The Mechanic

Movement is a medicine for creating change in a person's physical, emotional, and mental states. ~Carol Welch

Do you take better care of your car than your body? Allow me the liberty to answer that question for most of you. Yes, you do!
When something isn’t right with your car, you waste little time in taking it to the mechanic. He tells you what’s wrong, gives you the price to repair it, and - whether it’s in your budget or not - you get that work done. You find a way because you know that if you continue to ride on that faulty equipment, even costlier repairs and possibly disaster looms. But when our bodies start rattling, creaking and grinding, we don’t fix it. We try to ignore it or just avoid doing those things that might hurt it. In other words, we continue to ride on that faulty equipment despite cries from your knees, hips, back and shoulder.
Is it me or is there something wrong with this picture? You’re in your car for one or maybe two hours a day. And you’re probably going to replace it in four or five years. News flash: you’re stuck in that body 24-7. And you can’t trade it in!
So why are we reluctant to invest in our bodies, even when they’re sputtering toward the breakdown lane? Cost is the most frequent objection when we sit down with members at Lifetime Fitness to show them the value of hiring a personal trainer. It’s not cheap, but someone could buy six weeks of training (twice a week, hour sessions) for less than $600. So for less than a set of tires, you could start a program that would address those nagging aches and pains and dramatically improve the way that you feel, move and look. Is that not a worthwhile investment?
At Lifetime, we conduct a brief assessment based on National Academy of Sports Medicine protocol. We look for postural imbalances, limited flexibility and other indications of potential future ailments. We take you through a Body Age test that might tell you that you’re, oh, 20 pounds overweight, your bodyfat is 30 % (obese) and you have the body of someone 10 years older than your chronological age. And to that, you say, “I can’t afford personal training right now.” Or, “I’m going to do it on my own.” Really? How’s that working out for ya?
You can’t afford not to! With so many people, their check engine light is on, but they refuse to think that they need a personal trainer. Before I became one several years ago, I would’ve told you the same. I had worked out consistently since my early teenage years, had built up my physique and THOUGHT I knew everything I needed to know – just like most of you guys out there. Well, that couldn’t have been further from the truth. The more time I spend in the fitness industry, the more I realize how little I knew (and how much more I still have to learn). The science of exercise is constantly changing. My approach has changed, too. It’s no longer simply about giving a good workout and taking you to muscular exhaustion. It’s about making sure that your body is functioning properly with proper balance and postural alignment, good core strength and range of motion, hips and glutes firing. A good personal trainer really is very much like a mechanic, which is why corrective exercise is the fastest growing segment of the industry. Due to age, society’s inactivity, long hours in front of a computer and other occupational stresses on the body, oftentimes we have to be body mechanics and fix it first! Then and only then should we become more of a detail shop where we shift the focus to buffing up your muscles and getting you looking like a shiny, new showroom model!
And BEFORE you hire a trainer, make sure that he or she is qualified. Ask for his credentials. Inquire about his philosophy. Ask for testimonials. Take him for a test drive and demand a brief, complimentary session. If they balk at any of the requests, find another trainer. Just like mechanics, there are some shady, unqualified trainers so shop around.

Spreading The Health!
Robert Haddocks – National Strength and Conditioning Association – Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist; NSCA – Certified Personal Trainer
National Academy of Sports Medicine – Certified Personal Trainer