Creating Chaos - For Fitness & Sport Professionals

Of Mice & Muscle

2012-02-25T00:48:00.000-08:00

If you're not familiar with the John Steinbeck classic then it's well worth a read. With two main characters, the book follows the tragic story and relationship of George Milton and Lennie Small, two misplaced ranch workers. George, an intelligent yet cynical man and Lennie, a man of great stature and strength yet limited mental abilities.

The two characters highlight a classic paradox that currently resides within the fitness industry. George represents an athlete who may not have all the resources in the world but knows how to make the best of the tools he does have. Lennie however represents people with excess muscle mass that don't understand or aren't able to use their physical capacity, those with an abundance of dumb muscle.

In a world that seemingly places a greater importance on appearance over functionality, perhaps it's not so surprising that the fitness industry is filled with large proportions of muscle bound enthusiasts that don't necessarily have the ability to use their physical capacity to it's potential.

The reality is that you don't need to be the size of a bull to have fantastic strength. If your goal is to have to walk sideways every time you step through a doorway then maybe lots of dumb muscle is what you need. However, if you want to really explore what your body is capable of then you don't need to bulk up to become larger than a fridge. You will need a certain lean content as there is an irrefutable relationship between muscle size and available strength but muscle is more capable than you may think.

As a guide to work towards, these following ratio's are very possible:

For men -

Pull up - your bodyweight
Overhead press - your bodyweight
Bench press - 1.5 x your bodyweight
Squat - 2 x your bodyweight
Deadlift - 2.5 x your bodyweight

For women -

Pull up - your bodyweight
Overhead press - your bodyweight
Bench press - your bodyweight
Squat - 1.5 x your bodyweight
Deadlift - 2 x your bodyweight

These ratio's are very much great targets for people serious about developing strength but remember, strength doesn't have to mean size. The fastest car isn't necessarily the biggest car! So, why not calculate what the above targets are for yourself (and maybe your clients) and give it a go?

Of Primary Importance...Yes and No!

2012-02-21T02:30:00.000-08:00

Guest blog by Harriet Swainson

"Becareful about reading health books. You might die of a misprint." Mark Twain

OfPrimary Importance...Yes and No!

The wordprotein is derived from the Greek word, proto,meaning 'of primary importance' and this is an apt description. Itis an essential part of our diet. It contains all of the elementsrequired for life: carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen and oxygen.

Protein isa crucial ingredient for our body to carry out its normal functions:

the build up of structures: without protein, many structures within the body would be fluid. There are two distinct types of structural proteins: fibrous (fundamental to cartilage and other connection tissue, hair and nails) and motor (used to spontaneously move and convert chemical energy into work).

as enzymes: enzymes catalyze chemical reactions. Enzymes carry out most reactions involved in metabolism, as well as manipulating DNA in processes such as DNA replication and DNA repair.

Antibodies: antibodies are protein components of the immune system whose main function is to bind antigens, or foreign substances in the body, and target them for destruction.

Protein isof course also vital for our muscles. However, despite themisconception, simply stuffing your body with protein, manufacturedor natural, is not the best way to amass those abs or bulk up thosebiceps.

Put simply,to build muscle you need to give your body a reason to grow. Overloading your muscles with weight training stimulates adaptation,and it is in the recovery period that growth occurs. Protein iscommonly consumed after a workout in the knowledge that it will speedup the time it takes for the muscles to recover, allowing you to getback into the gym more quickly to create more overload. Of course,protein is important for repairing muscle tissue, but this is not theonly effect it has on the body and filling up on protein at theexpense of other food types is not the way to go if you want to stayhealthy.

Whenprotein is broken down, acid is produced. To deal with the increasein acidity, our bodies try to compensate by using two alkalinesubstances, sodium and calcium. Initially the body uses its sodiumsupply and then calcium is taken from the bone. Essentially, toomuch protein can lead to calcium deficiencies, kidney stones, waterretention and dehydration as well as an excess intake of calories andoverall stress on your heart (not to mention bad breath).

Proteincannot be stored. If too much is taken into the body it cannot allbe fully broken down and is therefore broken down into wasteproducts. When passing through the kidneys the additional acidincreases the risk of kidney stones developing and also causes damageto the kidney bringing about water retention.

So, if youincrease your intake of protein, you also need to balance that withmore carbohydrates and essential fats as well as your fluid intake. Obviously more food means more calories which means that you need toensure that you're doing enough exercise to prevent fat gain. Don'tforget though, this doesn't necessarily mean calories in equalscalories out. Each one of us is different and we all need to workout our own balance when it comes to food intake depending on yourmetabolic rate which will be affected on a daily basis by all sortsof things such as stress and hormones.

(Formore information, take a look at our Effective Nutrition for WeightManagement course)

Movement Screens - What are you actually assessing?

2012-02-16T15:51:00.001-08:00

As coaches and fitness professionals, one of the first steps with any new client is finding out their current state in terms of posture, stability and movement. Crucial information if the exercise programme developed is going to have any realistic relevance to their current physical state.

The common movement screens include squats, lunges and hurdle steps. All completely valid assessments that each gives a unique perspective but are we missing anything? In our experience, there are some major ignorances that the industry can often forget when conducting movement screens with clients so here's a couple of top tips to helps make your movement assessment as accurate and useful as possible:

Whenever you mention the word posture, clients (who sometimes don't realise they're doing it) pull their shoulders back, puff their chest out and stand the head tall. You're not wanting to assess whether or not they can stand to attention but get a snapshot of how they hold their body. Get your client to jump up on the spot a few times or march on the spot for 10 seconds with their eyes closed before settling; then look to start observing posture. An immediate photo is the easiest way as this can be studied for longer as well as being referred to for benchmarking and raising your client's awareness.
Asking a client to perform a familiar movement isn't necessarily giving you the information you want. If you ask a client to squat, they'll then go on to perform their own interpretation of a squat. This could be based upon their own personal experience which may not be the technique that you're personally looking for. Bearing in mind that for decades, squats have been taught as feet parallel, hips down to level with the knees, knees no further forward than the toes etc. Instead of basically assessing their cognitive association of the term squat, simply give a command instructing the movement sought e.g "With your feet flat, take your hips as near to the ground as possible and then return to standing"
There is a fine line between testing the body's ability to perform movements and then testing the local strength or endurance of the musculature. If you're looking to test just movement then no more than 3 or 4 repetitions of the movement should be performed. Persisting beyond this will challenge stamina which is a completely different assessment. A de-conditioned individual or athlete would likely demonstrate fatigue, affecting movement performance and rendering any observations as limited.
Demonstrations are useful but if possible, screens should be done without. For showing new exercises, demonstrations are vital and should always be used but movement screens bring out individualities of movement. Everyone has their own unique natural alignment and again, giving instructions for the movement will help profile your client towards giving their most natural preference towards approaching that movement. A demonstration would then start to assess your client's ability to accurately interpret a visual representation, potentially obscuring their own natural performance to mimic your technique.

Hopefully this has given you a couple of pointers on some very key considerations when conducting screens and postural analysis as well as asking some questions. We look forward to hearing your thoughts and experiences.

Are your clients suffering from Cruci-fitness??

2012-02-10T00:03:00.000-08:00

A key aspect of coaching, personal training or being a fitness professional is education. Its getting the full understanding across that makes the difference. The what, the how, the why and the when. Yet the uphill struggle is that some common misconceptions are still favoured by the masses and the media. So, are your clients suffering from the beliefs of cruci-fitness...a sure way towards little results, niggling pains and injury?

Here are just 5 of the most common ill-beliefs that stand in the way of success for millions of gym goers and couldn't be further from the truth:

Cardio is the key to weight loss - With many gyms kitted out predominantly with cardio machines, it's understandable why people fall into this trap. The fact is, it's easy for gyms to just plonk these machines everywhere because they're self operated and it cuts down on the need for manning. If more effective training was to be done in gyms, it would require a lot more coaching and education. Cardio just isn't the key to getting rid of unwanted fat. Running is often seen as one of the most effective ways to burn calories but this just really is not true. There is no better article to explain this than John Kiefer's 'Running Into trouble'. Well worth a read and pass it onto your clients. Resistance training develops the lean body mass that will dictate metabolism, support joints and make the body much more efficient at movement.
Tunnel vision - Doing the same thing over and over again. It happens so much in gyms that we almost become blind to it. Members going day after day and week after week repeating the same old programme or even worse, the same single activity every time. As we all know, plateau is a problem but actually, in this context, the much more severe issue is the risk of injury. Repeating the same thing over and over again not only makes the body so efficient at the activity that it burns less and less calories in the process, it also leads the body towards the exercise equivalent of RSI (repetitive strain injury). Furthermore, this generally leads towards a decrease in flexibility which is another common guilty ignorance.
More is more - Ignoring recovery time is a huge sin. It doesn't take a genius to understand that exercise is stress on the body and the only reason it is beneficial is due to the way in which the body responds to this stress. And this response is only possible with sufficient recovery time and good nutrition. You wouldn't expect an ill person to recover eating crap food and having no rest. Well, the truth is, after exercise, the body is damaged. It's in a state of health below normal and will only get better on a strict course of medicinal sensibility. Ignoring the body's needs completely curbs the room for progress to take place.
Quantity over quality - You may have heard the old adage 'Practice makes perfect'. Well, this may be true if what is being practised is done to perfection. If this isn't the case, the reality is 'Practice makes permanent'. There is no substitute for striving to perfect movements. 100 poorly performed squats do not outclass 1 perfect squat nor do they achieve the same results. This is an attitude towards exercise that should be embraced yet so often is ignored. The adage should be 'Practice perfection and achieve perfection'.
Single planar movements - As trainers, we understand the concept of tri-planar movement. However, most commonly practised exercises and activities are rigidly set in the saggital plane. Running, cycling, press ups, squats, lunges, sit ups...all saggital. Yet most injuries occur in the frontal or transverse plane. It should be in the code of ethics for fitness professionals that we aim to educate the importance of embracing all planes of motion. This doesn't just support injury prevention but better results. Muscles are often integrated through more than one plane to other muscle groups and the only way to stimulate complete responses from these muscular networks is diverse movement.

Sound all too familiar? It's done to us to keep educating against these common myths!

A Story About Jack (of all trades)

2012-02-03T01:24:00.000-08:00

by Paul Swainson

It’searly February. George is sitting at home feeling sorry for himself –his New Year resolution to get to the gym hasn’t been going welland the extra 3 stone he’s carrying is still there, hiding underthe free T-shirt he got when he joined the gym a month ago. Georgejust doesn’t like the gym, he hates all that running you have to doto lose weight and as for eating well, where do you start with allthe different diet books that suddenly appear on the shelves afterChristmas?

“Right,I need to do something about this” thinks George and goes online tosearch for one of those Personal Trainer people he’s seen on TV. Hefinds two trainers who do home visits; perfect.

Thefirst is called Jack. Jack is a well qualified Personal Trainer - thelist of certificates he has runs halfway down the page. Hespecialises in core stability, weight loss, hypertrophy, sportsconditioning, injury rehab and even pre- and post-natal exercise. “Looks pretty good”, thinks George.

Thesecond trainer is called Adam. Adam is a Weight Management Coach. Heoffers 6, 12 and 18 week fat loss packages which include anutritional analysis and personalised meal plans, plus tailoredexercise sessions to maximise calorie expenditure in a safe and funway. There are testimonials from lots of clients who have lostanything from a few pounds to 5 stones with Adam's help.

Whodo you think George chose to call?

It'smid-March. Rachel is sitting at home feeling sorry for herself -she's entered next year's London Marathon and started running 3 weeksago but has picked up a couple of niggles already. Could it be shinsplints? "Maybe I need some proper advice" thinks Racheland does a quick Internet search.

Shecomes across a couple of good websites, one of which is Jack's again.'Core stability, weight loss, hypertrophy, sports conditioning,injury rehab and pre- and post-natal exercise'. "Well runningis sports conditioning I suppose" thinks Rachel.

Thenshe sees Laura's website: 'RUNFIT'. Laura offers bespoke trainingprogrammes for 5ks, 10ks, half marathons and full marathons withinjury management advice. 3 of her clients have achieved personalbests in the last 2 months alone.

Whodo you think Rachel chose to call?

It’slate April. Jack the Personal Trainer is sitting at home feelingsorry for himself, “why is no one calling me, I can help everyone"he thinks...

Jackof all trades, master of none. People have specific needs and want anexpert who understands them. With the growth of the fitness industryand the increasing choice of trainers the public has, if yourmarketing classes you as a generalist you won't be seen as an expert.Take a look at the PT profile boards at your gym and see which if anystand out from the others.

Whilstspecialising in one to three areas is arguably a successful strategy,the real key is to convey that perception to potential clients. Makesure your promotional material sends one clear message, rather thansimply stating you are a Personal Trainer who can help anyone. If youhave more than one specialism, promote each on a different flyer. Youcould even have more than one website to differentiate between theservices you offer. This all helps to avoid 'diluting' your perceivedexpertise - people must see you as a master of your trade.

How NOT to swing a Kettlebell

2012-01-26T10:25:00.000-08:00

Kettlebells are a fantastic fitness tool when used properly. However, the consequence of ill-use not only wastes your time, it can quite easily lead to neuromuscular problems and injury. This video points out the two most common mistakes when swinging a kettlebell.

For more information on how to improve your technique along with coming course dates and venues, visit www.creatingchaos.co.uk

1 Exercise To Finally Fix Posture

2012-01-18T08:43:00.000-08:00

Posture is a well and truly cemented term into the modern psychology. As exercise professionals we're relentlessly told how important 'good' posture is to the way we exercise and how to encourage good posture as a way of living. These reminders are crucial and very valid yet it's also important to remember that modern lifestyle doesn't cater for good posture.

I'll elaborate. We sit down for a substantial portion of our lives, in fact, many of us are sat down for more time than we spend on our feet. Now, whilst reading this, you may have already adjusted your sitting position to a state that you feel is a little more aligned in terms of posture, maybe it was that very word in the title that caused the wriggle. The question is, can you hold good posture whilst sitting down? I'd argue not! You may well be able to sit in a position that looks to be tall with a degree of extension in your spine but is this good posture? I'd suggest that good posture embraces support from the muscles designed to support it. Sitting whereby hips and knees are bent at 90 degrees renders this theory an impossibility. Gluteals, transverse abdominus and a number of deep stabilisers are unable to do their job with that profile in the hips and so stability comes from elsewhere. Simply remember, looks can be deceiving.

