the cheapest and easiest online certification, and completes it within a couple of months. He heads back to the club and informs them that he got a certification. After a 30-minute interview, they hire him.

His first day arrives. He wakes up, throws on a hat and heads off to the gym. Without any training from the club management, he heads to the fitness desk and stands behind it, thinking that someone is sure to approach him to buy training. After a couple of hours with no success, he ventures out onto the fitness floor. He approaches a member doing a lat pull down and says — “You’re doing it wrong. You should never do it that way. You should hire me and I can show you how to do it right. What do you think?” The member says “no” and walks away.

He continues this approach for a couple of weeks without success. Then, one day, he answers the phone while standing behind the desk and gets his first client. Without doing an assessment to understand the clients goals, he takes the client through his favorite bodybuilding workout — three sets of 12; chest, tri’s and abs on Monday, legs on Wednesday, and back and bi’s on Friday. The member works with him for a month, realizes it’s not worth the money and stops training. Frustrated with his lack of accomplishments and financial situation, he decides to call it quits and goes back to his old job after three months.

Does this story sound familiar? Next week, I’ll share a story about the “Certified Trainer,” and the week after that, a story about “Health & Fitness Professionals.” Stay tuned for discussions on what each trainer does wrong and right, and how you can make sure your trainers are the best in the business.

Jason Stella is the National Brand Developer of Fitness for Life Time Fitness. He is also a certified personal trainer, and specializes in muscle activation techniques. He can be reached at JStella@LifeTimeFitness.com.