Part 1 of this series is primarily about defining the problem. In a nutshell we can label it as a regulatory issue - the fitness industry is too loosely run. If this were fixed, most of the other issues that cascade from it would be resolved.
In the fitness industry, anyone has the right to offer whatever it is they like to the masses. As true as that is, I'd also argue it's extremely unfortunate on a number of levels. Just because the right exists doesn't make it infallible, either.
Gordy and I have spent many hours discussing the encounters we've had at commercial gyms. Sadly enough, we've spent even more time listening to horror stories from our clients about their experiences. Depending on the story and our moods, they can serve as comedic relief or a stark reminder of how poor of shape this industry is in, pun intended.
The goal of any business in any industry is to make money. I understand that. If you're not making money, you're not going to survive. However, like in no other, this industry has the audacity and freedom to present information and services that completely lacks factuality and integrity.
Worse yet, most consumers don't have a clue this is going on.
An assumption seems to exist that any "professional" who's in a position of authority in relation to one's health has to be properly educated, credentials, and regulated. Sadly, reality couldn't be further from the truth.
Much like the human body, progress and adaptation in the gym industry is slow. We can't forget (or it's important to know if you didn't already) that commercial gyms and personal training are an extension of a long line of anecdotal development. By that, I mean an enormous disconnect exists between science/research and what's being applied by personal trainers to their clients.
The concept of applying external resistance to your body in order to generate tension in your muscles and thus increase strength and size has been practiced as long as history has been recorded. Hippocrates said, "That which is used - develops. That which is not used wastes away." And of course there's the story of the wrestler, Milo of Croton, who allegedly forced his muscles to grow and strength to increase by carrying a cow on his back through its maturation - calf to cow.
However, the structured gym setting wasn't conceptualized until the early 19-century as far as I can tell. Between then and now, many types of people have utilized gyms ranging from athletes, strength competitors, bodybuilders, and most recently general population folks simply looking to "get in shape."
It wasn't until relatively recently that you'd commonly find both men and women lifting weights and this has been partially fueled by the social pressures surrounding aesthetics.
During the early years of what's considered today's modern gym, it was the gym-goers who possessed the best bodies who were viewed as experts in the field of personal training. Some argue that the industry was born out of bodybuilding and I can't disagree with that. Granted, steroid use was rampant by this time, too, so unless you perceive a chemically enhanced body as a requisite for helping people get in shape, I'm sure you can see the problem.
Fast forward to today.
In all honesty, not a lot has changed. Sure, there's more structure than the, "I have big muscles so listen to me" concept but in the grand scheme, we're not that much better off.
People rarely believe me, but if you have a functioning brain, you can very easily become a personal trainer. There's no unified body regulating the industry. You don't need a degree in a related field - hell, you don't even need a degree.
Sure, there are certifying bodies that provide credentials after successful completion of their courses. However, this too, is unregulated. Anyone can start up their own certifying agency and because of this, their effectiveness and credibility is diluted beyond belief.
Even the highly regarded certification agencies are severely lacking in content and requirements if you ask me.
Over the last 100 years, science has shed vast amounts of light on exercise and its relationship to the human body. Due to the lack of requirements, however, there's a huge disconnect between the science and the professionals who are applying their "know-how" to the masses.
Case in point - I was chatting with a local trainer who works out of L.A. Fitness. I asked him how he goes about expanding his knowledge base. He claimed, "My degree in physical education was quite intensive so fortunately I don't need to learn a lot more - it pretty much has me covered." When asked if he's certified, eh quickly answered, "No. You don't need a certification here as long as you have a degree in a related field." When I asked him what he reads that's related to the field, he said, "Men's Health and Muscle & Fitness."
Later in the week I witnessed him training an overweight woman using exercises that were obviously ill-suited. If she's no injured or morally defeated within a month's time, I'll be shocked. I would also bet a large sum of money that the vast majority of personal trainers have never cracked open textbooks relating to anatomy, physiology, kinesiology, biomechanics, etc. And research journals? What are they?
The bottom line is, by and large, the people calling themselves fitness professionals or personal trainers aren't nearly qualified to be instructing you on your health and fitness. Certainly there's a select population that does value integrity, continuing education, and professionalism. Until a mechanism exists to pressure the majority down this same path though, you're going to see an industry plagued by mentally lazy folks who like the idea of wearing sweat pants to work.
These problems are compounded by the fact that individuals who own/manage gym are equally uninformed. More often than not, they're more concerned with maximizing revenue while keeping costs as low as possible regardless of what that means in terms of what they're offering their members. This leads to unnecessary equipment crowding the floor, gimmicky products and services that draw unsuspecting members into purchases, and worst of all a hiring process on the personal training side of things that is extremely lacking.
Even if these owners/managers knew what they were looking for in terms of quality personal trainers (which they don't), they most likely wouldn't pony up to pay for them. Not when they can just as easily hire Joe Washed-up Football Player who looks semi-in-shape, knows nothing about the human body beyond what he has read in bodybuilding magazines, and will work for near minimum wage.
If it's not him, it's Johnny Needle-In-My-Ass Meathead who works for just as cheap and expects his clients to handle the same sort of training his chemically-altered body handles.
Or it's Jane Don't-Lift-Heavy-Weights-in-Order-to-Avoid-Bulkiness Bunny who hasn't learned the basics beyond punching her time card.
This is who're they're hiring. It's a classic example of the blind leading the blind.
This trend is not something I see changing anytime soon. There's too much monetary incentive backing the maintenance of status quo. It's painfully obvious that we're not going to change the industry by sounding off either.
Believe it or not, it's not entirely the fault of the uneducated trainers and business owners with zero integrity.
As I said at the beginning of this article, the primary issue is a lack of regulation.
Compare the commercial gym and/or personal training industry to the medical community. Joe Jock can't up and decide he wants to be a doctor one day simply because it "sounds cool" - at least not without years of schooling, hours of intense studying, and passing of the standardized testing that all doctors must go through.
He can, however, become a personal trainer or a gym owner in a matter of weeks with no true hurdles to jump.
Granted, the medical profession is quite a bit more intensive and important to the public so the stricter regulations make sense. Make no mistake though, the personal training profession is becoming more and more important as the fitness and health of the general public degrades with each passing year.
So it's the system's fault as well. The others are merely taking advantage of its weaknesses.
Something has to give if access to qualified fitness professionals is going to be granted to the masses and that something is leniency. If the system's standards were raised and regulated a bit, things would be drastically different.
While we're contending with near-zero barriers to enter into the fitness field, customers are going to be contending with unqualified and dishonest folks who are acting authoritatively. As potential customers, your money and health are at risk. I can't stress this enough and if there's a point to the first part of this series, it's to proceed with caution and skepticism when entering this arena as a customer.
Fortunately all is not lost. Hope is found in a faction of the profession that puts their clients, knowledge and integrity in front of money.
While we acknowledge there's plenty of room for improvement as far as our business model goes, we pride ourselves on distancing ourselves from the plague of stupidity, laziness, and dishonesty that infects this industry. In the next installment I'll dive into how we go about doing this in hopes of providing you, the reader, with a benchmark to judge your local gyms and trainers against.
If you're someone who's fortunate enough to have access to worthy professionals, great. I'm sure these article sounds like over-kill. From my perspective, however, it's very obvious that there are a lot of people being duped. If you know someone who needs to hear this, please pass the article along.