Ok, those of you still in agreement will be still reading this. The fact is, we're not going to change the way that we live on a grand scale but we can adjust our thinking and training to focus on key areas that modern lifestyle neglects or disaffects.

We're already identifying that the gluteals are very much a victim of modern society. In terms of posture, why are they important? Well, amongst other things, the gluteals extend the hips (a necessary stage of walking). When not working properly, not only do other muscles compensate for this movement, it also leaves the lumbar spine vulnerable and weak. This has a knock on effect higher up the spine often causing tightness in the upper abdominals carrying up in to the chest and anterior shoulder area. Ramifications of poor gluteal activity below the hips can include tightness in the hamstrings, excessive tension in the knee joint and restricted mobility in the ankle.

This leads me to suggest 1 exercise that can make a huge difference; the kettlebell high pull. This exercise done properly encourages the gluteals to be the leading and driving force of hip extension unilaterally which is reflective of walking gait. It furthermore encourages a sequential extension travelling up the spine into the thoracic area providing a responsive and dynamic stretch to pectorals, upper abdominals and anterior shoulder.

I would always recommend using a lighter weight to start with but once technique is mastered, avoid being overly shy with your weight selection. The gluteals are a large set of muscles and thus require a substantial neural drive to effectively switch on. The speed of the movement will assist this but the force required to shift the load will help enormously. Given the chance, this large muscle group will opt for the lazy option and not respond...so don't let it.

Once mastered from a dead position, this exercise can be done within a kettlebell swing. Be cautious in swing, if the low back starts aching, return to the from dead variation as shown in the video.

Using a barbell is again, a further progression for this but, due to the bilateral hip extension, will not be as reflective of the contraction in walking gait.

Tag Team Training

2012-01-13T03:23:00.001-08:00

Tag Team Training

The chances are, you'll have used this method of training before personally or with your clients. The question is, could you use it even more effectively to help your clients get better results?

Still unsure of what it is? Quite simply, tag team training is any format of conditioning whereby the timing for individual exercises is dictated by another activity/exercise.

Motivating clients is at the very top of the job spec for a fitness professional but there are various types of motivation, some linked with attitude and some linked with understanding. Actually making the decision to exercise needs motivation, as does going to the gym/park/class as does pushing yourself once there.

Putting the effort in once at the gym or class is where many fall down. Those without trainers to apply the big stick that almost just attend the gym without the application of effort are simply wasting their time.

So how can tag team training make a difference? Well, as you may well have experienced, people often would rather let themselves down than let someone else down. In exercise terms, this means there is a likelihood that people will work harder if the consequence of their actions directly affects someone else.

Ideally, this type of training suits 2 or more people but can be applied to one individual (I'll come onto how later). Therefore those with training partners or in groups can easily benefit from this.

Try the following circuit. The 'timer' is the station that dictates how long the other station runs for:

1. Skipping
2. (timer) 20 reps of each exercise - squats / press ups / jumping lunges / military press

Repeat 5 times with 45 second rest after each cycle

Adaptations:

Squats - use weight if possible or bodyweight to make easier
Press ups - full bodyweight if possible / off knees to make easier
Jumping lunges - stepping lunges to simplify
Military press - if not free weights, try prone shoulder press (press up whilst in the down dog position ((hips as high as possible)))

If looking to use this method of training for yourself. Complete station 2 first and take a note of how long it takes. Then simply skip for the same length of time. This way, you'll be driven by working faster to reduce the skipping duration.

Enjoy

Advanced Kettlebell Session

2012-01-11T03:23:00.001-08:00

Whilst challenging, this session is great to develop your technique and efficiency with the bell whilst being very endurance focused.

Equipment - 1 x kettlebell (20/24kg male - 12/16kg female)

Simply alternate the kettlebell drills below with a 500 meter run (just below race pace - use slight incline if on treadmill). Each kettlebell set will include the previous kettlebell exercises, as such works as an ascending pyramid. For example 1st sequence - alt KB swings, 2nd sequence - alt KB swing both sides and then alt high pull (repeat sequence for time set). The sequence becomes longer but the duration remains set.

1. Alternate kettlebell swing
2. Alternate high pulls
3. Alternate clean & reverse lunge (step back on opposite leg to loaded side)
4. Push press (as coming out of lunge)
5. Snatch (from top of push press)
6. Thruster (Deep squat to press - after the snatch)

Enjoy, have some water at hand and let us know how you get on

Short blast workout - Sunday 8th Jan 2012

2012-01-09T08:00:00.001-08:00

Phill Wright, Director, Creating Chaos

My workout from yesterday. Why not give this a go and then maybe get a client on it (or something similar).

I had to put together a quick but effective session as the Manchester derby was looming - just a shame we lost.

20 minute AMRAP - 6 REPS

Take 5+ minutes to warm up and prep your 6 stations. AMRAP = as many rounds as possible. For 20 minutes, you'll complete as many rounds of the 6 exercises below as you can (6 repetitions per exercise) in the sequence listed. Break when necessary, have water at hand and challenge yourself. Decrease/increase the listed loads as necessary for yourself.

Back squats (60kg)
Drop squats (bodyweight)
Single arm shoulder press (32kg / 6 REPS each side)
Press ups (bodyweight)
Olympic cleans (50kg)
Sprawls (bodyweight)

Let me know how you or your clients get on. Done well, it should be slightly smarting in the abdominal area...or, as they say in the US - abtastic!!

False Grandeur of the Fitness Industry

2011-12-18T01:21:00.001-08:00

They say love your job and love your life. Well, I do love working in the fitness industry having changed careers in 2007 and I most certainly love my life. It was a big step for myself and a huge leap of faith initially as I went straight into self employed Personal Training having never sold a thing previously.

My previous background was rather specialised in a very different direction as an Arabic Interpreter and Intelligence Operator for the Forces. My interviewer when I first stepped into PT was right when he said that the skills from my previous experience was going to prove highly useful although at the time, I didn't fully share that confidence. I just knew how to be me and have stuck with that ever since.

As an industry, fitness is relatively juvenile and still finding its feet with regulation only being fully in place for around 10 years. Research is constantly unwinding and rewriting our methods and practices. With such radical changes constantly hitting industry professionals, one of the most crucial fundamentals of maintaining our credibility is professionalism and integrity. Ensuring that our practices and guidance are honest, factual and proven. In my mind, one of the most frustrating observations is the over-glorification of specific trains of thought.

Of course to advertise and market effectively, there needs to be engagement that creates desire but there becomes a point when morally, a more factually based analysis would leave readers with a much clearer understanding and without false expectations. Making such grand statements can leave other commercial organisations feeling the need to equal or surpass their marketing promise resulting in a significant disparity between a customers perception and the reality.

A much more impartial reflection of innovations is key for clarity and an absolute must on the part of regulatory bodies and industry leaders.

Finally, to maintain industry-wide integrity, a level of professional respect is needed, I'll elaborate. There are methods of conditioning and practices within the industry that I don't fully agree with. In fact, there are some modes that I feel cause more damage than good. However, without clinical research to back my argument, I am merely expressing my opinion. Irrespectively, to maintain my own integrity, I should demonstrate a degree of respect and acknowledgement for the subject of my discussion. The number of times, blogs or articles begin with "I'll tell you the real truth about..." or go on to slate certain trains of thought is quite surprising. Especially with a clear absence of clinical back up. What they really mean is "here are my thoughts on..."

To progress the industry and demand the respect from our counter-industries, a certain decorum is vital from all parts, regulatory bodies, awarding bodies, training providers, fitness professionals and indeed anyone representing the fitness world.

Listening to your body

2011-12-16T02:00:00.001-08:00

Fitness professionals and enthusiasts are well aware that recovery is the key to enjoying the benefits of exercise. My question is, do professionals know how much recovery is needed to actually allow the body to compensate from the damage it has just been exposed to? How can you confidently know that the body is ready for another training session, be it intense or moderate? Of course, general feeling can be a useful barometer for knowing whether you're ready to slog it out again but the truth is, it's the nervous system that should be listened to in order to discover recovery time.
The two arms of the autonomic nervous system; sympathetic and parasympathetic. In simple terms, the sympathetic is like the accelerator pedal in your car, speeding up your body, internal systems and function; whereas your parasympathetic is like your brake pedal, slowing things down.

At any one time, they are both in operation providing balance and maintaining healthy function. Exercise generally arrives in conjunction with the stimulation of the sympathetic nervous system and the PNS allows us to fully recover. However, do we accurately know when this has occurred or is it guess work?
Many athletes tune into their resting heart rate as an indicative measure of recovery on the notion that a return to a normal resting heart rate represents recovery. Sounds simple enough right? Well, unfortunately not. Sympathetic overload (i.e. overtraining) can be identified by a lowering in resting heart rate which may appear initially as a positive adaptation to exercise.

Another way in which athletes tend to manage recovery is by their planning. Typically having a light training day or a total rest day after a heavy or intense session. Is this enough? Whilst theoretically it makes sense, the body's response to training isn't always predictable. Sometimes the nervous system takes longer to recover from varying degrees of overreaching in training, not even considering muscular recovery.

My point is, periodisation of training programmes isn't enough. Careful and continual monitoring of training responses is absolutely necessary to allow the body sufficient time to recover. There are more accurate and simple methods of monitoring responses so that you as trainers and clients are able to be more selective about when to train. We're looking forward to launching our advanced fitness testing course in 2012 which covers much more on this.

Are you motivating your clients?

2011-11-27T11:09:00.001-08:00

Phill Wright, Director, Creating Chaos

As personal trainers, the very top of our job descriptions reads 'motivational'...but the question is, are you actually motivational. To be able to accurately answer this question, you'd need to be able to answer a couple of questions:

How are your clients motivated?
How do you motivate clients?
How do you tailor your style to fit each of your clients?

Knowing how your clients are motivated is absolutely paramount. It's very difficult to motivate someone without knowing the true things that actually drive them. Some people are motivated by achievement and reaching goals, others are driven by having recognition and approval from others. Read more on these. The reality is that we all show different elements of each in different environments. Understanding how your clients are driven in terms of health and fitness could make your life a million times easier when keeping them going.

As trainers, we have dozens of tools in our toolbox to draw upon. Which ones do you draw upon to assist your clients? Here's just a few ways in which you can offer continued purpose and drive to your client's journeys:

Applause - regular recognition and encouragement for their efforts
Training - not just the work load of exercise in their programme but also the process of learning. Be it about exercise, nutrition or lifestyle choices. After all, in an ideal world, your clients wouldn't need you would they?
Milestones - marking significant points in their journey with rewards (these don't need to cost)
Enjoyable environment - making sure sessions are enjoyable. If sessions are just hard work and not enjoyable, your client will attach un-enjoyment and possibly even suffering to their perception of exercise. Not a great idea and unlikely to increase the likelihood of clients exercising without you there
Themed sessions - To mark achievement, allow your client to decide on the content of a session (within reason) based on what they most enjoy
Social gatherings - ideal for group fitness environments. Getting clients together can forge new friendships and help boost confidence levels
Train the trainer day - Let your client train you. (Only if you're confident being having the roles reversed) This can be a really powerful tool. Not only will it let them get their own back, it will build huge rapport, show them that exercise can be just as hard for others as it is for them, build confidence, highlight how much they've learnt...the list goes on!!

So, going back to the original questions, how do you motivate clients and how do you tailor your style? Spending time in the initial consultation working out how clients are driven and how you can support this will make monumental differences to how positive, focussed, enthusiastic and determined your clients are. Even if this doesn't come straight away, spending time as your relationship with clients continues adding to your understanding of their motivational hot buttons, you can only step closer and closer to keeping them happy, loyal and adding to the successful projects of your port folio.

Functional training does not exist – Part One

2011-11-20T01:47:00.001-08:00

Paul Swainson, Master Personal Trainer

Functional training does not exist. For some that may be a controversial statement, for others it may be something you’ve heard before. By way of explanation, the specificity principle would suggest that to be truly functional, an exercise must match the actual function (let’s say a tennis serve for example) in terms of movement patterns, energy systems, environmental conditions, etc. Therefore by definition the only ‘true’ functional exercise is the sport or activity itself, e.g. an actual tennis serve. Indeed if you are training for something, it is necessarily different in quality to the actual function - any exercise that simply tries to replicate the movements or environment in a given sport is training for function. Even practicing the sport itself may not be classed as true function if we take psychological influences into account – the effects of motivation and state of mind on performing a tennis serve will no doubt be very different on a practice court behind closed doors compared to centre court at Wimbledon in front of thousands of spectators.

So functional training is to a large extent a contradiction in terms, although the term persists as it is commonly used to describe training for function which is the next best thing to actual competition and so is arguably the best practical form of training for sports. All we can do is try to make the gap between training and actual function as small as possible, all the while making sure we are enhancing that function more than we would by simply playing the sport.

So how do we do that? We need to replicate the physiological, psychological and environmental conditions of an activity or sport as closely as possible. However we have established that the psychological conditions of competition are as yet impossible to recreate because if you’re not competing, you’re not competing! Environmental conditions can be replicated by, for example, training indoors or outdoors depending on the sport, on the same surfaces (grass/tarmac, etc) or in the same climate.

This leaves us with mimicking physiological conditions which the fitness industry has made leaps and bounds in over recent years with for example, the increasing use of whole body, integrated multi-planar movements.

What is interesting then, is that one of the most easily replicable physical aspects of sports is typically not factored into training. Almost all programmes will feature a series of individual exercises (even if they are integrated multi-plane ones), performed for a set number of repetitions. Yet in everyday life and sports the same movement pattern is not repeated 8, 10, 12 or 20 times in succession (e.g. a tennis serve is not performed more than twice consecutively unless the player is double faulting continually – and why would you want to get good at that?!). Granted there a few activities (e.g. walking, running and cycling) where a single movement pattern is repeated continuously, but what actually happens in most sports and activities is a variety of movements, in multiple planes, occurring in sequence. In tennis, a serve could be followed by two or three fast side steps, followed by a forehand, then perhaps a two or three step forward sprint. Would there be some functional benefit therefore, in recreating these biomechanical and metabolic demands on the body as closely as possible in training?

In Part 2 of this article, we will look at how we can incorporate such an approach into training to add a new dimension to function.

Functional training does not exist – Part Two

In part one of this article, we looked at how training, by definition, can never be truly functional as we can never perfectly recreate the physiological, psychological and environmental conditions of, for example, a sport without performing or playing that sport itself. The best we can achieve is training for function.

