Are fitness proffessional practicing medicine?

Do you pay attention to television commercials touting the latest blood pressure drug, the newest cholesterol medicine, even the hottest diabetes treatment? If you do, you notice the tag line that accompanies all these commercials, “…along with a sensible diet and exercise program.” What does this statement really mean? It means that in order to be healthy there has to be more than just a pill!

That little statement proves to me something that I have believed for a long time- that fitness professionals are practicing medicine. No, we do not prescribe medicine, we don’t do surgery, we don’t even psychoanalyze our clients (most of the time!) We do, however, provide a critical part of patient care by way of diet and exercise. Without those important pieces, a patient or client will never be truly healthy.

Let me tell you a story about a client of mine named “Steve.” Steve is a 67-year old man whose health had challenged him all his life. As a child he suffered from polio, as he aged he was diagnosed with severe asthma, dyslexia, and osteoarthritis. This year he was hospitalized with severe blood clots in each of his lungs simultaneously. It often seemed for Steve that nothing he could do would help his situation- it seemed that no matter what, he was always “sickly.”

Steve came to me with a goal of improving his strength and being confident enough to do the outdoor activities that he longed for. For years he has been too intimidated to go sailing, ride his bike, or even to walk alone in the park. When Steve started his exercise program he could not walk for five minutes on the treadmill and a ten-pound lateral pulldown was a challenge. Now? Thirty minutes of cardio, strength training 45 minutes a day for three-days a week and he talks all the way through it! He is now confident enough to do the things he has longed for- including sailing, bike riding, and walking through the park all by himself!

Remember those blood clots I told you hospitalized Steve months ago? His doctor told him that he SURVIVED only because the strength and cardiovascular training he had been doing strengthened his body. Sadly, only 2% of people with blood clots in both lungs live, but Steve was a survivor because of his commitment to the exercise program I prescribed for him.

So, the next time you hear someone say that fitness professionals are not in the medical industry, tell them about Steve. He is a testament to the importance of fitness as medical practice.

Listen up Trainers!

Technique- there are so many methods that we can utilize to bring our clients the goals that they set. But are these techniques just a Band-Aid that will eventually bring them back to their original shape, if not worse? In all my years of training I have found that this rebound effect is often brought on by simply not truly listening to my client. We as trainers meet with our clients for the first time and sometimes we judge and are convinced that we have the right program for them before they even tell us what their goals are. We have to remember that it is not just the flesh and bones that we are working with. There are strong emotions tied to these clients. We are obviously not therapists, but we do play a strong role in their self esteem. Some of our clients have tried so many extreme methods for weight loss over and over with little more than a reminder that they have failed once again. How devastating! They have been mislead repeatedly and each time lost a little more hope. We have to give them back that hope, that belief in themselves that they are not hopeless. We have to become their fitness partner. In the true sense, make a commitment to them to be there. Take the time to truly listen to their goals but more importantly what is motivating them to achieve these goals. Utilize these motivations while you are training to reinforce why they are working so hard and it will all be worth it in the end. Also, with this new feeling of strength that they are getting remind them that if they continue this effort they will never feel hopeless again. By incorporating a little empathy into our training, we can become better trainers with happier clients!