0:28 The MOST valuable piece for coaches and trainers. 2:36 Will they do it? 4:17 Does it have a large payoff? 5:15 Is this realistically sustainable forever? General Diet Strategies That Have the Biggest Payoff That Clients Love! 7:55 Level 1 – Avoid heavily processed foods. 15:10 Level 2 – Hit your target body weight in grams of protein and eat it FIRST. 20:02 Level 3 – Aim for ½ to a gallon of water a day. 22:46 Level 4 – Track. General Exercise Strategies That Have the Biggest Payoff That Clients Love! 26:21 Level 1 – Walk after meals. 29:38 Level 2 – Strength training. 32:30 Level 3 – Daily mobility. 33:35 Level 4 – Structured cardio.
Ultra-Processed Diets Cause Excess Calorie Intake and Weight Gain: An Inpatient Randomized Controlled Trial of Ad Libitum Food Intake https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31105044/
Online Personal Training Course | Mind Pump Fitness Coaching ** Approved provider by NASM/AFAA (1.9 CEUs)! Grow your business and succeed in 2025. ** https://mindpumpfitnesscoaching.com/
All right, so let's talk about diet and
exercise strategies that work, but most
importantly, these are the ones that we
found that our clients loved. Uh, so
it's a great topic. I think it's one of
the more valuable conversations that we
could have for coaches and trainers. Uh,
because obviously if you can't get them
to adhere to the diet or exercise,
you're probably not going to get them
any results. And this was something that
it this wasn't taught to me in any
certification. No. So, nope. Uh that's
why I think this is the most valuable
because you could be one of the most
educated uh coaches and trainers that
are listening to this and tout all the
different studies and research and
science that you've got from all your
courses. But this was something that
they didn't teach us that you learned
over time uh helping so many people.
Yeah. You learn it from application and
what really works and what sticks and
what's sustainable. And so I think that
yeah, a lot of knowledge that we've
acquired from certifications and from
textbooks, it's great. But at the end of
the day, what's really going to be
effective and stick with your clients?
That's that. So So you said it perfectly
because I think when trainers and
coaches, especially newer ones, when
they think of something that works, like
if I was to ask uh a relatively new
trainer, what's a diet strategy that
works? Or if I were to ask them, "What
does it mean when I say this diet
works?" They'll say, "Oh, it produces
results." That's half that's not even
that's the half the equation. That's not
the full thing. There's lots of ways to,
for example, lose weight, but only some
of them are going to maintain that
weight loss. Y something doesn't work if
it's didn't work forever. Okay? So, this
is like when a client would hire me and
they'd say, "Oh, I'm going to do this
diet that I did a long time ago or this
workout program I did a long time ago."
I'll say, 'Well, why?' They say, 'Well,
it worked. I'll say, 'Well, no, it
didn't because you're not doing it
anymore. You gained the weight back. You
fell out of shape. It didn't work. It
produced a result, but the result didn't
stick. So, the context that we have to
paint here, I think, is really
important. And this is what you end up
figuring out through experience. You end
up figuring out, well, number one, the
most important thing is will they do it?
Nothing, it nothing works. Nothing
works. The best advice doesn't work if
your client doesn't do it. Y it
literally doesn't matter if they don't
do it. So you always have to ask
yourself, will they actually do it?
That's the most important thing that
goes. Well, there we talk a lot about
this on the exercise portion, but this
this is included in the diet portion
also, which is meeting your clients
where they're currently at, too. Mh. And
a big mistake I think I used to make was
you get a client in, you do your
assessment. I take in consideration
their activity level, their experience,
their age, their weight, their body fat
percentage, where they want to go, and
then put in this formula and out spits.
This is your calories. This is your
macros. And then from there, okay, here
are all the foods. And then it's like,
eat this. Gosh. And it's just it's so
far from where they're currently at that
even if they have the discipline for a
period of time to eat like that to uh
see the results. And let's say they even
see a little bit of results, you
actually haven't had real success yet.
It's not you're not s you're not having
success with your clients until you not
only get them to their results, but you
teach them how to sustain those results
and and change their lifestyle. And so I
think there was a bit of this um false
reality when I first started because I
could say, "Oh yeah, I got I got clients
to lose weight or I got results." Fast
forward when I I'd run it into them
years later and they had put all the
weight back on. It's like, "Oh, did I
really help them then? I just wrote them
a meal plan. They followed for 6 months,
but then they ended up putting it back
on." And so understanding that, okay,
where are they currently at? And meeting
them there and then slowly stepping them
in the right direction. Yes. And so, you
know, will they do it? Uh the second
thing to consider is is the thing that
I'm going to ask them to do does it have
a large payoff or is there a great
return? Like what step can I take with
the client that they'll do that
simultaneously gives them a big result?