We also identified that almost all sports involve a complex sequence of varying movements in multiple planes and so the traditional sets and reps training format may not be the most relevant approach.

Primal Flow^TM aims to tackle this aspect of functionality, by linking together multiple patterns of movement over set time periods, rather than doing multiple repetitions of single patterns. The patterns reflect the vast range of movements the human body is capable of, from the simple (e.g. pushing, pulling, flexing) to the more complex (crawling, rotating, rolling).

Exposing the body to the endless possibilities of movement available allows it to move out of its comfort zone which in turn promotes adaptation and improvement in strength, endurance, injury resistance and conditioning.

This means Primal Flow ^TMnot only has huge potential within sports performance, but also offers a unique new method of training for general fitness. The use of sequenced movements reduces the likelihood of pattern overload associated with traditional training methods, and as the system means that just body weight is a sufficient load for even experienced exercisers (just ask the Leeds Rhinos rugby league team how they felt after a Primal Flow^TM session!), it’s a practical and free system for anyone to use. In addition, the use of multiple movement patterns recruits more muscle mass, leading to greater metabolic demands, which means accelerated fat loss and increased muscle tone.

Borne from a simple concept, Primal Flow^TM is the most revolutionary training approach to hit the fitness industry for years. Once you learn the philosophy behind the system, the number of original exercises and programmes you can design will be limited only by your imagination.

For more information, contact Creating Chaos, keep an eye out for taster workshops or get ahead of the game and book onto the next Primal Pattern and Functional Movement Specialist course – be one the first trainers in the world to be certified in the next generation of training technology.

Does being Pregnant mean getting unfit?

2011-11-18T09:09:00.001-08:00

Jenny Wright, OutFit director

Back in August I had some fantastic news – I’m pregnant!

As well as being overjoyed and extremely excited, I also felt a little scared. What will happen to my training? Will I get fat? Will I lose all my strength? Will I have to stop doing all the things I enjoy?

When I was past 12 weeks and able to tell others my good news, the next question after “when is it due?” was “so when are you going to give up all the exercise?”

The common train of thought amongst people is that pregnant women should be wrapped up in cotton wool and shouldn’t do much more than go for a gentle walk in terms of exercise. I knew that this couldn’t be right – pregnant animals in the wild don’t stop hunting, pregnant women in the olden days continued to work and hunt, and pregnant women now in developing countries continue to do manual work, walk miles and look after their families. Why should it be different here?

Those of you who know me will know that I am quite into my training (that’s probably an understatement). I enjoy being physically fit, and typically would train 2 to 3 times a day in a variety of ways – running, kettlebells, bodyweight circuits and hockey to name a few.

When my husband and I decided to start trying for a baby, I wanted to be as prepared as possible for what was about to happen to my body, and the changes I would inevitably have to make. I am fortunate in that I work in the fitness industry and therefore I have a number of experts and resources to go to.

To my surprise however, most trainers and instructors were very cautious about advising me about training during pregnancy. And those that had studied it were men and obviously could not fully understand the changes that occur to a woman during pregnancy.

I could only find articles stating that “you should not lift heavy weights”, “you should not over exert yourself”, “you should not raise your heart rate above a certain level”, “you should not do any balance work” and so on. What about the things I could do?

So I looked overseas for my information. I found a few blogs by fellow female kettlebell instructors in America who had continued to train during pregnancy and had a trouble free pregnancy and gave birth to a happy, healthy baby. This gave me hope, although being a bit of a geek; I still wanted to know the science behind exercising whilst pregnant.

I found a brilliant book by Doctor James F Clapp called 'Exercising Through Your Pregnancy'.

In it he details the research that has been done on the effects of training whilst pregnant (surprisingly little until about 30 years ago when he set up numerous research programmes), he described the physiological changes to the body that happen during pregnancy, and the effects of exercise on the body and the effects of exercise on a pregnant woman. The benefits of continuing to exercise are numerous, and mostly positive additive benefits to those which naturally occur to a pregnant woman.

A lot of the changes that occur during pregnancy make the body extremely efficient – more oxygen intake, more efficient at getting rid of heat, better heart rate regulation. All of these changes also occur to women who regularly exercise. Combining exercising with being pregnant adds positively to these effects; it improves the supply of glucose and oxygen to the baby (provided the mum eats adequately and regularly).

The fitter, stronger and healthier you are, the easier labour may be, the stronger the baby will be, and the easier it will be to get back to pre-pregnancy size and fitness.

there are certain things that need to be said here. My body is used to, and has been used to for years, the types of training that I do. It is not a good idea to start an exercise programme or new types of training when you’re pregnant; and if you feel any pain or have any complications during pregnancy – always consult your doctor or midwife before continuing training.

The most important thing to understand is that it is not the time for pushing myself, or trying to beat personal records; I must listen to my body and if I’m feeling tired/exhausted/any pain, then I must stop or not try to train. I also must fuel my body properly – it’s not a case of “eating for two” (you only actually need an extra 300 calories a day, and this is only from 6 months onwards), it’s a case of eating healthy, nutritious foods that will enable the baby to develop and grow, but also sustain me through my training.

I am now 18 weeks pregnant, and I have continued to train most days throughout. I tend to do 20-30 minutes of kettlebell and bodyweight circuits in the morning before work, and then a long run including hills sprints or intervals with the dog after work.

If I feel too tired – I don’t train. The only thing I have stopped doing is playing hockey due to the physical nature and contact of the sport. I understand that when bump gets bigger I will have to slightly change and tailor my training to accommodate it. But unless I have any complications during my pregnancy – I will continue to do what I love doing. If I can’t train for some reason – I know that it is only for a few months, and most importantly – the baby now comes first. Nothing is more important to me than being able to give birth to a lovely healthy little boy or girl – that is something no amount of exercise can ever take the place of.

A Beastly, Body-Crunching Belter of a Session

2011-10-23T07:20:00.000-07:00

Now and again, those at Chaos HQ are able to get together, share some ideas and put themselves through some fairly challenging sessions. Just a week ago, that's exactly what happened resulting in a destructive session, now for the faint hearted.

Summary: 2 circuits, each completed twice through and containing 3 stations. (Ideal for 3 or more people, station 1acts as the timer)

Circuit 1:

Run 40 meters, hop 40 meters (20 meters each side), bear crawl 20 meters
High pull to squat catch (30lb sandbell)
Sprawl - down dog / ascending Kettlebell push press each side (20kg Kettlebell)

Circuit 2:

Walking lunge 20 meters, frog walk 20 meters, skater 20 meters
Potato lunge to ipsilateral lunge (30lb sandbell)
Hindu press up / ascending snatch each side (20-24kg Kettlebell)

Enjoy and be sure to leave your comments - only once you've given it a go!!

Suspension Training - Magic or tragic?

2011-10-11T14:30:00.000-07:00

I was asked last week to give my thoughts on a particular brand of suspension training kit...you may be familiar with it and it got me thinking.

I've used this particular type of training a bit, years before this popular brand brought this type of training into the mainstream. As with many types of training/new products in the fitness industry, a good slice of marketing, healthy scoop of PR and some strategic endorsement is followed by what can potentially be called mass hysteria. The question is, in this instance, is it justified or is it just another example of a fickle industry desperately seeking the next great thing?

Why?

Able to target specific body parts to focus on
If used with good technique, the greater demand for proprioception will increase the training effect, engaging more muscles and to a greater intensity
Excellent to target particularly weak or phasic areas
Versatile to allow numerous variations in the movement pathways
Durable and robust
Assist in balance and progression towards exercises that may be currently unachievable

Why not?

Expensive
Require specific anchor points
Impractical for large group work
Require an ability to control inner core units much greater than the normal demand of activity
Increased stress and tension placed upon joints and supporting musculature
Difficult to fit into complexes or sequences of movements
Can encourage dependency on the support offered if used to aid balance or range of movement
Encourage single pattern repetition

My general thoughts are that suspension training kits can form a very useful although small component of a balanced fitness programme providing individuals are already at a good stage of physical fitness. However, exclusive exercise programmes based upon suspension training are limited due to the lack of integrated body movement possible and the significant requirement for the body to work around the kit and not visa versa. We look forward to hearing your thoughts

Follow this link to get your hands on excellent quality and reasonably priced fitness equipment

Helping clients get more from exercise

2011-09-24T01:07:00.000-07:00

As fitness professionals, we're all passionate about the importance of doing exercises properly. It can be a constant challenge trying to both educate and help clients move and perform better.

Generally speaking, there are two main issues that can occur with technique when performing exercises:

Poor pattern pathway - This would be typified by the client not being able to perform the movement cleanly or very well. Within a personal training setting, the risk of this causing injury should be quite low as the personal trainer will be able to pick up the poor quality of movement and regress the exercise accordingly.
Poor neuromuscular firing sequences - This is where the driving muscles aren't performing optimally, commonly observed in synergistic dominance whereby a synergist performs more of the workload than it is designed too. Another example sees synergists firing before the agonist. This problem has a much higher risk of leading towards injury as the problem isn't always visually apparent.

So, how can you combat against this? Even if you haven't done in depth courses on corrective exercises or muscle testing and strategies, there are still things you can do before large compound movements to wake up the appropriate drivers, stretch out tonic areas and get the most from the exercises:

I'm not the biggest fan of isolated exercises because of the obscure ways of modern lifestyle, they are necessary. Before performing large compound exercises, stick a set or 2 of exercises specifically isolating the agonist. Considering the type of predominant fibre within the agonist will help you identify appropriate exercises to stimulate the correct response
Embed stretches in between sets (possibly into recovery periods). Most of us fall down when it comes to stretches and what better way to do them than to use up recovery time. Focus on tonic areas within your client and specifically, areas that can distort the quality of the compound exercise. For example, tight hip flexors generally create poor squat patterns.

For more on how to get people moving properly, the Primal Pattern course covers screening and the advanced kettlebell course covers Bi-Functional Grouping which equips trainers with a complete training system to maximise training effect, transferable for weight loss, strength gains and hypertrophy.

Beastly Partner Workout

2011-09-11T11:12:00.000-07:00

A lot of trainers ask what type of training we do when we're not delivering courses, running workshops or bootcamps. Here's a little monster that Jenny and I did last week:

Session aims: Complete endurance and strength
Load: Phill 24kg / Jen 16kg KB's

5 min warm up (dynamic stretching)

1.a - Kettlebell complex (double swing / single swing / high pull) 10 each side (T)
1.b - Reverse lunges

2.a - Kettlebell complex (single arm swing / high pull / snatch) 10 each side (T)
2.b - Medicine Ball overhead reverse lunge

3.a - Snatches - 10 each side (T)
3.b - Primal Flow (reverse lunge to knee drive / sprawl / adducting kick through)

4.a - Full pyramid 1-5-1 reps (squat / press up / pull up) (T)
4.b - Long cycle (remain on one side until 4.a at pyramid peak)

5.a - 5-10 minutes stretching

(T) = timer - this station dictates how long the partner station lasts

Enjoy - be sure to leave some comments once you've given it a go. Pick up more on complex circuits on our Kettlebell and Advanced Kettlebell Instructor courses.

How well do you know your clients?

2011-08-29T08:43:00.000-07:00

Being a successful personal trainer requires a lot of things including good knowledge, confidence, expert skill set, the ability to improvise and constantly being flexible. However, perhaps the most important tool having longevity with your clients and the ability to develop and maintain rapport, sometimes referred to as the softer skills.

There’s one thing for certain, not all personality types get on and that needs bearing in mind. If your instincts tell you that the connection isn’t quite there then they’re most probably right. Rapport is something you can work on but if there is nothing to build on in the first instance, it could prove quite a painful journey.

So, how can you improve rapport? Here’s some steps to help you make significant steps towards improving rapport with clients:

Take an interest in them and their life - Yes, clients will generally pay an interest in you but it’s your job to take more of an interest in their life. A challenge as a personal trainer is to brush off the stereotype of being self obsessed and voyeuristic. Being more interested in your own reflection isn’t going to help this. The medical screening should be not even scratching the surface of how much you want to know about your clients.
Step into their world - Learn how your client paints a picture of the world and become more in tune with it. Understanding your client’s perception will help you understand them better, show empathy and be able to set more appropriate targets and focus to their programme. Learning your client’s values will help you understand what is important to them and picking up on the type of predicates they use will help. Predicates are descriptive words that give you clues as to how someone sees things. For example, “I see what you’re saying” is a common statement but indicative of a more visual frame of mind. Most of us use a variety of frames frequently but over time, you can build up a picture of the most common frames your clients use. The key then is to speak back to them with the same type of language / terminology. This doesn’t mean you should converse parrot-fashion, more favour their type of language with how you speak. This will make more sense to them and help develop rapport.
Regular assessments and time to reflect - We’ve all been guilty of thinking that every second spent with clients should involve them sweating and us dictating, but is this really an ideal situation. Irrespective of how busy your clients are, you need to make time to reflect, review and take stock of progress. I believe it’s an honest mistake as the urge stems from wanting to give clients as much as possible within the time spent together. However, it’s a little like driving at night without the lights on - rather dangerous and you’re not too sure where you’re heading. Always take time out for this. A lot can be done remotely but it’s a crucial part of the process and will constantly keep you in touch.
Master of nothing - Avoid falling into the trap of thinking that you need to know everything as the trainer. Be confident with your areas of expertise but also know your boundaries and always sign post clients to the best resource(s) where possible. If a GP told you to see a foot specialist, you wouldn’t insult him/her for not being able to solve it themself. Trying to be everything is tiring, unnecessary and it’s potentially a legal suit waiting to happen.
Make your clients feel special - You’re the best placed person to decide how this might be but everyone likes to feel the receiving end of being treated well. It could be a birthday card/gift, it could be giving them a bottle of water at the start of a session, it could be greeting them showing how delighted you are to see them. Meeting them as you would a friend doesn’t take much effort but will fill your client with a sense of comfort, relax them and make them feel as though they belong in your company.

Please add your own tips and thoughts on what works well to develop rapport with clients

The Problems with Functional Training

2011-08-07T01:19:00.000-07:00

As a fast paced industry where trends come and go at an impressive frequency, keeping hold of a philosophy that remains disaffected by the passing crazes can be quite a challenge.

Is functional training actually functional?

