This past Friday
and Saturday I gave three presentations at Can Fit Pro, a huge gathering of
personal trainers. I have never seen so much spandex gathered in one place. Speaking
at this definitely got me out of my comfort zone. (I accepted this at the
invitation of my publisher Human Kinetics who were one of the sponsors) As I
have stated many times in this blog I am not a big fan of what I see in the
personal training world. Too much style, not enough substance. So taking the opportunity to speak to an audience that
consisted entirely of personal trainers was very interesting and challenging. I
made it clear where I was coming from. I am a coach who coaches; I do not do
personal training. Once that was clear and on the table despite my apprehension
it was an enjoyable experience. People seemed very will to learn and were open
to new ideas. I hope I was able to get my message across to the audiences I
spoke to. It was quite an experience walking through the exhibit area. I have
never seen so much stuff designed to do what you can do with body weight, a
dumbbell, barbell and some jump ropes. There is obviously a big business here.
I am not sure if I am a dinosaur or an alien from another planet, but I just
don’t get some of this stuff. Ultimately it is about training, getting people
to move and use their bodies efficiently. I don’t see how all the toys and
props really accomplish this. I came away convinced that this is a world that
is foreign to me. On a humorous note it was quite fascinating to see people lines up about 100 deep to wait for the escalator when there was 12 of us on the adjacent stairs (and that was to go down stairs!). It was also quite funny to see one of the trainers decked in full spandex walk out the door of the convention center sit down in the grass and light up a cigarette! I am a big believer in talking the talk and walking the walk.
4 Comments
sul
Vern,
Personal Training is about taking people where they can’t take themselves. Once we get over the Vanity factor.
The general public can and has learned some great things from the athletic minded coach. Thank you
John Sokolowski
Vern,
Great presentations at CanFitPro. I really enjoyed your no BS approach.
You must agree the trade show was worth a laugh.
Below is a link to my favourite fitness gimmick of the weekend. I think it was called the ab solo. Enjoy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4Z5_Mjy1ko
Todd Langer
Vern,
You’re right, it’s ALL about restoring proper function and that means moving correctly (dealing with GRF, Gravity, and Momentum). In my experience, most of this can be done with little or no equipment, but some “props” are truly valuable if used correctly. The problem is the average trainer and/or therapist doesn’t understand the continuum from rehab to sports performance or in other words GPP to SPP (or whatever acronyms are trendy today). So, people are using props and exercises without truly understanding why or for what purpose. I didn’t attend the show, but imagine you were leading many horses to water, but they’re not going to drink anything that takes them outside their comfort zone.
p.s. I recently audited a “senior trainer” taking a class through a functional fitness workout. I’ll refrain from any personal opinions, but just mention that he stated, “this is what Vern Gambetta does” when training people. And no, it’s wasn’t even close. LOL!
TL
St.Patrick's
Personal trainers can push and grow an develop people beyond what they think that they can do themselves