In other words, is there one step I can
have someone take that will have the
result of five other steps? Because it's
easier to do one thing than it is to do
five or six other things. So that's the
other thing you have to consider. It's
like, okay, I'm working with this
person. Remember, remember trainers,
you're not talking to a fitness fanatic.
You're not talking to somebody who fell
in love with fitness like you did. Mhm.
This person is trying to improve the
quality of their life by using fitness,
but it isn't their life like it is for
you. The least effort. That's what they
want. That's right. Cuz it's not their
life. They don't want to do this all the
time. You You can make it as enjoyable
as possible. They'll never love it like
you do. So, can I give them something
that they'll do that will also have a
large payoff? And then finally, is it
realistic forever? Is this sustainable?
Like, because it could give you good
results and they could do it, but is it
going to stick for are they going to be
able to do this for the rest of their
life? Like, a good example would be like
a no carb diet. Okay. Cutting carbs out
completely. A lot of people can do it
right out the gates. Why? Because it's
simple. Cut carbs. Done. Okay. I know
what that looks like. Uh, does it have a
large payoff? Yeah, sure. You cut carbs,
you're probably going to substantially
lower your calories. So, you'll see
weight loss. This was a big this was a
big deal in the late 90s, early 2000s.
Low carb, no carb diets were very
popular. But was it was it realistic and
sustainable? No. The adherence rate on
those diets wasn't really much better
than any other diet. And so, what
happened with low carb keto diets? They,
you know, they still a fat. It's still a
thing that people will try and fall out
of. So, you have to ask yourself those
three things. Will they do it? Does it
have a large payoff and is it realistic
realistically sustainable forever? So
along those lines, go ahead. I was just
gonna say and then I also think that
there's there's levels too, right? So
there's like you you take that in
consideration then you go I'm going to
start them at the the lowest levels
that's easiest for them to to uh you
know accomplish to accomplish and then
I'm going to build on that. Yes. versus
I know I've got all these things I could
give them right now and tell them they
should do for their diet, but it's like
I'm gonna start with the the like you
said, the biggest bang for your buck
that I know that they could adhere to
and then once we do that, then we're
going to stack and then we're going to
stack and then we're going to stack.
That's right. Yeah. Imagine imagine
someone teaching you how to build a
house and you couldn't write anything
down and you and they said, "Okay,
here's what you're going to do." And
then they gave you every step all at
once. You forgot the first step by the
time you got the fifth step and now
you're screwed. But what if they said,
"You go do step one first, then come
back and see me. Yeah, go do step two
back and then come back and see me. So,
in other words, what we're looking at is
the first step should be the thing
that's easiest to do. It should have the
largest payoff and it should be the most
sustainable. The second step is a little
bit worse than the first one in terms of
will they do it? Does it have payoff?
And is it sustainable? And the third
step and fourth step. So, in other
words, let's start with the biggest
thing that they probably will do or at
least that we've experienced that people
can do that is sustainable that will
also give them this large payoff where
they feel like they're putting minimal
effort. So, it's levels like you said,
Adam. Now, of course, when it comes to
diet, things can get very individual.
We're doing a a general, you know, uh
show here for most people. So, we're
going to talk about general steps that
have the biggest payoff that clients
absolutely love that we got lots of
positive feedback with. So, level one
would be this. And this for me, what I'm
about to say here was such a revelation
when I was a trainer. It was like it's
one of those things when you do it and
the payoff is so big and the clients get
such great results and then people can,
you know, stick to it where you just
like you want to kick yourself and go,
"Oh, why did I I wish I knew this
before." It's like one of those moments
in life when you do something and you're
just like, "Oh, if I could go back in
time," and it was this right here. Just
tell your clients to avoid heavily
processed foods. That's it. Yeah, that's
level one. Just a Now, now why will they
do this? Why will a lot of clients do
this? Cuz it's an easy black and white
step. What's heavily processed food?
Simple. Yeah. What's heavily processed
food? S things that come in boxes and
wrappers and things that are packaged.
So, just stay away from that kind of
stuff. We used to say eat, you know, on
the outside of the grocery store instead
of the inside. But yeah, there's really
simple ways of of approaching uh you
know, this topic. And and the thing
about it is it sounds restrictive, but
really it's it's it's freedom in that
they have we're not talking about
calories. We're not talking about uh
confinement in terms of them going out
to actually eat. Uh they can eat as much
as they want at this point. Uh but it
has to be within uh these these uh
walls. Yeah. They're not they're not
weighing yet. They're not measuring
anything yet. They're not track. Yeah.