Sticking to your guns

As fitness professionals, earning and maintaining the respect of clients whilst keeping a finger on the pulse in terms of the industry is a must for developing a successful business. Being consistent is one crucial component of doing this. It wouldn’t bode well if a trainer asked a client to stick to a particular eating plan one week only to advise against it the next week. The basis of trust comes from reliability and having mixed messages doesn’t achieve this. The challenge as a trainer is that the industry does move fast and often contradictory or conflicting messages are cascaded from the industry leaders. Constantly seeking to deliver the latest and greatest advice can leave a trainer almost working against themselves. The question is, how can a trainer maintain integrity in the eyes of the customers whilst being able to work with the latest research, guidelines or methods.

Changing perspective

Looking at the most recent trends, function is real buzz word which people are starting to really connect with. In terms of meaning, the industry has travelled with a rolling understanding of what function is. From using unstable platforms to side lunges to rehearsing sporting patterns and then weird and wonderful equipment, it’s fair to suggest that there has been an evolution in process. Trying to coin a definition of function from industry professionals usually reveals a statement similar to “multi-planar, multi-direction whole body movements that are specific to everyday life”. However, in the eyes of customers and clients, function is understood as being “good for them”, the kind of movements and exercises that will help their body work better. This is very much the intention of function but is this what clients are actually receiving?

It’s not what you do but the way that do it

Whilst the components of a typical industry understanding of function are true, these more dynamic, versatile and interesting exercises are often still prescribed in the same realms of traditional reps and sets. This is like putting a 1 litre engine inside a porsche. The capacity of the vehicle is fantastic but it’s not being driven to it’s potential. To exemplify the point, getting out of a chair could be seen as a functional activity, does this mean that performing 10 seated squats in a row would be a relevant functional exercise for this activity? The exercise relates strongly to the activity in discussion but performing 10 repetitions back to back doesn’t necessarily support how this activity fits in context. The context of the situation would be that after standing up, stepping forwards and performing another activity would normally take place.

The function of change - what Darwin really said

Having established that breaking from linear or saggital patterns can better condition the body, repeating these newer movements with conventional sets detracts from the possible benefits. Instead, function represents the ability to cope with change. Whilst the term “Survival of the fittest” is widely known and used as a sales tool for activity, what Darwin actually said was “It is the not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change”. Ok, not quite as snappy for marketing terms but the sense is clear. Being able to cope with a continual environment of change is the real essence of function.

It couldn’t be simpler

So how does this apply itself to exercise? Bearing in mind that the key is adaptability, the solution is extremely simple...transition!! It is not the individual exercises that create adaptability but the transition between them. By connecting movements into sequence, the body is continually dealing with a state of change. Applying the dynamics of being multi-planar and multi-directional helps create bigger and more useable states of change but it is the transition that demands the body continually adapts to it’s new environment.

Phill Wright

Director

Creating Chaos

www.teamchaosuk.com

Phill developed the Primal Flow training system which is part of the 2 day Primal & Functional Movement Specialist course. For more information on this fully accredited course which provides trainers with a complete training system endorsed by Leeds Rhinos, visit www.teamchaosuk.com/primal-pattern-course.php

How kettlebells can fix your clients

2011-08-01T15:36:00.000-07:00

Now that kettlebells are well and truly a part of the fitness industry, it's important to recognise them for the sheer range of benefits they can offer.

Many people may see kettlebells as a tool great for fat burning, aerobic fitness or improving strength but used well, they can do so much more. With the unique movements possible with kettlebells, your clients can not only enjoy the fitness related benefits but the peace of mind that their posture is in safe hands.

To explain this point in the most simple terms, kettlebells perform 2 major functions that many other exercises don't:

Demand a firing response from muscles
Continually take joints and body parts through full range of movement

The second point seems to be straight forward but why is getting a firing response important? Well, let's face it, we do abuse our bodies in terms of environment. If we were meant to sit at chairs for hours then the hips would probably lock out at this angle and we'd have been born with seats attached. The implications of day to day modern lifestyles leave most of us with faulty muscles that don't do what they're designed to do when they're designed to do it. This leaves often smaller muscles overworking resulting in soreness, stiffness and ultimately injury at some level.

By improving the firing responses of muscles, we're kind of jump-starting the musculature of the body and taking movement closer to how it should be in it's natural state.

Furthermore, getting a full flexibility work out embedded within a training programme is something that kettlebells put on the table. It's all very well performing the token stretches at the end of a training session but any dancer, gymnast or athlete of precision such as a synchronised swimmer would laugh at this token gesture. To really maintain and improve flexibility, stretching should be it's own session...and done properly, it does hurt and it is uncomfortable. However, as trainers, we all know that keeping clients engaged and not bored is difficult enough without getting them to sit down for long periods. This is where kettlebells provide that superb compromise between wants and needs.

The top two exercises for fixing your clients:

Jen taking you through the kettlebell swing

The crush grip military press

Two very straight forward exercises but hugely beneficial to give your client what they want as well as what they need.

To find out more about the anatomical benefits of kettlebells and how they uniquely condition the body, take a look at the 2 day instructor course whilst saving money for online bookings. You'll also learn over 40 kettlebell exercises, numerous programmes and some extremely challenging complexes.

The Chaos Mean Challenge with kettlebells

2011-07-20T09:03:00.000-07:00

This is only suitable for those proficient with kettlebells and wanting a strength and endurance challenge.

Instruction:

You have 10 minutes to achieve the highest mean average in repetitions of 4 different exercises. Each exercises uses a kettlebell and remains the same weight throughout. Double handed swing / Front squat / Snatch and Single arm press. Your final score is the total number of all exercises divided by 4.

Equipment:

1 x Kettlebell (24kg for men and 16kg for women)
Stopwatch
A friend/colleague or complete stranger to time and tally the attempt

Rules:

Competitors may rest as many times as they wish
Competitors may put the KB down
Competitors may complete the exercises in any order whatsoever
Men must use a 24kg KB and women must use a 16kg KB
All exercises must be done with full technique ie. full depth squats, full arm press etc
Each exercise total must be within 10 repetitions of another exercise total. For example (20 swings, 30 squats, 40 snatches and 50 presses would be accepted - the average and final score would be 35)

How we got on:

Like every programme, Jen and Phill always put themselves through it before asking others to give it a go.

Phill scored 55 putting the KB down once around 7 minutes
Jenny scored 65 without putting the KB down at all (Jen the machine)

What to do once I've tried it:

Let us know how you get on with it. Post your score on the Chaos facebook page and even better if you have some pics or even video of you doing it.

Enjoy!!

Throw away the rule book

2011-07-11T23:56:00.000-07:00

When it comes to your personal training clients, there comes a time when you need to think a little outside the box and employ some creativity.

The normal progression route for qualifying as a personal trainer in the fitness industry is to complete the gym instructor component, then the advanced fitness instructor course along with a couple of additional units which tops it up to a diploma in personal training. Whilst I appreciate the subtle differences between training providers, the syllabus for these courses is very rigid and based upon the training habits of decades gone by.

Don't get me wrong, the theory side is key and absolutely necessary to start understanding the body, demands upon the body and mechanics of training but the entire direction of the courses is all about how training can be achieved in a specific environment. For the gym instructor course, this makes sense with the name suggesting, this is for instructing within a gym and as it stands, gyms continue to be filled with machines. However, with the advanced fitness instructor course, gyms are no longer the single hub of where fitness and conditioning take place and the industry is moving in a good direction. Yet the training courses remain very gym-centric.

My question is, would it not be better to gear the entire courses around learning how the body moves and works so that training can be achieved irrespective of any environment? The great thing about the body is that it's a mechanical wonder. It is packed with the joints, bones and muscles to articulate and move perfectly. Using futuristic looking gym machines forces the body to work around the movement of the machine which is the wrong way around in my opinion. It's understandable as to why machines are popular - they tell people what to do and keep things simple but in many situations, machines have little if no variability on movement.

Watch a child playing, their movement is a model of perfection with no bad habits and nothing is impossible. Watch an adult playing with their children, not quite as dynamic, inflexible, slow to keep up and a little creaky when bending down to pick up a toy. The evidence is there for all to see. The results of sitting down, being constantly asked to position in awkward spaces and fit around the environment that we set (chairs/cars/sofas etc) leaves an almost prehistoric state of movement.

Here's a simple journey to get your clients heading in the right direction:

Be Functional - Train the body to be strong with itself, flexible and able to cope with a constant state of change
Be Strong - Only once the body is able to handle supporting itself should strength training be adopted
Be Powerful - Once the body is strong, then power can be achieved

If learning more about how the body works is of interest then take a look at the Primal Flow course which covers the inner and outer units of stability and movement helping you to train the body inline with how it's designed and avoid training against the grain.

MMA meets Kettlebells

2011-06-30T14:01:00.000-07:00

Every once in a while, we get together with some of our tutors and have a blast with some fairly gruelling workouts. None of us are into orthodox training and with us all having slightly different tastes, it's the perfect chance to share ideas and inject a little sprite into our own training.

This week, it was our head MMA and Kettlbell tutor James' turn to come up with the circuit and I have to say that it was some session. It didn't take long but my word, it was a bit of a beast.

If you enjoy a challenge or have clients that like pushing themselves then by all means give it a go but be warned, it's not for the faint hearted:

Round 1 - 20 minutes AMRAP (as many rounds as possible) with the following exercises

10 x press ups
10 x halo to woodchop with a 20kg plate
20 meters overhead lunges with the 20kg plate
20 meters reverse bear crawling whilst dragging back the 20kg plate on a yoga mat with alternate single pulls
20 meters walking to put the mat back

2 minutes break

Round 2 - 6 minutes alternate Turkish Get Up / Windmill switching sides at the top with long cycle switch

1 minute break

Round 3 - 2 x 20 meters of tyre flips

Enjoy and if you do give it a go, share your experience on our facebook group

James with a Bank Holiday Workout

2011-05-31T15:06:00.000-07:00

If you haven't been keeping up with our recent wave of circuits then I probably should introduce the 'Dirty 30' concept. Like most professionals working in the fitness industry, we're super busy and sometimes, trying to squeeze our own training in can be a challenge. Recently, 'Dirty 30' circuits were born to help solve this issue. Basically, any workout that is challenging and completed in under 30 minutes falls into this category and we're sharing some of our most effective sessions.

Big James who is the lead tutor on our Kettlebell Instructor Course has shared how he spent his Bank Holiday Monday with this rather gruelling Dirty 30.

Instruction: 30 minutes of revolving between 5 x Power cleans, 10 x suspended press ups, 15 x kettlebell swings and 5 x inch worms. Breaks taken when necessary with the aim of completing as many rounds as possible (AMRAP)

This video joins James 27 minutes into the session:

Great effort guys...we'll be giving this beast a go!!

Primal Goes South

2011-05-13T13:21:00.000-07:00

Wednesday 11th May saw a significant occassion with Primal Flow gracing the capital for the first time. Invited to present at the REPS South convention held at David Lloyds Raynes Park in Wimbledon, a number of the Team Chaos master coaches fled to London ready to challenge 50 fitness professionals with 2 Primal Flows.

The reception was very welcoming with an instant thumbs up from the London constituents of the industry.

One of the big ingredients of Primal Flow is function, whilst this term has been widely used for at least a decade in exercise, it's intepretation has evolved and we still continue to learn. So what is the Primal Flow take on functional exercise. For those that have explored function, movements that are based upon daily activities, typically compound patterns that are multi-planar would be a fair definition. This ethos is very much employed by PF but the flow goes further than this. It's all very well recreating similar patterns to those of daily activities but the entire industry is guilty of then resuming a normal exercise format of reps and sets with this newly found functional movement. Think about it, does daily life involve repeating each movement several times before having a short break and then repeating the entire process. It's in no way functional to approach exercise in this way. Is it not the ability of the body to adapt to change that is functional? Change in both internal and external forces, change in environment and all the variable components that are demanded upon the body. It is indeed the adaptability of the body that illicits function and surely this should be applied to exercise for it to be termed functional.

Would it not be more functional to condition the body through sequences of movement? Daily life rarely occurs in straight lines, there is indeed rarely the opportunity to perform movement with perfect precision and technique. Watch any competitive field sport and you'll constantly see movement that from an exercise perspective may be described as awkward or biomechanically unsound, yet it is these exposures that develop the robustness of the body, the function of the body. This is exactly what primal flow achieves.

The ridicous religion of health and fitness

2011-04-24T04:28:00.001-07:00

I'm just sat up in Cumbria enjoying a couple of days break at Jen's family home and though I'd put together a quick blog.

With it being Easter weekend, for many a time of indulgence and for others a time for reflection, I thought I'd indulge in a little reflection myself.

With today marking the end of lent, I guess for those having given something up, it's a junction point, do I revert back to where I was? It's a decision that has to come from within, certainly if we're going to stick to it as we live in a free society and have the fortunate circumstance allowing us to decide for ourselves.

It certainly appears this way on the face of things, but is it really the case?

Whilst I love working in an industry that I have a clear passion about, there are certain parts to the industry that I don't understand...and if truth be told, I feel are very shameful. Whilst health and fitness is a personal investment that everyone should prioritise, not everyone has the knowledge or expertise to support themselves and rightfully so, many seek guidance. This demand for guidance creates space for thought-leaders and role models to steer people in the right direction. The shameful truth is that many 'role models' create dependancy from their subscribers. Instead of aiming to empower followers, a stronger reliance is forged through clever marketing, material that only seems to answer only a handful of questions and a continuance in a buying and selling mentality.

Having been in the fitness industry now for nearly 5 years (is that all???), I'm still figuring things out and have a lot to learn but what is very evident is that (and this applies to trainers and consumers) there is often almost sectarian splits between ideas and what people believe and follow. Now If I'm not mistaken, everyone seems to be after the same thing, good health, reducing the risks of illness and enjoying a fit and able body. So why all the segregation?

Well, it's good to have many different routes, ways and paths, there is no right or wrong way to live. However, the negativity stems from the sometimes hostile division between paths that we choose.

No one person on the face of this planet knows the answer to every question or has the perfect plan for everyone yet some of the so called role models would have you believe this. Many modern plans discuss going back to basics and living like cavemen. Whilst there are some extremely positive principles in this idea, is it not hypocritical idealism in the sense that unless you actually fully adopt the life of a caveman, (no computers, no internet, hunting for food etc) it would be nonsensical. Life has evolved from this stage and surely this a good thing. Maybe the theory isn't actually the problem but the fact that many people take ideas or concepts to extremes and follow them as they may a religion. Almost placing role models on a pedastal giving them an iconic or unhumanly status. In my understanding, this is not a positive step as it changes the dynamics completely. What was previously sticking to a healthy plan has now become an approved way of life ruled by a grand figurehead. Fitness shouldn't be so serious. It shouldn't be judged or judgemental and should be open to change as the circumstances of life do. Keeping it fun, vibrant and explorative helps people stay enthused and excited about fitness.

