Eat Your Salad For Breakfast – Your New Weight Loss Strategy

Ok, so I don’t often get excited about weight loss strategies or weight loss books – but I have a new theory on how to get my clients in shape fast and I am pretty excited about it.

It has to do with breakfast (the most important meal of the day) and salad (one of the easiest ways to get your veggies into you).

If weight loss is important to you, this may be the easiest and fastest way to make a positive change in the relationship between you and your bathroom scale.

Ok little buddy. Lets just hug it out and try again in a few days, ok?

The new most important meal of the day:  the breakfast salad!

Now, before you scoff heartily at my preposterous suggestion, ponder this. What do you normally eat for breakfast?  Chances are it’s a high carb, quick burning meal that you scoff down without really chewing or enjoying.  Or nothing.

When do you normally eat lunch?

Is there a lot of activity you need to do (mental and/or physical) that might require a sharp mind and/or energized body?

If you were to run a marathon, would you eat nothing for 14 hours beforehand?

Tell me that doesn't look better than a bowl of soggy cheerios!

If you eat dinner then skip breakfast, that is exactly what you are doing when you show up to work with an empty stomach, work for 3-4 hours then desperately claw at the starbucks counter for something less than healthy to quickly refill your energy stores (9pm dinner, 11am lunch = 14 hours time difference – you never thought of it like that, did you?)

The whole ‘breakfast is the most important meal of the day’ battle is not what I want this article to be about, so if you don’t believe me then try finding research that supports NOT eating breakfast.   I would be interested to hear what you find…

Back to my brekky salad suggestion. I am going to make it easy for you.  Just watch this video and you will see exactly how I make it.  This is in two parts because it is all done in one shot.

Some things just don't go well in a salad. Cats would be included in the list of exclusions.

I haven’t used any tv magic or any ‘here’s one we made earlier’ tricks like that.  Just throwing it together and getting it done.

Right about now would probably be a good time to note that I am no Giada (I certainly don’t have her cooking skills, nor do I have her cleavage) but hopefully what you see you will find useful and will inspire you to believe that you can do it too.

Making time for being healthy is a matter of priorities.  Here’s a tip for those that are tight on time:

Get to bed 15 minutes earlier so you can get up 15 minutes earlier so you have 15 minutes in the morning to make this salad.

Alternatively, you can always prepare things on sunday and cook them up monday tuesday if you are really strapped for time early in the morning.   There really is no excuse for not at least trying this.  Let me say that again:

There really is no excuse for not at least trying this.  What’s the worst that could happen?

Or maybe I should ask you this: If you were  to start eating a high fiber, healthy filling and nutritious breakfast salad, what’s the best thing that might happen?

Toss it around and chomp it up. Salads can do your body good on multiple levels.

And now, for your cooking pleasure/amusement (drumroll please)

Jamie’s Breakfast Salad!

Big ol’ handful of spinach

2 rashers of turkey bacon, sliced into 1 x 2 inch strips

2 spoonfuls of onion, diced & washed

1/4 avocado, chopped

1 ‘drizzling’ of olive oil (reminds me of a joke – why does snoop dogg carry an umbrella?  Fo’ drizzle.  If you don’t get that one, tell your kids.  I will let them explain it to you).

salt/pepper/braggs amino acids to taste

Heat pan to medium.  Cook turkey bacon, then eggs, then onions.

Stir in frypan until done.

Think happy thoughts about your own health.

Chop egg into small pieces and place over salad with onion and bacon.

Flavor, drizzle, enjoy.

Not too hard, right?  Just toss together (literally!) some healthy ingredients and you have a salad ready to go!

And of course, what is one of the tenements, the most sacred of commandments when trying to lose weight and get into your skinny jeans?

Eat your veggies!  Eat more fiber!  Eat breakfast!  Eat healthy foods!  Well, dear reader – welcome to the jackpot 🙂

Want to try it for yourself or make your own Brekky Salad?

Here’s what you need:

BASE:

Base of spinach/lettuce/some kind of leafy green

PROTEIN:

A smattering of protein, could be beef, chicken, egg, salmon, manatee, anything works really.

If you are vegetarian you could use sesame seeds/walnuts/almonds/pine nuts/soy bacon/garbanzo beans – want me to keep going?

OTHER VEGGIE GOODNESS:

Some other (possibly sauteed) veggies  such as peppers/onions/grape tomatoes/cucumber/asparagus… the list is really only limited by your imagination.

EXTRA FLAVOR:

You can use Braggs amino acids as I have recommended in the video, but alternatively you could just use herbs/spices/fat free dressing/fat filled dressing.

Really can’t go wrong here folks, just don’t go crazy with it and let the flavors of the salad shine through rather than drench it in dressing.

If you want to be leaner than where you are, you can help yourself out by eating better than what you are.

