I was a member of a popular HIIT/Circuit training gym. I liked it a lot. I was in possibly the worst shape of my life when I started. I remember going there with my shirt tucked in because my shirt would slide up during certain exercises. I have NEVER been a tucked in guy. It was really good though. I liked how it catered for all ages and fitness levels. By the time I left that gym I was in close to the best shape I have ever been in to this day.
That said, It was me who did thew work. They just provided an (expensive) environment to do it in. Some weeks I was doing 11 classes per week. Which is a nod to the environment they'd created. I enjoyed it enough to go that often. These gym's are franchises though and I think I was lucky to find a franchise with a great owner (former NRL player but more importantly a fuckin' legend of a bloke) who refused to hire anyone that didn't share his same values.
Being a franchise though, it was mandatory for them to run the country wide 8, 10, 12 week challenges. I always took issue with these because I have never believed in them. I refused to do them. They would do a 'fitness test' of sorts at the start of each challenge, then do the same test at the end of the challenge. I remember I considered doing one once, but when I saw the food plan I scoffed. I was burning between 300-500 calories per class. The food plan had days where you ate only 1100 calories per day.
You don't have to be a dietitian to work out that at that intake you would lose weight without even training. What I found disturbing was the incentive of prizes for the people who lost the most weight/BF% throughout the challenge. So essentially, they were incentivising people to train more, on less fuel. Fuckin' dangerous. At the end of the challenge they would have a party, which is great. consolidate that community feeling among members, make new friends etc, all good. But, they'd have it at a pub with free booze. So essentially saying you are allowed to have a massive blow out after working hard for an extended period of time. Whilst I agree people deserved to let their hair down after such a challenge, I don't think it's the right message to send.
I'm not an expert by any stretch, but from my lived experience I've formed the view that long term, sustainable results, come from a long term, sustainable approach. Fad diets and challenges might give someone the kick start they need, but they sell a lie.
So, why don't they have a challenge to kick start people then a transition period where the guide people back to a more long term and sustainable approach? Easy, because then you no longer have a need for them. How can you sell something to someone when you've already sold them everything you have?
I would love to see a world where the fitness industry told people the truth, "you will put some weight back on after this challenge, however, this will be a great kick start for you to then move into a more sustainable lifestyle where you just burn more than you consume over a 7 day period".
The modern world is riddled with greed and honestly, I don't think we will ever see it revert. Dog eat dog type shit.
I think the key is to use our logical brains when considering things like this. "Will someone get a financial gain from me doing this?". If the answer is yes, that needs to be front of mind when considering things like this.
Never take nutrition advice from a personal trainer, especially one from the internet.
Well said mate and there are some great people in the fitness industry who have prioritised helping people over profits. Gyms also capitalise on our impatience, encourage unsustainable behaviour to make their program look great, and never once ask: “what’s the plan once this challenge is over” just like you said.
I did this with the EHP Labs Challenge cause they put up 30k for the winner and I think 15 and 10 for the minor prizes. I legit lost 20kg in 8 weeks. But this was a long term sustainable plan. I just took extremes cause I wanted to win the money. In the end I didn't, but I got a lot healthier and learnt long term sustainable goals.
Yeah, the one benefit of these challenges is the kick start people get from them, but most people aren’t like you fordy and would give up and feel worse about themselves when the weight started piling back on.
That's awesome and good to see there are some out there doing the right thing. So the plan was sustainable, but the level of physical output and metrics weren't?
And it’s the common retort is, “why didn’t you ask the trainer what to do after?” But people at the stage of starving themselves through some bullshit challenge already don’t know what they’re doing, that’s why they need help, but they just wanna get healthy and lose weight, that’s their focus. They’re not concerned with what to do in 8 weeks when the PT turns and burns.
Its only terrifying because they think have to do hectic work outs and crazy diets to lose weight. Nothing terrifying about small and sustainable changes.
Like all industries, wherever there’s money to be made scum bags will present themselves.
A lot of PT’s pay rent at gyms now. So they subby to them and run their own business out of that gym. So they’re all out for themselves. Need those EIGHT WEEK BODY BLITZ FAT BURN ULTIMATE SUPER MEGA TRANSFORMATION!!! Before and after photos to put on Instagram.
Yeah, there's systematic issues with the whole industry and the only way it will change is for more people to say "I'm not buying this short term crap anymore" and only look for sustainable changes.
How do you make people aware in an already over saturated world of conflicting information? Why would they listen to your or I over any other dickhead from the internet? I think the modern world of next day delivery, same day grocery delivery, Uber eats and the like, people have less patience than ever. They want fast results. We don’t have that patience and will power to chip away every day and trust the process.
You make some very strong and valid comments. For me - my biggest investment in myself has been the psychological investment. The complete shift in mindset while easy to say, harder to do.
