Change or Die

Wow! That's an attention grabber huh? It's actually the title of a book written by Alan Deutschman. "Deutschman concludes that although we all have the ability to change our behavior, we rarely do. In fact, the odds are nine to one that, when faced with the dire need to change, we won't. From patients suffering from heart disease to repeat offenders in the criminal justice system to companies trapped in the mold of unsuccessful business practices, many of us could prevent ominous outcomes by simply changing our mindset (from the inside cover)."

Is there hope then? YES! Deutschman explain that there are three keys to succeeding at change. They are relate, repeat, and reframe.

Relate - You from a new relationship with a person or community that inspires and sustains hope. People trying to change need to connect with people that can infuse confidence into the situation. We need someone who's confidence fly's in the face of our own rational assessment of our own ability to change. You need to be "sold" on the idea that you can change.

Repeat - The new relationship needs to help you learn and master new habits and skills that you will need to succeed. You need to be "trained" in techniques and patterns of behavior until they become natural to you.

Reframe - The new relationship need to provide you with a new way of thinking about your situation. On this point Deutschman says, "Ultimately, you look at the world in a way that would have been so foreign to you that it wouldn't have made any sense before you changed."

These keys match up perfectly with what a cutting-person trainer should provide for you. It's exactly what we provide at The Exercise Coach. I can't tell you how many people I've met with that thought I was crazy when I told them they needed to cut out the conventional cardio, start lifting weights, and only workout once or twice per week for 20-minutes or less. These same people end up as Exercise Coach evangelists after they have been sufficiently "sold", "trained", and taught to "see" fitness and fat-loss through a new lens.

I hope these categories help you as you contemplate change in any area of your life. I know they help me personally.

And, for you cutting edge-personal trainers (you know who you are). My advice is this - "sell, sell,sell." Sell to prospective clients and never stop "selling" to existing clients. Realize that the more "sold" a person is on your proposed solution, the better their chance of success is. Don't worry buyers know the difference between passion and greed. You don't have to try to convince them of your motives if they are indeed noble. They will sense it. They need to literally feel passion and confidence exuding from you. They need to be led, and nobody wants to follow someone who isn't confident that they know the best path. Instill confidence in your clients.

Activity is Not the Answer!

My friend Fred Hahn posted a link to this article, on his excellent blog found at seriousstrength.com

Like Fred, I have been telling people for quite some time (10 years) that weight loss is not won on the basis of your exercise mileage. The author of this article, The Scientist and the Stairmaster, makes an excellent argument in support of what we have been saying.

Here is an excerpt that I found very amusing...

"It's difficult to get health authorities to talk about the disconnect between their official recommendations and the scientific evidence that underlies it because they want to encourage us to exercise, even if their primary reason for doing so is highly debatable. Steve Blair, for instance, a University of South Carolina exercise scientist and a co-author of the AHA-ACSM guidelines, says he was "short, fat, and bald" when he started running in his thirties and he is short, fatter, and balder now, at age 68. In the intervening years, he estimates, he has run close to 80,000 miles and gained about 30 pounds.

When I asked Blair whether he thought he might be leaner had he run even more, he had to think about it. "I don’t see how I could have been more active," he said. "Thirty years ago, I was running 50 miles a week. I had no time to do more. But if I could have gone out over the last couple of decades for two to three hours a day, maybe I would not have gained this weight." And maybe he would have anyway. If we trust the AHA-ACSM report he co-authored, there is little reason to believe that the amount he runs makes any difference. Nonetheless, Blair personally believes he would be fatter still if he hadn’t been running. Why?"