So what inspired this spark of nutritional creativity?  Well, to be honest the concept of eating veggies at breakfast isn’t anything new.  All I have done is proposed a larger ratio of vegetables to protein (ever had an omelet with veggies folded into it?  This is just like that but with more veggies and without the muffin and jam on the side).

We all know we need our veggies, this is just a way to get them in at the start of the day – you get a great filling meal, the confidence of knowing you are already well on your way to having lots of veggies and fiber for the day (just like all those healthy eating commercials say you are supposed to) and hopefully it didn’t take too long to make and enjoy!

6700kg of salad makes up the worlds largest salad. Dammit, I ordered the dressing on the side! Send it back!

EVERYTHING IN MODERATION

Before you start getting defensive and waving your Captain Crunch box above your head and saying something about “prying it from my cold, dead hands” just think of this.

Don’t Overcomplicate This

You don’t have to eat a salad for brekky every day.  But wouldn’t it be great it you did it just a couple of times a week? I think that is something any of us can manage to do.

If not because it is quick and easy, then because your body will thank you for it, your energy level will be higher and your hair will be shinier and the opposite sex will find you immediately more attractive.

Ok, some of those promises may or may not necessarily be true… but if you believed they could be, would that make you make and eat your very own brekky salad?  That’s what I thought 🙂

Yours in health,

Jamie Atlas

Work in an Office & have Back or Knee Pain? Here’s why

If You Work in an Office and have Back or Knee Pain, then this blog post contains my four most popular blog posts that provides solutions for how to survive.  This will help you understand and deal with back or knee related symptoms you may be experiencing.

If I may, I would like to say a big thank you to you readers first before jumping in:  a couple of days ago ago my blog site https://jamieatlas.wordpress.com hit the 85,000 hits mark.

Imagine that – 85,000 hits on a website that contains nothing but my own content?  People coming to my site with nowhere to turn but to read the twisted meanderings of my own mind?  Surely there is something in the Geneva convention humanitarian laws that stops me from making people suffer like this 🙂

So to try and make up for my lack of obnoxiousness, here are 4 of my favorite posts on my blog website for you to read, should you feel the urge/courage to see the written carnage these poor readers have had to endure 🙂

Copy and paste the below links into your browser to read the actual blog posts:

have you seen my workout card? It's a red workout card...

A blog article for my officebound peeps:

Six ways to stop your office job from killing you

Sandra felt strangely suspicious that her boyfriends advice of 'walking around the house topless' would not actually do anything to help her back pain, but she tried it nonetheless...

Why high heels can play havoc with your lower back:

High Heels are Ruining your Posture and Feet: Here’s Why

"Well Doc, the knee hurts a little bit, but to tell the truth I am more worried about this strange red glow coming out of it!"

Ever wondered exactly how knee pain can come about?  Here’s a bit of information you might not have known about:

https://jamieatlas.wordpress.com/2009/03/02/knee-pain-often-comes-from-foot-problems-an-explanation/

"they may take away our lives.. but they'll never take... our right to read the Fitness Insights by Jamie Atlas blog! Rrrrhhhaaaaaaaaayyyy!

A personal favorite for anyone who has tried to change something in their lives but felt judged by others:

https://jamieatlas.wordpress.com/2009/05/20/your-weight-loss-mindset-pt-1-fk-you-for-judging-me/

Warning: this last ‘judging’ blog article in have listed above includes the word f**k – it’s kind of like the word f*$k or the word f$@k but not like the word s&*t or $#&^ (wow, don’t know what that last one even means…  Must be really bad if I had to block out all the letters though!)

Of course, if by some strange masochistic tendency you would like to read other posts I create, you could always be a good net citizen (netizen?) and subscribe to my blog…  ahhh, the strategy unfolds 🙂

If you are one of these folk, just click the link below to get an inconspicuous email in your email inbox whenever I write a new fascinating insightful blog post (don’t panic, it usually happens about once every week/2 weeks)

http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=wordpress%2FyQXQ

Thanks for checking out my blog and being a reader!  It makes me feel like you understand me a bit better… Now, if I can just get you to open up and talk more about your mother and why she doesn’t call me anymore…

Jamie Atlas

PS Oh, you clicked on this subscribe link, right?  Just double checking 😉

PPS Have I told you the new official webcam personal training website is up and running now?  You can personal train from your very own house and not pay high priced rates!

Orbis LifeFitness:  $5.99 Webcam to Webcam training and free orientations now available.
www.orbislifefitness.com

The Last Exercise Workout Program & Routine You Will Ever Need.

Are your results in the gym starting to stagnate? Feeling like you aren’t improving despite your best efforts? Losing motivation?

This youtube video explains how to get 52 workouts and 52 how to videos for each workout:

Is your workout feeling like it is not giving you exercise or results you need to keep your routine fresh?