An unwelcomed observation is that often those who are followed overtly display dismissal or disapproval towards unaligned thoughts? Why? Is it fear of the unknown? Surely approval would inspire a more empowered and confident approach; leaving followers much more able to explore, learn and be better placed to make informed decisions. After all, as professionals, this is what we want isn't it!!??

- Posted whilst adventurising using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Cumbria

How far does being a fitness professional go?

2011-04-17T02:18:00.000-07:00

Like most people in the industry, I decided to get involved in the fitness industry to pursue a passion. Something that I love and live by and certainly a way of life. Strangely though, for me it wasn't something that I've always wanted to do and naturally stepped towards through education. I studied something completely different at University and then spent 6 years in the armed forces as an Arabic Interpreter. However, I've always lived by the notion that to excel, you must live by and be a shining example of your profession.

As a fitness professional, your primary aim is to support people through positive change into adopting a healthy lifestyle. Effectively this is a leadership responsibility and if you want to lead people well then proving a good example is a good starting point. This doesn't mean that you have to be superfit, have rippling abs, a meditarranean tan or become an idol, it simply means that you practise what you preach. This really is a privileged position and so often abused.

One common habit that fitness professionals have to steer clients away from is compulsion of some description. Be it over eating, drinking or party lifestyles that leave peoples state of health very poor, helping people adopt a more balanced approach is often the biggest challenge. My question is, if this is situation that you're trying to pull a client away from, is living a party lifestyle yourself going to back your proposition with credibility?

Having spent a good few years now in the industry, delivering courses and training people to become personal trainers, I've seen a vast spectrum in how coaches and fitness professionals carry and present themselves. There is no one right or wrong way to be as a coach. The bottom line is, we all carry a different and unique message and therefore, it's not about following a set path. The golden rule is projecting your message. If you can look in the mirror (not just visually) and answer yes to that question then you're certainly doing something right.

The fact is that in the industry of selling your knowledge, expertise and experience, you are your brand and whilst it would be nice to think that people don't judge a book by it's cover, it does happen because this is often the very first impression people have to start getting to know you.

Here are my top 3 values that translate not just for guiding your clients towards making real step changes but also incorporating into your life:

Education - Constantly learning keeps your mind active, helps maintain focus and supports how well you stay committed to achieving. Education is a constant journey and no one on the face of this planet is in a position to say "right, I've learnt everything I need to know". Quite often, the daunting prospect seems to be that the more you learn, the more you realise how little you know but this is quite exciting don't you think??!!
Challenge - Whilst constantly being challenged could be quite exhausting and consuming, ongoing challenges, targets and achievement maintain a momemtum that keeps us moving forwards. A challenge is merely a simple question of "can I?". It is not about anyone else but oneself and it is only when asking this question that people realise just how much better the reality is than self perception would have us believe. There is big caveat on this though, positioning the standard too high or making the ideal almost unobtainable will only result in the polar opposite of the intended.
Enjoyment - This is so key and often in fitness, it's really lacking. Fortunately, for most of us, we don't have a daily battle for our own survival or our next meal. As professionals, this should be a priority. People make decisions based upon emotion and feeling. If you leave people with a smile on their face, above all else they will be much more likely to return and stay committed. This applies for us as trainers too. Quite often, I see trainers who work so hard on putting together fantastic programmes for clients, so hard that they neglect their own and the enjoyment factor of it. A costly mistake!

These three points done in concert will formulate a fantastic recipe that will keep clients coming back for more as well as achieving the results they set their heart on.

What did the Leeds Rhinos think of Primal Flow?

2011-04-11T15:02:00.000-07:00

It's always nice to get some good feedback isn't it! Here's what Ben Jones, Strength & Conditioning Coach of Leeds Rhinos had to say about the time we spent with the academy:

"Phill and Jenny from Creating Chaos were asked to come and work with the Leeds Rhinos Academy Players to help improve functional movement patterns, through the use of the primal pattern training techniques. The primal pattern technique offered the players a new challenge, targeting all components of fitness required to be a successful rugby league player and all round athlete. The unique emphasis of
unilateral kinetic chain transfer, focused on improving the athletes functional strength and stability under fatigue.

I would recommend any professional strength and conditioning coach, athlete or fitness enthusiast to work with Creating Chaos. I am very grateful for the knowledge passed on by Phill and Jenny and I am looking forward to working with them in the near future and implementing their training techniques with athletes from different sports"

Ben also works as an Academy Coach within Leeds United too.

Some of the younger Academy athletes working the flow!!

If you're interested in giving some of the flows a go then stay tuned to our YouTube channel by subscribing.

Working within the Leeds Rhinos Camp

2011-04-01T00:07:00.000-07:00

A few years back, a great personal training client of mine and someone who is now a very good friend made a sounding comment that's certainly had some prophetic influence. Mid-session and what was quite a challenging bodyweight series of movements, Mark made comment that the type of work we were doing would be excellent for rugby conditioning and he was certainly well placed to make sure a comment after almost playing at International level and having spent a number of years in the sports and fitness industry.

Personally, I'm not a rugby player and was very much a spectator to rugby as a child. I did actually get pulled into playing last minute in my younger years, immediately welcomed by being dump tackled by a boy twice my size. Since that day I've held a certain respect for rugby players. Football has remained my game of choice but I certainly respect rugby and it's players.

Whilst it had already started to manifest itself, our Primal Flow concept was more deliberately born when Mark made that comment and I honestly didn't think that a few years in, we'd be delivering it within the camps of one of the top rugby league teams.

We've had some fantastic feedback with what we did which has been incredible but right from the start, as much as we put a lot of development into the anatomical rationale behind the flow movements, above everything else, it just makes sense. Whilst lifting heavy weights has to be a big component in preparation for rugby players and many athletes for that matter, being strong on your own 2 feet and with your body weight is a must. Exercise typically has been practised in controlled environments looking to isolate parts of the body to strengthen or done through repeating specific exercises. Whilst this does have a positive effect on the body, in a game situation, the likelihood of the exact situation occuring more than once is vary slim and the body will constantly need the ability to adapt to new situations, stresses and movements.

If sports clubs are open enough to sample new methods of training then this system will have an instrumental effect on the performance of athletes. The statement was never 'Survival of the Fittest' but 'Survival of the most adaptable' and that's how it's always been and is very much the backbone of the Primal Flow system...adaptability.

We're looking forward to sharing this system with more coaches, athletes, teams and those interested in fitness. The strange thing about it is that every time we run the course, we're learning as much from those taking part as they're learning about the system...possibly more.

I certainly need to say a thank you for the encouragement from Mark for the initial encouragement. I'll get some photo's up when we get them through.

Improving Performance with Selective Tension

2011-03-10T11:58:00.000-08:00

As our spectrum of courses increases as well as our panel of experts, it's opened up an opportunity for me to give some of our tutors the opportunity to guest-write on my blog. Here's Ben Walsh giving an extremely interesting insight into incremental tension.

Selective Tension – Improving Performance

The incremental use of tension is a concept we apply in our regular day to day lives, although we are most likely unaware that we use it. This is a good thing; if we were constantly thinking about selective tension then we would never get anything done! Let’s look at a few examples; when opening and closing doors we don’t use all our strength, as we know that doors don’t need our full force to close and we are likely to damage ourselves and/or the door if we apply too much. Opening a can of cola is a gentle operation, avoiding shaking the contents and breaking the ring pull. Over the course of our lives we have finely tuned our skills to optimise movement efficiency, using selective tension among other proprioceptive attributes. Unfortunately a number of factors affect this including age, injury, over/under training, disease, fear, nutrition and many more.

As we use selective tension in our lives you would think we use it when exercising, right? More than likely not! Let’s take a conventional resistance training exercise, the pull-up as an example. The pull-up is easy to relate tension to; think about the last time you completed a set of pull-ups and remember what the limiting factor that caused you to fatigue. You would expect 99.9% of the answers to be grip strength and forearm fatigue, which is not surprising given the size of the muscles compared to those of the back. Now let’s go back to the start of the set you were about to complete, ask yourself, how much grip force you applied while holding on to the bar? Did you use all your fingers to grip the bar? Was there a pause before starting the set? Did you pack your shoulders and drive your elbows back to fire the lats and stabilise the scapula? It was likely that an over exertion of force at the start of the set and/or the under use of the lats lead to early fatigue. How many of us run heel to toe and bang the floor as we foot strike? Are we aware that banging our feet into the floor is unnecessary wasted energy and increasing the likelihood of stress related injuries?

The obvious question arises, why don’t we use selective tension when exercising? There are many physical, emotional, psychological and spiritual factors that influence the ability to apply selective tension, the most important thing is being aware that we use it and can therefore apply it in training. Breathing, exertion and tension are interrelated. As tension increases, so does exertion and subsequently the rate of breathing to allow the uptake and transfer of oxygen in line with exhalation of carbon dioxide. We all exercise at different levels so surely those who exercise at a less intense level should apply selective tension, right? Maybe, although many who exercise at lighter levels are novice exercisers, unaware of technique, potentially unfit and gassing out or wishing the time away, thinking of nothing but finishing the session. Those that train intensely and follow the ‘no pain no gain’ principle are more than likely unaware of using selective tension. As our heart rate increases above 140BPM the body prepares itself for the ‘fight or flight’ response, dumping adrenaline into the bloodstream and increasing the force and rate of respiration. Unfortunately this shuts off fine motor controls like selective tension in favour of gross motor controls. If the heart rate continues to rise then it is a matter of time before the body will fatigue its fuel sources and performance will be affected. This is also dependant on the nature of the exercise and the muscles and fascial chains stressed. Take the Kettlebell/Clubbell clean and jerk as an example; you are more than likely to see fatigue in the grip, forearms and shoulder before the glutes, hamstrings and quads, especially while performing G/S or ICS lifts. Seasoned lifters utilise partial or switching grips throughout exercises to share the load, allowing recovery during work.

Unfortunately many people neglect training flexibility and mobility in favour of cardiovascular and strength training. It is the body’s springs that allow us to absorb energy on impact and transfer it back through the kinetic chain. Inflexibility and poor mobility restrict the transfer of energy, creating shock points, altered neuromuscular co-ordination and faulty recruitment patterns, affecting performance and increasing the likelihood of injury.

The next time you are training, observe how much force you are applying while carrying out that exercise; be it a pull-up, interval training session, G/S clean & jerk, clubbell mills or any other example. Aim to minimise the amount of tension you use to carry out the exercise correctly and note any changes in muscle fatigue, repetitions, time under tension, weight lifted etc.

Happy training!

Coach Ben Walsh (CSCS, CST Coach, BSc, DipION, QTFE)

What's so good about the windmill

2011-03-08T23:52:00.000-08:00

A movement that is very much associated with kettlebells and whilst it looks exciting, do the benefits match the spectacle?

Looking more closely, here's an overview of what it does for the body:

As you descend through the movement, the shoulder shoulder forces a huge stretch through the chest and anterior aspect of the shoulder, typically tight in most people
As well as hip flexion, there is a lot of frontal movement in this exercise which gets a great response from internal and external obliques in unison
There is a big stretch woking through the anterior oblique sling which taps into the adductors, again, often a very tight area
As your body negotiates downward whilst keeping the supporting arm vertical, the shoulder joint works through a great degree of rotation, stabilising and improving structure in the rotator cuff and doing this through movement, much more effective than static holds
Whilst the legs are not fully locked out, leg position remains fairly fixed through the movement and requires a great deal of stability with saggital, transverse and frontal forces occuring, excellent for ligaments and tendons within the aforementioned joints
The movement itself requires not just flexibility but a bank of control and balance. These are crucial for most exercises and patterns like this which demand such a strong level of these will benefit neuro-function with the body's ability to perform other patterns.
To hit full runge through the windmill, not only does the shoulder joint require great range and flexibility, the thoracic spine also needs to demonstrate good extension and again, this is often a problem area for many. Gradually working through more and more depth on this movement will provide a safe and functional pathway to improve thoracic range, function and ability to support extension

The above points are just a few and there's plenty more benefits to be taken from it. I'll leave it down to you to decide whether this exercise is worthwhile :)

Our CPD Master Class in Leeds

2011-03-07T02:34:00.000-08:00

A week gone Friday (25th Feb 2011), we ran our first ever CPD Master Class to showcase some of the unique training courses that we currently run. It really felt like a milestone from where we've come in the 2 and a bit years that our company has been operating. We managed a buzzing 40 delegates attending our workshop and the feedback has been incredible. What a sight to see 40 people swinging kettlebells, taking on Primal Flow and being put through their paces with MMA drills and clubbells.

The venue was just about big enough to take on the occassion and rapidly became an indoor sauna with the heat being generated.

We're looking at running these more often and getting more and more people involved. Here's some of the shots we've got:

Jen leading one of the advanced kettlebell sequences

Release the swing - didn't realise I had such a magnetic pull

I've just realised there are far too many pics to stick on here so I'm going to put them all in an album on our facebook fan page. Make sure you become a fan to check the pics out, tag yourself and keep informed of all coming events.

Our Day at the Hatton Gym

2011-02-28T06:24:00.000-08:00

Myself and my lovely wife Jen were spoilt yesterday with a trip to the Hatton Gym near Manchester to experience life as a professional boxer (for 1 day). I don't think I'll be turning pro any time soon but the experience was fantastic and a real insight into the 'behind the scenes stuff'.

As someone who is passionate about training health and fitness, I'm well aware that in sport, often there is a big divide between best practice and what is actually done. However, I must say that what we witnessed in the Hatton camp was very impressive and goes to show that modern methods are being employed at the top level.

Ric Moylan, head fitness coach at camp Hatton explained "I took my role a couple of years ago and I must say that it's been a difficult journey arriving at what you see today". Ric went on to say "When I started working in pro boxing, I had to combat a lot of beliefs and indoctrination that had been embed into the mindset of boxers"

Ric's first challenge was to get boxers to start lifting weights. This may sound surprising but many boxers now under Ric's wing believed that weight training would lead to adding bulk, slowing down their speed and ultimately making them heavier. One of the most crucial elements of boxing is weight. Staying light whilst maintaining high strength and power ratio is crucial to help fighters step into the ring with the advantage over the oponent. Ric managed to educate them that having more strength would help them hit harder and this seemed to do the trick. It wasn't an immediate transition though as many boxers have been set into a training mentality since the age of 6 or 7 years old.

