Selling the Training Benefit
One of our jobs as fitness coaches and trainers is to convert individuals into lifelong exercisers. This is not an easy task considering that the health and fitness of most citizens is on the decline. Today, I hope to give you my slant on what this process might include.
First I want to use a couple of terms I began using a couple of decades ago. The two terms are integrator and striver.
The integrator is someone who has belief in the benefits of training. They have integrated a training program into their daily, weekly and monthly calendars. They have likely adopted an eating plan that supports their training. They practice good recovery techniques including sleep. Finally, the integrators circle-of-influence are more likely to be integrators too!
Conversely, the striver has not reached the integrator’s level. Their daily, weekly and monthly training ranges from nothing to sporadic. They perceive results as coming too slow and there is a disconnect with the process.
The process for the striver is to move towards the integrator category. The process for the coach or trainer is to move that striver towards the integrator level.
We must get the striver to experience the benefit and develop a value system that believes in this benefit.
Organic Benefits
At least as far back as Dr. Kenneth Cooper, the public started to become aware of the positive physiological changes that came as the result of training. Most everyone recognizes that positive training stress sets the stage for super compensation of the species (see Han Selye’s The Stress of Life).
We improve muscle function, cardiovascular function, hormonal function, immune function, lipase activity and stimulate osteoblast activity. This is only the tip of the iceberg.
It is assumed that those who subscribe to a training program will live longer than sedentary individuals. Unfortunately, there is limited information on longevity and exercise training. One small bit comes form Harvard University. They tracked over 20,000 Harvard graduates. Those who integrated activity were able to add one hour of life for every hour of activity. Seems like a fair trade.
Psychological Benefits
Those who are participating in a training program report improved mood and coping skills. Our minds crave movement, physical challenge and play. Movement enhances blood flow and oxygen exchange bathing the brain with nutrients and balancing important hormone balances.
The integrator carries a positive image of self. Their physical presentation is more appealing to the opposite sex. The candid integrator will most times reveal that a big priority in maintaining a training program is to look good naked!
Work Capacity Benefits
Integrators can demonstrate superior physical work capacity via any number of measurement means. They will have greater cardiac output, greater oxygen processing skills, and more absolute and relative strength among other traits.
Through the training process they have most likely been pushed through new psychological pain barriers. Those who have reached higher levels of CrossFit performance or can run 800 meters at maximum effort know what this mental tug-of-war is all about. The net gain is a mental toughness; a grind-it-out mentality.
The combination of mind and body improved work capacity forges an organism that cannot only outwork their competition but has a never-yielding mental tenacity.
The Hedge Against Sickness Benefits
The superior fitness of the integrator is a hedge against illness and possibly disease. For example, the well individual, possibly a striver, might learn that their blood high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL) is 40mg/dl—a normal reading. The integrator on the other hand will many times sport an HDL reading of 60mg/dl, a value that has superior statistical odds (a hedge) against heart disease.
This hedge can be viewed via a number of laboratory measurements.
Synergy Benefits
Integrators have synergy at work. Those who follow a training routine as a rule begin to evaluate other lifestyle practices. They clean up nutrition practices. They look at sleep. They quit or seriously curtail unhealthy practices with tobacco and alcohol. They are even more likely to wear seatbelts and observe traffic laws. These practices when combined together defy normal mathematical laws. The net outcome is greater than the sum of the parts. In this case 1+1+1 = 4.
I hope that armed with some of these training benefits you might be able to convert at least one more striver towards that integrator status.
The next installment will focus on determining the training program.
First I want to use a couple of terms I began using a couple of decades ago. The two terms are integrator and striver.
The integrator is someone who has belief in the benefits of training. They have integrated a training program into their daily, weekly and monthly calendars. They have likely adopted an eating plan that supports their training. They practice good recovery techniques including sleep. Finally, the integrators circle-of-influence are more likely to be integrators too!
Conversely, the striver has not reached the integrator’s level. Their daily, weekly and monthly training ranges from nothing to sporadic. They perceive results as coming too slow and there is a disconnect with the process.
The process for the striver is to move towards the integrator category. The process for the coach or trainer is to move that striver towards the integrator level.
We must get the striver to experience the benefit and develop a value system that believes in this benefit.
Organic Benefits
At least as far back as Dr. Kenneth Cooper, the public started to become aware of the positive physiological changes that came as the result of training. Most everyone recognizes that positive training stress sets the stage for super compensation of the species (see Han Selye’s The Stress of Life).
We improve muscle function, cardiovascular function, hormonal function, immune function, lipase activity and stimulate osteoblast activity. This is only the tip of the iceberg.
It is assumed that those who subscribe to a training program will live longer than sedentary individuals. Unfortunately, there is limited information on longevity and exercise training. One small bit comes form Harvard University. They tracked over 20,000 Harvard graduates. Those who integrated activity were able to add one hour of life for every hour of activity. Seems like a fair trade.
Psychological Benefits
Those who are participating in a training program report improved mood and coping skills. Our minds crave movement, physical challenge and play. Movement enhances blood flow and oxygen exchange bathing the brain with nutrients and balancing important hormone balances.
The integrator carries a positive image of self. Their physical presentation is more appealing to the opposite sex. The candid integrator will most times reveal that a big priority in maintaining a training program is to look good naked!
Work Capacity Benefits
Integrators can demonstrate superior physical work capacity via any number of measurement means. They will have greater cardiac output, greater oxygen processing skills, and more absolute and relative strength among other traits.
Through the training process they have most likely been pushed through new psychological pain barriers. Those who have reached higher levels of CrossFit performance or can run 800 meters at maximum effort know what this mental tug-of-war is all about. The net gain is a mental toughness; a grind-it-out mentality.
The combination of mind and body improved work capacity forges an organism that cannot only outwork their competition but has a never-yielding mental tenacity.
The Hedge Against Sickness Benefits
The superior fitness of the integrator is a hedge against illness and possibly disease. For example, the well individual, possibly a striver, might learn that their blood high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL) is 40mg/dl—a normal reading. The integrator on the other hand will many times sport an HDL reading of 60mg/dl, a value that has superior statistical odds (a hedge) against heart disease.
This hedge can be viewed via a number of laboratory measurements.
Synergy Benefits
Integrators have synergy at work. Those who follow a training routine as a rule begin to evaluate other lifestyle practices. They clean up nutrition practices. They look at sleep. They quit or seriously curtail unhealthy practices with tobacco and alcohol. They are even more likely to wear seatbelts and observe traffic laws. These practices when combined together defy normal mathematical laws. The net outcome is greater than the sum of the parts. In this case 1+1+1 = 4.
I hope that armed with some of these training benefits you might be able to convert at least one more striver towards that integrator status.
The next installment will focus on determining the training program.
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Michael Rutherford (a.k.a. Coach Rut) is the owner of Boot Camp Fitness. He has over a quarter-century of fitness coaching experience with athletes of all ages. He has also worked in hospital wellness environments and rehabilitation clinics. Rut holds academic degrees in biology, physical education, and exercise physiology and sports biomechanics. He is a USAW-certified Club Coach and is a CrossFit level-3 trainer. |
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