Navigating the Maze: Finding Your Ideal Trainer in the Bustling Fitness Scene of LA
There are a lot of trainers out there. Living in the Los Angeles area, or “LA,” it seems there is a fitness or Pilates studios on every corner. We are in Hollywood, too, which means you may be an actor, dancer, singer or all three. No matter who you are, it is not easy to find the right trainer.
Even more, there are as many training styles as there are trainers. Without a doubt, knowledge in biomechanics, nutrition, and fitness is a must when you are looking for help to transform your body. However, that alone isn’t enough to keep you engaged in the long run and motivated to get the best results. Personality and character are also a must if you are looking to spend at least a couple of hours a week with someone. Exercises, if effective and done right, aren’t always fun and easy. Therefore, if you work with a coach whose valuable input comes at the right time, it can get you through a hard workout. So for starters, your trainer needs to be knowledgeable and have a good personality. Basically, you need someone who knows their stuff and is likable.
However, what if I told you that nothing really happens at the gym? Please don’t get me wrong; your performance at the gym is crucial in getting great results. It’s where your muscle fibers tear and your calories burn. But its after you leave the gym that your muscles build and your fat burns — not on the treadmill or lifting weights. Also, gaining unwanted weight doesn’t happen at the gym, either. It happens in your kitchen or at the dining room table or at your favorite restaurant.
So, what can you do to get the most out of your training, inside and outside the gym? Well, first of all, your trainer needs to understand that the training session is not just to teach you technical skills. It is to teach you something about yourself, and it is often profound. Dumbbells, medicine balls, treadmills and training routines are just tools designed to help us grow, expose our limitations, and give us insight into who we truly are and what we can be. It is not about understanding exercises. It is about understanding why you do the things you do, inside and outside your training session.
One thing I would like to explore is the word strength. Strength is mostly generated by our muscles, but it is controlled and distributed by our brain. The main reason people start a training program is that they don’t like how they look or feel. People don’t go to the gym just because they want to do a pull-up, push-up, or run a mile. They join because they want to feel stronger, healthier, and better about themselves. That is where strength and confidence come from. The better we feel about ourselves, the more strength we generate.
However, feeling strong and good about oneself is a learned behavior, and a great coach can make all the difference in your learning. In my profession, I often meet serious athletes who are strong, but don’t feel strong enough. That feeling of inadequacy, of not being enough, is often the reason they can’t access all of their resources and they perform poorly.
One example I encounter virtually every day, especially when working with new clients, is that when someone performs an exercise well, they think there is something wrong with the exercise. But if they struggle with the same exercise, they think there is something is wrong with them. Feeling strong is something we need to learn, and most importantly, accept about ourselves.
We all typically gravitate towards familiar environments and feelings, often subconsciously. When we feel “less than,” which is the reason we seek help in the first place, these feelings become our comfort zone regardless of how negatively it affects our goals. A great coach always has this in mind when working with clients. How a client physically, and most importantly, emotionally responds to particular exercises provides great insight into where the client stands in relation to their goals and to themselves.
Here’s another example of how a simple intervention can boost someone’s strength, and immediately improve their performance.
Chris, one of my closest friends, owns Phenom, a Jiu-Jitsu academy in Mission Hills. In one of my conversations with him, I recommended an exercise he could do with his athletes at the end of his training sessions: bear crawls. It is an exercise where you basically crawl on the ground on your hands and feet without putting your knees down. I suggested the students perform the exercise continuously for ten minutes after their class. It is a particularly difficult exercise, especially if you haven’t done it before. However, knowing that these students’ physical abilities are quite high, I expected them to perform well.
The day after the class, I called Chris and asked him how many of his students completed the ten minutes. None, he answered. One woman performed the exercise for 6 minutes, but all the other students went down before that.
Intrigued, I asked him if I could coach the same class and same people next week. He agreed, and the following week, after the class, I asked the class to do the same exercise — to bear crawl for ten minutes. However, before everyone went down on all fours and began crawling, I said one thing: that they could stop whenever they felt they couldn’t go anymore.
Then I added, “At some point during the exercise, you’ll hear a voice in your head asking you to stop, telling you that you’re not up to the task, you can’t do it. The voice will tell you that your arms will fall off, or that your legs are burning, that you can’t go anymore. The voice will be so convincing and persuasive that it will make you believe what it is saying.”
“It is OK,” I said, “but it is also important that we hear the story too. Therefore, after we’re done, you’ll be asked to tell us your story, the same way you heard it, so that we can understand it, too.”
They started crawling. Two minutes went by, and then four, and then seven, and no one went down. I was almost yelling, telling them I wanted to hear their story. “Give us your story!” I hollered, encouraging them to listen to the voices in their heads. “I want to hear your story,” I said again and again until the ten-minute mark went off.
No one stopped. Everyone was successful. The same group of people who couldn’t do ten minutes of bear crawling last week, rose to the task today.
What was different this time? One thing: they needed not only to own their choices but also defend them out loud in class. They became aware of the voice in their head, how it affects them and their goals. It wasn’t about the bear crawls; it was about them learning something new about themselves. It was the right instruction, at the right time, that made all the difference. And that’s what a good coach does. He or she provides the right piece of information, at the right time, for each and every student.
In conclusion, finding the right trainer is complex and personal. With many options available, it can be hard to find the right match. While expertise in fitness essentials is crucial, a trainer’s personality and motivational skills are equally important for long-term progress. Recognizing that progress extends beyond the gym, and embracing emotional strength and self-acceptance, are key aspects of our fitness journeys. Ultimately, a great coach not only shares technical knowledge, but helps you reach your full potential physically and emotionally. By offering personalized guidance and timely insights, we empower our clients to succeed both inside and outside the gym.