Sometimes a person contacts me saying something along the lines of “I don’t need all the other help you give, like nutrition or coaching or whatever. I just need a workout plan. I can do it on my own. I don’t need someone to stand there and count reps.”
To be honest this actually really pisses me off and it’s insulting. I know the person doesn’t mean anything negative by it, so I try not to take offense to it. But hopefully, when you’re done reading all this, you’ll see why it’s not actually a program you need, it’s a coach.
Now back to the conversation….
My response is always “well what’s your goal?”
Their response is usually “I want to lose fat and tone up. I know how to eat; I just need a workout to help me burn fat. I can do it on my own.”
And to that I say “Well, all your goals involve calorie management and being in a deficit. That doesn’t have anything to do with your workout. So therefore, all of your goals really involve nutrition. So, if you know how to eat, why haven’t you hit your goals?”
Now, this isn’t meant to be demeaning in any way. It’s an honest question. This person, let’s call him “Ted,” thinks I just need to work out and this fat will melt away.
And I bring this example up for a few reasons.
See most of the time people think the reason they don’t look the way they want is because they don’t have the “perfect” workout program. And if they did, their body would magically look like they want without having to adjust their food or without any help.
And as you know (or if you’re like Ted) you’ll soon find out, you can’t out train a bad diet.
Exercise until literally blue in the face. But if you don’t change your diet you won’t look much, if any, different at all. You will be stronger and in better shape for sure. But more than likely, you won’t get the results you’re looking for.
I usually end this conversation by telling Ted, if all you want is a plan (and that’s not something I do) go to bodybuilding.com or just google “free workout plan” and you’ll find tons of options.
Good luck…
But you know what those workout programs won’t do?
1. They are generally just a static plan with no progressions. Meaning it’s usually just repeating the same workout over and over with no changes. And that’s why after a while, without any type of change (what we in training call progressive overload) you won’t see any further improvements and will plateau quickly. And again, if there’s no nutrition plan you won’t lose fat anyway.
2. It’s not tailored to you. Sure, you can find a workout no problem. But what if you have back, shoulder or knee issues? That program doesn’t take that into account. You start doing this awesome free program you found and now after a couple of weeks that shoulder that was kind of bothering before is now killing you. And now you have to take a break or worse, you get a serious injury. And since you have no support, there is no way to help adjust it for you or teach you what you’re doing wrong.
3. There’s no support. This is the problem without active coaching. Just getting a program means there is no way to tailor it, tweak it, or adjust it for you and your needs. What if it calls for bench press, cable flyes and incline db press, but you happen to be traveling and only have a crappy hotel gym for a place to work out? And their “fitness center” is just a treadmill, two 10 lb. dumbbells and a medicine ball. Now what do you do? (and I HATE when this is the case, which it so often is.). You have no one to contact and say, “now what?” Do you just skip the workout? Or do some walking and 10 lb. dumbbell curls? Hit happy hour and say screw it? You didn’t know what to do, which is why you had a plan in the first place. Since your plan isn’t an option, now what?
4. No accountability. Even the best program in the world that claims to make you instantly more attractive to the opposite sex, creates Olympic Champions, regrow more hair, whatever, won’t do itself. And this is the #1 reason people hire a coach. Someone to make sure you actually do the program. Someone to help you along the way when roadblocks pop up, because they will. Someone to tweak the program when you feel sick, tired or just don’t really want to work out. That program you downloaded isn’t going to do that. And even the best, most self-motivated people in the world will struggle from time to time. Then what?
I’ve been a trainer for almost 20 years. Competed successfully in all strength sports at the highest levels, won National Titles, competed in the World Championships, won Natural Bodybuilding shows, eat, sleep and breathe fitness. And trust me, there are days where I just don’t want to work out.
I often hire other coaches to train me. Not because I need to be told what to do, or don’t know what to do. Hell, sometimes I write the program and give it to them to coach me! I hire them for the accountability and have someone to check in with. Someone to give me a thumbs up or congrats! And, if I really trust the trainer, have them write my programming and experience something totally new I would never do. And enjoy the variety.
So, what’s the point? The purpose of a coach is not to just give you a program.
It’s for the nutrition guidance on calories and macro set up to lose the fat you want and most importantly how to tweak it when your nutrition plan stops working. Because it absolutely will. You need someone how knows how to navigate that. Know when to cut calories, when to keep them the same and increase activity or just focus on sleep and do less. Someone to help you recover after the diet and bring your calories back up to the right levels to help you maintain your new hard earned, awesome physique. After all, you don’t just want your new body for a month, do you? You want it long term, otherwise what’s the point?
The purpose of the coach is support and tweaking as needed. Accountability to get things done and have someone to check in with.
Having a coach is about transformation and accountability on a lot of levels. Some of these include daily habits on being a better person. Like journaling and finding gratitude. Something a lot of people poo-poo and think “that’s stupid” when deep down they’re actually very unhappy and too insecure to be vulnerable to admit they really need that.
So now you see why I don’t just give programs. I have never worried about losing clients to free program sites or piece of paper. I charge high prices for a reason.
I know what they’re not getting. And I’ll tell them this upfront. They thank me and either come on as a client because now they see the value in it or be stubborn go find some random program. Or better yet, do what they did in high school! Yeah, because your body and goals are the same as then. Riiighhtt…..
So usually they get frustrated, injured or both and then come back to me later. Not every time, but most times. And now I’ve got more work to do than I would have the first time.
Kind of like that DIY project you thought you could “save some money, do myself” and later end up hiring a professional to fix what you broke and pay a lot more in the end.
So next time to you think “I just need a program.” Well more than likely, no you don’t. Don't be like Ted, you actually just need a coach who will help you with flexible nutrition, a custom workout program and accountability to get it done.
Did this peak your interest? Ready to hire a coach? Contact me here and we can set up a time to see if you're a good fit to work with me.