As an exercise physiologist, I have had the opportunity to work with a large variety of athletes and people just beginning to exercise. I have noticed that many people do not change their workouts frequently, and when they do, they tend to change the workout in a way that actually increases their chance of injury! Not changing your workout is inefficient and potentially dangerous for the following reasons:

Your body adapts to the workout and your results fade

By not changing the exercises, your muscles adapt and your body uses less calories with each workout. Simply increasing the weight or changing an exercise is not enough. The science of program design is an exact one that requires certain elements to be changed at different times through your workout cycle.

By doing the same exercises over and over again, you use the same joints in the same way and increase wear and tear

If you use the same machines and cardio equipment, you can increase the risk of injury by overusing your joints in certain ways. You also ignore other muscles that do not get trained by certain exercises. It is important your joints can adapt as the body strengthens – if your joints are not working properly, working out will only increase the risk of injury even greater. To make sure you have a clear, scientifically structured path for peak results, I have designed 52 workouts that are to be done each week and progresses in the correct way to ensure proper progression and maximal results.

An example of one of the exercises used in the 52 workout program

Exercise workout programs are usually done incorrectly due to lack of/absence of correct instruction – go too hard for certain exercises and you may decrease your total calorie output due to over-exhaustion of key muscles preventing you from peak performance.

With each workout you get an easy to follow instructional video (in ipod and online format) explaining how to do the workout – every exercise and every stretch features important technique tips.

an example of one of the workouts offered

Purchase in the month of May and receive a bonus video that explains how to ‘tweak’ each of these programs to get the very best results, whether it is improving muscle tone, burning fat or working on your posture.

How much for 52 workouts and 52 how to videos? $104 – exactly $2 per workout.

If you are interested please email jatlas@orbislifefitness.com or respond to this post.

Yours in health,

Jamie Atlas

Personal Trainers: Nice Guy vs The Oppressor Which is better?

I have been around the world a few times thanks to the fitness industry.  I have presented at and attended all manner of fitness conferences where a personal trainer could be found and spoken with.  At the risk of categorizing my own industry, two main kinds of people are becoming personal trainers nowadays.  It seems to me that the modern personal trainer tends to fall into one of two categories.  The ‘nice guy’ or the ‘oppressor’.

I started thinking about it after watching this VERY funny video titled:  “fitness made difficult”

Now personally, I like the ‘nice guy’ approach from fitness experts – I however do not deal with athletes anymore, preferring the satisfaction of helping an at home mother reclaim her sense of life than helping some gym jockey gain a few inches on his vertical jump.   That approach doesn’t always win me clients, but it is who I am and well… that’s me 🙂

The oppressor is an approach that sometimes wins better devotees (if I am being honest) I think that I see people spout volumes on certain industry gurus who present in a very ‘dominating’ manner, stating theories as if they were facts and taking the approach that anyone who might dare challenge them or (gasp) ask a question would risk having their own heart pulled beating from their chest before they had a chance to even put their hand back down.

I think part of it is human nature.  Let’s look at two very popular fitness experts and see which one is getting more press:

There’s Bob…   and there’s Jillian:

Ahh.. poor innocent Bob. This picture was taken of him right before Jillian ate him as her 'between lunch and dinner' snack.. so innocent... so happy.

Both personal trainers actually have an equal amount of knowledge (and an amazing amount of marketing know-how!), but one of them is known for being a ball-buster and making people do things that make me want to cringe.  And not in a way that is a good cringe (is there a good cringe?) but

more in an “oh god make her stop doing that please no I can hear her kneecaps crumbling from here” kind of a cringe

Of course, if I had to say which one is winning the popularity contest?  It would be Jillian.  If I had to say which one I would rather have over to dinner?  It would be Bob – maybe because I am a nice guy too and us nice guys got to look out for each other (Bob, if you are ever in the area it would be great to connect – my wife makes a mean tofu lasagna!)

How about you?  Do you have a favorite personal trainer who is mean/nice?  Which do you prefer and why?

Would you prefer if that drill sargeant would show a hint of fragility every now and then just to remind you that there really is a person behind that whistle blowing spandex wearing exterior?

Or would you rather your nice guy personal trainer got down and gritty every now and then to let you know they meant business?

And if so, why? Something to think about, definitely 🙂

Yours in health,

Jamie Atlas

Weight Loss Mindset pt2: Don’t Be that Combover Guy/Girl

So after I posted pt1:  F**k you for judging me, I had a few requests to show pt2 of the new weight loss mindset I am recommending to my clients:  Don’t Be that Combover Guy/Girl.

But what’s in a Combover?

If you think about it for a second, what do you think when you see a combover?  In Japan they call it ‘bar code hair’ (for obvious but slightly humorous reasons).

You may not have the same problem with your hair. But how common is this approach when it comes to addressing our weight loss goals?

Now, let me say this right off the bat.  If you want to lose weight then you have a choice to make.  Eat the right things or eat the wrong things.  You can try to convince yourself that a bran muffin is good for you, but the truth is you are still eating cake for breakfast.  End of story.  If you are going to take the minute out of your life to read this, know that I write this for those who honestly want to lose weight but have trouble making the decisions they KNOW to be right.

