The Body You Want - Washington DC Personal Trainer : Georgetown, DC

Shoot an email to josef@thebodyyouwant.com and let me know
*what you like
*what you don't like
*MOST IMPORTANT: what you'd like to see in the months to come

Thanks

“Your country is to die for; food is to eat.”

-Unknown

Do you have a few extra pounds that you need to shed to get ready for the beach or the pool? Click here, and scroll to the end of the article to get a free interval program (yes, this article has been run before, BUT that does NOT make it less effective). The program is for 16weeks, but if you only have 8wks, start at week 9 and get going. Oh, and be sure to follow the directions AS THEY ARE WRITTEN, not as you interpret them. It looks easy and short on paper, but you should be gasping for air at the end of every interval (even though it is a very quick workout).

This month’s recipe is from a special guest, Dr. John Berardi, taken – with permission – from his Gourmet Nutrition cookbook (which is currently my favorite cookbook).

Think becoming a nationally certified personal trainer is hard? Think again. My dog, Calhoun J. Pigglesworth III, is an “expert level, nationally certified personal trainer.” That’s him with his certification below. When many people want to get in shape, they think, “time to hire a personal trainer.” Unfortunately, they will probably end up wasting their money on some who is no more qualified than my dog.

The certified pug - possibly more qualified than the PT's at your local gym!

*FACT: It is way more difficult and rigorous to become qualified to cut someone’s hair in DC than it is to be responsible for someone else’s health and fitness! To get your barber’s or cosmetology license requires 1,500 hours of state regulated and mandated training, plus a board exam. However, to officially become a personal trainer, all that you need to do is print business cards that say “personal trainer,” and you are official in 49 out of 50 states, and DC.
*FACT: Incompetent advice can be fatal. In the summer of 1998, Anne Marie Capati, made the last mistake of her life – hiring an incompetent personal trainer. Fully aware of her high blood pressure, her trainer prescribed an ephedra based fat-burner and contraindicated exercise programming. A few months into their relationship, Capati showed up not feeling well, but the trainer pushed her through her workout. During which, she fainted and later passed away – she was 37!

Just like hiring a lawyer (vs. representing yourself) would be the difference between success and failure in a law-suit (that is not your area of expertise). Finding a truly qualified fitness professional will probably be the difference between success and failure, long-term, with your physique. The problem is that while lawyers have The Bar Association to say who’s qualified and who isn’t, we in the fitness industry have absolutely nothing in the way of a regulating body to separate the quacks from the real deal. Here are some tips to help you find someone truly qualified:

#1. This must actually be their career: Skip the aspiring models and actors/actresses, and other part timers. They are about as qualified as a doctor who just "fell into" medicine to make some money on the side. Those who make this a career are much more likely to be continuously educating themselves like true professionals, otherwise you are paying for an expensive conversation (with no meal).
#2. They MUST provide a written plan: You go to a fitness professional because they are supposed to be experts, not for their ability to converse, fetch your towel, or count your reps – if you made it to the 3rd grade you can count to 12 all by yourself. If they are actually experts, then they will give you a written plan to go from where you are now, to where you want to go. This plan should spell out – in writing – explicitly what you are to do on a daily/weekly basis in order to achieve your goals. Otherwise you are just paying for someone to rack your weights and count for you (that’s not worth $60+/hr).
#3. If your first meeting involves a workout, RUN! This is like if you went to the optometrist and the very first thing that she did was hand you a pair of eye glasses. No glaucoma screening, no cataract or macular degeneration tests, not even a vision test to determine what prescription of lenses you need. All she says is, “These look like they’ll fit you just fine. That’ll be $200.00.”

Everyone has a unique body, goals, risk factors, etc. If they do not run assessments during the first session to find out if it is even safe for you to exercise, what your goals are, what your limitations are (i.e. how much time you can realistically spend exercising), your current fitness level, what sort of muscle imbalances you have, etc. then you are getting a completely random workout that they just pulled out of their butt on the spot. Don’t expect that they’ll be pulling great results out of their butts any time soon. You can take yourself through a random workout for free. You won’t get results in either case, but at least you’ll save a ton of cash.
#4. PROOF: If you can’t see some before and after photos, and/or call/email some of their former clients to find-out how it worked (or didn’t) for them, then they can’t deliver – period. Believe it only when you see it or hear it from a third party.

My spring semester is winding down, and I will now have the time to work with additional clients. Also, I have figured out how to help more people in less time, without sacrificing quality, and for less money per person! Look for more info in mid-summer.

Josef Brandenburg is an award-winning Washington, DC based personal trainer. He focuses on helping regular, busy people create rapid and sustainable fat-loss in the time that they actually have. He is also the author of the book The Body You Want. Click here to find out more.