Sitting Is Killing Your Members

Your clients live a sedentary lifestyle, even your most active members are less active than the average person was 100 years ago. It's a result of modernization. We are a society of sitters. In fact, it has recently been said that sitting is going to be the health crisis of this generation and is as detrimental to our health as smoking.

All this sitting each day leads to poor posture and muscular imbalances, which leads to pain and injuries, and extremely deconditioned individuals. Our society has now developed what is know as the "sitters posture" - rounded, hunched shoulders, tight pecs, weak backs, tight hamstrings, weak core, and weak glutes. Or the reverse Darwin as shown below.

Even if you go back 10-15 years ago, we were more active than today. Take the average desk job. Fifteen years ago if you needed a file you had to get up from your desk, walk to the end of the hall retrieve the file, walk back to you desk, and then return the file. This was repeated over and over all day. Today, with file sharing and the cloud you never have to move from your desk.

Even travel has changed. Recently, I was in the Cleveland Airport. It used to be that you had to park your car, carry your bag, and walk to ticketing and then your terminal. Not in Cleveland, you park you car, walk maybe 50 feet (100 if you didn't get a good spot) and then it's people movers and escalators the rest of the way, with may 100 more steps total taken between people movers. Now, you do have the faster option of walking, but hardly anybody does this.

Those are just two examples of decreased activity and may seem like small stuff, but it has drastically cut our daily activity down, which is why we are required us to train our members differently in our gyms.

We used to be able to get away with using machines to train our members and it worked. Not because the machines were good, but because the client was more active and by adding some strength training it was enough to stimulate the metabolism and get them results. Today however, the only movement most people get is in the gym. So sitting them down on a machine to push and pull weight is no longer effective. They are already expert sitters and more sitting, even if they are lifting isn't enough to stimulate their metabolism and improve posture. We need to get them on their feet and moving. Focusing on total body exercises like the KB Swing, Turkish Get Up, and Farmers Walks will do more to improve their fitness level, posture, and provide more metabolic stimulation than anything done on a machine.

Prioritize Your Spending

Sadly we are all more willing to spend on things that provide little to no value to our lives. Some of the these same things are even detrimental to our longer-term goals and health. But, yet we spend willingly for the short-term pleasure.

In my early 20s I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to buy into a fitness club. This provided me with a nice income, benefits, and a pretty good life. However, I was young and dumb and spent money as fast as it came in. And thought nothing of it. I thought nothing of dropping a few hundred dollars at the bar or club each weekend and/or buying more clothes that I didn't need. I was young and very materialistic. The more stuff and the more spent the better. Somehow I did manage to save some money in a retirement account, which was later used to fund the next gym.

This all came to a halt by my mid-20s when I left the current fitness club to start my own gym. Suddenly I looked at money in a whole new light, the materialism vanished and I began to value stuff more. Simply put, my priorities changed. It was food or going out. Food won.

Do I regret the habits of my early 20's? No, because it taught me a very valuable life lesson: material stuff is just stuff. Why did I want it? Because I felt that I needed it to keep up with and stay ahead of everyone around me. Now I would much rather save money than blow it on stuff that doesn't add value to my life. Does this mean I don't still enjoy certain frivolous things? No, but I enjoy them because I enjoy them - not because of the status that comes from them or anything else. Am I cheap? No, I will spend on things that I enjoy and am willing to do so because it makes MY life more enjoyable - not because my neighbors have it.

Why am I sharing this story? Because for some people the spending habits of their 20's never change. The objects may, but the habits doesn't. Instead, of blowing money in clubs, it's now blown on purses, watches, TVs, cars, houses, and clothes. All just for the materialistic pleasure of keeping up with the Jones's. Then when it comes to the important stuff like good quality food, a gym membership, taking a memorable once-in-a-lifetime vacation they claim it costs too much. This stuff will provide you with health and vitality allowing you to get more enjoyment out of the years ahead. The vacation will provide you with memories for life. It doesn't cost too much! The spending priority is the reason. The quick fix materialistic things that help you keep up with your neighbors are taking money away from the things that really matter.

Learn to prioritize your spending by spending on experiences, things YOU enjoy, and things that improve you and keep you healthy. There are no wrong answers to what these things are, as long as they are truly what YOU value and find important. Not just purchases to keep up with you neighbors. Spend like and adult, not a 20 year old.

PNF Spartan Race

This past weekend I ran my first Spartan Sprint Race, in fact it was my first obstacle race of any type. I will admit I was a little nervous and wondering if I was in over my head. One of our younger coaches at PNF had talked me into to doing this with him and making it a gym event for members to train for and run. With that being said it was one of the funnest things I have ever done and I'm already looking forward to doing more. Yes, I'm hooked.

So here's a quick run down of how the day went. I got up around 5:30 a.m. ate breakfast (eggs, bacon, banana, Gatorade, and of course coffee.) I met the other PNF coaches and members at the gym around 6:45 a.m. and we left for Boswell, PA where the event was being held.

Our start time was 9:30 a.m. Upon arriving we were informed of what obstacles layed ahead of us for the day. The course was 4.5 miles, and that the water was just above freezing - which we had to swim and crawl through, not to mention that it was only about 45 degrees out when we started.

After registering and walking to the starting line I was starting to feel pumped and excited for the challenge ahead. And that is when the fun began. The next two and half hours where awesome. We crawled through creeks under logs and brush, climbed walls, jumped in and out of mud pits, crossed a pond, trudging through mud, crawled 70 yards uphill under barbed wire, carried buckets of stone, sandbags, and tires, along with numerous climbing obstacles and ending with a photo finish jumping over fire.

Once you crossed the finish line they handed you your medal, some energy bars and recovering drinks, and took a team pic. Then if was off to pick up our t-shirt and free beer. 

It was a great day and I highly recommend getting a group from your gym members and coaches together and doing one. Hold a 4-6 week training program to help them prepare and then go and compete as a group. It will help build the positive, supportive community environment that is so important in your gym and makes your gym standout from others.

Aroo! Aroo! We Are Spartan!