Let me roll back to the conversation that started all this with Susan B – we talked about not giving the power to people that might judge us (of course, I said this in a less savory manner in the pt1 post).  But next was the fact that when it came to attending social gatherings Susan felt she had to eat similar things than other people or risk drawing attention to herself and being judged by others in regards to her weight loss attempt.

Catch 22 (once again):

By ordering the same ice cream/glass of wine as our friends in a social gathering, we reduce the chance of drawing attention to ourselves and our potential weight problem.

But by ordering something different we draw attention to ourselves and have worry that other people will notice it and suddenly look at us differently.

You know where I am coming from.  You have ordered a food because other people are enjoying that food.  But of course, this puts you in a situation where you feel conflicted – you want to be true to your plan, but you feel other people will look at you and it will highlight the fact that you are trying to lose weight, because you are overweight and inferior (somehow) to them.

Here’s what I say.  The guy who is losing his hair should just shave it off.  He should just flaunt his hair loss and embrace it -Wear his shiny noggin with pride, like Captain Picard:

Ahh, Picard. Tell me this guy doesn't embody the image of a proud bald man.

Let’s put it this way.

If you have a significant amount of weight to lose and you find yourself in a situation where you have a decision to make, choose the healthy decision and announce it to all.

Don’t hide your healthy choice, embrace it and exhibit it.  Don’t act as if you don’t recognize you have a few pounds to lose.

Some things to say:

Man, that donut sure looks good, but the gang at Weight Watchers would go crazy if I told them I ate that.  You enjoy it for me and tell me how good it is after it’s gone.

If you want to pull medical authority into it:

My doctor asked me to try laying off things with sugar/fat/things that make your heart stop.  I mean, it wouldn’t help me to eat that, right?

At which point the people in your group will say things like ‘no, you don’t have any weight to lose’ and at which point you can say ‘well thanks for saying that but I know I’m not where I should be.  If I eat something like a double thickshake with whipped cream then I wont be doing myself any favors, that’s for sure’.

At which point they will feel bad for eating ice cream in front of you.  But that’s not your problem.  It’s theirs.  Let them deal with their problems and you with yours.

Last but not least, you can just straight out lie:

Oh man, I would love to have me some of those chitluns, but truth be told I’m trying to lose weight and that isn’t exactly on my approved food list.  You enjoy though – you can eat stuff like that, I can’t – not right now, anyway.

By embracing our plan and our intention we encourage support for our efforts, not pity.  So accept that people know you are overweight.  Don’t try to hide it or talk around it.  Grab that fat and say to your friends and family “see this?  It’s called fat, and I have more of it than I want.  But I am trying to get rid of it by eating healthy and exercising.  So don’t expect me to go with you to joe’s deep fry shack anytime soon, ok?’

By being the Picard and not the Combover you show your strength, your desire.  You also put yourself in a position where people know you are trying to change.  You won’t get positive support from everyone, but who knows, you might just find support from different people in the most unlikely of places.

Accept that you are in a certain place.  You don’t have to accept being in that place.

But above all, let people know that you know they know.  And then they will know that you know they know. Which gives you freedom to make healthy choices without guilt or fear of judgment of your character.

And now you know 🙂

Yours in health,

Jamie Atlas

P.S.  I will post soon on the third and final strategy she is also going to implement, one that I call ‘the seizure’.  This one addresses the moments that make a difference in world and how we can harness them for great change over time.

To view pt1 of this article click here

If you want to make sure you see part 3 of this blog article the second I post it you can always subscribe by clicking here.

Hugh Jackman’s Training Secrets – the Mental & the Physical

Hugh Jackman has an amazing physique.   I don’t need to tell you that.  What is interesting to me (and millions of women and a significant number of envious men) is the tactics and training secrets he used to get it.  Although he used some fundamental methods for his diet, he did some interesting things mentally to get there.

Oh yeah, he uses deodorant - and he's not afraid to let you cop a whiff

Hugh has used his close friend Mike Ryan as his personal trainer for many years – although Mike is not necessarily an internationally known trainer, he knows fundamentals – and he deserves a big gold star for the work he has done with Hugh.  A nice guy as well.

Here’s the short version of how Mike Ryan built “a new Hugh”:

Nutrition:

Hugh ate 6 meals a day, boiled chicken and veggies.  Every day.  The guy got up at 4am to eat egg whites before he would go back to sleep for his 6am workout.

Physical:

Hugh’s body is even more amazing if you consider he just turned 40 and is 6’3″.  Normally smaller guys put on muscle more easily, while taller guys have to work harder to lay muscle down.  It would seem this challenge has been overcome by Mr Jackman, however.

