My personal and professional experience as a certified private personal trainer and sports nutritionist have convinced me that becoming fit, and sustaining fitness, is more behavioral than physical. How can this be? We are constantly exposed to nutritional and exercise commercials promising great changes.

 The fact is, obesity is still on the rise in America and spreading to our children, despite the use of magical nutritional programs, exercise videos, miracle pills, and supplements. The answer lies within people’s behaviors. I found this to be true in my consulting career with large businesses, and now I find the same patterns in my personal training clients.

Nearly everything that is associated with fitness is focused on the physical aspect of fitness development. Media focuses on exercise machines and exercise videos, as well as, nutritional programs that provide for every possible need. Yet, when I talk with people who start a program like P90X the majority of them end up quitting halfway through the program, if not sooner. P90X is an extreme workout program that I personally used to lose weight and gain muscle. So, why did I make it through the program while others did not? They answer lies in mental attitude. At the point in my life I decided to use P90X, I had tried everything in the world. P90X was appealing, but the key was my mental attitude to succeed in transforming my body. At this point in my life, I was ready. Three years earlier, I would have been the person who quit halfway through the program. Why would I have quit? Priorities were different in my life. I had a career that was demanding a lot of time and energy. I wasn’t experiencing any issues with health. My family time and children were important at the time. Nothing made me feel like I needed to change my life. Consequently gaining weight wasn’t a problem.

My change began gradually. It happened when I began to realize people on the airplane were horrified when they saw me coming down the isle, and the only seat was the middle seat between the two of them. I was always tired and had difficulty attending my children’s events. The kicker, my doctor told me during a physical, that if I didn’t lose weight I would have to go on blood pressure medicine. He then proceeded to tell me to decide which hospital I would be selecting for treatment. He was sure I would need the treatment if I didn't change.

Many of my clients are the same way. They choose to use me not for physical reasons, but psychological reasons. Oh, the first words out of their mouth are, “I want to become fit”, but it doesn’t take long to realize what they really want is to drop four dress sizes, or fit into a new swimsuit, or slip into old clothes they used to wear. Often they become concerned about their marital relationships, or how attractive they are as they age if they are single. Believe me motivation comes in many forms, but rarely is it physical, e.g. I need to be healthier. It is nearly always attributed to a psychological need.

If needs were primarily physical my life as a personal trainer would be much easier. Our bodies are generally the same, with the same needs physically. Outside of a few differences, e.g. estrogen for women the body does not discriminate based on race, sex, national origin, education, etc. Unless you are an anomaly your appendix is, or was, in your lower right quadrant of your body. All of us use glucose as our primary source of energy for the body. The liver serves the same function for all of us. With this in mind, it is easy to gather some basic facts, e.g. age, gender, weight, height, body fat percentage, scale weight, and body circumference measurements. Once this information is known you can calculate a basal metabolic rate, targeted heart rate, calories needed, and caloric burn from exercise. Depending on your goal, e.g. weight loss, body fat loss, increased muscle mass, etc. you determine your calorie need, exercise routine, and nutritional program to meet your goal. Voilà, you have a program that will transform your body, right? Well the answer is maybe. The maybe depends on whether you execute the program and are consistent over time. This takes fitness into the realm of psychology.

Recently I was talking to a bartender (yes, I do have a vodka martini every now and then) and asked what he had done to shape up, and become cut. In talking to him it was evident he was learning about what worked for him as he was improving. He started by reducing carbohydrates and fats, and focusing on protein intake in his diet. His calories dropped to about 1,500 calories. He also ran in the morning and completed his resistance routine in the evening. He dropped thirty pounds of fat and went into single-digit body fat percentage. What made this conversation interesting was the amount of education he gained. He monitored his body fat and weight regularly. He knew what his daily calorie intake was. His body served as a signal to him, e.g. his energy level was low, but he was seeing his abs. The motivation was psychological.

