So I am new

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Enothe

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Hi All,

Thought I would introduce myself, my name is Jason.

Been fairly obsessive about fitness for about 2 years, train 5-6 days a week usually doing several sessions a day, generally do Martial Arts and Weight Lifting but I do a fair bit of cardio as well. I am a qualified gym instructor and most of the way through my Personal Trainer course. Constantly researching and obsessed with bullying my body more than I do to everyone else.

Hopefully give/get some good advice here.

Jason.
 
Welcome Jason.
Good to have you here.
Obsession is good. Not that I am in the slightest bit biased of course. I have been what others consider obsessive and I consider normal about fitness for a few decades, it doesn't get any easier and that keeps it fun.
What style of weights etc. do you do? I am a bit of a power and functional with weights. Did Aikido and boxing years ago, but had to stop following head injury. I run or cycle most days as transport.
Enjoyed ballet and contemporary dance, but family comes first so the training has to fit around time I have now so they got dropped.
My body has to do as it is told and I have a tendency to tell it to do some extreme and occasionally stupid things.
Like you I qualified as an instructor, PT, remedial trainer etc. Now I work behind a desk and fitness is my leisure not my job, which works better for me. As such I have taught moderation to many, but never really got the hang of it myself.
 
Thanks.

I generally do strength lifting however, recently I have started doing a lot of tri set work which hits all of the bases. Lifting in the strength range still but doing more exercises and reps overall so getting some good size gains and endurance too.

How did you find being a PT, at present I am just getting my name out and about and trying to get a buzz before I get into it full time.
 
PT and fitness instructing for a living wasn't for me. I did it well and threw myself into it with energy and enthusiasm, which meant I was running classes and had a respectable client base.
However I take my fitness very seriously and took it personally when teaching others who evidently weren't and didn't really want to be there, just felt they should be. Clients never noticed but it affected me outside of work time.
If you can accept and be ready for the fact that many of your clients will be using you as a way to keep them motivated and have very little motivation of their own, you will be fine, and I've known many who love the job.

There were several successes I really enjoyed when training others, and I still enjoy helping others train either from the comfort of my keyboard or when in gyms, but this is very much back seat style now.
A small number of things I am proud to have done.
Took a bodybuilder to 2nd place in a class he was expected to come last in, within less than 4 months.
Helped a paraplegic with no arms build leg strength by doing safe squats.
Helped a man lose over half his bodyweight over the period of 2 years.
Trained a European standard power lifter.

You have to stay motivated to do this job well and that can be tiring. There are also many PTs who find it hard to motivate themselves to train having spent so much time working in the gym.
Basically you will either love it or loath it. The only time you will know is when you try.

My training is as varied as it can be with weights covering power movements, functional strength and co-ordination. Everything I do is compound as I am interested in strength and power I can use rather than appearance, basically I'm weird.
Limiting factors on my training are obviously family, who I love and epilepsy/ medication which I hate.
 
Sounds like you had a few really good clients :)

I don't mind being peoples motivation, I quite enjoy the feeling of people working harder around me, I have got used to pushing people who won't do it themselves.

Varied training is for the best, keeps the body guessing, which in turn keeps the body adapting and improving.

The only thing I have to compete with is hypermobility, my joints have a nasty habit of hyperextending and dislocating, but I am training to keep it under control :)
 
Building strength into tendons and ligaments as well as a liot of co-ordination work is all I can advise fro hypermobility. You will already know about that and how difficult it is to built strength into tendons and ligaments that are damaged from regular dislocations.
Strict form strength movements, power-lifter style can be good as the technique is so strict to avoid red lights you have to really focus on co-ordination and momentum, which puts you at risk, is minimal. Olympic lifting by contrast is a lot of momentum and risky.
I have no specific issues like that to contend with. A list of old injuries when I was younger and not expecting to live this long, more stupid than now. The medication for epilepsy is a git, but dying through a seizure would be worse for my family. I am still a bit stupid and don't give my body enough time to recover after seizures, but that is just me.

From what you say you will love PT and other fitness instruction. It is great for those who do, they manage to turn a hobby into a career and enhance both. Freaks like me do the same and it doesn't work.
 
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