Mind Pump: Raw Fitness Truth - 433: The Pros & Cons of Being a Trainer

Episode Date: January 9, 2017

If you love fitness, being a trainer has a lot of benefits. You get to do what you love and help people. On the flip side, as with any profession, there are challenges with being a trainer as well. In this episode, Sal, Adam & Justin dive into the pros & cons of being or becoming a trainer. Get MAPS Prime, MAPS Anywhere, MAPS Anabolic, MAPS Performance, MAPS Aesthetic, the Butt Builder Blueprint AND the Sexy Athlete Mod (The MAPS Super Bundle) packaged together at a substantial DISCOUNT at www.mindpumpmedia.com. Make EVERY workout better with our newest program, MAPS Prime, the only pre-workout you need… it is now available at mindpumpmedia.com Have Sal, Adam & Justin personally train you via video instruction on our YouTube channel, Mind Pump TV. Be sure to Subscribe for updates. Get your Kimera Koffee, Mind Pump's first official sponsor, at www.kimerakoffee.com, code "mindpump" for 10% off! Add to the incredible brain enhancing effect of Kimera Koffee with www.brain.fm/mindpump 10 Free sessions! Music for the brain for incredible focus, sleep and naps! Please subscribe, rate and review this show! Each week our favorite reviewers are announced on the show and sent Mind Pump T-shirts!

This promotion for this month is probably all month long. It's probably the most for all you motherfuckers that have been waiting for you having got started. It's got to be it's got to be the most complete program we have right because it's the map. Superb. The kitchen sink. We just all of the maps. It only took it only took us two years to finally get here. Exactly. That's how important that's how like K so if you're you it's a cornucopia. I have to say if you're somebody who's just like tuning into my pump in like the last three months, like you guys, you guys weren't a part of the process. So the, yeah, right, the grueling process

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your maps red, your foundational program. Then we move over into our maps mobility. You guys get into all the mobility work's in sessions for maps performance. Then you move onto your black maps, maps aesthetic, get into your focus sessions. Like, I mean, and then we get the YouTube channel, that's out, so you can tie those in with that, so those of you that want to modify and change the... And the promotion is, you do that, which has everything all your workout needs, literally for the entire year,

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It's the map, Super Bundle, the free, Fasting Nutrition Survival Guide. Come and at you, you can find it mindpumpmedia.com. If you wanna pump your body and expand your mind, there's only one place to go. Mind, mind, up with your hosts. Salda Stefano, Adam Schaefer, and Justin Andrews. You know what I forgot and am now being reminded

very strongly. What's up? And I'm not bullshit and I'm not doing this and I'm trying to make a commercial. I swear to God. I swear to God. Listen I I forgot just how Just how awesome Maths and Obolic is I hadn't done it in a while. I've been doing I did a lot of the maps. We've been stroking ourselves off A lot. No, no, no, let me tell you my personal no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, is up, libido is up, like all the same symptoms that I got from that phase one training

and it's also horrible symptoms. And it's one of the reasons why I get stuck in that phase. So I'm gonna make sure to get out of it in a couple weeks but man, I'm feeling good dude. Feel great, I love it. The trigger sessions are particular. And they're different than focus sessions because the focus sessions, I feel like you're obviously

you're more targeted What you're doing the trigger sessions give you kind of this whole overall body Recovery boost or whatever like I was real sore and part of my arm or whatever that seems to be going away Feels I don't know feels good man. Can we can we talk about? What it's like? Oh, sorry can I switch gears from your commercial? Although I appreciate the commercial. Yeah what it's like. Oh, sorry. Can I switch gears from your commercial? Oh, I appreciate the commercial.

Yeah, I was. I'm just, my, I'm just, I'm like a commercial. My pump media.com. Yeah. No, I actually have had way more, way more trainers, like in boxing,

me a message of me than I ever have. So, and I know that like, you know, and you guys know well too. In October, November, November December typically our business Starts to decline just because that's what happens during the hollus. Yeah fitness in the in the winter months You know people are holidays and families I think people give up put them on our sweaters. Yeah, I almost did man Everything's giving a like fucking well, and a lot of people get in shape for the summer and for the polls I'm not shaving my legs.

It's very common, right? So to see a flux right now is a little unique. And I've noticed a lot of personal trainers that have been unboxing me and messaging me. And a lot of like just questions around that, you know, how do you become one, and best sort of occasions, and what's your opinion, what's the pros and cons. And somebody asked that question. I just think it's a really cool topic that obviously we have a lot to talk about when and what's your opinion, what's the pros and cons. And somebody asked that question, I just think it's a really cool topic

that obviously we have a lot to talk about when it comes to that because of all of our years of experience. What are some of the pros and cons of doing what we do for a living? What do you... A being your trainer? Yeah, what do you love about it? And what do you not like about it? And what would you tell somebody

who is either one considering it or already is and just starting their journey? Well, I love, I love trainers. I love trainers because personal training, working in fitness reminds me of when you find someone who does like art for a living or you know, kind of these passion-driven jobs. Very rarely do I meet a fitness professional who's like, you know, I say, why are you in fitness? Oh, because I want to make a shit ton of money. Yeah. It's usually because they really love working out. They want to help people. They want to be able to be in the gym all day long.

They like that environment. It's kind of one of those passion-driven jobs. And I really like that about about trainers is that they're typically driven by the fact that they love training people and work out. Helping people out. Helping people out, yeah, and so that I love a lot. Trainers tend to, because of that, then tend to be really good at some things and really bad at other things.

And I know we talk a lot about bad things that trainers do, but for the most part, man, personal trainer, especially nowadays, the caliber of trainers, although there's still a lot of them out there that do horrible stuff, as a general whole, man, trainers are a lot better today than they were when I first started training, big time. Oh, no, a huge difference.

