It's less than ideal when some osteopath or chiro or naturopath or TCM person offers their opinion on someone's training. I respect the advice of all medical professionals. Craniosacral osteopathy? Sensing the flow of the brain fluids by feeling the person's skull? No.
Fucking quacks. I don't tell you how to read people's Tarot cards, don't tell me how to train someone to get strong.
Technically, yes. Just as anyone can call themselves a "personal trainer" or "coach" and start selling their services, so too can anyone call themselves a "nutritionist" and give as detailed advice as they like.
In practice, if you wish to avoid legal liability, it's best to stick to what you're qualified by courses or experience to do. So for a PT, the diet advice can be general only, like the sort of stuff you find on government health sites. I stick to what I call "nutritional first aid." Just as the medical first aider doesn't cure the patient, they just provide a viable body for someone more qualified, so too with nutritional first aid.
"Hmmm, I see from your food diary that you live on cigarettes and KFC. Most people find that if they quit smoking and eat some fruit and vegies they feel better." That's fine.
Or, "if you find it physically difficult to eat enough, many people find it easier to consume more if they just drink milk and eat eggs. So long as you've not some kidney problems or whatever." That's okay, too.
"You should eat 122g protein, 343g carbs and 117g fat tomorrow, then the day after fast and just drink lemon juice in water all day to detox." Not fine, too detailed and specific. Whereas for a qualified registered dietician, they can do that stuff.
The key thing to remember is what the Americans call "scope of practice." That means you only talk about shit you've studied formally or had experience in. For most PTs, that's just exercise.
You can give whatever advice you like about whatever you like, but if someone gets hurt or sick and sues you, well... It's like your house burning down, it probably won't happen but if it does you're fucked. So try to minimise the chances of its happening.
In the end most clients won't need detailed advice anyway. Most people simply need to eat less junk food, drink less booze, and eat more actual food, fresh fruit and vegies, stuff they prepared themselves from raw ingredients at home. Because most people's diets are fairly shit, they live on stuff out of colourful packets. It's like Dan John puts it in Mass Made Simple:-
Before we get too specific: Eat like an adult!And we can give that sort of advice without worrying about anyone getting sick or our being sued.
... Honestly, seriously, you don't know what to do about food? Here is an idea: Eat like an adult. Stop eating fast food, stop eating kid's cereal, knock it off with all the sweets and comfort foods whenever your favorite show is not on when you want it on, ease up on the snacking and - don't act like you don't know this - eat vegetables and fruits more. Really, how difficult is this? Stop with the whining. Stop with the excuses. Act like an adult and stop eating like a television commercial. Grow up."
Even if you give detailed dietary advice people won't follow it anyway. Most people don't know how to eat like a grown-up, and become quite stressed at the thought of it. As a professional, for my reputation I'll stick to the stuff I can control: their exercise in the gym. I can't do a thing about the other 165 hours a week if they choose to fuck it all up. All I can do is make sure they do a deep knee-bend, pick something heavy up off the ground and put something heavy overhead, and do more in each session than they did before. Rest is up to them and their common sense.
It doesn't frustrate me. I just put it back on them. Paraphrase of a real conversation.
"Kyle, I haven't lost any weight since we started."
"It's been three sessions."
"Yeah but we had some sessions last year."
"Do you remember we talked about diet?"
"Yes."
"Have you changed what you eat?"
"No."
"Well there you go. I told you, you will not lose weight in the gym, that happens at the dinner table. You come to me to make you stronger, fitter and more flexible. How big you are is up to you. Now let's start with a squat."
I'm fine with it. I'm there to improve the quality of people's lives. If they're going to be obese or scrawny, they can at least be strong, fit, flexible and obese or scrawny.
Occasionally their dietary or rest choices affect their lifting. That's okay, too. Let's say they fail a lift they could usually make. This is another paraphrased actual conversation.
"What was your sleep like last night?"
"Went to bed at 4am, got up at 10am."
"And what did you eat last night for dinner?"
"Um, pizza."
"And breakfast this morning?"
"I had some cocoa pops."
"Can you guess why you failed the lift and feel so shit today?"
"Yeah."
"Okay, that's enough rest, try again. I have no clients after you, we'll stay here until you get the lift. The bin is over there if you need to chunder."
First session, I lay it all out. "Exercise, nutrition and rest are a tripod, just get one of them right and the thing will still fall over. They don't have to be perfect but they do have to be better than they are now. I can only do so much for you in these sessions, rest is up to you." I tell them, "two hours of workout, 500kcal, one large fries from Macca's - maybe just easier not to eat the fries." I give them all the "strength is built in the gym, size at the dinner table" and all that stuff.
So I give them the info in a blunt way that most won't, then leave it up to them. I support their good choices, don't crap on about their bad choices. It's their life, their choice. Sure it's disappointing, but I'd rather be the disappointed trainer than the disappointing trainee, it's shitter to be them than me.
And these ones usually don't last as clients. They miss sessions more and more often and eventually drift off. That's okay, I did my best. There are enough sensible and dedicated ones to keep me cheerful.
Woman came in recently wanting a new and shortened routine. Her old programme had pushups with one hand on the bosu ball. I had her demonstrate ordinary pushups - she couldn't do even one to depth. So I had her do knee pushups, instead.
She also had "walking lunge with medicine ball twist." She'd never before done a full bodyweight squat, I put those in there, too.
The idea of "basics first" seems to be a radical one. If you are a healthy bodyweight, then do a bodyweight squat, do a pushup, do an inverted row. At least say 10 of each in a row. Then we'll see about adding weight or twists or walking or yodelling or whatever.
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