As you can tell, Hugh has taken care of himself quite well. Ok, look away now... go on, you can do it... loooook awwwaaaaayyyy.

Compound movements for 1 hour a day at 6 am, 6 days a week.

The workouts were generally broken down as follows:

Day 1:  Upper compound movements

Day 2:  Lower compound movements and core

Day 3:  Full body.

Repeat for 5 weeks then give 1 week of yoga, pilates and light workouts before changing exercises cycling again – but keeping principles the same.

Here’s what is really interesting about his weight.  He actually weighed less than normal for the movie!  Micheal Ryan explains how:

“Hugh’s weight has actually dropped over 4 kilograms since we began training for Wolverine. However we use a body scanning machine that has proven we have only lost .3 of a kilogram of muscle through that weight loss period so it is predominantly body fat that has gone. Initially we concentrated on building muscle and there was a significant increase in muscle mass so we’re happy with the results”.

(Source:  http://www.vitaco.com.au/topics/muscle/news/bulking+up/hugh+jackman+bulks+up+for+wolverine.htm)

So although Hugh lost 4kg (about 9lbs), he only lost .3kg (1 lb) of muscle along the way.  Meaning he kept his muscle relatively steady as he lost fat.

What does this mean to us?  It means that if you lose weight, know that a key percentage of that weight loss is muscle loss.

go on. You tell him his haircut looks silly. Dare ya.

Even someone like Hugh Jackman working his tail off cannot keep from losing some muscle as he sheds pounds.

The tough part is that with less muscle you burn less calories, have less energy, lower metabolism and run the risk of being ‘flabby but fit’ meaning you have lost weight but have lost tone along with it.’

The key part of the muscle game:  Mental

Hugh trains hard.  But he draws inspiration from an interesting source:  his character.

“I work out imagining I’m Wolverine,” Jackman told Access Hollywood. “Wolverine to me is the guy that when everybody else quits, that’s where he begins.” The result: lots of bare-chested sceen time showcasing his rippling muscles and a naked scene that reveals (almost) all. His prep work was so successful, says Reynolds, that Jackman, 40, “looked a lot like a guy who was going to make a necklace out of my teeth.”

If you were to think about drawing motivation to get you focused for your workouts to help you get the most out of your body and the time you invested in your workout, what animal would it be?

Would you be a tiger?  A gazelle?  A wombat?

If we are taking a leaf out of Hughs book, then maybe what matters most is that you live it and live it good.  The results will speak for themselves, that is certainly assured.  The only question left is this:

Can your ‘inner animal’ lead you over the fences that come from years of bad habits?

What would it take to give that inner animal the strength you are looking for?

Yours in health,

Jamie Atlas

To read an article that gives some ideas on how to create your own indvidual weight loss plan click here

Do you dare to keep up to date with other articles I post?  Subscribe to this blog by clicking here!

Physical Therapist vs Personal Trainer pt 4: Building a bridge

The past few posts I have been writing about physical therapists and personal trainers quite loosely and have ruffled some feathers, it would seem.

I have received about 500 hits in the past 24 hours on just this post alone:

https://jamieatlas.wordpress.com/2009/05/07/the-ugly-truth-about-personal-trainers-and-physical-therapists

It got some people rather outraged – enough to write some pretty strong criticism of my non-physical therapist perspective.  But I welcome this.  I appreciate any comments people make.. just leave my mother out of it next time, ok?  😉

Here’s how I see the roles of physical therapist and the personal trainer

Right now there is a problem (and you can’t blame it on me – phew!)

I (as a personal trainer) have people asking for help with problems a physical therapist should be dealing with and physical therapists I refer out to who are dealing with clients that should be seeing a personal trainer instead (a qualified one, not some dumbbell jockey with a weekend cert).

It’s a problem because personal trainers and physical therapists are getting annoyed with each other…  Like ‘egg your house at halloween’ kind of annoyed (yep, that bad).  So rather than put myself under the microscope again, let me ask for help from YOU.

We need to connect the two worlds so they can know and trust when to pass off people and to who.

But I want you to help me (and any others) to build a bridge between the therapists and the trainers (and others perhaps).

I need your opinion on:

What personal trainers / physical therapists need to do to improve their communication with each other.

The two groups don’t really talk with each other, but rather tend to talk at each other.   If there is to be a smooth transition back and forth (which means more business and better outcomes for us all) then we must have communication.  Let’s talk in a way that helps us connect and improve rather than criticizes and encourages hostility between the two.

Let me open the batting and say this:

Any physical therapist in the Denver area is more than welcome to one of my personal training sessions for free & I will take you through a workout while we discuss theory, technique and all matters physical & personal,then have a nice cup of tea afterwards.

Who else wants to tell us what personal trainers and physical therapists need to know about ourselves (and each other!)
Bring it!  We need to know these things!