I mean, God, you remember getting started and there was like a stability ball, a foam roll. These tools didn't even exist. Things that we've incorporated now and used on a regular basis with helping people. Even just programming. I remember most trainers, even like a decent gym, you'd see them go from machine to machine

to machine with their clients. Well, now I feel I'm seeing better programming. Well, I've seen, yeah. It's better. I'm not saying it's always great, but. I feel like I've seen the programming. Well, I've seen you know, I, yeah, I, it's better. I'm not saying it's always great. I feel like I've seen the pendulum swing both directions on that one. I feel like I've seen it go from we were here. We've been around long enough to have seen it when it was pretty.

It basically completely depends on which gym in the environment you were at. That's a big difference. Yeah, because I also think that and maybe Instagram and social media is to blame for the swing back the other direction because I felt like you're right. All the dummies get like all the attention initially. Yeah, right. 20 years ago, you know, when we first started, I felt like it was very old. Back when weights were black and white.

Old school. And, you know, there was still bro science and kind of like programs were very manila right but I think that we saw that progress and trainers get better and better certifications and better information than the internet you know starts to progress and now we have access to it on our phones and now we can get information and so trainers are getting smarter and there's better certifications and we're moving along that direction in science. So I noticed that this starts getting, but then here comes social media,

Instagram, Facebook, stuff, Twitter, and then now you have all these insta-famous peoples that people that are out there that, you know, because they look sexy or they're... Whoa, people really like what I have to say. It has nothing to do with my awesome ass. Yeah, and that totally took it. I feel like it totally regressed us.

We were... So, you can see it, Justin. We were heading the right direction with health and fitness and wellness, and I felt like we're going the right direction, then all of a sudden we regressed way back. You know, I got a question for you, though, because part of this has to do with awareness. Let me ask you this question. If I plucked you from the gym, if I could go back in time and pull you out from when you first started, so 15 years ago or whatever, 20 years ago, so you're a new trainer.

I'm there. And I took you and moved you to today and I had you judge trainers. I bet you'd be like, wow, everybody, like these trainers are really good. I think the caliber's changed a lot. I think also our awareness has changed so much. I don't know, I think that's... I'm way more aware now, that's what I would go with. I would go with...

I would go with Justin and say it would depend where I'm at then. Oh, of course. Because if you plugged me in, you put me like in where the last facility he was working at, then yeah, it would be just mind blowing. Well, yeah, but even then, I was talking to like, a lot of those guys from the stick mobility and, you know, some guys I worked with,

and they actually would go to, you know, different 24 hour fitnises and these places to try and help to kind of teach a lot of the trainers and the staff that was there. And every time they would go to do this, they would come back and be like, oh my god, that was painful. You know, yeah, because they just didn't understand

basic biomechanics and, you know, basic ways to train the human body. It was like, what? Yeah, I think, but here's a thing though, trainers have been doing it for a long time. I think you get one of two people, the one person who gets kind of stuck in what they're doing. And then you get the trainers that progress quite a bit.

And the trainers that I know that I, you know, that have been in an industry a long time like I have who still train, they progress a lot, man. Some of those trainers, a lot of them aren't trainers anymore, but the ones that still are. Oh, if you made it. They've progressed a lot.

Oh yeah, well, I'm really good. Some of the best trainers I know. This is one of those business you sink or swim. I mean, if you don't, if you haven't, if you've learned to survive in fitness for more than three years, you've probably either won figured it out or you're on your way to figuring it out because you just can't, it's not a lot of money. It's not like this, it's already in 80-20 rules. It is that 80% of the people are making 20% of

the money and 20% of the people are making 80% of the money. It's already like that. And then even the top echelon is only, you know, it's like mid six figures. It's not like crazy money. And that's Bay Area Silicon Valley. So, you know, the trainer rates and the amount of money that you can make is a trainer full time. Because it never mathematically adds the way you think. So, okay, I charge $150 an hour.

And if I train eight to 10 clients every day, five to six days a week. I'm a millionaire. Yeah, right? I mean, I wish the math like that, but when you're doing that kind of volume, the percentages are still there, right? Still, five percent will get sick,

still, three percent will cancel, still, five percent, you know what I'm saying? Well, and that's something that, you know, you bring something up, that's something that I didn't like about personal training was, you did not work. It was very difficult, took a long time to be able to work in a block of time.

It was usually like, I got some clients in the morning. You definitely had to work. Big ass break at this time, couple of clients here, big ass break, more like. Oh, it took me, it took you year before. It was not a nightmare. Like that's, I, Oh, you're in the gym from 6 a.m. to fucking 17 year time.

Yeah, how many trainers did you, how many trainers two of you guys had that conversation with like when they're first starting and they're like, oh, I Don't a Tuesday nights. I like to be home by six and then on you know Thursdays I have my book my poker night with my friends So if I can be off by five on those nights, and then I can't work Saturdays or Sundays because you know That's you're not gonna make it. Yeah, right? And it's no dude when you first star like I work there You're in the gym all day. Yeah, because you're at the mercy of the clients,

and when you don't have very many clients and you first start off, you have to be flexible like that. You have to be able to say, okay, I am crazy enough to get up at four o'clock in the morning to train that five o'clock, that five a.m. And I will hang around and stay for that, you know, CEO that doesn't get off of work till 10 p.m. at night and train them like that.

But it's not just that, it's also the majority of the market that you're going after. If you're a trainer, the majority of the clientele train or work out either before or after work. Yeah, because they have money. So you don't have to say, yeah, because the people work for a little bit. Yeah, because the people with train, it'll, yeah. You rarely, I mean, come on, filling the times between them. I said, I was the retire and they have lots of money. Yeah, right.

