Coach Lee Boyce joins Coach Scott for an hour-long chat about the ins-and-outs, ups-and-downs of being an expert fitness professional today. The expert trainer and social media • There’s a lot of copycat training expertise in the market. • How many trainers are dependent on social media and numbers of followers. The footprint you leave on the industry has to come from someplace else. • There is a place and need for the social media “fits-po” type trainer. They’re just not on par with experts who try to make clients, and other trainers, better. • If you’re going to be someone who wants to be viewed as an expert in the health industry, a trainer should try to physically evidence like they’re walking the talk. • The role of a good coach is to put [themselves] out of business. • When Lee speaks at conferences, his goal is to deliver information people can use, rather than furthering an agenda. • Lee and Scott agree that experience is the greatest teacher. Ouch! • In April 2017, Lee suffered a bilateral patellar tendon rupture during a basketball game. Contributing to it were new shoes, concrete floor, had not played in a while, and was insufficiently warmed up. • The injury taught him lessons on how to approach training and other things. • Limitations since then: longer warm-up, sets with the bar only. Can still run, jump, sprint, and squat over 300 lbs. • The injury forced him to find different substitutes for movements he did before. Lessons injury taught • Mobility, calisthenics and bodyweight training are important. We get into a run of performing the big, strength movements, working in the sagittal plane and overload. • Need to address connective tissue and mobility, and other forms of resistance. Matching the client and training program • Look at chronological (biological) age, and training age. Lee would address a first timer to the gym who’s 43 lifting weights differently than a first timer who’s 18 lifting weights. • There may be accrued injuries, weaknesses or imbalances in the older trainee. • Someone working a desk job for 22 years will likely have immobility and maybe lacking coordination and other basic skills. • Some trainers put all clients through the same program, regardless of the trainee’s goal. What does the number of chin-ups have to do with achieving a physique goal? • Are high-impact, ballistic training styles contribute to many sports injuries we see today? • Longer sports seasons are abbreviating careers. • There’s something to be said for lay-offs and time away from the gym. “It’s great to have a 600-lb deadlift but what’s your shelf life going to be…?” Becoming a great trainer • People who have disposable income are a “blue ocean” for trainers. Blue oceans are markets where the competition is limited. • Lee used his writing as a way to differentiate himself from other trainers. • Personal training fees should be set just like any other profession, like dentists or lawyers, whose fees are all within a finite range. • Most trainers don’t put in the energy and effort to make themselves stand out as true experts. Fewer people are willing to put their heads down, be a learner, and do what it takes. • Tips for becoming a great trainer: o Don’t skip steps. o Work with as many clients and demographics as possible. o Continue learning. Read the experts, like Dan John, Mark Rippetoe, JC Santana, Vern Gambetta, and others. o Stick with what you know. More about Coach Lee Lee Boyce is a Toronto-based strength coach and internationally-published fitness writer, and speaker. He’s also a part-time college professor in Fitness and Health Promotion.