Exercise classes and equipment are marketed based on how much fat they “burn”. I was great at selling exercise equipment. I’m sure I sold more than one $2,500 treadmill, recumbent bike, or cross-country ski machine by touting how much fat the buyer would burn. But guess what? Fat doesn’t burn.
When my life had dark clouds above and banana peels below, I had to take a contract selling bodybuilding supplements. I was good at it—it provided many entertaining stories—but it wasn’t what I was supposed to be doing. I made money selling “fat burning” products. But I knew something my buyers didn’t know:
Fat doesn’t burn. It converts from triglycerides into two components, fatty acids and glycerol. This process is known as lipolysis. The fatty acids are then used by the mitochondria part of the cell to provide energy in the form of ATP (adenosine triphosphate). At no point in this process is anything burning.
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I knew more personal trainers than anybody when I was involved with the industry. I had a friendly relationship with Steve Nesbit. Steve was Mr. Pittsburgh two times 20 years apart. His image was on the scoreboard during Steeler games. If the team got a first down, Steve was the hulk up on the Jumbotron wearing a hard hat, no shirt and lugging a heavy chain over his shoulder. (Note: Steve passed away in 2012 at the age of 55).
Steve and I met at one of the numerous gyms that no longer exists. He was known for training female clientele from Mt. Lebanon, Upper St. Clair and Peters Township. When Steve’s clients had a question about supplements, he would send them to me. I would tell the women what the supplements they asked about were purported to do. But I would also tell them that since 1994, the entire industry was deregulated and no member company had to prove any statement. Funny thing is, those women, all dressed in expensive workout clothes, never seemed to sweat.
Steve Nesbit was the exception to personal trainers. The rule is a trainer who sees a client as a $45 per hour payout telling them what they need to do to burn fat (which, as you now know, it doesn’t do).
If I was a personal trainer, I would be the greatest trainer ever. Not because I would provide washboard abs, cut delts, tremendous traps and sculpted arms but because I would be able to provide something no other trainer could. More time. Time and knowledge.
I would be able to make individuals effective and efficient with the time devoted to physical activity while at the same time preventing them from becoming Exercise Bulimic (EB). There is value in creating and giving time to others. (To read more about EB, click HERE.)
As for knowledge, trainers and their clients need to know that fat is not the foe—it is the friend. Fat is necessary for hormone and prostaglandin production, and the storage of fat-soluble vitamins. The mortality rate is higher for individuals who are too thin than those that have a healthy fat percentage of body weight.
The world has seen famine far more than it has seen feast. Our bodies haven’t adapted to the ease of obtaining food. High calorie, easily digestible food at that. If our ancestors hadn’t had the ability to store fat for periods of time, we wouldn’t be here. Many lineages died off long ago because their ancestors were too thin. Thin and dead is no way to go through life.
In Cut Your Calories…Now!!, of the 40 ways detailed to reduce calorie consumption, No. 20 provides insight into why fat is not the enemy and why essential fatty acids are healthy and aid in reaching satiety.
Click HERE for the CYCN link.
In closing, I want to share my first inductee into the Bad Hall of Fame for Personal Trainers. I used to swim at a facility downtown. On occasion, I would go upstairs to run a mile on the treadmill to help my breathing in the pool. I would see the trainers working with their clients.
One day I finished on the treadmill and was walking toward the steps. I passed two trainers who were talking. One trainer said, “With my knowledge of training techniques and supplementation, I can overcome anybody’s genetics.”
You know that thing when you think of the perfect thing to say—but you think of it when it’s too late to say it? That happened to me on that day. First off, that trainer’s statement is ridiculous. Personal training school didn’t teach her about the importance of the Genetic Lottery. Most of what we look like is based on the ticket we pulled at inception. Secondly, the trainer didn’t know my experience and insight into the supplement industry. She probably was involved with a Multi-Level Marketing company selling pills, powders, mixers and elixirs.
The perfect thing that I should have said: “You can overcome my genetics?! Great! Then I will pay you ten times your fee. All you have to do is make me one inch taller.” By the time I thought of it, it was too late to say.
Final Thoughts:
In addition to being a swimmer, I’m also a bike rider (Trek not Harley). I don’t know if trainers are telling clients to ride their bikes. The personal trainer who I would admire is the one who could get paid while their clients are out riding their bikes. That would be a great marketer.
The U.S. obesity rate went from 29.9% of the adult population in the year 2000 to 35.8% in 2010 to 40%+ in 2020. (Source: CDC)
The number of gym memberships increased from 32.8 million of the U.S. population in 2000 to 64.2 million in 2019. (Source: Statista)
There is more obesity than ever and more gym memberships. Many people have the “gym life” mentality now. They are in the gym for much longer than required to obtain the health benefits of physical activity. I know people with multiple gym memberships. Yet, the obesity level keeps rising—just like the number of new gyms.
