That doesn’t mean your personal trainer,
gym or exercise group doesn’t have an
important role to play. We do! We just
need to know what it is.
So from my end, here is what our role is
as a PT:
•Refer out to other professionals within
our network where appropriate.
•Provide outstanding movement coaching
and training services appropriate to the
physical needs of the client.
•Support other service providers by encouraging the client to follow the nutritional plan, take medications where prescribed, and continue with follow up appointments in relation to mental health.
•Ultimately we are the exercise cog
in the wheel.
As a client here are some of the things
you should be asking your PT for:
BEFORE
•Safe exercise prescription under supervision plus a simple exercise plan that
you can follow unsupervised between PT visits.
•Referrals to other network providers.
•Ongoing support through the highs and the lows.
AFTER
Some people can certainly turn their health and well being around simply by exercising regularly
and maintaining a healthy fresh food diet well balanced in proteins, complex carbohydrates, rich
in vitamins and minerals. However, many can’t. Its about more than that and a great personal
trainer will understand that. Next time you meet with your personal trainer, or if you are considering employing the services of one, consider it a great addition to your current health care plan.
A good PT will pay for themselves a thousand times over when your health has improved and your
risk of disease decreases. Being overweight or obese is a contributing factor to the majority of
lifestyle (preventable) diseases. Top up your insurance premiums by using the services of a PT to
their full capacity and you won’t be sorry you did.
Here is my 3 month movement plan for anyone suffering from obesity that, in
conjunction with other health professionals, would like to change that …
WEEKS 1-4 - I walk with my clients on a flat surface. Sometimes every single day. It might take
hours, but as the days go by the distance stays the same and the time gets faster. The days that
I am not with them I ask them to … walk!
WEEKS 5-8 - Continue walking 5-7 days a week plus add 2-3 30 minute bodyweight and primary
movement pattern sessions. The aim is for the client not to experience major muscle soreness so
they are able to continue exercising daily.
WEEKS 9-12 - Continue walking 5-7 days weekly, increase the supervised movement sessions to
45-60 minutes and introduce other training methods of slightly higher intensity.
In all this time we still haven’t lifted a weight (that comes soon), the client hasn’t experienced major muscle soreness and it is a pattern they are able to continue with long
term for the rest of their life!
With his permission, I can share with you that using the above method, combined with a medically based nutritional plan and ongoing work on thought patterns, Brad [pictured above] managed to lose 22kg from September to December last year. He set the goal of losing enough
weight to go skydiving for his 30th birthday - nailed it! It wasn’t complicated, but it wasn’t easy
having to undo years and years of damage, negative thinking and the abuse of food. It doesn’t
make me great, all I did was walk with him, talk with him, prescribe appropriate and safe exercise, and made sure he followed the nutritional plan in place that was right for him. I want to wish
him all the very best for continued weight loss and a long and healthy future of daily exercise that
he enjoys.
My theory when it comes to exercising for weight loss is, “begin with the end in mind”. If you
can’t keep it up for a sustained period of time, it’s unlikely you will keep your weight at a healthy
level for a sustained period of time either.
-Emma Pilcher-