They're not doing any of that yet. It's
just literally just stay away from
heavily processed foods. Eat whole
foods. And and and what I love about
that too is that because you're going to
get this, right? So for the the trainer,
your client's gonna say, "Well, what
else?" or whatever. Just just do that.
Just do that and I promise we're going
to start to see change in the right
direction and then we're going to build
on that. Yes. And that that's that's the
key to this is not resist the temptation
to give them all the other steps. Back
to your analogy with the building the
house like resist your temptation to
talk about the the electrical work and
all the plumbing and the framing and all
this. So it's just like stick to the
foundation. Let's lay a good foundation
and then you build that then come back
to me and then we're going to talk about
the next thing. Most of the time it's
the hardest for the trainer to to adhere
to this. Yeah, that's why I said that
because the trainer is going to the
client will they'll go, "Well, wait,
what? That's it? What about this?" And
they're going to start asking, "What
about this? What about that?" Don't
worry about that. And you have to be you
have to be confident in saying that. And
so, and this is what I lacked in my
early years was the confidence to know
how well this worked. Hopefully, you get
that from us and all of our experience
of telling you, listen, just trust me.
Say this to them. Let them go do that
and then you'll start to see results and
then we'll build a level. Now, what
Adam's saying, I want people to
understand this is so important because
you're going to have to sell this to
your client because it sounds like
nothing. It sounds so simple. This is
what the conversation sounds like. Avoid
heavily processed foods and eat as much
as you want. And people are going to
look at you like you're crazy. What do
you mean eat as much? First of all, the
first say, "What is heavily processed
foods?" Foods that come in boxes and
wrappers and packages. So, just avoid
that. Don't eat that. But then
otherwise, eat as much as you want. And
they're going to be like, "Huh?" Yeah.
What? What do you mean like eat until
I'm full? You don't want me to cut. You
don't want me to eat less. What about
carbs? What about carb? What about fat?
Can I eat steak? What about potatoes? I
heard potatoes are bad. Fruit? Should I
not eat fruit? No. No. All that's fine.
Eat as much as you want. Just don't eat
heavily processed foods. They're not
going to believe you. So now I'm going
to teach you how to sell it. Okay?
Because you're going to have to sell it
to your clients. Cuz when I first did
this, I thought that clients would just
be excited. But they looked at me like I
was lying. I remember the first time the
first time I ever said it was I was it
was a guy who had to lose like 80 to 100
pounds. And he looked back at me and he
laughed at me. He says, "Adam, you how
do you think I got here?"
How do you think I got here? Was eating
whatever the hell I want. You know, it's
not exactly it. You got to give me
boundaries. Yeah. No, you're fine. Just
eat. That's it. This is the only
boundary is not processed foods and just
watch what happens. I promise you. Yep.
So, okay. So, why does this work so
well? Because it automatically controls
calories. The data on this now is
extremely clear. And I'm going to say
this. Back in the day when I was telling
people about this, we didn't have
studies. So, back when I was saying
this, what I knew was the the the
effects of hyper palatable processed
foods based off of like food scientists
and and my own experience, but I'd never
I didn't have data. So, that for me when
I first said this, I was like, "Okay,
eat until you're full. Let's see what
happens." Here's what happened. 10 to 15
pound weight loss consistent. It took
like it would be like a 10 to 15 pound
weight loss over two or three months for
everybody right out the gates, which
most people here's why your clients love
it so much. They don't understand how
it's working and they think they're
eating a lot. They all would come back
and be like, I'm eating like big dinner.
Like my wife made potatoes. We had steak
for lunch. I had rice and chicken and I
had chicken thighs. You said I don't
have to eat breast. I just I went for it
and then I had some fruit cuz I was
still hungry. I don't understand how
this is working. I'm losing weight and
it feels like it's just happening on its
own. Well, here's what's happening. Uh
you're eating less calories. The data on
this now is very clear. result. This
result for the average person who eats
mostly heavily processed foods, which is
most Americans, when they do this, their
calories will come down by about 500
calories, 5 to 600 calories. Which, by
the way, the irony of that is that's
about what we were taught to cut your
clients without having to tell them to.