And I think that just takes. No matter how good of a trainer you are, it just takes time to fill a schedule between 11 and three. It just takes time. That's what I'm saying. So that's the one thing that's one of the thing that I didn't like about it is because if you got a client, all it's are they either want to come in before work

or after work. And so you'd have this big ass break in the middle of the day, which if you have a family or whatever, that kind of sucks. You know what I mean? Because you left for work in the morning and then you don't come back from work unless you come back midday and then go back to work in some train. A lot of trainers do that. They drive back and forth like three times. That is a lot of what I didn't like initially about personal training, but then like you learn as you go off on your own like exactly like you

said, you have to determine your own schedule and then you basically, you know, fit these new people into your schedule. And you make it. But it takes, but you have to have the confidence in, I mean, you have to be pretty, pretty well established to even be able to do that. What about clients? What about when you first start off, because I think eventually when you've been training

for a long time, you're not gonna be training people you don't wanna train, you know, because you can be a little bit picky. Oh, when you first, but in the beginning, when you train some people for a long time, you're not gonna be training people you don't wanna train, you know, because you can be a little bit picky. Oh, when you first, when you train some people, you gotta take everybody. Oh, and I think that's what takes, I think, and I think it's an important part of becoming a very good trainer.

You have to learn to become a chameleon. You have to learn to be able to have a conversation with a type of person that you may not have the same political views, and you may not have the same values, and you may not agree with 90% of what they say, but if I just don't like them. Yeah, right?

But they're also just so happen to be a very consistent client who comes into train with you three times a week and is paying top dollar and they're very consistent. It's always tough to do that too. I'll tell you what, man, as a trainer, because I'm such a passion driven person. I really love people. It's pretty rare that I don't like someone,

but especially when I first started, there were people I just did not want to fucking train. It happens. You want to talk about, you want to talk about a long fucking hour. And in fact, I mean, I'm going to be honest and just admit that there were times where I'd be like, we're going to end this workout 10 minutes early.

So you want to, and I'm going to make it harder to last the 10 minutes before that. So you want me to end it 10 minutes early, because I can't handle. So you want to know a twisted thing. I don't know how healthy this is. I hate to end it 10 minutes early because I can't handle so you want to know a twisted thing I don't know how healthy I hate to admit it, but yeah, I don't know how yes you guys are the same thing Oh, yeah, what I did is I actually used to put myself in those positions to challenge my own character

And of course she did you take the person that you know like I New I would take I had in fact my name you would give him to me I remember I would take I had in fact my name you would give him to me You're told I Remember I had a client for eight years. Oh, just good handle I couldn't I couldn't be on opposite ends of you know her beliefs and views and just everything from political spiritual mental physical Once everything like we were so polar opposites and she'sites. And she was a mean evil per eight years. Meaning evil. She was in fact, she used to like try it off of my soul.

She used to like try and break me every time. It was this it was this very, very unhealthy relationship that I knew she had. And it was like this, this, this punishment thing and where it was just talk shit to you or what? No, she would just, she would would just she would bitch and she would complain like she would she would complain about the she really and why I took it on as a challenge was because it challenged me as a trainer I always knew I had to create this very creative workout for her to appease her and then I also knew that I had to work within these parameters of what I knew was best for her And then I also knew that I had to work within these parameters

of what I knew was best for her. And then I also knew that like there was gonna be a very significant... She's in the massacism. Oh, I'm sure she was. I could, and I knew that she was going to pick out at least one if not all the exercises that I chose and said, this is stupid, I don't wanna do this today.

And I would have to be on the fly, come up with something else. Oh, that's the worst. I've had clients like that. We're like we're just alter your entire course. No, no, no, they'll flat out tell you I'm not doing that. I'm not doing that right now. It's exactly what she was that's too much No, I'm not gonna do that. I this I true story right here. This I'll never forget I only want to work arms today or something one workout This this happened to me and it was just this happened to be one of the days where I was just like not she was my last client to to top it off my eight o'clock And she'd come in and she tells me like yeah, we start to work out and she's like no, I'm not doing that today I don't feel like doing that and then I take her the next no, I'm not doing that and we must have went to like eight different things before

Finally, I put on a lake extension. It was the first thing that she was like she did so I fucking kept her on the lake extension for hour One hour dude. We did sets on the lay extension dude. You're like, you're happiest here. So I'm pleased don't take that advice to do those a trainer that was totally superficial. Actually let's be honest, again, I don't know if this is necessarily advice, but there is a psychological component with sometimes the things you do with your clients

to get them past certain, you know what I'm saying? Like I had a guy who beg, like teaching her a lesson at the same time. I had a guy who begged like teaching her a lesson at the same time I had a guy I had to argue with him Every fucking time we work out that and he was it you know Just that he was an innocent dude, but he was it's totally out of shape You know dude you worked a desk job But he would debate with me about needing to do super intense workouts

I would tell him listen a super intense workout is not for you We're getting your body to adapt. It's gonna take some time. And he debate me, he debate me, he'd argue, he'd show up late, to work out, then he complained that he wasn't sore. So finally, I said, okay, you want an intense workout? So I put him through a fucking circuit that made him throw up.

And he'd never asked me again. And I mean, it was totally, and again, I don't think you should do that. It was probably the wrong thing to do. But it did work on him. He stopped asking me. And then we started training properly. Well, I mean, it's keeping it real.

These are situations that if you decide to become a trainer that you're going to have to deal with. You guys ever train anybody like that on purpose? Like, okay, I'm gonna show you. Oh, absolutely. Oh, you wanna get sore? Yeah, no, some people. You will, some people you will have to,

like no matter how much science, and I think that's also what challenges you with a trainer. And that's why I used to love him. Now I have to go home and I need to go find the goddamn study to show to this person like, no, let me show you. Like, let me show you the science behind why we don't want to do this. So it did make me grow as a trainer.