Ha ha Ben. I think that you must be channelling me. I will write similar soon but it is not about being disliked for me. I have gone beyond that now. Although sometimes when we speak from our place of values, it comes with some risk. Honesty should garner respect. Hold tight!
I always thought mental was either hereditary or due to trauma. Then I realised trauma, no matter how slight, triggered my latent pre-disposition for mental health issues. I have issues with unrelenting standards which I now know stem from a disciplinarian father and my military training. I was also bullied as a kid so I’m still anxious around people. Like you said, It’s good to be able to trace the root causes because it makes it easier to relax the standards. Love these articles Ben. Good on you.
Cheers Radar and I applaud your openness and honesty. Yeah, i use to think those where the only 2 contributors too, have come to a conclusion that poor mental health is the results of the habits we form while on our path in life.
Good question Ben. I've spent a lot of money on therapy trying to answer it. Obviously there are many factors, but issues stemming from childhood are a major part.
Great read mate and agree there was so many myths flying around the place when I was trying to lose weight. It's all about making long term sustainable habits which should be the goal.
Radical transparency. We should encourage abrasive opinions if we’re pursuing the same goal.
If people in the fitness industry want a healthier population, they should welcome any opinion that is striving for the same thing; to either rule it out as wrong or improve their approach.
We have to be welcoming of different lines of thinking because it’s naive to think we’ve got 100% of it correct.
It’s a bit ironic, but I think this statement is about as close to absolute in my mind as something could be lol
I think a large portion of that industry is not pursing the same goal which I’m going to start speaking up. I see so many examples of “unconscious capitalism”. Need to find win-win-win scenarios
A lot was explained for me through Kahler's Five Drivers (Be Perfect, Be Strong, Hurry Up, Please Others, Try Hard). Being a combination of the first three, I had a constant "you're not lovable/likeable/promotable/OK" unless you are demonstrating these behaviours. Switched that out for an attitude that what others thought of me was none of my business and set down a very heavy burden.
Great advice Esse and I’ve never heard of Kahlers five drivers but they make sense. A real “how to behave so others like you guide” instead of a “how to behave so you likes you” one
I was a member of a popular HIIT/Circuit training gym. I liked it a lot. I was in possibly the worst shape of my life when I started. I remember going there with my shirt tucked in because my shirt would slide up during certain exercises. I have NEVER been a tucked in guy. It was really good though. I liked how it catered for all ages and fitness levels. By the time I left that gym I was in close to the best shape I have ever been in to this day.
That said, It was me who did thew work. They just provided an (expensive) environment to do it in. Some weeks I was doing 11 classes per week. Which is a nod to the environment they'd created. I enjoyed it enough to go that often. These gym's are franchises though and I think I was lucky to find a franchise with a great owner (former NRL player but more importantly a fuckin' legend of a bloke) who refused to hire anyone that didn't share his same values.
Being a franchise though, it was mandatory for them to run the country wide 8, 10, 12 week challenges. I always took issue with these because I have never believed in them. I refused to do them. They would do a 'fitness test' of sorts at the start of each challenge, then do the same test at the end of the challenge. I remember I considered doing one once, but when I saw the food plan I scoffed. I was burning between 300-500 calories per class. The food plan had days where you ate only 1100 calories per day.
You don't have to be a dietitian to work out that at that intake you would lose weight without even training. What I found disturbing was the incentive of prizes for the people who lost the most weight/BF% throughout the challenge. So essentially, they were incentivising people to train more, on less fuel. Fuckin' dangerous. At the end of the challenge they would have a party, which is great. consolidate that community feeling among members, make new friends etc, all good. But, they'd have it at a pub with free booze. So essentially saying you are allowed to have a massive blow out after working hard for an extended period of time. Whilst I agree people deserved to let their hair down after such a challenge, I don't think it's the right message to send.
I'm not an expert by any stretch, but from my lived experience I've formed the view that long term, sustainable results, come from a long term, sustainable approach. Fad diets and challenges might give someone the kick start they need, but they sell a lie.
So, why don't they have a challenge to kick start people then a transition period where the guide people back to a more long term and sustainable approach? Easy, because then you no longer have a need for them. How can you sell something to someone when you've already sold them everything you have?
I would love to see a world where the fitness industry told people the truth, "you will put some weight back on after this challenge, however, this will be a great kick start for you to then move into a more sustainable lifestyle where you just burn more than you consume over a 7 day period".
The modern world is riddled with greed and honestly, I don't think we will ever see it revert. Dog eat dog type shit.
I think the key is to use our logical brains when considering things like this. "Will someone get a financial gain from me doing this?". If the answer is yes, that needs to be front of mind when considering things like this.
Never take nutrition advice from a personal trainer, especially one from the internet.
Well said mate and there are some great people in the fitness industry who have prioritised helping people over profits. Gyms also capitalise on our impatience, encourage unsustainable behaviour to make their program look great, and never once ask: “what’s the plan once this challenge is over” just like you said.
