Good morning…
I hope you are having a great week and ready to finish strong. I certainly have been blessed this week in multiple ways and am thankful. One of my daily prayers is to be given opportunity to help others, whether it be through sharing my faith or as a fitness professional.
Whenever the opportunity is presented to me to talk about fitness health, I tend to get animated and probably a bit long winded. Thankfully for the most part, my enthusiasm has enabled me to strike accord with many people who need help. I believe my sincerity in caring about each person I talk too, has helped open eyes to the importance of what I am conveying. I am certainly not the most knowledgeable personal trainer, or even close to the best, but when God provides me the opportunity to chat with someone about their bodies, I utilize both my education and my genuine desire for their best interest, to convey the importance of investing in their bodies. I do not view the person in front of me as a potential client, but as someone I want to encourage or help however I can. Maybe not the best business concept, but more aligned with my personal values.
Whether it be offering help with someone’s running or their stability and mobility, I am eager to share my knowledge or even advice. Yesterday was a great example of this. After finishing my shift at the YMCA at noon, I decided the best chance of me getting my run in (I so badly needed) was, to stay right there and do an interval workout on the treadmill. It has been a while since I have done intervals, so sweat flew everywhere! After battling through a 50-minute session, I was ready to head home and a much-needed shower. As I headed to the exit of the gym, a gentleman asked me how far I had run? I told him I ran a 50-minute interval workout and he asked me to explain what that was. The shower would have to wait.
After enlightening this gentleman about the wonderful world of intervals, I listened to him as he shared his struggles to get back to jogging after having some heart issues. For a few minutes we discussed his desire to be able to jog again, and I offered him some suggestions as to how he might safely work his way back to his goal of jogging 3-miles regularly. His doctor had told him it was okay to jog again, but his fears have lingered since his heart issues. My suggestion to build up through walk/running intervals were appealing to him and I could even see that runners twinkle in his eyes when I offered a basic outline of how he might proceed in a safe way.
After this gentleman and I finished the running conversation, I of course asked him how he was doing with stability and mobility? He told me that he was trying to make his rounds at many of the machines in the gym, but with no real direction or consistency. I put on my trainer mindset and explained to him the importance of loading (strength training) the bones and the long-term value. Of course, I asked him if he was familiar with TRX and despite the origin of TRX (developed by a Navy Seal) and him being a Navy Vet, he had no idea. So, I asked him if he had a few minutes and took him into the YMCA TRX room.
I explained how important it is for all ages to not only strengthen the muscles we see in the mirror, but also the posterior muscles. The gentleman quickly grasped the importance of stability and mobility, even at his advanced age.
I am not a TRX salesman, but this guy quickly liked the ability to use suspension and his body weight to put loads on his body. He asked me many great questions, and I happily educated him as to the importance and value of investing his time and effort into strengthening his muscles and bones. We had spent about 45 minutes overall and I badly needed a shower, so I encouraged him to seek me out if for some guidance in the future. He shook my hand and thanked me for taking the time to help him.
I hope I see this man again and when I do, I hope he is jogging a bit and loading those bones. He may even be a client down the road, but that is the least of my priorities for him.
Being able to use my experience and education to offer some help to people is really a blessing to me, and I truly enjoy each opportunity. I may not have gotten out the door as quickly as I planned, but the time was worth it!
A bit long winded today! Hope you have a great Friday and a super week!
God Bless!
Mike