So I find that, but you also have that attitude, right? You have to be a trainer who looks at it that way, that okay, you know, this person is a pain in the ass, this person I don't like training, I don't wanna train, they're making my job completely miserable, but I'm not gonna let that affect what a great trainer I am. I'm gonna be a great trainer, this person's still gonna love me. And she did, you know what I'm saying?

Like I know- Didn't you kick her out though? Yeah, eventually. Yeah, no I did. I had it. I was really on my way out by that time too, though. That was late in my final years of working for the company and I knew I was leaving. It was just like one distinctive plan.

I think she's listening here. That's not one that she wanted me to make. There's nothing that I would say to her. I'm saying, I kept it real with her too. Like, it doesn't. Dude, the one I had too would also, she would go on all these business trips and she had planned out. she would hire a Trainer when she was gone and just to just to beat the crap out of her like she could not go without that

So she'd like cheat on you, but with someone you know and then she would pit me against their workout and be like well You know, oh my god, I had like I was so sick and you know You know this workout is like yeah, you know like all like talking shit and I'm sorry You know what did I the best cargo. You know, and this workout is like, yeah, you know, like all like talking shit. And I'm like, you know what? Did you take this as an unhealthy? Did you beat her up? Did you take it through a hard ass workout? I didn't for a while.

I just kept putting it back at her. I'm like, well, that's the wrong mentality. That's a big thing. And big, no, no, no, no. Cause I never did do it. Yeah. And I was like, listen, you know, you want puke? Cause puke.

What happened? Here we go. I had her, do I have to say what I did? I had her running like on the stair master, I had to stop it. Do you do it once? Do you do it once? Yeah, well, I did.

Oh my God, I was like faster, and then faster, and then she kept going, and then like after that, you know, we did, you know, a lot of calisthenics, and then I had her running, and it was totally a cross-fiddy workout. And I was like, that. You know, on the flip side, you get, you know, clients that you just can't wait to train because for whatever reason,

I've built some incredible bonds. In fact, going full-time here, so difficult to tell some of these people that I wouldn't be able to train them anymore. It was so hard. I don't know how you guys felt about that. Oh yeah. It was like, I was like losing sleep over it, man, because well, yeah, you built such a tight relationship with these people. You see them like a lot of times

or your family. And you know, you're not a family. Exactly. Yeah, it's crazy. Like in the stories, they tell you like during this process, like all these like intimate things that you talk back and forth and you just don't realize how connected you are to these people. It's almost like, God, it's like on one hand, I feel responsible for these people.

I've been training for eight, nine, 10, 12 years or whatever. So I feel like God, what, you know, I want them to continue, you know, this fitness journey without me, which is kind of stupid for me to think they've done it for that long, you know, they're probably gonna do it. But then there's a flip side that I don't, I know myself, I know I get in golf with work, I'm busy, I'm not gonna see these people nearly as much as I used to. And I know some of these people I won't see for a long time.

Yeah. That was a tough man. Yeah, well, I mean, someone used to watch my kids, you know, it was like a really tight knit group, you know, kind of knitted. I mean, I still come in here on Saturday mornings and, you know,

I have a good little group that I still, I actually train them all for free. I do just say, and it's my way of kind of giving back to them because I feel like I've received so much although they were clients of mine for such a long time that they're a lot of older, smart, business men and women that were some of my favorite clients that I've had for a long time and

You know, I've kind of extended that offer to them that hey when I'm in town I'll get up early on Saturday and I'll meet you guys down here now we get to come in the facility So it's really cool. So I bring them down here and we do a lot of because I don't see them or train them anymore And and let's be honest I know that they don't go lift weights like they should and train and do all the things they should be doing I'm very aware of that and I watched the progression of me pulling away from them. So it was a very hard thing for me to, and it was tough for me to figure out like, how am I going to solve this and to be, to be okay with it. Because you feel responding. You feel like, oh, absolutely. I

feel responding. I mean, these people relied on me to motivate them to train them and to educate them on health and fitness. And just like you said, I know they're all, these are very smart people. They, it's not like they, oh my God, what do I eat now? Oh my God, what do I, you know what I'm saying? It's not a matter of them not knowing they're intelligent. It's more of just, I was a part of what made that experience for them more enjoyable and good. And you realize that when you pull away

because you start to notice them not doing it. And what I first noticed was, I went from seeing these people two, three times a week to two times then to one time and then to just very sporadically, and I can see their movement. Like they just, their mechanics are like, and I'm like, whoa, and so that's where I came from.

It's like frustrating. Oh, it was you know. It was, it was, it was happening. It was wearing on me so much that I was like, listen, this is the deal. Like, I don't feel comfortable with charging you guys anymore because I have to travel so much in cancel and I've got other things going on you guys know that. So I'm going to extend this to you for as long as I can possibly do this and I'll try and do it for as long as I can, which is

any Saturday that I'm in town I will always hold this class with you guys for free and you guys can come and that I don't feel guilty if I got a cancel last minute and head out of town or something so, and they've always been very appreciative. So I've been doing that for a long time now where. Well see, that just highlights, some of the, because you just, you know, earlier you said about how you don't make a ton of money

as a trainer, you can do okay, but there's a lot more, there's a lot more value than that in working and training people. I mean, for me personally, I had job offers. I trained very successful people, business owners who then offered me a job and paid, why don't you pay me a lot of money. And the one thing that kept me in fitness was, there's nothing quite like working with someone over the course of months or years and changing or helping them change their

own lives in positive ways and having them come in and see these changes and the way they move and their personalities and how healthy they've become. It is such a rewarding thing to have, you know, people acknowledge that or to see that. You know, I've tied, I know I've talked about this on the show before, but one stands out to me. I had a client who was in her 80s and she couldn't move very well, lots of immobility, whatever, we'd worked together for about six or seven months. It wasn't even her day to work out.

