Last week we discussed what can be expected at our initial consultation. This assessment is called the Submaximal Primal Fit. (See last week’s post for details)
As mentioned last week, this assessment is used to program workouts that are appropriate for each member’s current fitness level. In the first year of membership at fitpeople, we complete this assessment 3-4 times. Members who are consistent with workouts each week can expect to complete an assessment every 3 months.
These assessments help us to measure progress and ensure that workouts continue to be appropriate for each individual’s fitness level. As trainers, we do not expect for each member to improve on all tested areas at each assessment. We aren’t expecting drastic changes in the first year, but we do hope to see gradual, consistent improvement. Think of a staircase, not a mountain slope.
Unfortunately, not every assessment will be a happy one. Sometimes it ends in disappointment. Most often we see disappointment around body composition… body fat went up, lean tissue went down, total weight went up (which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but we’ll save that for another blog post) or no major changes at all.
It’s important for us to never make our clients feel badly for results that aren’t moving in a positive direction. The goal for us is to see improvement, but we can’t put parameters around it. Each person is unique. Our bodies respond to change at different rates. For some, it may happen quicker, for others it may take a little more time.
We find that the most successful people are the ones who are consistent and patient.
We want our members to improve. We want them to be able to successfully complete harder workouts as time goes on, we want them to get stronger, more confident and healthier. We don’t expect these things to happen in a few weeks, months or even years. Change is hard and it takes time. Remember what I said earlier? We’re looking for gradual improvement… staircase, not a mountain slope.
It’s important to remember during these times that failure is just a part of life. It’s necessary and it’s normal. As trainers we fail too. We don’t have perfect assessments all the time. Sometimes we test our body composition and are shocked at what the numbers reveal. It’s okay to fail. It’s not okay to give up.
Most often, bad assessments are just what is needed to get yourself out of a rut. No one is immune to complacency. It happens to us all at different points and time. We get in a routine, we get comfortable with the progress and eventually fail to continue to put in the same level of commitment and effort that we started with. It really is impossible to stay motivated long term.
Bad assessments can be used as a wakeup call. Don’t run from them, use them. Use them to figure out where you got off track and eventually provide motivation to get back to work and actually do what you said you were going to do.
When you’re faced with the results of a bad assessment (or bad news from a doctor’s visit), stop and face the reality. Look back on the past few days, weeks, months or years and be HONEST with yourself. Figure out what’s not working and start making some changes. They don’t have to be drastic (actually they really shouldn’t be drastic). Write down some goals. Post them in places you frequently will be. Hold yourself accountable by telling other people. Take it one day at a time.
Most importantly, use the disappointment as MOTIVATION to keep going. Time will pass by no matter what you chose to do, so ask yourself… what would your future self, encourage you to do at this moment?
“Failure is not the opposite of success, it’s part of success.”
