Have Your Say About Guaranteed Personal Training

I just got this excellent email response to my 'Do you have the balls?' post about guaranteeing results from fellow fitness philosopher Christopher Warden and wanted to share it with you all both to demonstrate how to put together a classy and well thought out argument (as Christopher has) and to fill you in on my own beliefs and rationale for taking the viewpoint I have....



"Dear Dax,

Let me preface this first by saying that I appreciate that your writing on PTSA is targeteted to fitness professionals, and so I'm sure this context leads you to write in a different tone, with different points of emphasis, than if you are writing to prospective clients.

You wrote a blog post a few weeks ago about your attempt to transform the fitness industry by challenging the big clubs to offer a "money back guarantee." I think there's an incredibly valid reason for the guarantee: it holds the professional accountable, while encouraging a flood of business because prospective clients feel they have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

But don't you think it also puts an emphasis on achieving the end result without justifying the means? And isn't that emphasis (on speedy results/the quick fix) part of the reason that we've got such a problem with obesity/poor health in the first place?

Are guarantees and deadlines important? Absolutely. But the health and well-being of our clients is of utmost priority. . . and offers of quick results may not be reasonable, or even safe -- especially when considering clients with health restrictions or other limitations. I'm sure you agree that there's much more to this profession than guarantees of rapid physical change; not the least of which is teaching that the "quick result" is not always the best, nor is it necessarily long-lasting.

Your challenge to the fitness industry is incredibly admirable. At the very least, it pushes us to be "ballsy enough" to be better for our clients. Guarantees in our business should be a given. I simply think we've got to be careful about the time constraints we put on change, in light of the variety of (unhealthy) clients we work with on a regular basis.

Your thoughts?

All the best to you as you begin your week!

Sincerely,

Christopher Warden "

What great points!

I love it when someone challenges me and my thinking in this way and makes me have to make my position clearer. It's better all round for everyone, right?

So here's my take on this.

But don't you think it also puts an emphasis on achieving the end result without justifying the means? And isn't that emphasis (on speedy results/the quick fix) part of the reason that we've got such a problem with obesity/poor health in the first place?

There are a couple of questions here and more than a few answers to them : )

First, I think that you're right... there is the possibility of focusing on the end result rather than than the means. But that's not necessarily a bad thing, my friend.

I think that many coaches and trainers get far too caught up in their methodology and often forget what the sessions are supposed to be about... providing and end result!

I'm not really certain we have to 'justify' anything, my friend. I think all methodologies have merit, they all work to different degrees and for different timescales on different people and so, naturally, a good coach will find themselves using a vast array.

However, that said, I believe that the methods applied should be based on principles that are unchanging rather than based upon fads or personal preference.

With nutrition, the PRINCIPLE is clean, organic, wholesome foods. The METHODS may include high protein, low protein, high calorie, l9ow calorie etc.

With exercise the PRINCIPLE progressive overload. The methods are straight sets, supersets, EDT, superfast, superslow etc

The coach can and MUST choose the method that based upon kowledge, skills, ability and experience make the most sense to both the goal and the individual in front of them at that moment in time.

And, of course, maintaining the over-riding principle of them all; DO NO HARM.

This means simply that the best coaches will apply the principles and methods to their clients in ways that will dramatically accelerate the expected results AND they they can do so with a high degree of predictability.

Second, no, I don't think that speedy results/quick fix are that much of a factor in the obesity epidemic actually. I agree that they ARE a factor, just not as big as many people would have us believe.

No-one is fat BECAUSE they expect fast results. Once they are fat they may become despondant about their training/nutrition because the results aren't coming fast enough but the causal factors of obesity have little if anything (in my opinion) to do with quick fix mentality and far more to do with a contaminated food chain, hypokinetic lifestyles and an overload of environmental, social and endocrine stressors.

Are guarantees and deadlines important? Absolutely. But the health and well-being of our clients is of utmost priority. . . and offers of quick results may not be reasonable, or even safe -- especially when considering clients with health restrictions or other limitations. I'm sure you agree that there's much more to this profession than guarantees of rapid physical change; not the least of which is teaching that the "quick result" is not always the best, nor is it necessarily long-lasting.

Again, guaranteeing results based upon your experience and expertise puts no-one in danger unless your judgement is completely wrong. In that case it makes sense to improve the overall standard of the profession to the degree that those who cannot predict a result a relegated to positions of lesser reposnsibility and lesser pay... or out of the profession altogether.

A strong stance, I know, but if our years of knowledge, education and experience don't allow us to predict a result in advance then we're simply not good enough at what we do.

Sure, those with specific health restrictions may have different timelines, but we should be able to predict those too... and guarantee them.

As the senior consultant for the UK's very first medical referral scheme I was responsible for taking those with injury, illness, disability and dysfunction through health reintergration programs and managed to get results in every case in timeframes that most people would deem impossible. This included helping long term wheelchair users to be able to walk again.

When I work with these populations now that I'm in private practice, I guarantee my results based upon the findings of my Kinetic Chain Assessment protocols and STILL get the results within the timeframes I promise... and no compromising of safety.

The whole profession should be able to do this and, indeed, my entire staff as well as my peer group within the profession are accomplishing this also.

Why not the rest?

Regarding the comment that quick results don't imply lasting change, I agree with you 100% but they don't imply that they won't last either : )

I know from personal experience that the faster you can show a person an appreciable difference, the more motivated and purposeful they become about both their training and nutrition whereas when improvements seem slow in coming, the predominant thought is 'why did I bother?'

Fast results work in both our and our clients favor and, if used correctly, can serve to bring about lasting change in those we work with.

I think that the biggest thing we need concern ourselves with as an industry and fledgling position is not safety. That should be a given anyway, id you know anything about how the body works at all (I don't 'concern' myself with it because it simply isn't an issue), but rather, how much do the public believe in us and our abilities.

Providing guaranteed results within definite timeframes is a valid positive step in developing that belief and, ultimately, getting the results we're supposed to help people to get.

After all, no-one WANTS a trainer. They WANT the results the trainer is supposed to be able to help them get, right?

Finally, I think that there's a whole scepticism to getting anything quick. You hear people talking negatively about 'get rich quick' schemes all the time. Seems to me that they're saying they'd rather get rich slow... which seems odd to me : )

Get results quick makes great sense both for the client and our own businesses and I for one aim to devote my career to getting better and better at getting the fastest possible results that I an for myself and my clients.

What a great conversation Chris, thanks very much! : )

NOW HAVE YOUR SAY!

I'd love to hear your comments about what's been written here. Please take the time to leave a comment guys... this COULD change the industry!

I mean it! : )

Truth, joy and love

Dax Moy
www.personaltrainersuccessacademy.com