Myself and Jen in the circuit - we were that quick it was a blur!!

Another challenge that faced Ric was getting the training more functional and specific to the skills and attributes that a boxer needs. At his starting point, many of the boxers were running 8-10 miles daily. Now, on the face of it, this may appear to demonstrate a very high level of stamina and aerobic conditioning, a much needed part of boxing. However, boxing is about speed and power, long distance running doesn't demonstrate this and causes the body to adopt an often catabolic state. This causes muscle tissue to be used as energy and fat to be stored. Not ideal at all for boxing. Furthermore, a lot of the movements the boxers were using for conditioning were very linear, straight lined and single plane. Again, boxing is multi-directional, includes a lot of rotation and requires constantly changing positions. Now a couple of years in, Ric has managed to introduce kettlebells, more diverse free body conditioning and many other more functional modes of fitness conditioning.

Jen with one of the Hatton camp prize boxers

The final thing was nutrition and getting boxers to eat well. An experienced nutritionist, Ric is well aware that when it comes to diet, there is no single solution for all of us. "Just because porridge in the morning may work for one fighter doesn't mean it will for another". All these low fat, low carb and low GI diets just send confusing messages out leaving people feeling uncertain and desparate and often athletes can be amongst the most vulnerable due to the pressure of high level sport". Getting a healthy balanced diet is a process and involves negotiation. The foods have to be balanced, leave no negative effects post meal, but must also be a compromise of what is realistic and what the individual enjoys. There's no point forcing someone to eat nuts if they don't like them".

It's no coincidence that now a few years in, the Hatton camp are seeing more and more prize winning athletes with British, Commonwealth and European titles decorating the club. With an increase in the talent pool and many shining stars on the horizon, it's great to see that sensible and educated approaches achieve excellent results. Cheers for a great day Ric!!

How to lose personal training clients

2011-02-23T09:40:00.000-08:00

This may appear a strange title for a blog, after all, there can't be that many occasions when trainers are looking to off-load clients. Moving abroad? Industry change? I'm sure you can agree that most coaches would be far more interested in how to keep hold of clients. This is quite a difficult art to get across as it is completely relative to the type of clients you have and their behaviours. So why am I writing this? Well, after years of managing, mentoring and assisting personal trainers, it's much easier to point out the things that send clients packing. Therefore, if you can avoid making these mistakes, you'll be well on your way to keeping hold of those coveted lifetime clients:

Making suggestions is better than being a dictator. Ok, we've all got areas of expertise and great knowledge that can hugely benefit clients. Some clients will take your suggestions on board straight away, others may have the best intentions and lack the execution and others may dismiss it. That's just life and we all have different beliefs that can often shape how we accept information. Being a personal trainer is a very privileged position and clients will often confide in you leaving you advising on all sorts of areas of their life. Demanding clients to make certain choices is patronising and an abuse on the client-trainer relationship. Not only does telling clients what to do pre-suggest they don't understand right from wrong, it also pre-supposes that what you are saying is absolute fact. Unless you've conducted your own empirical research, your knowledge is based on the teaching of others and we all work in a fast moving industry where research can often contradict the practises of decades. The last thing you want is a client turning up in a few years time blaming you for telling them to make a certain decision. Simply make suggestions.
Give your clients choice. Some more than others but we all enjoy a degree of control, especially in our day to day lives. Giving your clients choice over the exercises they do, the food choices they make and the paths they lead will not only help them to start making more informed choices, it also gives them a certain ownership over the programme which will aid their level of commitment.
Listen to your client. It baffles me how many assumptions are made by people working in the fitness industry. A friend of my wife recently joined a gym. For the purposes of this article, let's call her Sarah. Upon Sarah's induction, she was met with a young and enthusiastic fitness instructor who's job was to fully introduce Sarah to the gym and give her a tailored programme. Sarah is sporty and has been for years. Her aim was to improve her strength and her performance in hockey. "So, where are you looking to lose weight from?" was the first enquiry of the instructor. "I'm not looking to lose weight, I just want to improve my performance in hockey, improve my speed and strength". "Ok, obliged the instructor". The first machine introduced was a seated adductor machine "This will help you lose weight and tone around your inner thigh". Sarah retorted "I'm not looking to lose weight, I just want to know how to increase strength". This went on and 3 or 4 more exercise stations were shown that could apparently burn fat like no other. Whilst many clients are looking to change aesthetics in someway, this isn't a pre-cursor for every client. Listen to what your client wants and relate everything to that. There's a big hint in what clients want. This is precisely what they value.

There's plenty more examples of common errors that are made. I'm sure you've seen some too. Please add to this with experiences that you've witnessed.

Putting together the perfect CV

2011-02-17T09:56:00.000-08:00

I get asked quite a lot about how CV's should look by fitness professionals. As much as my experiences have told me quite a few things, I'm certainly no expert in CV writing.

A close friend who runs a hugely successful marketing recruitment consultancy put together this video with his top pointers on CV writing. Whilst it's designed for marketing professionals, the points are absolutely relevant for anyone in the fitness industry. If anyone knows how to put together CV's then Jonathan does. His company see thousands of CV's every year and know the difference that makes the difference.

Make sure you don't miss that position and watch this video!!

Ask the right questions

2011-02-15T01:09:00.000-08:00

As trainers, we can often get very tied up in the mechanics or finer detail of exercises or nutrition and lose sight of the bigger picture.

When looking after coaches, I often see such dedication to helping clients move properly, understand the exercises and know which muscles should be working and it's great to see. All that time spent keeping the eyes open whilst preparing for an anatomy and physiology exam really was worth it. The question is, can it be lost on your clients or could it be put across more effectively.

I'll put my hands up right now in acknowledgement that my passion lies in depth of detail. I can often lose myself let alone a client when talking about the microscopic inner workings of shoulder mechanics through abduction but is this really necessary??

The fact that you probably spent time looking like this when revising late into the evening for your exams is proof enough that some theory is intended for exams and you only. Unless your client is a biomechanist or extremely inquisitive, give them simple terms and the benefits of the exercise...that's all they need.

Here's some additional pointers for speaking effectively to your clients:

Use the simplest descriptions that make sense to your clients. For example, we all know that getting the glutes working properly will support most standing or upright exercises and help reduce synergistic dominance. Explaining synergistic dominance in scientific detail to your client isn't necessary. If your client likes cars or is a mechanic then simply explain 'without the glutes, doing these exercises would be like running a car without 1st or 2nd gear - very inefficient!'
Don't over-ask your client 'How are you?' This isn't me being inconsiderate but the fact is, you're spending time conditioning your client and this can be physically and mentally demanding. Time and time again I hear trainers ask clients 'How you doing?' mid-session. The intention is great and endearing but the response is limited. What can you expect your client to say when they're working hard?? 'I'm shattered' or ' Can't speak'. Be specific with your questions and help lay down expectations. If you're doing shoulder exercises then explain that you are looking to work the shoulder muscles and that fatigue in those areas is a good thing. Asking where they are feeling particular exercises is a much more specific and useful question to help you coach. Asking your client their state at the beginning of the session is obviously a pleasant greeting although 'Are you well?' is even better as this nudges them towards giving a positive response.
When coaching through demanding sessions, there may be times where your client is unable to verbalise a response but this doesn't mean you cannot interact. Getting them to nod or make a gesture in response to your statements can be enough to keep a healthy rapport and here is a simple but brilliant way to do it. Add tag questions on the end of your statements and encourage your clients to agree with you. 'Knowing that you're doing the exercise properly makes a big difference, doesn't it?' You don't demand a response other than an acknowledgement and your client will be unconsciously taking steps towards agreeing with you and building that trust and rapport. Knowing how to build the relationship between you and your client is going to help the growth of your business isn't it?

I hope this helps and make sure you add some comments

Mastering the swing

2011-01-19T00:34:00.000-08:00

If you haven't put yourself on a kettlebell course yet then it may just be something to consider to start helping your clients achieve huge results.

Pushing the fantastic results from the metabolic style training aside, the movements associated with kettlebells hugely helps some common problem areas that we see with clients. Correct me if I'm wrong but tight psoas, weak glutes, weak transverse abs and tight shoulders can often hamper posture and movement ability. Never has there been one set of exercises that can specifically target and benefit these areas.

The kettlebell swing is one of the most fundamental patterns of kettlebells and very unique to them. Getting it right is key though...

My advice is to get qualified before using these with clients and always look to master these movements yourself. This can take a little practise but knowing the movements inside out yourself will give you the deep understanding that you need as a good coach to get your clients mastering the movements and getting the results they're after.

A great pulse raising circuit is simply alternating kettlebell swings with bodyweight patterns:

1 min swings
1 min push ups
1 min swings
1 min squats
1 min swings
1 min alternate reverse lunges

15-30 sec recovery in between, complete twice for intermediate and 3 times for advanced.

Know yourself for complete success

2011-01-06T01:26:00.000-08:00

Having worked my way from being a personal trainer as well as then managing hundreds, I have first hand experience of the challenges and battles that face building a successful business.

The challenges are many but the rewards are potentially so good they outweigh these. Being able to manage yourself, your business and be in complete control of your time is a true blessing. For me, the greatest challenge of all is yourself and this isn't just a challenge that you face once but an ongoing journey that everyone who decides to operate self employed should commit to continually reflecting on.

The thing is, in a job environment, you have your set parameters. You have (in most situations) a clear role description and understand your responsibilities as well as a team of people around you who are there to guide, support and work cohesively alongside you. If a scenario occurs that you know isn't within your remit, you know who or where to go with it ensuring that it is dealt with properly.

As I mentioned, I'm speaking from personal experience and in the early days, like most trainers out there, my priority was to build a business and I made mistakes of wanting so hard to please clients and potential clients that I would try and be the expert of everything. Let's face it, if you were the expert on all matters relating to health and fitness, you wouldn't have time in the day to speak with clients. The industry, research and trends move so fast that you would have to keep your head in books every hour of every day and still, that time wouldn't be quite enough.

The key is to know yourself, your strengths and what you enjoy. Inversely, know your weaknesses, what you're not so great at and what you don't enjoy. Being honest with yourself on this and aligning this knowledge to how you project your professional status to your clients will bring you a much stronger chance of a long and successful business. Trying to profess in areas that are a little out of your comfort zone is an extremely dangerous strategy that puts you, your client and the lifespan of your reputation at risk. Giving clients the best possible service whether it means you delivering the work or referring them to the best placed individual is absolute best practise and you'll benefit on many levels. Clients will give you the credit for having directed them in the first place and you'll be able to start developing a successful referral scheme with other professionals. The other side is that, knowing your strengths will help you understand your niche and areas of specialisation. Again, these may change through your career and continually reflecting on knowing yourself, strengths and weaknesses will help you be in tune with this.

Whilst businesses survive on cash flow, prioritising giving the best value to the customer over putting the most value in your pocket in the quickest time will help keep your business alive and flourishing longer term.

Is your FREE consultation enough?

2010-12-07T04:38:00.000-08:00

Being the festive period all about giving, it struck me as a good time to think about service offerings and the facility we create to entice new clients into using our services.

In my experience, personal trainers offer a free consultation, session, postural appraisal or introduction into a specialist style of training. Whilst this makes absolute sense, afterall, it is a service and what better way to promote a service than to give someone a taste, is it really enough or is it the best way to bring on new clients? Well, only your conversion rates will clarify whether you're getting the results you want. There are a number of challenges with getting new clients. Letting potential new clients become aware of your services, getting new potential clients infront of you and then finally converting them into a paying client. If it is only a free session that you promote to new potential clients, is this enough to differentiate you from your competition??

Without knowing your client fully, how do you know that a taster session is going to be right for them or what to focus on?

This is not the gospel but the following may be things that you want to consider with bringing new clients on board:

Pre-taster screening - Get to know your client before you give them a free session. Health and medical screening should be part of this but the more you understand about the person, the more appropriate you can make the taster session for them. Understand their likes and dislikes with exercise, their motivations, their buying strategies etc. If you want to know more about how to find these things out with simple questions, contact info@creatingchaos.co.uk for more detail
The taster session - Avoid delivering a template session that you give to everyone. If you work in a gym then this will become very obvious to the by-standers. I'm not saying avoid a template as this will help you structure the session but make the specific content relevant. If nutrition is much the bigger area then focus more on this. Fancy exercises don't impress everyone!!
Post taster report - Let people know how they did. If you've looked at posture or function then give the individual a report / some feedback. This should come with a huge caveat. Avoid depressing people with the bad news and be tactful when giving feedback. Using a very typical management style, give some good feedback followed by an area that could be improved followed by some more encouraging feedback. For example "You've got excellent flexbility which will help us achieve great results. We can work on your core strength quite a lot and combined with your lower body strength we'll be able to make waves in your training." Notice that the example doesn't give excessive terminology and this is something I see trainers do constantly - overwhelm the client with irrelevant information. It is fantastic that you can identify reciprocal inhibition of the glutes from the Psoas Hip flexor but this doesn't really mean much to the client. The language of most clients is results and by when...remember this! There are exceptions and if you're clients enjoy understanding about the anatomical elements then meet that demand when you're able to.
Offer an incentive that is results based - This shows how confident you are as a trainer. Clients want results and if you offer them a reward for achieving results then this will not only sell and promote your services but it will act as a motivator during the programme which is another challenge for you. This may be in the shape of free sessions or something that is more of a tangible gift. It may be a pair of good running trainers / training gear or indeed anything. This may seem like too much but is it really? Think about it, how much are your clients worth per year? £2,3,4 or 5,000? It would be much better spent money to keep hold of a client than to have to market more for new clients and then find the client of the same value to your business.

A few ideas and hopefully some festive food for thought. Please leave comments and add your suggestions.

Breaking from the rat race

2010-11-09T04:56:00.000-08:00

I've been self employed for a few years now and it's so interesting to notice the changes in myself whilst seeing the changes in others around me. Let's face it, making a living from scratch isn't easy but the potential rewards are fantastic and for those that do it, the rewards outway the risks.