Personal Trainer vs Physical Therapist pt 3: the Deathmatch

So in the philosophical debate between physical therapists and personal trainers, it would seem that there are either two choices:  a Deathmatch or a team hug.  Personally, I prefer hugs.  But for the sake of healthy argument lets have a few swings before we buy each other a beer and call it evens…

One of my readers ‘Selena’ wrote an excellent response to my last post (see my responses in blue below)

There isn’t an “ugly” truth between physical therapists and personal trainers.

Truth #1: Physical therapists are licensed providers of care.

Very true!  Physical Therapist are licensed providers of care and also jolly good fellows (which nobody can deny).  But aren’t personal trainers licensed at some level of care?  Even if it is just checking to see if they can touch their toes or if they have any history of heart disease?

Truth #2: The educational background for physical therapists has evolved to the point where physical therapists graduate with a doctorate in physical therapy.

100% agreed – a huge issue is that personal trainers nowadays can have a degree or a weekend cert and the public does not know the difference.  Point to you Selena, well said!

Truth #3: Fellowships and residencies are now post-graduate options for physical therapists.

Ok so this is an extension of #2, so let me ask if these physical therapists are going to actually make their money back on their education or just become professional students.

I mean, any physical therapist will tell you that if they accept insurance then they live according to what scraps the measly, scrooge-like insurance company will begrudgingly toss their way after treating the client with all their heart and soul.

So I will give you a point, yes – they can be very very educated.  But is that to a point where they become so specialized that they become true experts at one very small range and not necessarily what their true market might need?  Educational point to Selena, Philosophical point to be further discussed I think.

Truth #4: Literature indicates that physical therapists are just as well-versed and qualified at evaluating patients with orthopaedic complaints as orthopaedic surgeons.

Ok so I dont want to sling mud at anyone, but are you trying to say that PT’s are as good as Orthopaedic surgeons?  Or are you saying that orthopaedic surgeons are not very good at evaluating patients?  I know the surgeon that wanted to operate on my back after three visits wasnt really helping me feel the love.  Especially since on his desk he had magazines of luxury cars..  I still swear I heard him say ‘I think we need to get you into leather upholstery.. I mean surgery!’

Besides which I am not trying to say that injured people should use personal trainers, but that physical therapists generally are not taught how to get a person to peak fitness – just to ‘not in pain anymore’ fitness.  There is a difference, right?
Truth #5: Physical therapists are knowledgeable about the impact various co-morbidities have on pain and function (i.e. diabetes, congestive heart failure, multiple sclerosis, dialysis, osteoporosis, balance deficits, cerebrovascular accidents, post-operative healing, pharmacological side effects, osteoarthritis, central versus peripheral pain mechanisms, depression anxiety, fear…)

Ok I gotta contest this one.  I can agree that they study it, but I would argue that they dont use it to help people get to their healthiest.

Now I agree that personal trainers should know all of the above.  I think the industry is moving towards that.   So although physical therapists may know more, they dont necessarily get to use that knowledge nor do they use it to help people achieve peak fitness.
Truth #6: Exercise is easy… the skill is in knowing what exercise, when, at what intensity, at what duration, how often, in what manner and the effect the exercise will have on the sometimes multiple co-morbidities.

Now come on.  Exercise is easy?  Have you been to a gym recently?  Did you know that only 16% of the population belongs to a gym?  That we have never had more opportunities to exercise but have record obesity across the globe?

I say that the skill is not in the mechanics you outlay, but in the application to the person behind the flesh and bones and finding the motivation within them to rise to a level greater than they had previously acheived. But I recognize your point in regards to multiple co-morbidities (nice word by the way!  I am totally going to use that one if you don’t mind) however for people with no ‘morbidities’, does a personal trainer become the right option?  (ahh, the moment of zen, where we can consider things in a different light, if ever so briefly).

Truth #7: Physical therapists also aim at educating patients to such a degree that patients can be safe and can independently exercise within their abilities taking into consideration any co-morbidities.

Nup.  You lost me.  When I work with personal training clients I often ask what they do and they show me an old photocopy of some textbook exercises that the therapist gave them to do… 6 months ago.  Now, you may be an exception Selena (and I am sure you are, with all the excellent points and arguments you are making) but I think we can both agree that Physical therapists educate as much as their budget will allow and that they dont necessarily teach them that they need to keep progressing their exercises past whatever black and white rotator cuff handout they have slipped into their workout folder.

In my opinion, public safety is at risk with the lack of regulations on personal trainers – no substantial education and the lack of consistency in certification. Personal trainers can spew out “optimum health” but reality is personal trainers don’t measure “optimum health.” How does a personal trainer measure “optimum health” to ensure clients are optimally healthy? They don’t.

Selena, with all our back and forth – well, all my back and forth 🙂 I agree 100% with the statement of “public safety being at risk with the lack of regulations on personal trainers”.   We need trainers to be better organized in their knowledge and to have standards of care that we all meet and agree on – we dont necessarily have to agree on those standards, but there must be standards nonetheless.