She walks in through the front door, super excited with her cane, you know, coming in all excited. And she kind of stops my training session and comes up and gives me a hug and a kiss. And she says, Sal, she goes, I just bought groceries next door and I closed my trunk all by myself. She had like an SUV.

She was able to reach up and pull the trunk down and close it. And it stood out to me, you know what I mean? And that to me was worth, and the funny thing is that that moment I had been contemplating doing something else because again owning a small business, a wellness facility training people, getting offers to make way more money.

I was like, God, am I doing the right thing? Like maybe I should, she came in and said that I'm like, I'm doing the right thing, man. Oh, well, part of what, and I know that's why you're still training these people for free. Yeah, Saturday. Yeah. Yeah. You, you definitely, it is the part that you, I mean, I also, man, it's, it comes back 10 fold to, for sure. And especially when you, I think you, you generally do something like that and, and you do it

with the right intentions It just naturally happens and part of that is and you guys know just from the time that we've been working together Like I'm so big on relationships and relationships with people and like that matters to me it matters to me The I feel like you know What are we all here doing and stuff like that and when I when we when you meet and encounter new people like I want to leave a good Impression on you and I want I want I want to leave a good impression on you and I want to admit an impact, a positive impact in your life in some way or another.

And I feel like when you truly go about your life that way, especially in a training, as a trainer, you're provided lots of people to do that. I love that about the job. It allows me to interact with so many relationships. And I'm not 100% don't give me wrong. There's plenty of people that I'm sure they're fucking hate me. I mean, that's just you can't make every wild guess. I'm sure there's people that just think I'm an asshole. And you know what? Like that's part of that part

of that is what I what I love about the job is that is that, sometimes you do rub somebody the wrong way and it gives you that experience to the man, that was a great learning experience. I thought I could get away with saying that that person would receive that well and they did. It's like a total social test kitchen. Yeah, and I feel like I was first introduced to that because I was a pretty, and my parents have called me out

on this quite a bit because growing up, I was perceived a lot more as very shy. People didn't ever think that I had any personality or anything going for me. They were just like, wow, he never talks. I would always, I was crazy and let loose around my friends and everything, but I would barely ever talk to anybody growing up. And then, at some point, I forget. When you became a trainer probably, right? Yeah, well, no, before that, it was actually when I was bartending for the first time, and then I was like,

that's crazy that someone who says that then became chose to be a bartender. Right, well, I didn't, so opposite, right? It was so weird. It just kind of happened because one of my friends was like, you know, you can make money doing this and like make good money. And then I just was so-

As the bartender or as a bartender. Because I first thought I was in college and then one of my buddies from football team, he got me a job there. And then I realized I would make the most money doing that. And then but I was like, wow, this is gonna be challenging for me. Like because I just, I don't know how to like sit here and just have a conversation with a random person,

you know, and like, carry it, you know. And so that was a really hard thing for me. And then I just had to like, practice and practice and practice. And then finally, it kind of became a thing where it's like, once you relax and you can, you can like, enjoy it and learn your mistakes and learn how to come back with better content or whatever, it would make the whole job experience a lot better. And then I would carry that into personal training

where it's like I started over again. I was unsure about what I was saying and then I was over analytical. But then I started to warm up and be like, no, I started gaining that confidence. And then it's like, oh yeah, and then it became super fun. You know, it's funny. I wonder, does gotta be carryover.

I wonder if you would have even become a trainer or done as well as you did, had you not had that experience as a bartender. Because that's got to have some carryover, right? Yeah. Especially for someone who found that aspect of a challenge. It's crazy too, that you can. Because it was never, for me, to talk to people's never challenging.

So I wouldn't be, I don't know if I'd necessarily been prepared for literally pin, yeah, I could literally pin point it Well, it's crazy too that you. Because it was never for me to talk to people, it's never challenging. So I wouldn't be, I don't know if I'd necessarily pay if I could literally pin, yeah, I could literally pinpoint it to that because like before that it was, I was just very centered around like two of friends at a time, you know, or like, you know, a couple of friends and I would just give them all of my personality

and, you know, let loose. Otherwise, it was like, oh, god, and then it's away from me. And then Justin comes in to 24-of- our fitness and then it meets me as is yeah, the over charismatic 25 years old and she's touching me I mean that's appropriately What do you think about how things like unfold like that? It's really unique, but I mean that could be a pro and con. You can look at that either way, right? Because some people really thrive and enjoy that part of the business than other people dread that and fear that. Like in my experience

as a fitness leader, where I have had a lot of trainers working for me, it was very common that you would find either or like I either had a trainer who loved to talk and loved to be all chatty,cathy with their client and they were great relationship builders with their clients, but then they were awful trainers. You know, they were just unprofessional drinking coffee while they trained them, program design is awful. They're flirting half the time, like it's just,

you're just like, oh my God, you're doing it. I think that's probably the worst. You know what I mean? When you see the creepy trainer that's like spotting a squat all close and it just like, oh my God, I think that's probably the worst. You know what I mean? When you see the creepy trainer that's spotting a squat all close and it's like, dude, it's fucking calm down. I hate that because it gives us bad name. It literally ruins the fight.

It ruins it, man. Of course, of course. Of course, I can't stand it. But I mean, I think there is a thing. But I will say this, that's probably one of the hard things. Actually, that is one of the hard things about being your trainer is That's a sexual chemistry. If you're I don't care if you're a man or male or female trainer

You're going to at some point in calendar a client that's gonna have a crush on you Oh, and some of these clients are very obvious about it most of them aren't you could just tell but some of them are very obvious about it And you got it. I mean that that part kind of sucks, you know I mean when you got that client you like, sometimes what do I do? It's crossed and then it's like, oh, where, how do I deal with this now? Yeah, like, I got to see this person. They have 30 sessions with me left or whatever. Yeah. And they made that joke or whatever.

