Last night on SBS, Insight had an episode titled No Pain, No Gain. It was an interesting debate, I still don’t know where I stand with most of what was said, so I can only wonder what others who aren’t in the industry can make of it all.

If you missed it, here it is. It goes for nearly an hour all up, so get yourself cosy if you plan on watching the whole thing.
No Pain No Gain

Now I have strong opinions on the fitness industry and I will make them in another entry soon, but for now I just want to address a few things that were mentioned in the show and how they relate to me, because realistically I am the one who is taking care of your fitness, so I want you to know where you stand.

They mention education. They constantly mention this 8 week course to get qualified. When I got qualified in 1999, I did a face to face part time course over the course of about 6 months. I then had to do a 3 month case study on a real person. I had to do every aspect of training this person from the assessment to the programming to the personal training. This makes 9 months all up to get a cert 3. In 2002, we got told the cert 4 was soon to be compulsory, so I started my cert 4 by correspondence, it took me the better part of a year to get through the 6 workbooks thoroughly. Bear in mind I had been full time personal training for 2 years by this stage.

Now, you can go in and in 8 weeks, you have your cert 3 and cert 4 without any experience or ever training a real life client. You are then left to fend for yourself.

They mention registration. The industry is self regulated apparently. You don’t need any qualifications to call yourself a personal trainer and start training people. Whilst this is true, they won’t be able to attain any insurance, so it is a risky game to play. I say that the individual must do their research to make sure their trainer has qualifications, registration and experience.

I currently hold level 3 advanced registration with Fitness Australia. This is the highest level of registration they currently provide.

They mention that the average life span for a personal trainer is 18 months. They say it is a demanding job with early starts and unusual working hours. I say there are way too many trainers getting qualified, you only have to turn on the radio to hear an ad to become a personal trainer, it’s touted as a great way to work your way through university. This puts a whole bunch of people who aren’t really passionate about their career out there and with this many trainers out there, there are not enough clients and so it is not financially beneficial, so they go and find another job.

But this is not the only reason, people see it as a hobby job. They love fitness, so they think why not make a living out of it? Unfortunately, enjoying fitness and having the desire & skills to help others are 2 very different things. They soon find that out.

But, it doesn’t stop there, there is generally a lack of respect for the payment of trainers from clients. Everyone needs to realise that this is a career, not a hobby. When you cancel a session that won’t be paid for, think of how you would feel if your boss rang you and said don’t bother coming in today, I won’t be paying you.

I am proud to say that I have been in the game for over 10 years now. I have faced the same financial problems others have faced over the years, but I love helping others reach their goals and this is what keeps me going. I do take it personally when someone doesn’t make it all the way and I know I shouldn’t, because it has to be a personal decision to change your life for the better, but I do really care about everyone who wants to make that change and I will do my all to make it happen.

They mention working beyond your knowledge or qualifications. I think this is a major problem. I am not a physio, so I don’t diagnose injuries, I refer them on. I am not a kids exercise specialist, so I refer kids on. I am not a pre and post natal specialist, so unless it is a long time client who I know well, I will refer them on. I will keep my long term clients because I am well aware of their past exercise experience and capabilities. I am experienced in pre and post natal and have done several short course, but hold no specific qualification, so I can do the training, but I would be better not to without the relevant qualifications. If someone came to me with a serious illness, I would need to refer it on.

They mention training to breaking point. I train everybody hard. I don’t train anybody beyond their threshold. What one of the main problems is that a lot people aren’t aware of what they are capable of. They often quit too early or have the wrong mindset when entering into something. I think I am very reasonable, I have achieved some great results for those who are willing to put the effort in. Generally those people who don’t put the effort are the ones who won’t get those results and will move onto the next big thing that will work for them (not). I don’t push to that breaking point, I try to get near it, but if anyone disagrees, please add it to the forum so we can address it. New people are always encouraged to start off slow and build up, unfortunately, competitiveness usually takes over and they work beyond their means, which can result in some pretty bad delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS).