But let me ask you this:

If the physical therapist is not going to ensure the client moves past a level of ‘pain free’ and into ‘optimal health’, then who will?  Are physical therapists taught about exercise periodization?  Do they know the different systems that burn fat?  Do they understand which machine will help with which movement pattern and which wont?  Do they know the difference between the cardio machines and are they willing to train people for free while they build up their business?

Personal trainers are not the best choice for consumers.

I agree that personal trainers are not the best choice for injured consumers.. But I also feel that personal trainers are currently the best choice for those that dont show ‘co-morbidities’ and want to get to a new level of health.

But as I have said in the past, this is changing.  The lines between personal trainer and physical therapist are starting to cross and soon both will have similar skillsets and interests.  And then all we need a marraige between the two and lots of drinkies to realize that we aren’t that different after all (awwwww).

Selena

Thanks Selena for your comment on my post!  I truly appreciate where you are coming from and am truly grateful for your thoughts.  If anyone else would like to comment lets keep it civil and work towards a new understanding of each other, not a division of doctrines, ok? (wow, division of doctrines!  That one sounds awesome!  Selena, I get the co-morbidities and you get the division of doctrines, ok?  Deal!)

The ugly truth about Personal Trainers and Physical Therapists

Sometimes I am retarded.

I don’t mean retarded in the ‘I am Sam’ kind of way (although my friends might argue that point) but more retarded in the ‘what were you thinking when you said that’ way.

I have one of my blog readers (thanks, Marm217!) in particular to thank for pointing out my error in judgment in regards to the plight of the physical therapist and the personal trainer.

You see, I wrote this blog post a while back about physical therapists and how they were different to personal trainers.

Read it here if you haven’t already:

Physical therapy vs personal training faceoff

Well, Marm217 read the above post and had the following well deserved and constructive comment to make about my short-sightedness in that article:

It’s great to base your statement on the shortcomings of the “average” physical therapist on one client of yours…. I’m sorry you feel that way. I think PT’s and personal trainers would do best working together, but all of the personal trainers I’ve come into contact with seem to resent physical therapists…

This reminds me of being at a presentation by Gary Gray (an amazing physical therapist) that was filled with physical therapists and personal trainers.  It might as well have been a cheesy fight scene from ‘west side story’.  The two could not seem to get along well at all.  I will admit that I was one of those trainers that was resentful of physical therapists, but that I no longer feel that angst – I do agree 100% with the ‘co-resentment’ that seems to happen between the two groups.  of course, Gary Gray had everyone hugging and smiling by the end of the day (I think he slipped something in the water).

Truth be told, why wouldn’t the two dislike each other?

The Trainers envy the therapists for their fancy book smarts, degrees and cushy insurance clients.

The thunderdome revisited: two fitness professionals enter, one fitness professional leaves!

Therapists on the other hand get annoyed that the trainer can be allowed to work  with people after having done a 3 week certification instead of a 4 year degree – not to mention that the trainers sometimes make just as much as the therapists (which is neither the trainers nor the therapists fault, it is more the system that is to blame for that one)

One person said that being a PT is really like being an over-priced personal trainer, that he “rehabs people all the time” and another personal trainer would not hire my friend who has her personal trainer certification because she’s in PT school and is “not going to make a career out of personal training”.

I think that is a shame that people will make judgments on others without having seen what they can do or how much they might be able to help.  Truth be told, there are horrible and great professionals  in any industry and there are great careers to be had as either a therapist or a personal trainer.

I honestly feel that the most important thing both occupations could do would be to put aside our egos and work together instead of squabbling with each others collective industries while the client sits patiently waiting to be helped with the best care possible.  By weighing down each other we hurt and confuse the client.

My truth is this:

The therapists role has traditionally been to get the person pain free and functional.  The trainers role has been to get the client to the point of optimal health.

For better or worse, the roles & responsibilities of these two professions are slowly moving towards each other

There is a significant difference between the two, but that difference is changing every day.  Therapists must get better at prescribing exercise, trainers must get better at counting to 12.

PT’s and personal trainers both have valuable knowledge about the body and can offer something different to each client or patient. It’s really a shame because there could be potential there, if more personal trainers were open to it.

I agree with Marm217 and I apologize 100% if my post came across as putting down physical therapists.

My intent was to spark conversation about the human body and how it was more complicated than what ‘the system’ would have people think.

So to rephrase.  We are extremely complicated beings – more complicated than probably a lot of personal trainers (and certainly some physical therapists) will ever care to understand.

But we must ask ‘why’.

so maybe we shouldn't ask 'why' ALL the time... just most of the time.

So next time you have a personal training session or need to go to physical therapy and are handed a dumbbell or a band or are given an exercise to do.. ask ‘why’.  You might be surprised by the answer (but probably not as surprised as your trainer/therapist who is probably used to gleeful subservience and will probably give you extra reps/pain for talking back).

