Have you ever seen an ad online for any fitness product, such as a diet plan, a piece of equipment or a fitness program, that doesn’t feature a great looking man or woman with a hot body rather than an ordinary healthy person? That’s a rhetorical question, by the way. No marketing executive in their right mind would use someone ordinary for this purpose..
Training for Great Looks
As a personal trainer myself here in Singapore, I don’t run out of clients who simply want to look great. Some need to look good for their line of work. Others wish to improve their romantic lives. And many simply just want to go to the beach without embarrassing themselves.
Now I can help my clients look good. Many look better when they start to lose weight. Others improve by building some muscle tone. When they see these improvements, they become much more motivated to work because they can see results.
However, I have to admit that my function isn’t limited to helping my clients look good. This isn’t snobbery on my part. It’s just that I see myself as a fitness trainer. And that means I consider my clients’ health as a more important focus than just their looks.
Training for Health
By helping my clients stay healthy, I help them improve their quality of life. I help them fight off heart disease, hypertension, and cancer. Their cholesterol levels stay at healthier levels. The exercises I recommend build stronger bones, joints, and ligaments.
Of course, weight loss is part of the goals of the program, but it’s not about just looking good. It’s also about being healthier, and that means removing excess body fat. Obesity is at the root of many serious medical conditions, and by helping people attain their ideal body weight I help lessen the risk of a serious (or even fatal) disease.
It’s also about instilling good lifestyle habits. That includes proper nutrition, avoiding smoking and drinking too much, and getting enough sleep. It’s also about stress reduction, as stress canlead to more dangerous health conditions.
The exercises can help revitalize their energy so that they have the strength to get them through the whole day. They don’t get tired as much or as often. This energy gives them a more positive perspective on life in general, and they’re happier as a result. Proper exercises are known to alleviate depression as well.
Training for Sports
Some of my clients are athletes, and they need more than just the basic level of fitness. So I help them become stronger and faster, and I help boost their endurance.
With my help, they can then play their sport properly, and because of that they get to enjoy life more. And more importantly, by training them properly I can help minimize the chance of injury that may happen if they don’t train properly (or at all).
When they do get injured, at least their previous good health ensures that the recovery period is shorter. And I can also help them in their rehabilitation, so that they can get better much faster and safer. Athletes are easy enough to motivate, and sometimes the challenge is to hold them back so that they don’t unnecessarily hurt themselves in their efforts.
Of course, when people are healthy and fit, it’s much more likely that they look good as well. But the ultimate goal isn’t just getting a hot bod, because you can get a hot bod with illegal steroids or liposuction. Attaining optimum health is the ultimate goal, and attaining the hot bod after training for a few months is an easy bonus 🙂
Coach Sharm, MSc
guruFitness.com