They pated me on the ass of the day. Like, well, and if you're somebody that this happens a lot to you, it's something that will either build or destroy your business. Yeah. And then this, oh yeah, don't give it that. It depends on how you react to it. Yeah, absolutely. So this is something I would speak to quite often with trainers as I'd onboard them and say listen

Especially if I knew they were very good looking and knew that they were they were going to attract You know clients hitting on them and stuff I would tell them I said listen There's going to become a time where you know Your clients gonna be hitting on you. You're gonna be tempted. They're gonna be beautiful They're gonna be smart gonna be whatever and you know if you become that trainer who gives into that and you cross that line It will forever ruin your business and I don't care how much you play it out in your head that you can make it work And it won't and you're gonna be quiet about it not telling anybody or oh, yeah, you really like this person

100% out of 100% of the time. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, every time it was quashy, it will end up, and it maybe doesn't happen right away, or even months later, maybe it takes a while for this, and then you become known as the trainer who does that. Like, and it will just kill you. Now, if it happens a lot to you, and you learn to conduct yourself professionally, and you know that, and you learn that, okay,

I understand these people are going. So there's some yoga studio where the instructor was like banging everybody after class. Oh my God. Yeah, they got like in trouble for this. I swear we should look the sun. Did you look the, I wanna look that up? Yeah, the yoga instructor.

Yeah, it was like they were like, it's the place I went to. She was running like a kind of almost like a prostitution. Oh, so it was like one of those massage parlors. It was like, yeah, but like, we go and then get the back room. Wow. Oh, so was it private?

There was, yeah, there was like a private session now. So I'll be truth be told, I almost did this. Right. No, this, I'm real talk here, I'm going to share this with you guys. Wow. So I actually, because I knew that, because I knew that I had clients that had motives like that, and I knew that I was professional, and I was, where are we going?

I, and because of this, I knew that. Be careful, we're not gonna edit the sound. No, no, no, no, it's okay. You know, we keep it real here. I never fall through, I never finished it, so it's okay, it's definitely okay for me to talk about it, but it crossed my mind enough to where I actually, you only went in a little.

I actually paid for the yoga certification certification and this was what I was, I was going to charge a very top dollar to come to your house and do private yoga with you. And I in order for you to do that, I needed to become a yoga specialist myself. So I was going through the whole certification process and I wanted to get good at it first. And really the only thing that stopped me from doing it was at the same time that I was really on this like bulk big, you know, getting big kick and it was just so conflicting with what I was, and I was like, you know, there's no way, like I really- Totally inflexible.

And I'm not stupid, right? I knew that I was going to appeal to a demographic of women that would love to have me come to their house and fucking stretch them out for an hour. Like I'm not stupid and I know, and I know we're in the right area to do something like that. I'm seeing dollar signs. Right, and I was like, okay, and I fight if I'm really good at this and I know and I know we're in the right area to do something like that So I'm seeing dollar signs right and I was like okay And I fight if I'm really good at this and I do it well and I actually package it right I can make some good money doing this. Oh, we could still pin them out

I think we can because probably can promote the reason why I never pulled the trigger is cuz I look so ridiculous doing Yoke because I'm so not limber like that that I'm like I can't do this I can't come in I can't come in all seductive and stuff like that, and then go, and then go to do my yoga, and then be like, all bad at it. Here's the thing, it'll be my own ass. It'll be, then it'll be like so bad. If I was married, if I was married and my wife's like,

oh, I got this yoga instructor's gonna come to yoga, I'd be like, let me hang around for the first session and fucking bodybuilder Adam Watson. That's what I'm saying. I've been like, with a boom bot. I'd be like, yoga, maybe around for the first session and fucking bodybuilder Adam Watson. I'd be like, with a boom vibe. I'd be like, yoga, maybe he's really good at yoga and then I'd watch you be like, no, you're not inviting him for yoga. He fucking sucks at yoga. Why is he wearing a cup uniform? I would see, but in that situation, because I have to know that that would happen to me at one point.

I would walk up to you and definitely formally introduce myself to you right away and invite you to be a part of it. I'd see right through that. Oh, well, yeah, maybe because you're another Jedi too, but I mean, I would definitely, I would definitely try to make you feel very secure with allowing me to stretch with your wife in your bedroom, you know, so like I'm sure that for those fighting words, for and record it.

I mean, one of those weird guys. Well, it never happened. It was weird guys. Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's just, like, one part of those weird guys never happened. It was a weird guy. Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's just like, I'm part of my pro-life feeder grapes. We never watch me. You know what, that makes me- Come on, do you do that thing?

It would make good money though, and we're- I don't know, maybe, I think, I'll tell you what, I hated training people in their homes though. I couldn't stand that. I would never do that ever, because I tried it a little bit. No, I still- It always takes way more time than you think it's going to.

Then you go to the music, go to music, it's like, it's like, it's so comfortable. Drive back to the gym or whatever, and there was, you know, I did it a couple times, it just did not like it. I do not like training people at home. It sounds like a great idea, but I have yet to meet a trainer

who's super successful just training people. No, I do it, I do it, and I'm successful at it, but I don't like it. It's not one of my favorite parts of it. That's actually where I made the most money. Yeah, I do, exactly. You make good money on those people. Normally, those people are there normally stay at home moms that have a kid or two, and they have a husband

who has a very, very good job, and like money is not an issue. Or, it's the busy professional that's always leaving and single. Yeah, I have a lot of those. Yeah, so I definitely, there's actually good money and good business in it. I don't like it, though. Yeah, so I definitely, there's actually good money and good business, and I don't agree though. Just, I like the gym atmosphere to get me in the mood to like wanna train. I feel my programming suffers when I train you at home.