Right. Right. When you when you used to
used to figure out, like I was saying,
all the math on where their where their,
you know, where their current calorie
maintenance or balance is at, and then
you would cut them by 500 calories. And
so that was kind of strange. So you're
doing this organically through not
telling them to eat less, but by just
eating these types of foods. That's
right. So, and the reason why you end up
eating less calories is because heavily
processed foods are engineered to make
you overeat. They're very, very well
engineered, expertly engineered to make
you overeat. So, simply avoiding them
results in appropriate caloric intake,
which typically results in about 10 to
15 pounds of body fat loss. That's how
powerful uh this is. And and a good
example would be I love this example.
Chris Cresser gave it to us years ago on
the podcast. So if you want to
illustrate this for your client, say,
"Okay, could you eat four or five plain
boiled potatoes with no salt, no butter,
just plain? Could you eat them all in a
row right right out the gate?" Some
person will say, "No." I'll gag. Okay.
Could you eat a familyized bag of potato
chips? And they would say yes. And you
say, "Well, that has the same amount of
potatoes except one of them is hyper
palatable. The other one is just whole
natural food plain. So that's what they
do to you. They just make you overeat.
So step one, level one, and I'm going to
be straight up with you guys, okay?
Listening right now. Many of her clients
will never have to go anywhere else.
Many of her clients will go 10, 15 pound
weight loss. Then when you combine
exercise with this and muscle building
with this, then the weight loss slows
down after about 10 pounds, but it
continues to happen over time. And what
it feels like for the client is I'm just
eating as much as I want. I'm kind of
living my life like this is pretty
amazing. Okay, let's go to level two,
though. So, I would not go to level two
until level one is is accomplished and
consistent and not a problem. So,
there's no reason to go to level two
until level one is not a problem. Once
level one is not a problem, by the way,
what's your coaching look like for level
one? Your coaching is going to look like
them saying, "Oh, I had the chips." Or,
"Hey, I had this. No problem. Let's
stick to whole natural foods. Let's
think of some whole, you know, natural
alternatives." and what did your food
look like this week? So, there's still
some coaching that's involved, just
minimal compared to other diet
strategies. Level two is you have them
now hit their target body weight in
grams of protein and to eat it first.
So, that's level two. Now, why are we
adding this level two or what does this
accomplish? They they bump their protein
intake significantly. They eat it first.
Protein has a satiety effect on top of
whole natural foods. So their calories
come down even lower typically. But the
protein also results in more muscle and
less body fat even with when calories
are controlled. So two same calorie
diets, same exact person in both
scenarios. High protein, lower protein,
higher protein results more fat loss and
more muscle gain. You eat it first. It
controls blood sugar better and it
provides more satiety. So that's level
two. So now it's like, hey, you know how
you're eating whole natural foods?
You've been doing that for 3 months.
Yes. Here's what I want you to do. Let's
let's take your target body weight,
eating grams of protein, eat it first in
your meal, and that's level two. That
will result high octane version. That'll
result in additional probably five
pounds of body fat loss with some muscle
gain. And also, don't over complicate
this because the questions you're going
to get back, well, any can I eat steak?
Can I eat pork? Can I They're going to
start asking all kinds of questions
about what kinds of protein sources can
they have? And can they have tri tip?
And can they have all these? Yes. Yes.
Yes. Yes. The answer is yes. You can
have those things so long as we hit
those grams in protein. Right. Now, what
I know as a trainer is that if I eat all
from really high fat foods, it's hard to
get to the protein intake, especially if
you're eating them first and you're
doing that. So, knowing that, you might
have to then this is where the coaching
comes, right? So, it's like that's just
the advice. What you end up what will
probably happen over the next couple
weeks is struggling to hit their protein
intake. I was just going to say is oh
wow, that's harder because I this is the
most common thing that happens here,
right? Simple but not easy. Yeah. Next
next challenge with this client at level
two for me was oh my god I just can't
that's so much I can't eat that much
that's so much food and so then we start
diving into what are we what choices are
we eating and this is where us going to
like leaner cuts tend to help just with
digestion and then being able to eat
more and it's not because you can't have
the tri tip just that you notice that oh
wow when you have these higher fat
protein meals they tend to fill you up
more and then it makes it hard for you
to strategy Sometimes you have to break
it up, right? You can't get it that all
in one meal or a lot of times like your
dinner was the heavy portion of that,
but uh when you're really trying to seek
a higher amount of protein, it's it's
difficult when it's all there at once.