Even more interesting was his discussion about why he did this. Being bulkier was not what he was looking for. A leaner, cut look was more appealing to him. Neither body style is based on a physical need the body has. A point not to be lost is his education about how nutrition and exercise affected his body, and how that related to his psychological need to have a lean cut looking body. He had a clear vision of how he wanted to look. He developed a plan based on his knowledge about his physical body. Then he developed a strategy for achieving his vision and learned what worked, and did not work, along the way. His motivation was not primarily the body’s needs, but rather a look, a psychological motivation.

Obviously, our bartender prioritized his appearance over other factors that could have become barriers, e.g. time, work. He made his plan work, because he wanted it to work. Barriers like time, work, family, and events are excuses. When clients offer these as reasons for not exercising or following their assigned nutritional program, I sit them down and we go over their schedule. Guess what, they seem to find thirty minutes here and there to squeeze in an exercise program, or prepare the right meals in advance.

Changing eating habits is harder. Habits by definition are psychological. We associate eating with pleasurable experiences like eating out with friends, or good tastes like ice cream. During the course of our lives, the pleasurable experiences are reinforced positively and we are hooked. We have a habit, the same type of habit a drug user or cigarette smoker has. It requires the same effort to change that habit. The only difference is, you cannot stop eating. You can change how much you eat, how frequently, and what you eat.

Becoming and staying fit is not easy. It is like any worthwhile goal it takes effort, commitment, and dedication. You have to know what you are doing. Of course, you can pay someone like me thousands of dollars a year to make those decisions for you, but that is not the right solution. I encourage my clients to become less dependent on me, because I know they have to understand how to become fit to remain fit. In their profession, they spend time and money to become more knowledgeable,and consequently more valuable, e.g. they earn more money. The same effort and energy focused on fitness yields a great return also, your health, wellness, and a quality of life as you age.

Because fitness is more psychological, you have to be clear -- and honest -- about your motivation for fitness. Knowledge is critical to developing fitness. In my book Building a Strategy for Fitness: A Model to Reach and Sustain Total Fitness and Health, I emphasize your need to develop a strategic approach to fitness. When you take time to plan, your motivation is stronger because you are clear about your psychological needs. Being organized and in control has a powerful impact on your ability to succeed. This is true in managing your finances; it is true in managing your fitness and health.

Understand that becoming fit is more psychological than physical. When you establish clear goals, establish a strategy for achieving fitness, the physical aspect of fitness becomes easier. Don’t make the mistake of just jumping into a nutrition or exercise program. It is a sure fire formula for failure. Definitely don’t fall for all the gimmicks the media offers for quick fix solutions like the best abs machine, lose weight without exercising, guaranteed nutritional programs, and all those thousands of videos that have great looking models working out behind the instructors. Every one of those commercials is playing to your psychological innocence. Be smarter, take control of your own fitness. Set goals, be clear about your motivation, establish a strategic plan for fitness, and then execute the plan. I promise the physical will become easier and more exciting.

Vic Vogel is an NFPT -certified personal trainer and Sports Nutritionist. He conducts private personal training primarily for adults aging from those in their forties to tthose in their sixties. Vic’s focus is to eliminate obesity. Starting at age 58, and a weight of 315 pounds, he lost over 110 pounds and left a successful career in business consulting to become a personal trainer. Vic has a background in the U.S. Army Special Forces, and has been active in martial arts for over 25 years, where he taught private classes and self-defense. Vic’s personal training practice targets middle aged, and older, individuals. He has a Masters Degree from the University of Oklahoma, and lives in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma where he conducts private personal training. He is the CEO of Victor L. Vogel & Associates, Inc. and Principal in Strategyforfitness.com, DBA Strategy for fitness.

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written by This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , September 10, 2010

What a great article- really hits the nail on the head. I see so many people join the gym as their new years resolution and the same thing usually happens. They start off way too intensely and then give up all together. Versus the alternative, which is starting off gradually and making it a part of their life for good.

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written by jjh5112, October 08, 2010

Very well written! I am new to the PT business but took some advice from a vet and only contract with clients who have a real desire to change, ie before contracting I want to know the "why". I have passed on a few when I preceived the "why" to be weak. Thanks

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