What I’ve Learned in 10 Years of Personal Training

Man, time goes by fast!  January 2025 marks ten years since I got my personal training certification and started coaching.  It has been a blessed journey.   After seventeen years in TV news production and being unemployed for two, to have the opportunity to become a coach and start this new lifestyle has been the coolest thing in the world!   If I knew then what I know now, I would never have gone into broadcasting. I would have been an exercise science major, or something similar.   

Becoming a coach has changed me – not just changed my lifestyle because I no longer do the 9-5 job thing, or spend hours commuting to and from work, it has changed me mentally.  I have found positivity and happiness.  I see how health and fitness all come together and it is so much more than how much you can bench or squat.   It is a mental mindset change as well as a physical.   To be able to help people and see them make these changes and get results is really cool!  I just want to keep learning!  I want to become that coach who people go to for advice and see as an inspiration.   When my clients tell me I am already doing this, it is an absolute blessing. 

Now let’s talk about the gym and our workouts. Because this is what we all love, yes?  I learn so much every day.  Not just helping my clients, but seeing and listening to people and gym members.   As I said, my job, creating a healthy lifestyle,  and strength training in general are about way more than hitting a new PR every day.  It is about doing the right thing every day in and out of the gym to become the person you want to become.   

Here are some things I have learned in my 10 years of coaching: 

1)The importance of habits  

We are our habits.  We don’t think twice about brushing our teeth every day.  To build the healthy lifestyle we want, we need to build and learn good habits.  Not just at the gym, but at home with our nutrition, sleep, and managing our stress to name a few.   When we have good habits, we get good results.  I teach my clients to work small and build up.   If you don’t workout now, why in the world do you think you’ll flip a switch and start going 5x/week?  Aim for 2-3.  Same thing with nutrition.   If you don’t like veggies, find 1 or 2 you like and incorporate them into your meals.  It will get easier as you go and become second nature.  Then all of the sudden you are making sure that you get your workout in!  You have a meeting at 9am when you are usually at the gym?  You go earlier or later. 

2)You gotta warm-up

You wanna just go hit the treadmill for 10 minutes before you lift?  I gotta ask – how does that get you ready to bench press and use your arms?  Your warm up before you lift is SO important!  It gets your mind and body ready to go.  You warm up, you feel fresh and like a million bucks.  It doesn’t ‘waste time’ as people like to tell me.   And it’s also more than an easy set of whatever exercise you are doing.   Take some time to foam roll (self-massage), do some stretching, and active movements.  Take ten minutes.   You will feel better, have a better workout, AND it will help prevent injuries ( not 100% so don’t yell at me if you do get hurt!)  But just for fun, try and go run a block or two without running.  I promise you, your legs will feel sluggish.   Same thing when you lift. 

3) It really is about how you eat

I know I just mentioned this, but your health is about more than how much you lift and exercise.  It is true when they you can’t out work a bad diet.  How you eat is key.  Good nutrition fuels your body and keeps it working the way you want.  Not just to prevent diseases, but gives you the energy you need to do what you do every day.   I use the 80/20 rule.  80% of the time – try and eat, whole, non-processed foods – protein, fats, and carbs.   Eat protein in every meal.  It will help you stay focused AND keep you full for longer, so you’re eating less.  Carbs, are not the enemy. Do not be afraid!  The other 20% – I want you to enjoy!  

Food is a very social aspect of our lives.  I want you to be able to eat a slice of cake at a birthday party.  I want you to be able to go out for pizza and beer.  What I DON’T want – is for that to make you crash into eating those non-processed foods again.  So if you do eat pizza for dinner, that next morning for bfast, make sure you go back to good protein and get back on the non-proccessed food rule!  Oh yeah, and stop thinking ‘cheat-meal.’  Think ‘treat-meal.’  Try not to think of foods as good or bad, just and more and less beneficial. 

4) Discipline

It takes discipline to create a healthy lifestyle.  It’s about working out when you feel a bit tired.   It’s about going out to dinner and not having a drink.  Also just thinking ‘better, not perfect,’  and ordering grilled chicken and veggies if you go out, instead of the pizza or chicken parm.  Once again, these choices get easier as you do them. 

5) Perseverance

Similar to discipline.  You need to keep going on days when you 1)don’t feel like it, or 2) get busy.  You’re going to have days or weeks where you feel like you aren’t progressing, or the scale doesn’t go the way you want it to go.  But that’s not a reason to throw in the towel.   Maybe you get a coach like me to help you adjust something and make some changes.   But you still gotta get in and do something.  Besides, that strength training will help you feel better after a bad day. 

6) It’s all about rest and recovery

I mentioned exercise and nutrition, the third part of the health triad is rest and sleep.  Our health is about way more than how much we can bench.   We NEED good rest and sleep every night.   When we strength train, we tear up all of our muscle fibers.  When we rest, that’s when we get stronger.   Our bodies repair all of those muscle fibers and build new ones.   Make sure you get at least 6 hours of sleep every night.  7-9 is better.  When we get good sleep, we have more energy and can get through our days.  When we don’t get good sleep, we not only don’t have good energy to get through our days, but our brains get sluggish and we make poorer choices – we skip our workouts, we make different food choices, like stopping for a sugary coffee drink to get more caffeine for our day, we grab a fast food lunch.  Good sleep is the baseline.   It keeps us healthy and manages our stress. 

7) I am your support

As a coach, it’s what I do.  People hire personal trainers for many reasons.   Yes, the main reason is that people want to get in shape, lose weight, etc.   But my main goal is to just keep you accountable.   I help my clients create the habits and build the lifestyle they need to get results.   Many of my clients – the only time they come to the gym is to work with me, that 2x/week.   When they tell me they are making better choices at home in their nutrition, sleep and other habits, it makes me proud to know that I have made an impact on them.  It is not about the two hours or so where I see them every week that gets them the results –  it’s everything they do OUTSIDE that time. 

Do you need that support?   Are you ready to take 2025 by storm and get healthy?   Reach all of those goals you have always dreamed of?    Contact me today for a free consultation!