Results Personal Training’s Approach to Health

There is only so much we can do as Personal Trainers. Many of us are not medical professionals and we’re not qualified to give medical advice or rehab advice. Sometimes it feels like our only role in society is to help people lose weight, get healthier and fitter in the broadest of senses. 

Society has a will to continue to put Personal Trainers at the bottom of the health barrel. We are significantly outranked as healthcare professionals by MD’s chiropractors, nutritionists and physios. Society does not regard us in good stead and we are the first to go in times of hardship. Many PT’s are the butt of jokes, and often we are not taken seriously. Rightly so in some cases. If someone wants a workout they can find one in a number of magazines or online publications. But regardless of all this information much of the population continue to moan and blame when they don’t see the results that they are hoping for. 

The reality is that Personal Trainers must wear many hats. We are coaches, nutrition advisers, therapists and confidants. Whether you like it or not, PTs are the front line of health care. We typically see clients 2-3x per week compared to the Doctor you see once a year. 

Clients will often tell us more about their health than they do their Doctors, particularly if you look through the lens of deep health, not just the physical aspects. 

It is now widely accepted that fitness is not a fad. On the contrary, fitness is now considered an integral part of positive health and quality of life. And we know that fitness is possibly the most important factor in the prevention of disease. 

The benefits of exercise are even greater when you have a customised program that is both effective and safe for the individual’s needs, interests, fitness level, health and goals. I personally would argue that a Personal Trainer with the right programming based on sound scientific principles has far more impact on an individuals health and longevity compared to the physician who one generally only sees once a year. 

Healthcare can be broken down into two categories… proactive and reactive. Unfortunately, most healthcare still has its focus on reactive measures and cleaning up the mess, rather than preventing it in the first place. One only goes to the doctor’s office when there’s a problem. While this may seem the best course of action many experts are now stressing the importance of being proactive.

Proactive healthcare is about taking action before symptoms manifest. For example rather than waiting until you feel like symptoms of a cold or flu virus, you can take proactive measures like boosting your immune system with vitamin C, vitamin D, antioxidants, and by drinking plenty of fluids

The same can be said to the quality of your life. Taking a proactive approach to all aspects of your movement, fitness, and health. For me I want to be running, jumping, climbing and snowboarding when i’m 100 years old 

For most people, health is not something that comes first. Many neglect their health until it’s too late. For me I find this heart breaking. I have witnessed many with regrets of not looking after themselves and the devastation this has caused to themselves and their families. This is why I am so passionate about helping people over 30 avoid these same mistakes. 

This begs the question… how do we approach health as Personal Trainers ? 

First up the 40,000 foot overview 

I want you to imagine a pyramid. At the base of the pyramid we have all things health. Lifestyle, mortality and body composition. The middle of the pyramid is our performance. That is movement, power, strength and endurance. At the peak of the pyramid we have nutrition, food quality, macronutrients and calories. 

This is our framework at Results Personal Training that makes our three elements of vitality. 

I’m going to save Performance and Nutrition for another day. Today we are going to take a look at Health 

Just realise that without health we have nothing. Just like all of the biggest pyramids in the world, the wider the base the taller the peak. We need a strong base to build everything from. 

As we age, health needs to become the number 1 focus. Many want to focus only on shiny objects like flat stomachs and six packs. There is nothing wrong with that but we have to start with health. 

I can tell you that many high level athletes that look amazing actually feel like shit. My goal for you is to look, feel and perform at your best, but in order to do that we need to get your health in check. 

Over my 25 plus years as a PT I probably trained well over 100 people in their late 40’s and early 50’s and the number one thing they say is ‘I wish I had started this sooner’

How we assess health 

When it comes to our health we have to uncover the truth without any bias. Sometimes the truth can hurt, fitness can be frightening and we need to take a long hard look at some uncomfortable facts 

Many people are unwilling or unable to confront their fears, so they end up being big dreamers but poor action takers. I wonder if this is why so many fail to stick to long term health and fitness plans. The truth may hurt but embracing it gives you a clear path forward.

