Great expectations

Expectations are something which constantly go round in our subconscious, which we then relate to a product, or a particular item, service or situation. When people are stood waiting at a pelican crossing, you expect the light to turn red to signal drivers to stop and give way. When you buy a pair of shoes in ‘your size’ online, you expect them to fit. If you buy bread or milk with a date on it, you expect it to make the best before dates before being covered in penicillin (mould) or turning to soft cheese.

Expectations are constantly on the go, whether you realise that or not. Throughout the fitness industry I dare say that BP Personal Trainers aren’t the only trainers out there inundated with clients who ‘expect’ to lose weight just because they’re paying for a premium PT service. (I know I say this often) a common question we get asked is ‘what results can I expect?’. To me, this is a very vague question, and therefore so is the response! If you come and train three times per week and don’t bother to change your nutritional habits, sure you’ll make a little bit of progress because of the change in activity level but this victory will be short lived.

If the question actually was ‘IF I do as you say, and take on all of your advice what results can I expect?’ Then the answer is that you can expect to see positive results, usually within a week or two of starting. I have a client and before he even changed shape or budged an ounce he thanked me for my input, JUST because his sleep cycle improved in a matter of days. Exercise was regulating his hormones and his body was starting to work as it should! The following week he thanked me again because he no longer suffered from ‘spoof cramp’ at any given time, because the chemical balance in his body was returning to a normal state. I point out at this time that those two results aren’t results that anyone anywhere would ever say to a trainer that’s what they want to achieve. They can’t be measured on a tape measure or weighing scale, but are integral to the individuals overall goals.

The unfortunate truth is that the majority of people have an ideal ‘bigger picture’ or an end goal in mind. They generally know in a roundabout kind of way or at least acknowledge just how long the road to success for them actually is, yet their expectations rarely reflect this. I will use my Mam as an example here… she gained weight (I daren’t say how much) over a period of time, as most people do! It took the same amount of time and then some to shun it, and get back down to the weight she wanted to be but this was down to setting consistent healthy habits and not ‘going hard’ for 2 weeks then ‘going off the rails’ for 3. My question is, if you consume more calories than your body actually needs, or knows what to do with for a prolonged period of time, what do you expect to happen? By consuming calories I mean allowing anything with a calorific value to find its way into your body, whether eaten or drank. If you constantly put two pounds into a jar every morning, and took one out every night you would eventually ‘store’ or save up an entire jar full, however, if you then started with your full jar and took two out every morning, and put one back every evening you will soon end up with an empty jar. This is consistency. Your body does this with energy, which is why weight has a tendency to fluctuate. If you’re approach is inconsistent, and you are ‘just eating’ or ‘just training/ exercising’ then you can’t guarantee a calorie deficit, and therefore can’t expect good results, however if you know when you’re training, and tracking what you’re eating, and know your macros you are in a position to guarantee a calorie deficit, and therefore can expect good results.

With all that said, we as trainers are entirely aware that our clients expect good, measurable results. And truthfully as trainers we don’t want anything less, but we can only facilitate this when our clients work as smart outside the gym surrounding as they do inside the gym environment. Take advantage of what is available to you and use it to the best of your ability.

Jake.