So, you know, portioning it out
throughout the day a lot of times. This
is also where we might introduce protein
shakes if I have to. right here. This
might be a place where if a client is
just absolutely struggling with getting
to their their protein through whole
natural foods, this is the one exception
that we might make or this is how I
would teach them like this is how you
use a protein shake. It's not protein
shakes are healthy for you. I want you
always targeting healthy foods. And if
we don't, that's like that's still the
goal. But if we if we're now at level
two and we can't hit protein intake
because you just can't eat enough, then
this is where we might here. Okay. So,
I'm just going to back up because I want
I want you trainers to really understand
the the the power of what we're saying
here. You have a client who wants to
lose weight. Most your clients are going
to want to lose weight. That's the the
majority of your clients. They want to
lose weight and you're coaching them
because they can't eat enough. So, think
about that for a second. This is a
person who struggled with weight for a
long time. They need to lose body fat.
It's very difficult. And now they're
talking with you and saying, "I can't
eat as much protein as you're telling
me." Talk about a mental flip. Yeah. But
also just how much healthier of a
mentality they're going to develop
because they've probably dealt with
trying to restrict their whole life.
They've probably dealt with struggling
and binging and now they're like, "Ugh,
I'm failed to punish themselves for not
hitting it." That's right. So, the two
coaching strategies or tips I have for
this are one, you're going to have to
suddenly learn how to talk to people
about eating more food, especially
people that want to lose weight. And
two, you brought this up about breaking
up the protein. You're going to have to
you're going to learn how to coach
people on how to get the protein in the
morning, in the afternoon, and also the
evening because if they don't get a high
protein breakfast, they're typically
screwed. And most people's breakfasts
are like 12 grams of protein at best.
So, you're going to have to really coach
them on that process. But that's level
two. And I'm going to stop right here
because I'm going to say, you do level
one and level two, most your clients
will be happy. That's straight up. Most
your clients are going to be happy if
they do these two things consistently.
Most people are not trying to get
shredded. Most guys trying to get around
15 16% body fat. Women somewhere in the
low 20s. This will get them there
through a nice long consistent process.
All the heavy lifting, especially if
they learn to do it all through whole
foods and they don't even need shakes.
If you're eating all whole foods and
hitting your protein intake, oh, you're
you're going to be solid. Most clients,
the majority of my clients, this is kind
of where we were at. And this gave them
all the results and it was a nice steady
consistent uh progress that was
sustainable. But let's say this person
does this well. They do the first one.
Well, next level. Here's level three.
Sounds silly, but it makes a big
difference. And sometimes you can
combine level three with level two, but
I like to do things step at a time. Uh,
and that is to aim for a half a gallon
or a gallon of water a day. This one
sounds silly. It's like, what? What's
the magic of doing this? Uh, now you've
probably heard, and they've probably
heard that thirst, you know, your thirst
signal make sure that you're not
dehydrated. So, why do I need to drink
more water? Well, there's optimal and
then there's just you're not dehydrated.
We're aiming for optimal. And when you
when I have clients drink a half a
gallon to a gallon of water a day, they
all have reduced inflammation. They all
feel better. They all have better
digestion. And then number three, they
reduces their cravings. They just don't
drink other calories. And so what I
would have my clients do is measure
their water to learn how to do this. And
this took most clients about 3 to four
weeks to get used to. Once they got used
to it, they noticed when it was less.
Then they're like, "Oh my god, I feel so
much better. My skin looks better. This
is amazing." And again, this is a silly
one because it's water. I'm not telling
them to take any supplement or anything
crazy. But this one actually makes the
bodybuilder bro. The bodybuilder bros,
they knew what they were on to
something. It It totally increases
energy. It It's one of those things like
it you don't realize a lot of times
joint pain is is associated and related
to this. So to not have any kind of pain
and restriction uh and have more energy
on top of that is uh you know it's a lot
more inviting to now go uh be more
active and and get after your workout
and your performance. It also if you've
checked level one and level two, it also
is keeping your mouth busy on something
that's not detrimental. So, why I like
this right here at level three is that
level one and level two, if you figure
this out where you get your clients to
do this consistently and and they they
come over they get over the hurdle of,
oh my god, this is a lot of foods, a lot
of protein, and then they start to hit
it. By this time, we've probably been
going for a couple months now and we're
building muscle. Oh, yeah. And we're
starting to speed our metabolism up and
now maybe the hunger is starting to kick
in and the appetite is starting to kick
up a little bit. And so I love having
this client now go, okay, hey, when
you're not eating those meals that we're
that we're talking about then be
drinking that water and it just keeps
them busy focusing on something that's
healthy, that's good for them, that has
all the benefits that you guys talked
about and not eating something else. I
just found and this is the part of the
body, drinking water uh during cutting
for a show was such a huge hack. I mean,
I go through three gallons in a day is
what I'd get up to in my cuts. And it
was just because if I wasn't, I was
thinking about food. And so it's just
like, okay, I'm thinking about this
water, drinking this water all day long.
