The Next Fitness Phenomenon
First of all I love Sweat Inc. on Spike and Jillian Michaels is my fitness idol! I've been recently watching the show and I think it's the best thing ever. I love to watch new ideas and trends in the fitness industry and Jillian is on a mission to find the next fitness phenomenon. I love what she has done in this indusrty and what she is continuing to do to help people live healthier lives.
With that being said I felt I wanted to express my view/belief to anyone who cares to listen. What I believe the new "fitness phenomenon" should be is a change in professional standards for personal trainers and fitness instructors. Most trainers that make it big have a similar story as she does. She can relate to people who are desperately trying to lose weight because she struggled with her weight at a young age. I know she had to work extremely hard to get to where she is today and she motivates millions of people with her story because she can relate/emphasize with people. I believe that there are many trainers out there that have similar passion, stuck at big box sized gyms that are underpaid/overworked and that are changing lives but only able to fill a 12 hour work day (driving back and forth to desperately “fit” in as many clients as they can and maybe reach 10 people a day. Maybe.)
Sadly enough, personal training is a dead end career for most people and they eventually burn out and move on to something else that pays more money (because let’s face it who wants to be poor their entire life?). Not only that, you don’t feel appreciated when you are underpaid and overworked especially when you know your own self worth.Not saying there aren't trainers out there making 100k a year but the average trainer doesn't even come close to that because gyms take the majority of it.
I am so TIRED of the way the fitness industry is going. Sure there’s Orange Theory, Beach Body, CrossFit, Zumba, SoulCycle, etc out there. You can come up with a million ways to work people out and change it up and there are boutique gyms popping up on every corner. But you can’t reverse the obesity epidemic because we aren't reaching the masses and there aren’t enough standards in this industry. Sure there are certifications but anyone can become a trainer or fitness instructor if they pass a test. You don’t need a degree to get hired. Just a $300-600 certification and a piece of paper that says you are a trainer and a lot of gyms will hire you with just that. People that walk into a gym assume you know what you are talking about. But the sad truth there are plenty of trainers/instructors out there that are slipping through the cracks and not qualified enough to not injury someone because they don't know how the body works. Not saying you can't get injured other ways and that's always a possibility but I hate it when clients come to me and tell me what other trainers have had them do in the past that were considered high risk.
There needs to be standards. I’m talking healthcare standards. I believe every trainer (if they are going to be a trainer) needs to have at least a BA in Exercise Science or a related field on top of an accredited certification. I believe that doctors should “prescribe” these said trainers to individuals with major healthcare problems (heart disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity, thyroid problems, etc.) And most of these problems can be cured with a healthy diet and exercise. But when a doctor is telling people they need to exercise (especially when some have never even tried to in their life) is not enough. These people have idea where to start. So what do they do? They make new years resolutions that this year is going to be different and they are going to lose 100+ pounds and change their life. So they try (and some incredible people do it because they are determined to not give up) but most fail miserably and sadly go back to their old habits of sitting on the couch and eating an entire bag of Oreos or potato chips. What are they lacking? Not the will to do it, but the tools they need, the knowledge they need someone to tell them literally step by step what to do. They need a plan. A solid plan. They need a coach or “trainer” to tell them they can do it when all they want to do is give up because it’s taking too long to see results. I don’t think they want to be this way. They want to live longer. They want to be able to run around with their kids. They want to not be lazy but this obesity problem is getting worse and worse by the year.
When I googled obesity facts I had a hard time finding information on it that was current. This is HUGE! This is what I found on the www.http://CDC.gov website:
“Obesity is common, serious and costly… more than one-third (34.9% or 78.6 million) of U.S. adults are obese. [Read abstract Journal of American Medicine (JAMA)] Obesity-related conditions include heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and certain types of cancer, some of the leading causes of preventable death. The estimated annual medical cost of obesity in the U.S. was $147 billion in 2008 U.S. dollars; the medical costs for people who are obese were $1,429 higher than those of normal weight.”
According to www.http://Obesity.org they said the same thing…but this information is from 2008. Where are the numbers from 2015????? Wait… $147 billion in annual medical costs in 2008????
“Obesity is a disease that affects more than one-third of the U.S. adult population (approximately 78.6 million Americans). The number of Americans with obesity has steadily increased since 1960, a trend that has slowed in recent years but shows no sign of reversing. Today, 69 percent of U.S. adults are categorized as being affected by obesity or having excess weight.”
So we have managed to “slow” down obesity down but not reverse it. So what happens when it gets to half the population? Is it there now? Don’t even get me started about childhood obesity. Apparently the CDC doesn’t have any information above 2012 (or at least I can't find it). We are almost to 2016. Are we ignoring this problem now????
Prevalence of Childhood Obesity in the United States, 2011-2012
“Childhood obesity is a serious problem in the United States. Despite recent declines in the prevalence among preschool-aged children, obesity among children is still too high. For children and adolescents aged 2-19 years, the prevalence of obesity has remained fairly stable at about 17% and affects about 12.7 million children and adolescents for the past decade. [Read abstract Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA)]
"Approximately 17% (or 12.7 million) of children and adolescents aged 2—19 years are obese. The prevalence of obesity among children aged 2 to 5 years decreased significantly from 13.9% in 2003-2004 to 8.4% in 2011-2012.”
So back to why I originally did all this research. Jillian has a new show now called Sweat Inc which is all about finding the next “fitness phenomenon”. I was so excited when this show came on because it’s like the Shark Tank of the fitness industry. This show has the ability to reach so many more people with a new exciting ideas! Jillian has already literally changed and set many higher standards for the fitness industry. My biggest dream would be to even get on the show for 5 minutes (don’t even need 10)! Just to meet her and shake her hand and tell her she's doing an amazing job.
