Why hire a trainer? After all you could have just read a book or watched a few YouTube videos? Isn’t training like that scene from The Simpsons where Homer hires Ranier Wolfcastle to train him (above)?
The Simpsons joke works in part because it’s true; In part. There’s more nuance to the profession than the Simpsons allow.
So there’s a story about a guy with a squeaky floor. He tries everything but it won’t stop squeaking. So he hires a contractor to take a look. The contractor arrives, walks around, listens to the squeaks, then pulls his hammer and whacks one nail. Subsequently the squeaking stops.
He bills the guy $500 and the guy complains. Why $500? You hammered one nail? The contractor smiles. That was $1 for the hammering, $499 for knowing which nail.
A good Trainer, inn essence, finds the nail. The nail could be weight loss, it could be stronger shoulders. Let’s illustrate a Trainer’s value: Two stories about a trainer finding the nail then hammering it home clean and true. Ready? Well then, strap yourself to the abdominator.
Can I try your driver?
Names below have been changed to protect the innocent.
Imagine you LOVE golf; I’m talking membership to three country clubs Love golf. My client Robert loves golf like that. He won’t join the pro tour anytime soon; he may not even golf particularly well. He was training for something more important, more high stakes: beating his high school Buddies.
The will to improve is not enough. Robert’s surgically repaired back limits his strength and flexibility. He could watch videos and read articles all day but his problem was that powerful golf swings come from.
- efficient transfer of energy through the feet and knees.
- A supple, pliable spine that can relay that energy to the torso, shoulders, and ultimately the club.
All in all, these were two areas where his back injury limited him.
Back pain is an enigma
Surrounded by a riddle, wrapped in mystery. I’ve watched conferences where back experts at major hospitals have admitted as much. I did not cure Robert’s back. What I did do was provide dozens of ways for it to move better. To Bob’s immense credit he didn’t blame me when something we tried backfired: Failure was feedback. We moved on from mistakes and found solutions. We worked on peg board drills to cleanly transfer energy from one foot to the other, and spinal mobility drills to facilitate that energy transfer through the torso. Consequently his strength and flexibility improved. He had longer and longer periods with little or no back pain.
Finally Spring rolls around. First golf round with the boys and Robert is consistently outdriving his friends. They notice. You know how men are though: A guy’s never gonna come out and say ‘Why Robert, you’re consistently outdriving me off every tee. Whatever is your secret?’ God no. They say it indirectly.
They asked to try his driver.
There’s this bump behind my knee
A client, Laurence, arrived with a stiff knee. He apologetically asked me to feel a bump that had formed behind the knee. He showed me how he couldn’t close the leg all the way without bumping into/being limited by the swelling. There was slight pain.
‘It’s been bugging me for about a week. Is this something you know about?’
Whenever I encounter swelling I think lymphatic flow. The lymphatic system is basically the body’s sewer system. It pulls waste out of cells (which allows Oxygen and nutrients to enter) and then flushes the waste out. If the lymph is blocked then waste never gets flushed, vital nutrients aren’t allowed in, cellular health goes downhill and you’ll experience unexplained swelling, like bumps behind the knee (where a large lymph node sits). Sound like you? Don’t worry. You can free/unblock the lymph rather quickly.
We tested his knee. It could not bend all the way and was slightly uncomfortable. I took him through this lymphatic opener. We brushed and tapped his major lymphs and then retested 3 minutes later, thereupon his knee functioned normally.
Hammer meet Nail.
It could have gone away on it’s own; or it could have been a Doctor’s visit, an MRI, & some PT (weeks of effort and waiting). We handled it in 3 minutes and then got a great workout in on top of it all.
The most expensive thing in the world is being unhealthy.
Get vital. Get strong. Hire a Trainer.
Or you can do it yourself. Youtube, online articles, Men’s health. They have tons of great information, instruction and ideas. They’re the hammers you need.
Now… which nail.
