I am a very strong believer that most people do not reach their fitness goals because they do not put enough effort into their exercise regimen and/or have enough diet discipline. In many cases, people in the gym, whether working with a personal trainer or on their own, work at about 40-50% of their maximum workload which just is not enough to make a huge impact on their overall health and fitness goals. If you have been visiting the same gym for a while, take a good look at the majority of the people exercising and if you have paid any amount of attention you will see most people have made very little, if any, changes in the months of their “hard work”. Many people will spend an hour or so in the gym several times per week and some will even use a personal trainer to help them but still with little to no results. So what needs to be done to make a difference in what people are doing to see the results they want?  A good balanced diet is the biggest factor we see people have the most trouble with, but I will not go into detail at this time, I will address this in an upcoming article.

Intensity is the key to seeing the results you want, period! Most people think they are pushing themselves hard when they are in the gym but statistically people only put in about 14-16 minutes of actual work per hour, yes you heard me correctly… 14-16 minutes of work per hour. How is this possible you may ask, here is how it is calculated; take a stop watch and when someone starts an exercise , click start on the stop watch and when they finish the last rep on that set click stop… then wait until they start the next “set” and time it again until the full workout is done and compare the actual time worked compared to the total time spent in the gym. You will see the average resistance actual training time is 14-16 minutes per hour.  To use an example of Bench Press with 10 reps per set, the actual exercise time is about 15-20 seconds (1.5 – 2 seconds per rep) of total work and most people rest between 1.5 – 2.5 minutes between sets. Now figure out how much work is done in 60 minutes with 2 minutes average rest between sets. Heck, for fun only count 1 minute rest between sets and in 60 minutes a person can fit in 45 sets of exercises (45 X (.20 seconds work + 60 rest) = 60 minutes total. Even though doing 45 sets seems like a very high amount, it only equates to 14 minutes of work per hour.  Honestly, who is going to get fit in 14 minutes? This only happens on TV infomercials .
So what is the solution? Why is the Brody method of training different? Why do my clients see results while others, even those with “certified” trainers not see the same outstanding end results? The difference is intensity, accountability, solid information and motivation.

Intensity; each client I work with works at 80+% of their maximum effort levels. 80% of one clients max will not be the same as the 80% of another so each client is treated as an individual and the focus is on them as an individual. If your exercise program is out of a magazine it is not designed for you and most likely it will fail. If your trainer does not know what your maximum abilities are or follows the 20 second on 1-2 minutes rest rule you will never see the results you want.

Accountability; when a client comes to me saying they want to get fit, lose weight, gain muscle… whatever it might be we sit down and come up with a plan to reach that goal and I explain what is going to be expected of them and if they can’t or I should say won’t follow the guidelines there is a 99% chance I won’t bother wasting my time or their money going any further. Why buy a fancy sports car and put water in the gas tank? If you are going to spend the time and money, put premium fuel in the tank which will allow you to drive the car like it should be driven.

Solid Information; this is very simple only valid, science based and practical information is provided to my clients. I do not follow diet trends because we all know how those turn out. Low Carb, No Carb, High Fat, High Protein, No Meat, All Meat, No Dairy, etc.. etc… these “tricks” just don’t work long term if at all. Solid nutrition, solid advice is what are needed not trendy diet pills and drinks.

Motivation; as a personal trainer my job is to focus your drive into your program. I am not a cheer leader that is there to tell you that you are doing a good job when you are just going through the motions of each exercise. My job is to help push you through when you are ready to quit and you have two reps or 10 seconds left on a circuit.  I am not there to hold your hand or be your friend but to make sure you do what you need to do to reach your fitness goals. You may not like that I tell you having a beer with dinner is hurting your diet but my job is not to make you happy my job is to help you get to where you want to be in your health and shape.

My job as a personal trainer is to devote my time and attention to you 100% during each and every session we train together, not off talking to other people in the gym, not talking on my phone during YOUR paid session and not watching TV while you are finishing your set. Also in addition to the time we spend at the gym/home, wherever our training session takes place, I am available 24/7 for any health or life related question that may impact your overall well being. Healthy mind, healthy body! It is all inter-related.

I challenge you to re-evaluate your current fitness program if you are working on your own and see if you are spending quality time in the gym actually exercising or just quantity of time physically hanging out and getting a little work done each day. If you are working with a trainer, during your next couple of sessions make a mental note if your trainer walks off to talk to others, do they talk on the phone or text during your session and do they answer all your questions with proof of why/how/when? Is your exercise routine custom designed to fit your needs or is it a general routine that they use for all their clients?
My goal is to help as many people as I can while I am able too. We have one life to live so let’s make the most out of every day and do the best we possibly can.