I have always been a huge fan of her ever since she was on the Biggest Loser (who wasn’t?). I was even more impressed when she left the show because she felt that "In the beginning of the show it was tough love. You saw the tough, and you saw the love," she said of how things had changed over time. More recently, she said, "You saw none of the relationships, none of the bonds that I build with my clients ... millions of people have this warped negative perception of me. “Michael, 40, said people were starting to see her as a villain. "
Source: http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/jillian-michaels-reveals-left-biggest-loser/story?id=24584700
I never had a warped image of her or would ever see her as a villain but as an amazing woman who built an empire from the ground up, but I can relate with this feeling. I think society as a whole has a “warped negative perception” of fitness and what it truly means to be healthy but that's a whole other topic for a different time.
So you may be wondering about my own story. I wasn’t and have never been overweight in my life. I’m 5’5 and never weighed more than 124 pounds. I would go to the doctor and they would tell me I’m underweight. I’ve played sports and been active my entire life since the age of 4 when I water skied on my dad’s feet until I was old enough to get my own pair. I was captain of the basketball and track team in high school. I suffered from many sports injuries because I’m literally a walking accident waiting to happen. I pushed my body to every limit I was capable of. I wanted to be a professional athlete but my body wouldn’t allow me. I tore my ACL and meniscus my Junior Year of high school and that ended my dreams of becoming a track star. I had to relearn how to run and the pain in my knee from surgery complications prevented me from running at the level I was at and I lost my opportunity to get a scholarship. But I didn't give up for one minute.
So what did I do with this setback? I went to college and decided to go for Exercise Science because I could literally not imagine doing anything else. When I was 19 I walked into Bally Total Fitness and was basically offered the job on the spot. Had no training, I barely knew the muscle groups and they hired me as a “personal trainer” without a certification. I got paid for a few weeks for shadowing trainers then it became more of an internship. I was there during prime time hours and I just walked around the floor “helping” people for free. I loved it! But I knew I had no idea what I was doing and needed to study it.
Have to give a shout out to the UCF Exercise Science Program in 2009-2011. It prepared me for real life. I also did a ton of my own research and literally read every book on personal training I could find. I couldn’t pick a certification so I got all the books from NASM, ACE, NSCA, and AFAA. I went to conferences and I spoke and asked as many questions as I could.
Then I got hired as a wellness coach in 2011 at the Dr. Phillips Y. My boss Paul Prather taught me so many things on injury prevention while I was there that I was so grateful for and still use to this day. I eventually got all my certifications (TRX, Personal Trainer, Group Fitness, Nutrition, Biomechanic Specialist, and Boot Camp Instructor... yeah I went all out). I quickly gained clients and within one year I had managed to completely book myself for 7.5 hours straight and literally could not take on one more client when I left the Y in 2013. It was a sad day to leave such an amazing place and the community that went with it felt like my own family but I felt that I was not compensated financially for all that I was doing and could not afford to pay my bills. I was even recognized by Jim Ferber the CEO in an executive board meeting downtown.You can read about me here:
The CEO of the Central Florida Y knew my worth and did everything he could to keep me there but I knew I had to move on to bigger and better things. I felt like I was hitting a plateau and even though I had helped so many people and literally changed/saved people’s lives I wasn’t helping enough people.
Which brings me to today, December 30, 2015. I’ve been a personal trainer technically since I was 20 (I am almost 29 now) and had no idea what I was doing when I first started. Today I consider myself (and have been told) to be one of the top trainers in Orlando, FL. I have worked for the Y, Ritz Carlton, and now for Florida Hospital. I have changed people’s lives wherever I go and I love every minute of what I do because I have such a passion for it.
Today is a new day and it’s time for change. It’s been time for change. We need to do something drastically different. We need to SAVE lives not injury people and discourage them. Personal Trainers need to be licensed health care providers and paid just like physical therapists, occupational therapists, and doctors. They need to be certified in Wellness Coaching as well as Personal Training. They need to have a minimum of 2 years in the fitness industry. There needs to be a gold standard besides going online and getting a certification. Gyms should not hire personal trainers without any of these guidelines.
How do we do this? How do we change the healthcare system? How do we stop childhood obesity when all they’ve ever known was being overweight their entire lives? How do we give people a better quality of life so they can be pain free and grow up past the age of 55 to see their children graduate college, get married, and be grandparents instead of dying from a heart attack because they don’t exercise and their arteries are clogged? How do we save seniors from dying when they fall because their bones are so frail and they have no balance? How do we save kids from being bullied because they are overweight and all that negative reinforcement that comes with it their entire life? There is an epidemic and something needs to be done. I’m only one person but if there ever was a cause this should be it! Save YOUR life. Save your loved one’s lives. I know you want to be healthy and live a longer and happier life with your family and friends. This should be the next “Fitness Phenomenon”.
Change the way the industry works. Allow doctors to actually prescribe exercise instead of pumping them full of medications. There are thousands of trainers out there perfectly capable and knowledgeable to do this. Give us trainers a professional standard to live by. Give us a license program. Give us (fitness professionals) that actually care about people and want to help a voice. Pay us what we are worth so we can continue to help more people for a longer period of time.
$147 billion in annual medical costs in 2008. What is it for 2015? I can’t even find it but I’m sure it’s way higher now. Please someone change this before it’s too late. Before the entire population ends up like this…