Whilst my own experiences of self employment have been in the fitness industry, I'm certain that many of my observations would be true for many other industries too.
Delivering courses, I have the honour of meeting trainers eager to start their own project and build a business. Having been there myself, I can completely relate with how it is at the start and it's very easy to see the common habits of trainers starting out. Comparing them against trainers who have been in the industry for a number of years, there are common characteristics and habits that seem to develop and change the way that trainers are; some good and others not as positive.

To explain the way that I see things, I'm going to compare these common observations against specific animals which will become more clear and my hope is that if you're reading this and you're able to relate with them, then look at what things you can change to help take you to the next level. That is of course assuming that you're looking to improve and become more successful.

The rat race

It can be a struggle in business. It can feel like everything is going against you and that can be a lonely feeling. That is of course not the case and it's important to know that. The fact is, the world doesn't revolve around you so it can't be the case. The main reason for things appearing this way is that the world is an established place with systems, infrastructure, routines and agenda. When a new idea is born, if it is to work then the right people need to hear about it. That's fairly straight forward right? If it is something that already has potential competition then the idea not only needs to get the attention of people but also convince them that it's better than the existing solution. This is what you're marketing needs to do.

The Rat

Not intended in a derogitory way but most people starting in business are frantic, opportunist, busy and will go pretty much in any direction to spread the word of their business. Whilst hard work and persistance are absolutely crucial, this can be a hugely delicate period for an entrepreneur. In the madness of running around and doing pretty much anything to get things started, it is rare that 'the rat' will take time out to sit back and see things from a bigger picture. This phase of business is all about survival but in the midst of surviving, opportunties that are quite blatant are often missed. Similar to the rodent, many start up businesses are prepared to walk over other start ups to get where they need to.

The Cat

Upon surviving the rat period, the rat somewhat evolves into a smarter creature. A creature that is intelligent, marks it's prey much more cunningly and has loyalty towards its owners (clients). After all, it's the owners who feed them. Whilst the cat isn't as frantic, it still seizes opportunities but from a few paces back. More selective about when it moves, the cat carefully deliberates where it spends it's time, who it associates with and what it feeds on. However, the cat still makes mistakes, walking on tentitive territory and quite partial to confrontations.

This next point becomes a junction. Those that don't fully graduate from being a cat can become...

The Porcupine

This animal is a rodent as a rat yet not as frantic. It's lifespan is longer than a rat but after trying hard to progress, it doesn't share the optimism, social affinity or hope that once was there. The sparkle and enjoyment of this potentially tough road has gone and a solitary existence with a spikey outlook on the outside world push potential friends or acquaintances away. Slow to move and limited in resources, this wearily looking creature settles for it's share whilst fending off onlookers.

However, if the cat graduates then we have...

The Roebuck

The roebuck is strong, confident and experienced in making decisions. It is respected in the animal kingdom and popular within the masses. Having fought and won battles, the roebuck is a leader that has the trust of many. Successful in it's hunting, the buck provides not only for itself but for others too. Building friends and trusted companions throughout it's existence, the roebuck grows in strength but also in stature. However, still not quite the top of it's food chain, this creature still has to be wary and maintain it's survival instincts.

There are different paths that evolve from this stage in business. The two most typical kinds of business leaders that you get are...

The Crocodile

A successful survivor that spends over 90% of it's existence watching, waiting, studying before diving in. This dominant beast has many worthy habits. It knows the movement of what it wants inside out. It doesn't waste energy on pointless exercises or activities saving it's resources for when really needed. However, despite it's success, it is a fearsome animal that has many running for cover. The crocodile intimidates, is anti-social and is extremely hostile in character. Not the type of business person to work easily with.

The Lion

The most awesome of creatures. At the top of it's food chain, the lion is the ultimate survivor. Whilst many are in complete awe of this physical wonder, the greatest thing that the lion demands is respect. Dominant lions lead communities and make decisions for many. The lion is filled with wisdom, experience and knows it's territory better than anyone. The lion is respected by not only it's own community but it's enemies. Like the crocodile, the lion is not an advocate of waste, however, this creature has the perfect balance of spending time doing the surviving along with being social.

Whilst reading the above, you may have been able to affiliate some of the descriptions with people you may know. You may also be able to see where you fit in. The point is, you should understand where you want to go in the end. How do you want to end up? Spending every hour of every day working like a rat or maybe something beyond. Always look to further yourself and surround yourself with people that you see as mentors who can guide and advise you. Watch the habits of those you respect and decide whether similar habits would support you. Listen to advise but look to decide for yourself and always know where you're going.

What kind of motivator are you?

2010-10-18T14:13:00.000-07:00

I was walking our little Jack Russell last week in the park and experienced something which inspired me to write this blog. My intention is not to pigeon-hole people into categories as motivators but simply to encourage you to deliberately decide what type of motivational message you're looking to give to your clients.

Whilst walking Jaycee (our little dog) I walked past a popular military bootcamp that has absolutely stormed in the UK over the last few years. The group of about 25-30 people were individually being invited to race the instructor up a steep set ot steps and back down again. A small number were accepting the invite only to predictably be beaten by this interesting approach to motivation. Those that didn't attempt this very worth while event had the pleasure of standing, watching and probably getting rather cold in the process, in addition to paying for the privilege through their membership.

Having personal experience of delivering outdoor group fitness sessions with our outfit model, I was both astonished and appalled by this egotistical and selfish display by the instructor. Maybe some of the group enjoyed this and found his display inspiring but I would speculate that for many, his episode was demotivating and another display that creates distance between the instructor and the consumer in an industry that many are trying to make as accessible and achievable as possible.

Whilst health, lifestyle and fitness services / products maybe sometimes seen as aspirational, I don't understand how a voyeuristic approach delivers this in a healthy fashion.

So, what type of motivator are you?

Do you lead from the front?..offer encouragement?..encourage a balanced approach?..empathise?...inspire?

or do you...

Breakdown barriers?..make the unachievable achievable?..educate? enthuse?

Many of the key lessons I've learnt have been through making the mistakes. For me this has always been the clearest way (although not always the quickest) to understand the value of and appreciate best practise. Sometimes, when a lesson is given to us, we fail to value the importance of it. That said, when it comes to peoples lives and making key decisions, providing the most effective guidance is crucial.

When it comes to motivation, using your strengths is key to performing to your best but really understanding how your clients are motivated will be much more valuable to you, after all, it's them that you're trying to motivate. In Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) terms, we have profiles for many traits of our personalities referred to as meta-profiles. For motivation, the following examples are typical:

'Away from' motivation - "I don't want to get fat"
'Towards' motivation - "I'm going to run the London marathon"

People can also share more complex profiles which are away then towards or towards then away but generally, most people are either predominantly more 'away' or 'towards' motivated.

Understanding this will not only help you motivate your client better but really understand them and what makes them tick.

It is worth mentioning that 'away from' motivation can be less powerful as a force for positive intent as it generally includes the one thing that the client doesn't want. The problem here is that the mind is a powerful tool and whenever you put particular focus into something, irrespective of it being in the positive or negative, you increase the likelihood of it becoming a reality. Therefore, it stands to reason to direct the radar at things that you actually want as opposed to things that you don't want.

If you'd like more information on NLP, motivational techniques or persuasive strategies then why not look at our NLP for Fitness Professionals course.

Bodyweight Training

2010-10-02T09:15:00.000-07:00

Its been a manic week of travel this week and all very exciting.

Starting some research on kettlebells with Sheffield Hallam, we've been working with some of the GB olympic strength and conditioning coaches showing them how to use kettlebells properly and discussing the training benefits.

It's very interesting working with coaches from different backgrounds as we all have very unique and different experiences as well as expertise which can often lead to very different opinions but essentially all working towards the same single goal: what works the best!?!?

If you've been tuning into my blogs then you'll already be aware of our unique bodyweight training appraoch that we call Primal Flow. We've arranged to take it to some of the national coaches who'll be giving their feedback on it which will be fantastic.

This week Jenny, myself and two very experienced coaches took on an almighty Primal Flow circuit. James Walker, a Kettlebell Master Trainer and tutor joined in as well as Ben Hockman, an MMA and kickboxing conditioning specialist who runs Martial Arts Company Beyond Fighting. Both coaches have years of both competitive and coaching experience behind them and have a wealth of experience in having sampled many different types of fitness training. With their seasoned expertise, we were keen to get their thoughts on our sytem.

The session was simple and had two waves. Both had 4 work stations each focussing on different areas - upper, lower, core and movement. The first wave was geared towards stability & strength and had 4 layers, each progressive to the last in movement and duration. The second wave only had 3 layers but was aimed at power and anaerobic capacity. Despite the session taking just 45 minutes, it was fair to say that we were all well worked by the end.

Here's what they had to say:

James Walker "A new era of bodyweight training!, takes what you thought you knew about bodyweight training and flips it on it's head..."

Ben Hockman "Having been a martial artist for 13 years, I've done a lot of bodyweight focussed training. But this is different and you have to try it! The primal movements force you to stabilise whilst also requiring far more strength than you would for the standard push-up or squat. The constant and rapid variation between exercises also ensures a great functional conditioning workout without exhausting one particular muscle group to the extent of needing days off to recover. Great system and if you still believe in the need for equipment to get a good resistance and cardio workout, think again!!!"

Very kind words and obviously, they were both well paid for that. If you'd like to become qualified as a Primal Flow specialist then look at our next course dates and if you'd like to experience this type of training then look at your nearest class of our OutFIT sessions.

Succeed with Video

2010-09-16T03:09:00.000-07:00

Recently we've put a lot of work into video and it got me thinking about how in business we communicate with our clients.

With the nature of fitness coaching, it is extremely practical. It is difficult to fully explain your speciality through a poster, a flyer, or a descriptive email. Even photographs can look unclear and vague. Video is by far and away the most accurate and clear form of marketing that explains what we do. It allows you to get your personality across, your specialist knowledge and if pictures paint a thousand words then videos paint a million.

Here are some tips for making any video work that you do effective:

Plan your content but more importantly, plan what you want to achieve with the video. If you want to showcase something then sell the benefits and make sure that you are communicating with your target market.
Get quality. Ok, this comes down to price and affordability but if you can, get a professional to do it for you. As long as they're worth their salt - they'll support you with formatting and make the end product a lot better looking than looking like it's been filmed from someones mobile in a bedroom
Be clear on what you're saying. Keep the messages simple and very clear. Too much waffle will lose the attention and lose the impact of the video.
Always pilot the content with a trusted group of colleagues or friends before going live with it. Use their feedback to help polish the video up. Be wary over feedback from friends. Not always but often, friends may feel that they're being kind in giving positive feedback but honesty is what you need here. Getting a complete stranger or a third party to offer feedback will be potentially much more reliable.

Ok, very brief but then, keeping the message short maintains the impact doesn't it?!!?!

corporate team building day

2010-09-12T10:50:00.000-07:00

KB squat

2010-09-08T16:32:00.000-07:00

Kettlebell High Pull - Learn Kettlebells

2010-09-08T16:26:00.000-07:00

Kettlebell Clean - Learn Kettlebells

2010-09-08T16:20:00.000-07:00

Kettlebell Swing - Learn Kettlebells

2010-09-08T16:15:00.000-07:00

Kettlebell Deadlift - Learn Kettlebells

2010-09-08T16:03:00.000-07:00

OutFIT - outside fitness the fun way!

2010-09-08T15:44:00.000-07:00

Are you using kettlebells properly

2010-08-29T13:01:00.001-07:00

Now that kettlebells are well launched in the fitness industry, it's incredible as someone extremely passionate about them to see so many people using them and enjoying the great benefits. However, it is our jobs as coaches to help people use them safely and not just enjoy them but respect them.

10 years ago, blank faces would appear at the mention of kettlebells but nowadays, most have heard if not actually experienced them.

This is great news as a coach as you don't have to continually explain from scratch the entire concept. However, it does mean that the influences are now much more diverse and vast and invariably fuelled commercially.

The danger being that there are good influences and examples out there but equally, there are bad influences and examples. Due to the nature of kettlebells, this can be particularly dangerous.

The question is, how do you ensure that you remain a good influence on your clients?

Well, here are some top tips to keep you in the good books:

1. Whilst your clients are learning or if they haven't used them in a while, muscle test! Specifically look at the glutes in hip extension. If the glutes aren't firing then use PNF or glute focussedpatterns to activate. Using kettlebells with inactive glutes is asking for injury.

2. Get clients to breathe abdominally. If clients aren't setting or bracing whilst using bells, then again, the risk of injury is higher. Breathing is the most fundamental function of living and breathing abdominally is natural to us, it primes the inner core, protects spine and sets hip alignment. The problem is that for most of us, we learn how to breathe higher in the lungs as we become adults.

3. Make sure your technique is spot on by regular practise and a commitment to learn and develop. Kettlebells is an art form as well as an excellent conditioning tool. Regularly using them will ensure you keep your teaching points fresh and current whilst carrying that all important enthusiasm. Be selective over who you follow the example of.

If you'd like to find out more about becoming an instructor or an advanced instructor visit www.teamchaosuk.com

- Posted whilst adventurising using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Leeds, UK

Do you want more clients?

2010-08-23T07:02:00.000-07:00

It's a competitive market, more and more trainers are coming on the scene and the demand to be better than the rest continues to grow. Would having a few more clients make your life easier?

Well, you have a number of options:

Advertise in local media
Leaflets, posters and hard copy print work
Blog posting
Newsletters
Social media (facebook - twitter)
Existing clients
The list goes on

Well, looking at the list, which ones are realistic for you? They're not all super expensive but it's worth pointing out that even the free ones cost in time and be aware of how much time is required to make them effective. How much time can you commit to regular input? How much time do you want to commit to it?

Coming from someone who has spent thousands on local media with very little results, I have no harm in saying that making huge mistakes has led us to understand which avenues are most appropriate for us.

With advertising, I would say that to get a worthy return, you need to really invest into numerous types at the same time with an effective marketing strategy. Each string needs to be clear with a call to action and always test your adverts before going live with them.

As a small company, sole trader or technician, the most realistic option to be effective is getting the biggest fans of you to do the advertising for you. Adverts aren't living and breathing. Unless you can afford TV adverts nationally, then get your customers to bring your message to life to new people. Being creative, inventive and having the confidence of your own conviction, offer your existing clients reward or incentive to refer new people to you.

It is human nature to want to help people. Clients love feeling like they had a part to play in supporting and assisting you. As long as you are making sure they feel valued, thanked and are recieving the personal appreciation for their support, they'll stick with you.