Our assessment allows for the truth to be established and determine what your actual starting point is. 

Our starting points are… 

• Body composition
• Lifestyle 
• Functional movement and Mortality 

In a study by the BMJ, the majority of obese people didn’t actually describe themselves as ‘very overweight’ in fact as little as 10 percent of clinically obese people admitted they had weight problems. Long story short the study basically concluded that many view themselves as healthy but actually are not.

Being overweight isn’t just an aesthetic problem. An excess in body fat can impact and effect nearly every part of your life including … 

• Higher mortality rate
• Lower levels of emotional health and self esteem
• Increased risk of organ failure 
• Poor circulatory health
• Increased risk of heart disease 
• Increased risk of stress fractures 
• Increased risk of strokes 
• Increased risk of cancer 

The bottom line is that excess body fat makes health and performance worse. 

How do we assess body composition 

When it comes to body composition here is what we assess… 

• Weight 
• BMI 
• Body fat percentage 
• Visceral fat 

In an ideal world we would send everyone to get a gold standard DEXA scan to measure these basic metrics, however it’s not always practical or financially viable for most. We have found that the Tanita scales to be a great alternative. It’s not perfect but I have found it to be pretty close. 

In fact we have recently just purchased a newer version of the Tanita’s that also covers Bone Mass, has a physic rating based on your muscle to fat ratios and your hydration levels. All important information

Lifestyle 

Assessing lifestyle can be a complex task as there are thousands of different aspects to it. For us we have boiled it down to 3 major factors 

• Daily steps taken 
• Hours slept 
• Water consumed

With these measurements we can take a good look at how active or sedentary your day to day life is. 

Research tells us that an inactive, sedentary life and poor levels of sleep all have significant detrimental impact on our health

It has long been touted that we should all be getting 10,000 steps per day but for many this initial number can be a daunting task. Personally we like to see people doing the triple 7. That is 7000 steps, 7 hours of sleep and 7 big glasses of water. 

From a lifestyle perspective we call this triple 777’s the big win. This is a general approach and further down the line we can get more specific but we have found that this approach is perfect for anyone beginning their training journey.

Functional Movement and Mortality 

Mortality is obviously a depressing subject but it’s an important aspect of life as we age. Again assessing mortality can be a pretty hard, complex task as again there are many variables. For the purpose of our assessments we look at 

• Functional movement screen 
• Resting heart rate 
• Sit and rise test

The functional movement screen is a simple screen of 7 different exercises that assess movement quality. We know there is a direct correlation between the quality of your movement patterns and musculoskeletal health. The functional movement screen uncovers any limitations or underlying dysfunctions you may have. It also looks at your stability, motor control and mobility which we all know are important factors in ageing well. 

Resting heart rate

RHR is an important measure in assessing mortality

On top of this the researchers also discovered that the higher a person’s RHR, the greater the risk of premature death. Specifically between 81 and 90 beats per minute DOUBLED the chance of death and over 90 beats per minute TRIPLED it. 

Sit and Rise test 

The sit and rise test is a test evaluating a person’s ability to get up and down from the ground. It has proven to be a very accurate predictor of mortality. The test was initially developed in the 90s with a study of subjects between the age of 51 and 80 found that those that had the lowest score were five to six times more likely to die within the study period (6 years) than those with higher scores

Closing thoughts 

Fitness and health are important parts of our lives. Taking care of the basics by assessing where you are right now and where you need to go can make a big difference. Making small changes where necessary, you can be sure your body is ready for whatever life throws at you. 

Our framework for health is not as comprehensive or as exhaustive as it could be. We are not medical professionals but I’m 100% sure that even the medical professionals would agree that having these basics in place would make for a much fitter, healthier world. 

Health has never been at the forefront of what most people consider fitness. It probably never will be. Health isn’t sexy like toned tummy’s and six pack abs but if you want to really become the everyday athlete it needs to be the foundation from which everything else is built from 

I know it’s cliche but..