So it was like a huge hack into that.
And again, if you just did level one and
level two, most people are going to get
incredible results just from that alone.
And so if you make it to here, this is
just adding on top of it. Now, level
four, this is where you know, and by the
way, keep them at those earlier levels
until they're consistent and they will
see results over time. Fight the urge to
get greedy, okay? Because here's what's
going to happen. The initial 10, 15
pound weight loss happens relatively
quickly. Then things start to slow down,
but body composition changes are still
happening. Stay consistent. Stay
consistent. Stay consistent. Fight the
urge to go hard all the way out the
gates because level four for the average
person typically doesn't have to happen
till much later. And this is tracking.
Now, this tends to be level one for most
trainers. Yep. Which is tracking. And
I'm going to tell you this, unless
you're training competitors, unless
you're training people who really
understand diet, want to take to the
next level, this should not be level
one. Telling the average person right
out the gate, start tracking, start
being do all this stuff. Now, that's
nothing necessarily wrong with it, but
this is a much harder first step than
what I said earlier, which was just
avoid those heavily processed foods, eat
as much as you want. But if you get to
level four, now we can play the track
and cut and see where your calories are
and start playing with that. And these
are the clients that are like, this is
the guy who's like, you know, he lost 20
pounds with me. We're sitting at about
16% body fat. He's feeling good. He's
like, I want to get I want to get a
six-pack. All right. Well, now we got to
track. It's not going to happen until we
shre. I I just love teaching the trainer
to get as far as you can without this.
And then this is your way of getting
granular. We've now been training for
three, four, five months down the road.
We've seen great results. Now results
are starting to slow down. Now clients
asking questions. Oh, what's going on?
We've been say, "Okay, let's we've been
we've been great on level one, level
two, level three for a while now.
Progress is starting to slow. Maybe
let's get a little granular. Let me dive
into the diet. Let's really start let's
track for the next couple weeks and let
me see if I can make some tweaks to the
diet." That's how I want I want to go as
far as I can with this client without
ever having to make them track because
when you talk about
sustainability, that's probably one of
the least sustainable things. I don't
know anybody, including fitness fanatics
like ourselves, okay, who want to track
all the time. I don't want to track all
the time. Do not think that your client
wants to. Now, you can make the argument
it's education and they got to learn it.
But yes, you can, but they can also
learn a ton and get really far with
those first three levels before they get
more granular. By the way, I want to
communicate something real important.
What you'll notice, okay, with these
strategies, I mean, we're teaching you
guys how to to really do this
effectively long term. This is a
long-term mentality from a trainer. What
you don't want to do is take a client
who says, I'm going to only hire you for
30 days. And then what you're thinking
is, man, I'm going to show them best
results in 30 days. I should have them
track right out the gates. Now, will you
get the fastest results by tracking
right out the gates? Yes. Will you get
the most sustainable? No. So, you have
to think long term if you want to be a
career trainer. If you want to build a
good career as a trainer, think long
term even when your client thinks short
term. Cuz yes, I could give someone way
faster results if I track right off the
gates, give them me a plan, and force
them to follow it. That's true. But
they're not going to get long-term
results. So, as a trainer, when I would
get clients, when I got good, even if
they hired me for just 60 days or they
hired me just for 30 days, cuz of
sometimes people would do that and say,
"Oh, I'm only going to buy 15 sessions
cuz I want to see if this is good for
me." I don't think to myself, I'm only
going to see you for 15 sessions. I
think to myself, I'm going to train you
for 15 sessions. You're going to keep
working with me because I'm going to
show you how good I am. And I'm thinking
long term like you're going to be with
me for the next couple years. So, that's
why we're moving in this in these steps
in this way. All right, let's get to
exercise. Okay, so exercise is uh again
this is the other side of the coin. This
is the other part of the equation. And
with exercise, these are levels as well.
Now, level one and level two are
probably going to mix with you if you're
an in-person trainer because you're
actually going to train people. But if
you were just advising someone or you're
just working with someone online and
you're only giving them one piece of
exercise advice and this is the average
person who doesn't work out. There is no
structured exercise. They're sedary.
Level one is just walk after meals. And
again remember remember the context
here. Is it something that they'll do?
