THE CRUSADES - by dougal macdonald Chief Evangalist - 2nd 28 day | Day 19

7.00pm, just got back from the gym......there were a couple of young people in the gym training...or rather chatting, to each other, and asking me questions about nutrition in between. Made me think about success or not in your endevours, specifically in the gym. I see so many people who are just spinning the wheels before they head across the road for a 'big mac' and a 'coke light'.

Are we as health and fitness professionals doing the best we can to educate people like this.

The questions were coming thick and fast whilst I was training a client and I had to gently move them in a different direction. Now I wasn't being unkind but a paying client deserves my full attention.

How do I as a trainer help people who don't pay me. Well I do, but at a time that fits in with my schedule and not theirs. Motivation seems to wane when things don't go according to other people's diaries. However if someone really wants help I'm only to happy to help them understand how to read food labels, how to build the basis of a program, and the basics of nutrition. That's who I am.

Some trainers I know won't do a thing outside of the hour booked and paid for.

I think we have a duty to be as helpful as we can if we are to make a difference.

At the very least we are honour bound to explain to people why the way they are training is a complete waste of time.

1. When you walk into the gym, do so with full focus and a detailed plan of action...and check your ego at the door.
2. Plan what you are going to eat the following day and make sure you have it packed and ready to go when you head out of the door.
3. Make sure that you actually eat what you planned to.
4. Know how to do the exercises you have planned and have a logical reason for why you are doing them.
5. When you get to the end of the day, take five minutes to evaluate what you did and compare it to what you planned to do.

If you do this, which is not exactly nuclear physics, you can be sure you will be heading towards your goals and not away from them.

Anything else and you might as well jump on the couch with the dog, and watch the Disney Channel, for all the benefit you'll get.