Over the past month I’ve noticed my Glitter Gym has become less crowded. Each week I see less and less people. There are less members around in the mornings, late afternoons and even the weekend. Many of the people who go to my Glitter Gym hire personal trainers. When times are tough, people cut back on their personal trainer time. That is why my gym is emptying out.
I know a personal trainer in North Seattle that lost half his billable hours this year. This isn’t some punk kid with a newly minted certification. He has years of experience and in normal times – a full client list.
Photo getting-huge by Flickr user ericmcgregor.
One of the better trainers at my gym started doing high intensity 30 minute workouts for his clients. Can’t afford an hour? How about an extreme 30 minute workout? No talk. Lift and move. Go! The ironic thing is he will be taking a slight pay cut, but his clients will most likely do better under the budget option.
Besides the fact these trainers are are losing a lot of billable income, the other sad part is these same clients that spent hundreds and even thousands learning from these trainers, aren’t taking responsibility for their own fitness. As far as I can see, these people have stopped working out. They are gone. They never developed self motivation. From my post My Thoughts on Hiring a Person Trainer:
Motivation takes practice. Having a trainer push you, especially when you first start an exercise plan, can be very helpful. As one makes progress, self motivation should come easier. My advice is not to become completely dependent on a trainer for motivation. Push yourself. Just like any other exercise, it takes practice.
The final tragedy is with fewer people working out, there will be fewer Tales From the Glitter Gym. 🙁
Andrew
Mar 18, 2009 — 10:10 am
I think learning to motivate myself to go to the gym consistently has been one of the best contributors to my strength gains in the past year. There’s really no substitution for true self motivation.
I have friends who I occasionally try to convince to start working out regularly. They always say, “you guys aren’t doing a good job making me go.” (None of them attend my gym). Why should I need to take you to the gym or remind you to go? I work out by myself and usually get done in about an hour… If you don’t have the motivation to take just an hour out of your day three times a week, you’re never going to be successful anyway.
Oh well, at least the gym is going to be less crowded. I think it’s been a few weeks since I’ve had to wait for a machine, and that’s a good thing for me.