In Level 2 Certificate course - Recommended Reading
January 01, 2006

I am a fitness trainer. My practice is more than just a job; it is my passion. My clients are my top priority and their successes are my life's work--I am a professional. On the surface, my job is to shepherd my athletes (I view all my clients as athletes regardless of their age or ability) toward physical prowess, but I recognize a purpose to my efforts and an impact on my athletes that transcends the physical. I view training as a physical metaphor for habits and attitudes that foster success in all arenas. I stress that point to all who train with me and I know I've been successful only after they bring back concrete examples.
The lessons learned through physical training are unavoidable. The character traits required and developed through physical training are universally applicable to all endeavors. Perseverance, industry, sacrifice, self-control, integrity, honesty, and commitment are best and easiest learned in the gym. Even clients who have found spectacular success in business, sport, war, or love find their most important values buttressed, refined, and nourished in rigorous training.
Being a professional, I believe that my competency is solely determined by my efficacy. My methods must be second to none. Accordingly, fitness trends and fashions are distractions, not attractions. To the extent that my methods are often unconventional, unaccepted, or unique, they reflect the margins by which I dominate my industry, and I take those margins to the bank. A trainer who lusts for popular approval is chasing mediocrity or worse.

3 Comments on “Professional Training”
1
Doug Hildreth wrote …
I absolutely love this point of view.
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2
replied to comment from Doug Hildreth…
Amazing
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3
wrote …
As a Professional Personal Trainer myself I think Greg could not have said it any better. Thanks for the post it was very helpful.
In-Home studio personal trainers training.
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