It's hard for me to get into the work. You don't have all the right tools. But then I have some clients, like so I have, so I have a lady in mind that I still see in her home like that, and, but her focus is different. So if her focus was like, I really want to lose a ton of weight and I want to do, she just wants to feel better.

So sometimes we will walk, we'll do a mobility stuff, we'll just stretch a lot. So I actually enjoy doing that and training at her house. But if you're gonna build a whole business around training at someone's home, you're gonna get a lot of people that really want to get in good shape at home. And that's just,

I've seen business showing up with your bands and dumbbells. Well, I've seen so many businesses of Trainers that start the whole mobile training and they've got like a trailer or something or a truck. It's got to quit me in the back. I'm still doing that. I think he is. Did he Expand you guys know anybody that didn't weld me that well if my buddy Nick is well you know the reason why he did all that Nick is the trainer who I hired the same time as Justin, I thought he was gonna do that. Oh, okay. He does that mobile type training?

Yeah, he does it. He does it on lots of people. He does it on campus though for Google. So he's already got a contract. Yeah, he's like their fitness manager there and then they let him sort of bring his truck in and then I think, you know, he just expanded. I mean, he's kind of franchising it. I hope he does well with it it's a very it's a very small I almost did it I

literally I thought about it too but then when I the more I looked at it the more I thought I don't know because I didn't know very many people that did it well what I what I saw was this because I also ran group boot camps because I always a thing for a second though it was because we went through the dot com and then we crashed and then after we when we were going through dot com, everybody, everybody, we can't be coming, having a personal trainer was like a cool thing. Like if you were in the Silicon Valley, like everybody's making a money hand over fist during that time and they're like, you don't have a personal trainer, I got a personal

trainer. You know, so it was a hip thing where, you know, sales were up like crazy and then we went through the crash. And then everybody, everybody, everybody freaked out and the first thing that had to go was training. That was like a luxury. I'm saying to be able to say you had a trainer and they're so expensive. It was like, okay, so as a trainer, you had to reinvent yourself. How do I still make the kind of money I was used to making when everybody was just throwing

money at me. Group training became the transition and it was a big transition. Yeah, those boot camps were big for a while. Yeah, no, I did really well with it. I did well enough to where I built them up in the Bay Area. I had a trainer working for me and running different classes. So there was good money in doing it,

but you know what, it ate away at me because I knew I wasn't being able to provide a really good service. I hated it. I did some boot camps. I felt gimmicky doing it. And the programming is difficult because you have a class. That's why I'm not a big fan of group type training.

And when I would teach a class myself, I ended up personal training people while the class was going on. Exactly. Because I can't fucking hand it while I was doing it. You would hover around the person that had the most like deviations and problems. Yeah, so I'm not gonna let you fuck shit up.

No, come on here. And this is why, so I talk about the class of the people that I allow to come in as a group on Saturdays, this is gonna be free, but what we do is like, I do like these like, almost like, kin stretch type of classes or like a mobility type class where they're all just working on hip and shoulder mobility, all things

that are gonna benefit everybody in class. How many people do you normally do that? There's like anywhere between eight to 15 to 10. Oh really, it's that big. Yeah, yeah. Oh, okay. Yeah, you know, but what we do, like,'s like anywhere between eight to 15 to 10. Oh really, it's that big. Yeah, yeah. Oh, okay. Yeah, you know, but what we do, like I can see doing that. Instead of me doing like what I,

but what I used to do with those same people are work, boot camp workouts, flip and tires, ropes and bicep curls and shoulder presses and squats and burpees and like. Now truth be told, if you want to make money and you're good at teaching groups, that's where it's at. Of course. Because then your scalability is like, you know, as a personal trainer, one on one, you're limited.

But you still limited. But what made me leave that, even that, that you get to a point, I feel like, you know, keeping things real as far as money and what you can do, like once you get between that 100 to 150 mark income, it really is. And the cap out. Yeah, you kind of can, no matter whether it's boot camps or something, because when you're making that kind of money on boot camps, you Yeah, you kind of, no matter whether it's boot camps or it's way, because when you're making that kind of money on boot camps, you definitely have to now,

I had to hire trainers underneath me, now to handle the other ones. So now that cuts into my pay and my money that I was, I both of these good trainers aren't gonna be able to manage another trainer. And they don't care. I actually used to have to give them a percentage of my business because I wanted them to care

about the retention as much as I cared about the retention. And they don't. Yeah, and they don't. So your business starts to sink when it's no longer you anymore. So even though it seems like a great idea, and I thought it was also, and that's why I went that direction, group training is not the answer either.

And I really didn't like that. There's some benefits to it, but the truth is, there is some benefits to it, especially talking from revenue. But at that point in my career, I got past the money piece and it was more about me as a trainer and what I was doing for my people. And it can also feed into, you know, the thing too, the group class, I'll tell you why I did group classes

at some point, is it fed my personal training because I'd have these group, you know, boot camp clothes and you pull my side and you're like, man, we really need to work on this. Well, I mean, it just naturally would happen. Yeah. People then from there would want to hire me. They would seek it.

Yeah, hire me one on one. Oh, I think that's, I mean, you know, this second. I mean, I want to leave people listening with some strategies because I think there's not a lot out there that teach trainers really had to run their business. And if they work for a gym, they kind of follow that protocol. And then they have to do shit they don't want to do. Like, I've got trainers messaging me, saying stuff like,

man, they tell me I have to sell this many supplements every month, and I really don't like this, I don't believe in them, or they're telling me I have to train people this way, and it's like, okay, you gotta get through that before you can get to the part where- Well, are they do, are companies still holding supplement sales as a accountability?

Like, they have to do- I get messages all the time. I get- Shand- Oh, shit. And they're like, what do I do? Like, I gotta keep, I wanna be a trainer time. I get from trainers. Oh shit. And they're like, what do I do? Like, I gotta keep, I wanna be a trainer, but they're making me sell their supplements.