Thanks again for your comment, Marm217!  I appreciate your input thoroughly!
Any other thoughts out there about personal trainers or physical therapists?

May I should just break into song ans sing that musical scene from ‘Oklahoma’ where ‘the farmers and the cowboys should be friends’?

Dont know it?  Here is a video below that sums up this whole blog (maybe I should have just posted the video and left it at that):

So remember – territory folk should stick together!

Yours in health,

Jamie Atlas

PS  I have since written a followup article to this post.  See it by clicking below:

Physical Therapist vs Personal Trainer pt 4: Building a bridge

PPS Are you a physical therapist?  Want something that shows my attempt at being more than just a weekend cert dumbbell jockey?

https://jamieatlas.wordpress.com/2009/03/02/knee-pain-often-comes-from-foot-problems-an-explanation/

Click on the above post to read about how knee pain can be attributed to the actions of the foot.

If you want to see why I think the bench press should be outlawed, click on the link below:

The Bench Press is a Useless Measure of your Strength pt2 (the juicy stuff)

PSSSST…Want to try something really different?

I WANT TO USE YOU.

Well, I mean use you as a guinea pig for some testing of a new method of training I just launched.  Read THIS POST to find out more or click on the link below:

https://jamieatlas.wordpress.com/2009/05/06/personal-trainer-needs-volunteers-for-innovative-online-fitness-training-method/

Why Personal Trainers Love (but also HATE) Marisa Miller

Marisa Miller is probably one of the examples of what keeps many personal trainers in business:

Marisa sometimes has to go to extremes to get away from the paparazzi

The never-ending quest to look like someone that others look up to (or just be someone that others look at for an awkwardly long period of time even though their girlfriend is jabbing them in the ribs).

The truth is, personal trainers probably wouldn’t have the lucrative trade they have if it weren’t for girls like Marisa Miller.  Sure, she has a sexy butt, beautiful face and amazing curves.

It would be completely acceptable if it weren’t for the way her beauty is warped into a tool by which personal trainers build their trade.

Here’s how the formula often goes in our younger, more impressionable years:

Girl sees other girl get attention

Girl realizes that hotness is (A) relative to attention from boys and (B)envy of other girls.

Girl creates a vision of what she might want to look like – of which this vision is influenced by (A) the televised and print media, (B) the images that other boys look at and (C) an innocence of understanding the change that might be possible without genetic or surgical alteration.

Girl proceeds to visit personal trainer once or repeatedly, then irrelevant of professional advice but preferring that of shape, cosmo & other tabloid-oriented magazines begins to overexercise, skip meals and generally punish herself repeatedly for not looking like the girl in the picture (even though on rare occasion she might actually get there!)

Here’s where things get really scary:

What do the following supermodels all have in common.

Marisa Miller looks great here - what does she have in common with the other two models? Stay tuned!

This girl has a much more natural beauty about her...

Did you guess it yet?

So now let me ask you this:

Is it just me or do these three photos of Marisa Miller all make her look completely different than each other?  Maybe the lips didnt get fixed, but man oh man tell me there wasnt some serious photoshop magic going on.

But I have to be honest, she is very thin and is blessed with maintaining her ‘upper torso circumference’.  But without the photo magic she just looks… well, kinda thin:

So why do personal trainers love her?  Because she drives women crazy wanting to look like her (even if the pictures they are looking at aren’t necessarily an accurate representation of her)

But why do these personal trainers also hate her?

Because the same women come in asking to look like her – which 90% takes more work than they are willing to do.  It also sometimes is not genetically possible – there are always exceptions to the rule, but generally speaking, the rule is a rule for a reason.

Those guys are good, huh!

I will save you the anguish and tell you that the butt on the left is real.  I just wanted you to see how good these guys can be:

And then papa bear said... this Marisa Picture is photoshopped juuuust riiight.

Want to know what I want?  I want someone to come in to see me and when I say ‘what are you looking for’?

My dream client would walk in and say this:

“I am looking to be as fit and healthy as I can possibly be”

That might not mean being a size ‘zero’

It might not be running marathons

It might mean not getting sixpack abs (they aren’t necessarily healthy at a certain point)

But it would be striving to reach your potential – your own personal best and not anybody elses.

Because the truth be told, maybe Marisa could look better… But it doesnt matter if you can look as good (or better) than Marisa.  It matters that you can look and feel and be healthier and fitter than yourself right now at this moment in time.

Think about that…  What would it look like if you were to just focus on you – not any sisters or brothers or friends or role models or sports heroes or supermodels or non-existent airbrushed figments of some photographers imagination.

What if you compared yourself… to you?

What if you took the you right now as a starting point and tried to improve upon that?

With dedication and devotion, you might find that you gain not only change in a positive direction, but a feeling that can only be described as pride in ones self.

Instead of shame for not looking like Marisa Miller.

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