Putting a referral system in place mid way through a client relationship can be a little tricky. From the moment you meet a client, the relationship parameters and expectations are being built, every communication in face, email or by phone adds to this and therefore presenting a referral system way into an existing relationship can be a little clumsy. Presenting this at the very start is the best way to clarify expectations. Why not have it as part of your consultation, screening forms or even t & c's.

If you'd like ideas on what the most effective incentives for referrals are, drop me a line phill@creatingchaos.co.uk

Do you value your clients

2010-07-22T03:44:00.000-07:00

In business, we talk about marketing, advertising, promotion and trying to communicate with prospective clients / customers to our business. This is an absolute must in business - if you're not growing then you're shrinking! That's just the way it goes.

However, something that I've learnt the hard way is that actually, the vast majority of income comes from existing customers. Therefore, why is it that most of our time and energy goes towards trying to entice new customers into becoming loyal champions. Well, probably a combination of things can lead to this mentality. Getting new business is a complete buzz, it is in my opinion one of the most exciting aspects of business. When we're desparate in business, it is often easy to see new customers as the only hope to help solving dismal situations. The reality is though that all the while, existing customers are there and often forgotten about. What would you do if someone you purchased from didn't seem to care and only delivered the minimum. I know what I would do and it wouldn't include putting my hand in my pocket.

By valueing your existing customers - showing them that they are the most important aspect of your company and spending every moment of your working life striving towards adding value, improving service and generally delivering as you would want to be serviced, you can be sure to have some extremely loyal customers and advocates to your business.

If you'd like more detail on the specifics of how to add fantastic value to your clients or personal training business and winning the most loyal set of customers then contact us at info@creatingchaos.co.uk

Hope this is useful

How to get excellent testimonials

2010-07-13T02:52:00.000-07:00

Having someone else describe how fantastic your services or products are has long been known and used as a tool in marketing, advertising and raising awareness for your business.

It speaks volumes for your services when someone recommends or refers you and it's quite staggering at how many businesses operate exclusively on referral schemes or referred marketing methods.

So, it stands to reason that having some testimonials will go a long way to help promote your work. The real trick though is getting the wording correct within what is said to ensure that the testimonial maximises on impact. Knowing the right questions to ask your clients will help massively in getting this right every time.

Here are 4 simple questions that get those key answers from your clients:

What solution were you seeking when you first hired us?
What do we provide that you value the most?
What has been the result of working with us?
What would you tell others who are considering using us?

By taking the repsonses and putting it into a neat and flowing testimonial, you will be answering all the major questions that potential clients have: namely what does this product or service do for me?

If understanding more about how your clients' minds work, how to motivate and be more effective in your coaching then why not look at our Professional Fitness Presenter course. The PFP is a 2 day course that leaves trainers confident in knowing how to improve rapport, instruct more effectively, use influential language and engage professionally for both 1 to 1 and group level instruction. Click here for more

Are you expressing the benefits of your business

2010-06-03T09:55:00.000-07:00

Having had some great feedback from my last blog, I wanted to touch more on the business side of things. After all, with so many of us trainers self employed, we don't have that line management system that guides us. In fact, the biggest way we learn is by making the mistakes. Having spoken to a lot of hugely successful people in my time, one of the greatest common features to each conversation has been 'making lots of mistakes and learning from them' - it seems it's practically a crucial part of success.

Well, in my relatively young life in business, I've made some absolutely monstrous mistakes. Ones which have felt like they've almost sunk everything that we've put our heart and soles in - the key is to see the mistake not as a mistake and as an investment. The investment you take is not to repeat the same mistake again.

One of the greatest lessons that invariably all businesses must learn is that marketing has to be shaped by benefits. Unless you are selling an absolute essential like petrol, people need to know what is in it for them.

Do people purchase personal training because they enjoy spending a lot of money to hang out with you? No!

People have varying buying strategies and generally purchase for different reasons, however, generally speaking, people buy for what they get in return. With this in mind, it stands to reason to have these clear benefits listed all over your marketing / leaflets / websites / Business cards rather than just listing your services or features. Features and services are important but not to the level that the benefits are.

When it comes to shaping your own marketing material, answer some of the following questions and include these answers. Make them clear, impacting and very visual:

What benefits do people receive as a direct result of spending money on your services / products? (3 or 4 is often enough)
How will this make them feel?

It's as simple as that. Speaking to people on benefits and feelings is communicating to them on an emotional level and this is often where people make decisions. Consciously or subconsciously, people buy on emotion.
Hope this helps

Primal Flow - ground breaking system of functional exercise

2010-05-26T02:22:00.000-07:00

After more and more interest being taken with Primal Flow, I thought I'd write a little more about about what it is, how it came about and how it can benefit both you and your clients.

Looking back at my coaching career so far, even from the very first courses I attended, I remember always thinking that repeating the same movement over and over again can't be that good, however, in the early days, I really didn't know any better and so just went along with the trends that were and very much still are instructed. As my confidence and understanding of the body grew, I started to experiment more with different ways of challenging and conditioning the body.
When it comes to exercise, for me, there are a number of absolute musts with any exercise or pattern:

It must be functional - if the movement doesn't serve a purpose then isn't doing the body, posture or alignment any favours
It must be safe - understanding the internal workings of the core, inner stabilising units and outer global units ensures that all the movements work with the flow of the body and not against them
It must be progressive and effective - challenging the body is the only way that exercise truly benefits, by knowing your level, ability and making the programme progressive, you can rest assured that your programme will be hugely effective
It must be interesting - exercise should never be numb, mindless or a duty. Looking at primal man, exercise was purposeful, demanded thought and deliberation and always had an objective be it hunting, building or escaping danger.

Having been working on PF for a a number of years, many clients will have experienced numerous sequences and flows without knowing but now, the concept is completely formed and ready to take flight.

The benefits of this type of exercise can be shaped in pretty much any direction:

Physiological - Strength, power, conditioning, endurance, balance, agility, alignment and flexibility
Goal driven - weight loss, shape, reduce body fat, increase size, build shape or tone
General wellness - Increase bone density, improve cardiovascular fitness, improve posture

The list goes on. The reason it is so effective is because it brings together all 25 natural and instinctive movements of the body, organises them creating stability before mobility and then follows with gradual progression through a very unique method of programming

The 2 day course 'Primal Pattern & Functional Movement Specialist' provides you with all the tools to start using primal flow for yourself, gives you hundreds of brand new exercises and a system for creating a completely unlimited list of new patterns and sequences. Find out more and book your place here

Take your clients off machines into the realms of open body movement. Machines generally speaking distort movement completely, deactivate the core and result in pain, injury and never ending discomfort. Think about it, most people can relate with a bicep curl which serves to isolate the bicep. Ok, fine, however, with over 600 hundred muscles in the body, how can you possibly achieve a balanced work out for all of them by isolating? You can't! Even if you did isolate every single one relative to their function within the body, the body doesn't operate through segmented function, it is a single unit and should be used that way.

Well, that should be enough to give you a brief understanding of the background. Subscribe to stay updated with news, new flows and further courses and workshops.

Is your fitness business actually a business?

2010-05-19T03:53:00.000-07:00

I've decided to focus a little on the business aspect of development. After all, the fitness industry has a huge portion of self employed individuals including personal trainers, bootcamp instructors, sports therapists, sports massage therapists and much more. The question is - is yours a business or a job.

That may sound crazy and ironic but being self employed doesn't necessarily mean that you have a business. It means that you are taking your own income into your own hands.

In my experience, generally speaking, self employed people in the fitness industry fall into one of the following categories:

Highly skilled individuals who are very busy delivering
Highly skilled individuals who aren't as busy delivering as they'd like to be

The truth is that neither of those is actually a business. A business is a scalable and leveraged concept that makes money regardless of you being there or not.

Working yourself into the ground trying desperately to fill your diary, see clients and make more money can be a fairly draining life. I know as I've been there. The constant worry over where the next chunk of money is coming from or how you'll pay for your license fee can crack even the most positive people.

The good news is that if you feel like you fall into one of those categories, technology makes it easy for you start making your models and systems more business orientated.
In our industry, people buy people and they buy experiences. Having clients that keep coming back shows that people like what you do and believe in you. There is no difference in principle(aside of a few billion £'s) between the continued custom of your clients and those of Virgin or Apple. Trust, value and service. It's time to start asking yourself some questions.

Do you see yourself doing what you're currently doing in 10 years, 20 years, 30 years time?

What do you want to be doing in 10, 20 and 30 years time?

How can you put your passion, knowledge and focus into something that can provide you with cash flow?

Wouldn't it be great to only do personal training for the love and not for the need of income.

Over the coming weeks, I'll be adding some absolute business musts when it comes to identifying yourself, keeping it simple and making your marketing a magnet for new customers.

Phill

Understand your clients' muscular dominance

2010-03-24T05:38:00.000-07:00

Just a short blog today but one with great importance when it comes to giving your client the right type of training programme and mechanics.

When it comes to the consultation, this is where you'll make or break success with your client. It's not how many fancy exercises you know or can give your client but how well you understand their body and preference.

Without knowing whether your client is slow or fast twitch dominant leaves you in the dark regarding how their body will best react to exercise prescription. There is a simpple test that you can do to get this information. One important note though is not to assume that just because you get one result from one exercise means the same applies for all. Different patterns and areas of the body have differing balances of muscles fibres and so must be treaten as individual. We suggest that you look at the biggest driving areas for best results. Including squat, push, pull and extend.

Ok, so how do you find this out? There are a number of different ways and ultimately, over time with your client, you'll get the most accurate picture just watching and experiencing how their body moves and performs through different patterns and challenges. An initial way though is to use the following test:

- Determine your one repetition maximum (1RM) on an exercise
- Rest for 15 minutes
- Perform as many repetitions as possible with 80% of your 1RM

Analysis:

- Less than 7 repetitions - fast twitch (FT) dominant
- 7 or 8 repetitions - mixed fibre type
- more than 8 repetitions - slow twitch (ST) dominant

Important to also remember that over time, this can change. Checking on an annual basis can help you stay accurate.

Any questions or experiences, just drop me a line phill@creatingchaos.co.uk

Phill

Motivating yourself and your client

2010-02-26T00:00:00.000-08:00

One of the most important aspects when understanding, communicating with and motivating yourself and your clients is knowing how they view and approach the world. People are either the cause of their own reality or the effect. People who are the cause of their reality accept full responsibility for themselves and their situations. They are resourcefful, responsible, in-control and commonly see the bright side of any situation. However, people who are the effect of their own reality often blame external factors, feel out of control and struggle to see the bright side in many situations. The fact is, we can only ever control things that are within our control. This sounds blatantly obvious...and it is, but many people focus on things that are not within their control which often has them feeling miserable, upset and restricted. By looking at things that you can control, you're able to always affect change for yoruself and find ways of creating positive situations. The one constant is that you can always change what you are thinking. We all have the power and ability to do this. One of the most powerful examples of how focussing on a positive I have ever come across was from my days in the forces. I completed a course which was to train soldiers in knowing how to act and behave in the event of becoming captured. We met and were given stories of incredible situations that had occured. Back in the conflict of Vietnam, an american pilot was shot down over a jungle and was taken prisoner by the viet cong. He was stripped naked and help captive within a cage, physically abused, mentally tortured and in a horrible situation. Having found a photograph of his family and some of his details, the captors told him that they were going to abuse his wife, children and family. This went on for not just weeks but years...in fact, almost 10 years. He was completely mentally broken down and conditioned. However, during all this, in his head he decided that a great way to escape the situation was to distract himself. In his own mind, he decided to build and develop a hotel complex in Mexico. He built it brick by brick, hired staff, calculated a rosta, set holiday periods, pay packets, management structure, marketing strategies, client retention programmes and eventually, he turned it into an international franchise. The reality of the situation was horrible, he had very little hope and wasn't aware that the threats against his family were purely loose threats. However, he had full control of what he thought about and mentally focussed on. He knew that focussing on the what he didn't want to know would do him no favours for his own sanity and survival. He knew that getting angry and emotional would lead to further torture and abuse. After over 10 years of being captive, the pilot was eventually released and returned to his healthy and pining family. Remarkably, the pilot was still, after all that horrible exposure, very emotionally balanced on his return and had full sanity.
Needless to say that ideally, being at the 'cause' side and taking responsibility for thoughts, life and reality helps us remain much more focussed on what we want in life and not what we don't want. The mind is an amazing and powerful thing but is something that we are all able to control like a muscle. Before you decide what to think about and spend your emotional energy on, it's always worth while checking that it is what you want. For more on how you can very simply help to motivate or reframe situations for yourself and clients, send me an email and I'd be happy to advise.

Phill

Success in Personal Training

2010-02-21T23:29:00.000-08:00

I've decided to put together a blog that shares some tips and hints that can help people become more successful in Personal Training. After a good few years gaining great success with my own business and then managing a vast number of trainers, I've come across some excellent and some dog poor examples of this thing called PT.
My first hint is one that can save you time. Have a system. One of the greatest trends that I've noticed in personal training is that good trainers spend and dedicate so much time to their clients with programme writing, nutritional planning, writing up reports and much more. However, for some reason, they seem to re-invent the wheel everytime and run themselves into the ground whilst trying to cater for all their clients. Have a system in place that makes your life easier. Not just the consultation as most trainers have at least some format for this. (If you don't already then get one - there are some great examples that you can google to give you pointers). What I mean is, have a structure that has literature that you can just hand to people specific to their goals. It would be quite easy to come up with a set number of general goals that people are looking for: weight loss, increase strength, more energy etc. Why not come up with a starter pack for each of these that discusses nutrition, exercise and how to approach it and lifestyle. This is where the greatest results are made, educating your clients. Not just thrashing your clients or giving them excellent workouts but giving them the information. The more you can guide them towards making the right decisions, the better informed they will be towards making the right choices. However many sessions you have weekly with your clients will not make up for 7 days of bad living. Put the ball in their court and guide them.
Slaving yourself to your clients is risking giving poor service too. The number of trainers who I've seen looking majorly tired is shocking. Turning up tired will almost always result in under performance on the trainers part. Poor coaching won't do you any favours in getting new business or retaining existing business. Having more time to yourself will give you what it takes to feel refreshed and on form when delivering. The best way to do this is through streamlining your systems as much as possible.
I'll chat a little about language patterns and influential ways in which you can get your clients to stick to healthy lifestyle or make the better choices more often.

Phill Wright