Last Sunday Fundamentally FIT attended its first sales event of 2015, the Worthing Wedding Fayre, run by Stylish Events. This was a great opportunity to meet new people and discuss their health and fitness goals for both their big day and for the New Year. Established for many years, this event was held at the Charmandean centre and offers visitors the opportunity to indulge in all things that go into making their dream day a reality. This was my first wedding fayre and I was fortunate to meet lots of enthusiastic, motivated and friendly people.
A key part of our stand was a competition to win 5 free personal training sessions. We were inviting visitors to enter the competition while chatting about their wedding plans and fitness ambitions.
However despite a very successful day I did come away with one nagging concern. Upon inviting visitors to enter our competition, there was a worryingly high number of people who simply looked horrified at the concept. While many happily dropped their names into the hat it was the looks of fear from others that stuck with me the most.
Initially I wondered, what have all the other trainers must have been doing to these people to make them so nervous? However the more I pondered this concept the more I begun to wonder if the fitness industry has started to become disassociated with a big section of the community. Fitness classes are more popular than ever these days and it is clear to see an upward trend for increasingly physically demanding styles of session. With high intensity interval training, Insanity and Armageddon to name a few, these are now appearing more and more in our class timetables.
The question is though, does this growth come at a cost to those who are still finding their feet in the world of health and fitness? Classes like Insanity, without a doubt, do provide a fantastic workout, however, if you are new to exercise and not confident, such a class may be a very stressful experience that could fuel a thought process that you are to unfit to exercise. These classes can involve complex movement patterns that a new exerciser may not be ready to progress to straight away. Instructors will always strive to look after their classes but with so many people this is often a fine balancing act, potentially leaving newbies out in the cold. It would be a great shame if people are struggling to find the right starting point on the road.
Fundamentally FIT often work with those who are too busy to get to the gym or simply do not thrive in that class environment. We all want to look and feel our best so it is worth considering how you as an individual can best achieve your goals. A gym membership is a big investment and one that will benefit a large group of people. However if you know won’t use it and don’t enjoy being there then it’s time to reshape your thinking? Exercise should enrich your life and the driving force should always be “don’t do things that aren’t fun”.
Goals are personal, motivation is personal so why shouldn’t your training be personal as well. This misunderstanding at the wedding fayre is what had confused me the most. The competition was to win 5 sessions of tailored and bespoke training based solely on the winner’s goals. If you’re in the driving seat what do you have to be afraid of?
Andy Strong
Fundamentally FIT Personal Training Walton-on-Thames
