Anti Sitting Assessments

Love this article. Kiss = keep it super simple. The client will know when they have achieved their result. I guess it is trainers ego's that get in the way wanting to make the process more complicated than it has to be. If the client is thrilled then we should be too!

overly simplistic and repetitive in solutions.

Enjoyed the article and love when common sense prevails! I would not on the other hand, recommend that trainers try to become all things to their clients. Too many of us step far outside of our scope of practice in the effort to have total control over our client's results and this continues to be one of the main reasons why the medical community is hesitant to work with us. It takes years of both formal and experiential educaton to become an "expert" in any field and there's no way that one can become a nutrition "expert", a biomechanics "expert", a sports medicine "expert", a weight lifting "expert", and so on in one lifetime! The better advice is to focus on what you are obviously good at and develop trusted relationships with other healtcare providers who are qualified to do the other things. Many medical doctors may not know a ton about exercise but they have spent a lot more time learning about the human body and disease than most trainers ever will and it would be wise to cultivate a complimentary relationship with traditional medicine as opposed to demonizing it and promoting non-scientifically validated health advice to our clients as many trainers are known to do. Be aware of what your state's individual standards are in regards to what sort of "advice" you are legally entitled to dispense and build a network with practitioners you trust.

Exercises are assessments and assessments are exercises. Thanks Carlos!!

Thank you for making this so simple.

There are two points that I'll make: 1) Many clients goals are mis-informed due to the media, etc. Most notably the focus on weight loss rather than hydration, body-fat, lean muscle mass. So we have to do some interpretation of their goals. 2) As PT's it is important to measure the progress of our clients, but those measurements should only be considered relative to the client.

You just changed my approach. “How would you know when we are successful and your goals have been reached? Simple and effective. Thank you for your wisdom

I love your "let's get to work" attitude and will share with my fellow trainers!

This article offers a new point of view. Thank you for sharing!

In an industry with so much to learn and so many theories, an open mind is a must. I agree with many of the points in this article and have learned alot from JC's contributions over the years. However, as a 20 year trainer/fitness director in the industry with an unquenchable thirst for more knowledge in the human sciences, I belive that personal trainers need to evolve to something more then just being exercise experts in order to truly help people with their health and fitness. Why can't we up the standards and be all that a client needs us to be? When a preventative health approach finally prevails as the "answer" to our societies epidemic of disease and deconditioning (rather then medical procedures or drugs), maybe fitness specialists will be trained, licensed and regarded in a similar manner as physicians. That's my vision anyway. Gary Nielsen, B.S, CSCS, CPT, CES, PES