There was mention of trainers working the clients too hard unnecessarily. Is it unnecessary? I question the results of the trainers that say that? I know that a lot of trainers are useless. They give their clients the most pathetic training sessions and then wonder why their clients don’t get results. There was video of a trainer who’s clients weren’t lunging properly. Thankfully, i always try to drill you guys with technique, but sometimes people just don’t listen no matter how many verbal or physical cues you give them. Now at the end of the day, if the guy in the video wasn’t bending his leg properly, what harm was he doing, she said he wasn’t activating his glutes like he should have been. Well he was activating them more than if he was laying in bed. The big picture is that we need to get everybody out moving regularly. Technique is vital, but there has to be a balance between the nay sayers and those who really want to work hard.

They mention trainers causing injuries. This may happen sometimes, when you do see really bad technique and yes they are right, there are some bad trainers around, but what will generally cause an injury is everything the client is doing outside of the training session. When an injury occurs, it is the straw that broke the camels back. If you take a group training session for example. You have 10 people doing the exact same thing and with good technique, yet 1 person can get an injury. Why is it so? It is something that has been building up over time, poor posture whilst sitting and standing, repetitive movements at work, picking things up incorrectly etc. You then go ahead and do a few exercises and bang the shoulder or the knee or the back goes. It didn’t go from a perfect joint to an injured joint in 10 seconds, it went from a good joint as a child and over the years it has deteriorated without any knowledge of it doing so and then you do something completely different and the injury presents itself.

In the comments, I see statements about choosing an exercise physiologist as your trainer. I don’t believe you need a uni degree to be a great trainer, you do need more than 8 weeks. I think you should also have to do a certain time frame working for a gym, being paid by the gym to carry out professional supervised training sessions, instead of being dumped headfirst into the industry to fend for yourself. I started out in a large gym part time reception, part time gym instructor. It is good to get experience in a structured atmosphere. Unfortunately over the years, the industry has changed a great deal and if you can still find a gym where you are greeted by a gym instructor who is being paid by the gym and is not just talking to you so they can convert you into a client then you are a lucky person. There are no outlets for new trainers to gain that experience anymore. Instead they are put under pressure to get more clients so they can pay their rent or their “mentor”.

Please feel free to give me your feedback at the forum you know I love to hear what you have to say!

Over the last couple of weeks, we have dedicated some time during the morning classes to developing the pose technique in your running.

I am sure that most of you understand the technique, and most of you got the drills correctly, but getting the running technique is a whole different ball game.

It can take a lot of practice to get it just right, don’t expect to change years of running technique (or lack thereof) by just understanding a new concept and wanting to do it. Unfortunately it is a whole lot harder than that.

Another problem you will run into is that you will change 1 or 2 aspects of your running, but others will not change and you will find that your energy expenditure goes up. This is understandable, until you get the technique down. but don’t get lazy with it, think about your technique all the time when you are running and constantly adjust your body as you feel you are out of pose.

Here are 3 links that are useful in there own ways.

Link 1 has a great overview of the Pose technique. have a good read through it.
Posetech overview

Link 2 shows Dr Romanov describing the purpose of drills in developing your perception of body awareness. Drills are not to improve strength or flexibility, they are so you can be more aware of the way your body is moving.
Posetech perception drills

Link 3 shows some common drills. the video is a bit boring, but stick with it, watch it through, it goes for a few minutes and practice these drills, they are the solid basics of creating that perception of where your legs are moving.
Pose drills

If you can handle a really nauseating video shot on the side for some reason and not the best quality, this one has some good drills and explanations of those drills.
Crossfit pose drills (shot on the side, so turn your head to the side for the least nauseating effect)

Take the time, progress through the links from 1 to 3 in that order and you will have a much greater understanding of what you should be focussing on when you are running.

Any questions or comments, no matter how silly you might think it is, please post it to the forum because it is more than likely that several other people have the same question and I can answer it for everyone.

Great class this morning, you all did really well in those Tabata shuttle runs!

In a recent article I read in Health Smart about food colourings, a couple of things disturbed me. I have always known that they are not good for you, but it is the attitude of the authorities that astonishes me the most.

Studies have shown that at least 15 commonly used food colourings can produce behavioural problems and other health problems in some people, especially children.

So why have them in our food? Well, here’s a few comments that caught my attention;

Food Standards Australia New Zealand ensures we are consuming additives at levels which would not poison you if you ate them everyday. Gee thanks for that!

FSANZ says these colours are not contained in everyday nutritous foods children should be eating. No Joke, but they’re still out there and they’re still being advertised everywhere you go and at every checkout and in every school canteen.