You gotta do it. You have to do it or go off on your own, which is very difficult. Wow, I get, why didn't I think that? I totally forgot that we said. And that sucks. That's one of the main things that sucks about working in a gym is that at some,

they're gonna make you do some shit you don't want to. And it's kind of all the shit I used to get, shit for on the weekends especially because it was my responsibility to ramp up those sales of all the supplements and it was like, I just would never do it. Cause I was like, I don't fucking believe it. Also why I'm so passionate about speaking out on that

cause I was such a bad trainer with that. I used to sell the shit out of some of them. Well, hold on a second, I would tell you. But you weren't just a bad trainer. You weren't necessarily a bad trainer. You took a shit time. Oh yeah, no, I didn't. You believed in me. Well, hold on a second. I would tell you, everything. But you weren't just a bad trainer. You weren't necessarily a bad trainer. You took a shit time. Oh, yeah, no, I did too. You believed in me.

Well, that's why I feel like a piece of shit. But I really, I was. Because I did the same thing, but that's because I was joking with my reliever. I was drinking the Kool-A, too, you know what I'm saying? So it wasn't like, I would never like be pushing shit. I'd be like, oh, this shit works. I've never used it in my life before.

And I think it's a joke, no? I was taking it and like, yeah, I take this and take, oh, I love this, and then take that, and then take this. And then, you know I take this and take, oh, I love this and then take that and then take this and then, you know, then we'll cycle off of that and then we'll run this like, if fucking, there's $900 worth of supplements. See you next week. Yeah.

Seriously, was, because we made, because we made what, 15% 15% commission off of it or whatever it was. I would take on subs all the time. I would do great. Yeah, you were pretty, you were. Well, you know what, and I would actually, I would like try really hard to sell them too.

But you just didn't do it. I couldn't sell it. It's cause you didn't take them. Yeah. That's the thing too. A lot of people need to realize like really, really good sales people believe in what they're selling. Yeah, and Justin, you just never really believed in supplements.

Yeah. That's why you couldn't sell it. Yeah. I was a supplement whore. Yeah. So everybody took supplements. Right. I'm sure you were like, just like me, right?

I mean, I'm sure you. Oh, everybody, because I loved them. Yeah, yeah. Because I thought they were so great. Yeah, and then I stopped taking them all. It's a simple. It's a simple speed stack. I believed in that. Wow, that's gonna be, you have to, that should hit you.

Ah! You know, that has to be a major challenge for trains. I didn't even think about that. I talk about a con for somebody if you go work for a company. Imagine if you're a trainer, you're listening to Mind Pump, you're learning how to become more successful

a trainer, one of our main messages is most supplements are kind of crap. Well, here's another. They're probably so conflicted like, what do I do? No, that reminds me of another con, then. And I'm thinking about, okay, so one of the most challenging things about when I was working for Orange Theory was,

you know, how do I go work for a place that we kind of speak out against with as far as the way everything's done, program-wise, and this and that. Like, how do you do that? And I said, well, they push the intensity. Yeah, exactly. A lot of things that we kind of speak out against. Well, you know, here's the way I look at it with these companies.

You have to kind of take the good with the bad. Like, what I do like about it and what, and how I would justify was I think, when it comes to group training, which I think is inferior by far to private training with somebody by far. Every time. Yeah, it doesn't matter how good it's always going to be. So that's a no-brainer, and nobody can try and argue that all. You can't individualize a group like you can with a person.

Exactly. So that's a common knowledge. Exactly, common knowledge. I think that as far as programming for a class setting, I don't think it gets better than that. I think they're doing it better than anybody else. Better than any, it's like being on the top of the ship pile or being the tallest midget.

You know what I'm saying? Like, it's not like, it's nothing to be all excited about. But I think you have to learn to do that. So if you work for a company, do you like that one? Oh, yeah. Sorry, that one got me. Wow.

So when you work for a company like that who's having you push and sell supplements, I mean, what are the things you are getting from that company, too, are they teaching you a lot about the development as a trainer and how to build your business, and are you getting a ton of leads, filter, do you have great job security? Are you getting further in your education through them like are they is providing you a great atmosphere so you know you have to ask those things because there

is going to be a give and take when it comes to becoming a trainer and working for somebody else i mean there's a lot of cons when it comes to that and i think you have to be moldable or be kind of a chameleon as you're going through it. Well, I mean, especially because trainers tend to be passion driven. It's just tough. It's tough to do anything you don't necessarily fully believe in. But I always look at it this way. If you plan on being a personal trainer for a long period of time and have it as a career

of yours for a long period of time, and you want to just stay a trainer, you don't want to get into management. Eventually, you will move off on your own, and then you can do, you can control all the variables. Otherwise, working in corporate fitness, you tend to move up into management. And by that point, you're drinking the cool aid and you love what you're doing. And it's a numbers game. And it's all good. Listen, if you like Mind Pump, leave us a five star rating review on iTunes. If we like your review and we pick it, you'll get a free Mind Pump t-shirt. Also, check us out on Instagram at Mind Pump. If your goal is to build and shape your body, dramatically improve your health and energy,

and maximize your overall performance, check out our discounted RGB Superbundle at MindPumpMedia.com. The RGB Superbundle includes maps on a ballad, maps performance, and maps aesthetic. Nine months of phased, expert exercise programming designed by Sal, Adam and Justin to systematically transform the way your body looks, feels, and performs. With detailed workout nutrients and over 200 videos, the RGB Superbundle is like having sound, and an adjustment as your own personal trainer's butt at a fraction of the price. The RGB Superbundle has a full 30-day money back guarantee, and you can get it now plus other valuable free resources at mindPumpMedia.com.

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