“Someone who knows the state capitals of 17 of 50 states may be proud of her knowledge. But someone who knows 47 may be more likely to think of herself as not knowing 3 capitals.”
-Chip and Dan Heath discussing ‘gap knowledge’
Made to Stick

Twenty-six years ago I passed my first degree black belt exam. The day I actually received my belt – my instructor tied it on me and told me – “Now, you start learning”.

I was confused at the time, but as usual, he was right. I learned more in my first six months as a black belt, because of the sparring partners I now had, the opportunities that were open to me, and my ability to absorb information at a higher level – than I had in all my previous years of training.

Then in the next six months – my knowledge and ability continued to develop rapidly — I learned more than I’d learned in all of my years of training again. It was like my knowledge level was doubling every six months. The black belt wasn’t the end — it really was the beginning.

I think being a fitness professional is the same. If you’ve been a trainer for five years, and you are still actively learning, attending seminars, reading — you’ll learn more in your sixth year than you’ve learned in your entire career so far. Your ability to filter good information from bad, to interpret research, and to know who to listen to, who’s work to read etc is so vastly improved that you can actually improve exponentially. As long as you are still studying of course

I’ve read 30 books this year so far, attended six seminars, read countless journal articles and business magazines, listened to audios and watched educational DVD’s. I don’t think I read 15 books the first year I was training people. I maybe didn’t read more than 30 books in my entire college education.

Craig Ballantyne told me that he has spent more money on education this year than he made his first year as a trainer – in fact he’s spent more than most trainers make in a year. I bet he’s learned more this year than he did back then. And I know he’s earned more (tip – that’s not a coincidence).

Keep learning.

–
AC

I did this mini-and-completely-unscientific survey on my facebook page a little while ago.

Which is a better motivator for you?

1) A time-based goal e.g. a six week fat loss program – lose as much fat as possible in 6 weeks, improve your chin-up ability as much as possible in a month -

or

2) an outcome based goal e.g. lose 10lbs – be able to do ten chin-ups – in other words a specific target -regardless of how long it takes

The results of those who responded were 50-50. Some were driven to dedicate a period of time and improve as much as possible – others were more driven to seek out a very specific outcome and pursue that – regardless of how long (or short) a time it would take.

What about you? If you’re a trainer or gym owner – understand that your clients my be motivated in completely different ways. It may require different promotions, different memberships and even different dialogue when you’re coaching them.

Just something to think about.

–
AC

The Dude Weight Training Plan for Fat Loss

Day A

Range of Motion, Activation, & Movement Preparation. (Dynamic Warm Up)

1A: Horizontal Cable Woodchops  2 sets        10 reps ea. way   0s Rest
1B: Ab Wheel Roll Outs                    2 sets          8 reps               60s Rest

2A: Front Squat                                 2-3 sets       6 reps               60s Rest
2B: Single Leg Ankle Mobility        2-3 sets       8 reps each        0s Rest

OR

2A: Deadlift                                       2-3 sets          6 reps               60s Rest
2B: Hip Flexor Stretch                    2-3 sets          30s each side    0s Rest

(Alternate using the front squat pairing and the deadlift pairing each workout day)

3A: TRX Inverted Rows                  2-3 sets         12 reps                60s Rest
3B: Reverse Lunges                         2-3 sets         12 reps ea.          60s Rest

4A: Push Ups                                    2-3 sets          12 reps                60s Rest
4B: Neutral Grip Face Pulls           2-3 sets          12 reps                60s Rest

Day B

Range of Motion, Activation, & Movement Preparation. (Dynamic Warm Up)

1A: Kettlebell Windmill                    2 sets              5-8 reps each side    0s Rest
1B: Prone Jackknife                          2 sets              10 reps                       60s Rest

2A: Bench Press                                2-3 sets          6 reps                         60s Rest
2B: Figure Four Hip Stretch          2-3 sets          20s each side             0s Rest

OR

2A: Chin-Ups                                    2-3 sets          4-6 reps                 60s Rest
2B: Leg Lowering Drill                   2-3 sets        6 reps each side        0s Rest

(Alternate using the bench press pairing and the chin-up pairing each workout day.)

3A: 3 Point DB Rows                        2-3 sets          12 reps each side      60s Rest
3B: Single Arm Single Leg RDL     2-3 sets          12 reps each side      60s Rest

4A: DB Overhead Presses               2-3 sets          12 reps                       60s Rest
4B: Swiss Ball Leg Curls                  2-3 sets          12 reps                       60s Rest

Notes:

 Use this program for 3 days per week on non-consecutive days e.g. Mon/Wed/Fri or Tue/Thus/Sat etc.

Alternate the A and the B program each training day. For example, weeks 1 through 3 will look like the following:

Week 1: Monday – Workout A / Wednesday – Workout B/ Friday – Workout A
Week 2: Monday – Workout B / Wednesday – Workout A/ Friday – Workout B
Week 3: Monday – Workout A / Wednesday – Workout B/ Friday – Workout A