FSANZ already requires by law that all additives are listed on products. The problem is that most people out there don’t know that their ADD (attention deficit disorder) or asthmatic or aggresive child’s problems are coming from the food that has been passed to be sold in our schools.

Now this is my favourite – I quote “Consumers would baulk at food without colourings. Can you imagine drinking a clear but orange-tasting fizzy drink?” NO I can’t, I wouldn’t feed orange fizzy drink to a stray dog, with or without colour!

Now on the upside, a number of companies are taking the initiative themselves. I know that Nestle now make their Smarties free from artificial colours. I walked past Donut king the other day and they had huge signs all over their counters stating all natural colours used to make their donuts. I have even taken the time to check out a few products in the supermarket and a lot of them stated no artificial colours or flavours.

So they are out there, just take the time to look and buy the products with no artificial colours, flavours or preservatives. This is really easy when you eat all natural food, the way they were intended to be eaten.

No artificial colours, flavours or preservatives

In Europe, all foods that contain these additives must carry the following warning “May have adverse effect on activity and attention in children” Wow, children in Europe must be effected worse than ours. Is that correct FSANZ?

Here’s the colours they have found most commonly produce reactions;

102, 104, 110, 122, 123, 124, 127, 129, 132, 133, 142, 143, 151, 155 and 1 natural colour 160b

And here’s just some of the products they are commonly found in in Australia. I have highlighted the ones that should shock you;

Prawn crackers, Froot Loops, cakes, biscuits, muffins, pickles, ice cream cones, dried fruit, cordial, flavoured natural mineral water, flavoured milk, rissoles, medicines (including children’s and infant cold preparations), muesli bars, hokkien noodles, pies and  toothpaste.

This weekend I had the pleasure to attend a pose running clinic presented by the founder of the Pose Method, Dr Nicholas Romanov – Olympic coach and sports scitentist.

A small group of trainers, coaches and runners including the owners of CrossFitFX, Crossfit Sydney & Original Bootcamp  took in 18 hours of theory and practical and came out the other side questioning why everyone isn’t running with the Pose method.

The Pose method involves 3 key points. Pose, Fall, Pull. Assume the “Pose”, fall forward then pull your foot off the ground to assume the “Pose” once again. Repeating this cycle will have you moving forward lighter, faster and more injury free than ever before.

You may think it a little weird to attend a clinic to learn how to run, but if you think about it, what sport or activity do you do that you don’t have to first learn? Swimmer, golfers, weight lifters etc etc They all have techniques in place to perform well and stay injury free. But, if you attend most running groups, all you are given is how far and how often to run. It is merely assumed that you know how to run and you are now given sometimes ridiculous distances to run in the hope of becoming a better runner. What happens is that you become a stronger runner through training and developing a stronger cardiovascular base, but you don’t become a “better” runner. One of the other main things that will happen is injury. If you have a poor running technique and you run 20km’s a week, you are probably striking the ground 20,000 times incorrectly. This will not take long to manifest into an injury of some sort.

The Pose method involves a “standard” and any deviation from this “standard” can be regarded as an error. If you can eliminate the errors, you should be able to eliminate the injuries.

I’ll give you a few basics and you make up your mind as to whether it makes sense or not;

One of the main points to the method is using your body weight to your advantage and not against it. If you look at a typical runner, they stand upright and run from heel to toe on every stride. There is mistake number 1. Your heel is a brake, so everytime you place that heel on the ground, you initiate a braking force into the body. So your pattern is project yourself forward then brake, project yourself forward then brake over and over again. By running on the ball of the foot, you eliminate this braking. But do not run on the toes, this will lead to calf injuries. It’s the ball of the foot!

Use gravity to your advantage. Lean forward! If you are leaning forward, you are allowing your body weight to fall forward with gravity. When  you do this, you are moving forward without using any muscular actions at all!. The next step is to pull your foot up from the ground and your other foot will hit the ground. By repeating this action, you are moving forward. Some might even say running!

Does it make sense? Trust me, the theory is much more in depth than this and there are far more things to think about while running, but this will get you started on your journey.

I am not saying it is easy to master, but what in this world that is worthwhile is easy to attain?

There is a wealth of information on the internet about Pose running, I urge you to do some reading of your own, but for all of my outdoor clients, we will be putting the focus on the pose whenever we run from now on!