Lexington, KY - I have been working in the fitness industry since 1989. Wow, it's hard to believe I have been doing this for over 20 years. One of the advantages of getting older and racking up years of experience in a field is that you have the ability to look back and see how your field has developed and changed, and how you have developed and changed.
The entire field of personal training is barely more than 20 years old. I feel like I have grown up as the profession has grown up. During the past 20 years, it is not only the trainers and the training methods that have changed, but it is you, the trainees. Clients' evolving hopes and desires have clearly shaped the profession of personal training over the years.
I am very proud of the way you, the exercising public, have developed over the past two decades. I have seen a tremendous increase in the level of education, expectations and personal responsibility in regards to working out. Although we are battling obesity and bad health as a nation, those of you who do engage in regular activity have really stepped it up over the years.
When I first started working with people, from 1989 - 93 on an individual basis, they looked to me to take the lead of their fitness routine. I remember walking over 100 miles a week during those days. Hardly any of my clients would exercise on the days that I did not work with them. Walking or running on their own was very rare. In their minds, the mere fact that they had a personal trainer meant that they were in good shape; they did not see their role in their own success clearly. The main goal of exercise in those days was only to look good -
concerns about general health and disease were not in the forefront of peoples' minds.
Around the mid to late '90s, personal training started to take off as a profession. More people were hiring personal trainers, but they still were not really working in tandem with them to get more fit and healthy. They were still looking at their trainers as the answer to their weight and fitness problems. Preventing disease and increasing quality of life were starting to climb up the priority list, but looking good in a pair of jeans was still the major goal of any exercise. Strength training for health was just beginning to be a dominant force on the workout scene. For the first time "aerobics" classes were taking a backseat to strength building avenues of exercise. I did start to see an increase in my clients' willingness to do work on their own, mainly walking, during these years.
As we moved into a new century, I saw a major change in attitudes toward working out, overall health and the role of the personal trainer. Throughout the 2000s, most new clients that came to my business were interested in being healthier as their first priority. Sure, weight loss and looking good were still factors, but it was health concerns and worries about quality of life in later years that became the driving force for most people to begin a regular workout routine.
I saw a huge increase in the expectations of clients, both in the education and experience of their trainer and what the trainer's role would be in their overall wellness program. For the first time, I saw my clients grasp the fact that they were the ones that were responsible for the success or failure of their goals, not the trainer. The trainer was a conduit for success, but not the key. Over the last 10 years, most of my clients workout several days without a trainer. They work with the trainer, using them as educators, motivators and overall mangers of their wellness routine.
I think that this is a much better scenario. Trainers should be seen as your personal health professional who can keep you on the right track toward a lifetime of good health and fitness. Realizing that you are in control of your health is so important, as is taking the personal responsibility to make good choices everyday.
The evolution of the personal training business is directly related to the evolution of those who hire personal trainers. Your increased demand for education has raised the bar for all personal trainers. Your increased participation in your own fitness program has allowed personal trainers to do more on the days they see you, thereby helping you reach higher levels of success. Your realization that fitness is a lifestyle and not a hobby where interest waxes and wanes has created a serious profession where relationships can develop that will sustain your health over decades.
I am proud of you and what you have done over the last 20 years to make my profession better and better. I look forward to observing the forward progress that will be made over the next 20 years.