Is there going to be a big payoff? And
is this sustainable long term? Walking
for 10 minutes after meals has a huge
payoff both for health. It's good for
insulin resistance. It does help with
fat loss. It helps with digestion. It
builds good habits. Super easy to do.
And it's done every single day
frequently, which turns it into a habit
very quickly. This is one of the easiest
first steps anybody could ever take. And
if it as a paying client, I'm probably
doing level one and level two together.
But I love this is level one and talking
about this because this is actually the
level one of nutrition and level one of
exercise is what I tell family and
clients when they when people ask me
advice. I normally tell them just go do
this first. Yes. Just start walking
three four times a day or three four
times a week and avoid heavily processed
foods. come back and see me. Cuz for me,
what I'm looking for if someone if it's
family or friends is I'm looking for
their if they can't commit to that,
they're not ready for all the other
things that I could potentially teach
them. And that right there will actually
get a lot of people really far. If if
you are looking to lose 30 or 40 pounds
and you've never cut out processed foods
and you've never made walking a a
routine, oh my god, like I'll show you
great results just from that. And then
guess what? I'm going to put it into
hyperdrive when I show you strength
training. Now, if you're a paying
client, right, you're paying for my
service. strength training is there.
Strength training is there because
that's part of what you're paying for.
You're paying for that expertise in
biomechanics and teaching you how to
program correctly. And so this I'm going
to include level one and level two
together. Well, there's a lot of benefit
too to attaching it to after meals as
well because of the the habit stacking
as they've talked about, but really it's
like you're not trying to now create an
opportunity throughout the day that uh
you're going to have to kind of punch it
in at at a time where you're normally
doing something else. Like you're always
going to be eating. This is just
something that you're consistently going
to be doing to to allow for that time. A
lot of times you allow for an extra
amount of time anyways uh for these for
these meals, these lunch breaks or uh
dinner or time set aside for meals. So
now to just attach this habit of going
for a walk immediately after that helps.
There's so many benefits too with that
insulin sensitivity with digestion and
um it's just kind of a snowball effect
and it's easy requires no no coaching or
training like you said Adam to again if
you're an online coach this is a good
first step because doesn't require you
showing them anything they know how to
walk just walk after meals if people did
step level one with diet no processed
foods and just walked if everybody in
western society did this right now we
would solve a large portion of the
health and obesity epidemic huge just
from those two silly things right there.
But you're right, Adam. Level two, if
you're training people in person, this
is built in. You're paying for that.
This is strength training. Yeah.
Strength training is ex when you're
talking about bang for your buck. There
is no form of exercise on a time for
time basis that will give you more than
strength training when it comes to fat
loss, when it comes to mobility, of
course, strength, when it comes to
hormone effects, when it comes to just
bang for your buck, aesthetic effects,
strength training. All right, how much
strength training are we talking? One to
two days a week for the average person.
One to two days a week. Most people, two
days a week consistently will take them
very, very far. There's a lot you can
progress in two days a week cuz people
think, how you what do you mean two days
a week? That's nothing. People get
stronger, so they're adding weight.
They're progressing. Exercises change.
Uh the intensity changes. There's so
many things I can do with two days a
week. I trained clients for 10 years 2
days a week with strength training. And
they would do some stuff on their own on
the side, but I never had to progress
them beyond that. So, one to two days a
week, or here's the other option, one or
two exercises a day, 15 minutes a day of
strength training like our MAPS 15
program. That's another approach, which
equals to about the same volume. The
value of that is it's fat. It's easy.
Everybody can take 15 minutes a day. It
also, in my opinion, tends to turn into
a habit. Really ramping up momentum by
doing that as well. It turns into a
habit very quickly every day. Strength
training one to two times a week in
combination with someone walking after
meals is a dramatic shift for most
people. Yes. So, and and this again, the
goal is always to do as little as
possible to elicit the most change. This
is going to elicit a ton of change in
99% of anybody who would ever
potentially hire you. And so don't make
the mistake of just because they're
telling you they want more or they have
time for more or give me more for you to
add more to their plate right now. This
simply just simply doing level one,
level two, both on the nutrition and the
exercise portion is going to move the
needle. But but I got to say this too,
like if you do what we're saying and you
do it right and you coach it right, the
what you're going to hear from clients
are is going to be if you're as you
become successful, as you build your
career, is going to be your favorite
phrase you'll ever hear from any of your
clients. When I would hear this, oh, I
would get like this warm fuzzy feeling
and it was this s I'm getting leaner.
I'm getting stronger. My body's changing
and I barely feel like I'm doing
anything. Feels like I'm doing nothing.