I did this with the EHP Labs Challenge cause they put up 30k for the winner and I think 15 and 10 for the minor prizes. I legit lost 20kg in 8 weeks. But this was a long term sustainable plan. I just took extremes cause I wanted to win the money. In the end I didn't, but I got a lot healthier and learnt long term sustainable goals.
Yeah, the one benefit of these challenges is the kick start people get from them, but most people aren’t like you fordy and would give up and feel worse about themselves when the weight started piling back on.
That's awesome and good to see there are some out there doing the right thing. So the plan was sustainable, but the level of physical output and metrics weren't?
And it’s the common retort is, “why didn’t you ask the trainer what to do after?” But people at the stage of starving themselves through some bullshit challenge already don’t know what they’re doing, that’s why they need help, but they just wanna get healthy and lose weight, that’s their focus. They’re not concerned with what to do in 8 weeks when the PT turns and burns.
Yeah and their focus is 100% on just surviving and making it the 8 week mark... not how to stay healthy in the 50+ years after.
Bro when you’re outta shape the 8 weeks of exercise and strict eating is fucking terrifying enough.
Its only terrifying because they think have to do hectic work outs and crazy diets to lose weight. Nothing terrifying about small and sustainable changes.
Like all industries, wherever there’s money to be made scum bags will present themselves.
A lot of PT’s pay rent at gyms now. So they subby to them and run their own business out of that gym. So they’re all out for themselves. Need those EIGHT WEEK BODY BLITZ FAT BURN ULTIMATE SUPER MEGA TRANSFORMATION!!! Before and after photos to put on Instagram.
Yeah, there's systematic issues with the whole industry and the only way it will change is for more people to say "I'm not buying this short term crap anymore" and only look for sustainable changes.
How do you make people aware in an already over saturated world of conflicting information? Why would they listen to your or I over any other dickhead from the internet? I think the modern world of next day delivery, same day grocery delivery, Uber eats and the like, people have less patience than ever. They want fast results. We don’t have that patience and will power to chip away every day and trust the process.
Benny - You are definitely not disliked by me!
You make some very strong and valid comments. For me - my biggest investment in myself has been the psychological investment. The complete shift in mindset while easy to say, harder to do.
I love your work. Keep being you.
Cheers Binhy! Loving your work too mate! Keep it up.
Ha ha Ben. I think that you must be channelling me. I will write similar soon but it is not about being disliked for me. I have gone beyond that now. Although sometimes when we speak from our place of values, it comes with some risk. Honesty should garner respect. Hold tight!
Holding tight! Looking forward to reading how you’ve gone beyond the fear of being disliked.
I always thought mental was either hereditary or due to trauma. Then I realised trauma, no matter how slight, triggered my latent pre-disposition for mental health issues. I have issues with unrelenting standards which I now know stem from a disciplinarian father and my military training. I was also bullied as a kid so I’m still anxious around people. Like you said, It’s good to be able to trace the root causes because it makes it easier to relax the standards. Love these articles Ben. Good on you.
Cheers Radar and I applaud your openness and honesty. Yeah, i use to think those where the only 2 contributors too, have come to a conclusion that poor mental health is the results of the habits we form while on our path in life.
I too have always struggled with a need to be liked and a need to avoid conflict. I'm trying to learn to say "no" to people.
Great honesty David. What’s the root cause of yours?
Good question Ben. I've spent a lot of money on therapy trying to answer it. Obviously there are many factors, but issues stemming from childhood are a major part.
Great read mate and agree there was so many myths flying around the place when I was trying to lose weight. It's all about making long term sustainable habits which should be the goal.
Spot on mate and accepting that permanent change takes time is very hard to accept for many, but your well on your way! Keep it up!
Radical transparency. We should encourage abrasive opinions if we’re pursuing the same goal.
If people in the fitness industry want a healthier population, they should welcome any opinion that is striving for the same thing; to either rule it out as wrong or improve their approach.
We have to be welcoming of different lines of thinking because it’s naive to think we’ve got 100% of it correct.
It’s a bit ironic, but I think this statement is about as close to absolute in my mind as something could be lol
I think a large portion of that industry is not pursing the same goal which I’m going to start speaking up. I see so many examples of “unconscious capitalism”. Need to find win-win-win scenarios
A lot was explained for me through Kahler's Five Drivers (Be Perfect, Be Strong, Hurry Up, Please Others, Try Hard). Being a combination of the first three, I had a constant "you're not lovable/likeable/promotable/OK" unless you are demonstrating these behaviours. Switched that out for an attitude that what others thought of me was none of my business and set down a very heavy burden.
Great advice Esse and I’ve never heard of Kahlers five drivers but they make sense. A real “how to behave so others like you guide” instead of a “how to behave so you likes you” one