Feels like I'm doing nothing. Oh, I get
I love hearing that. And that would and
when I got good, I used to hear that all
the time. You want to hear that. What
you don't want to hear is from your
clients who are saying, "I feel like I'm
doing everything. I'm trying so hard. I
don't understand. I'm barely seeing any
progress. What's going on?" That's the
worst thing you could possibly hear as a
trainer. What you want to hear is, uh, I
don't know how this is happening. My
body seems to be getting in shape. I
don't feel like I'm doing anything.
That's what'll happen when you follow
these steps and you do them
consistently. So, level two, strength
training. One to two days a week. That's
it. Proper, appropriate strength
training. This is where your expertise
really comes into play. Level three, you
can start to add, and this is, of
course, level three is when everything
else is consistent. By the way, I'm
going to tell you right now, I waited
for the next levels for my client to ask
me. So what would typically happen is we
train, we'd strength train two days a
week, we do all the other stuff,
everything's going great, everything's
phenomenal, getting great results.
Three, four months into it, they come to
me and they'd look at me and say, "Hey
S, is there anything else I can do? I'm
really enjoying this." Then I would
include daily mobility. Daily mobility
is great for movement. It's good for
health. And I would give them a
10-minute, 15-inute mobility routine
that they could do every morning. This
was the third level for me that I would
Well, this is going to accelerate their
strength training. It's going to create
more movement, more steps, more calorie
burn. And so, the benefits of this is
incredible. And then also, most of us
are going to be training middle-aged
people with chronic pain and and joint
issues. And so, I think attaching that
to this at this point, but just like
you, I'm waiting until this client is
already seeing tons of results. They're
kind of starting to beg for more from
you, and then now it's like, okay, we
can start to move in this direction and
see some serious benefit from that.
Totally. Totally. Lastly, uh I would add
structured cardio. Structured cardio is
like 30 minutes on a something
treadmill, bike, uh whatever. Now,
sometimes people like doing this and
this is what they enjoy or they want
endurance. Maybe they're more
performance-based in which case we would
add this sooner. But for the average
person, they want to just feel better,
lose weight, be more fit, I would add
this later on. I would wait because the
strength training, the walking after
meals, the strength training, the
mobility, those give you such great
results. I wouldn't have to add the
cardio until later. And sometimes I'd
never add this at all. If they were just
happy, like add steps. Yeah, I save this
until here's the thing. If you if we've
made it to level four, you've been
training this person for months, okay?
You shouldn't be at level four in the
first week or the first couple weeks,
right? So, if you you've been if you've
made it to level four, you've been
training this person for months. I like
to save this. What's inevitable when
you've been coaching or training someone
for a period of time, the reunion comes
up, the wedding comes up, the the uh
bikini, I'm gonna be out on the boat
comes up, something's going to come up
in that, you know, first 6 months to a
year I'm training this client and
they're going to come to you and be
like, Adam, you know, next month I got
this thing, this trip, beautiful. We're
going to add some structured cardio. And
that's that's I wait till that. I feel
like that inevitably happens with every
client. there will become there will
become an event that will happen during
the time that I'm coaching them where
they're going to really want to look a
little bit better or lean out a little
bit faster and then I throw it in and
what's beautiful is that I saved it to
that point so when we do it they see
great results right so the key here to
be really effective you guys is to take
everything that we're sec saying here
and and center your coaching around the
stuff that we're saying center around
all the stuff keep it simple tr I'm
going to say this also By the way, we're
making it as easy as possible, that does
not mean it's easy. Your coaching is
still extremely important cuz even the
stuff that we even the stuff we said, as
effective as it is, as good as it is, as
as we found it, it their clients are
still going to require your coaching.
Focus on this, get good at coaching
these things right here. Your success
rates uh will go through the roof. So,
that's the second part of the series.
The third part coming up is how to do an
assessment the right way and use that
assessment to really communicate your
value. By the way, we have a webinar
that's going to be coming up on June
3rd. You can go to trainerinar.com. On
that, I'm going to teach you how to sell
training. I'm going to teach you how to
close the deal. So again, go to
trainerweinar.com. All right, I know you
like that episode. If you did, check
this one out. All right, so this is part
three. We're going to talk about
assessments, but uh to be more specific,
assessments that sell training. And uh
this is a very important topic. In fact,
this is a area that I saw trainers screw
up all the time. And fixing this made a
huge difference with the train. Adam
brought this up earlier off off mic, but
it really the what I saw was nobody
really using using uh assessments. Yes.
which was