What motivates you?

As a trainer it is hard to find out what motivates others. I know what motivates me and keeps me going but trying to find out what motivates my clients is very challenging at times. Tough love may motivate one person but may send another away never to workout again. I think it is important for everyone to have a goal and reason to workout OTHER than weight loss. Most people who come to me want to lose weight. As I train them I talk about entering 5K's, 10K's, half or full marathons and triathlons. Those are not for everyone but do get some people going. I have a client named Anne pictured below with Pam. Last year Anne ran several half marathons and was on a roll. She was so motivated and excited about running. Then that died off and she continued to workout but lost some of the excitement. Anne struggles with a few pounds and I am sure everyone wishes they only had a few to lose. Pam pictured with her also has a few to lose. Anne started talking about losing these 7lbs and Pam said I want to lose 7 too. So they made a bet during the training session. This bet was a measly 20 bucks. That would not really motivate me but let me tell you it got them going. Pam trains with me 2 times a week and rarely does cardio. So just stepping up her cardio would most likely yield some results. Anne does cardio and trains with me 3 times a week but she loves food and wine a little too much. Some small modifications in her diet would also yield results. Last night I was sitting on the couch watching some TV when I get a text from Anne. It said something like this:

I will have you know I am now down 6lbs

About 20 minutes later I got a text from Pam:

If I lost 3lbs in 2 weeks will it slow down now if I don't step up the cardio? PS I did one hour on the eliptical tonight I am impressing myself!

I was laughing because these two never text me like this. Usually it is, "I can't make it today my dog is sick or I have a hair appointment" Check out my blog post on excuses and I am sure a few of theirs are on there. Anne has suddenly become a spin junkie too. She has been taking spin classes like crazy to increase the intensity of her cardio workouts!

Dalia and Leilani pictured with me below are suddenly motivated too. Dalia recently had a set back in her training. She hurt her ankle and then her back. Now she has recovered from that and is thinking about training for the Las Vegas Half Marathon. I hope she does. Her and Leilani came to the Rockin Runners group training run Saturday and they both did great. Leilani works out hard too. She kind of slacked off recently for a few weeks. I blamed it on the new boyfriend:) but she said it was her fault. As fun as relationships can be, couples can enable each other when it comes to fitness and diet! Now she seems to be back on track and fired up to train for the Las Vegas Half Marathon. She came to the group run Saturday. Then at noon she came and trained with me in the gym and did spin class.....go for it Leilani!

Brett my client that was training for Ironman Lake Placid which is today was motivated by his father. He wanted to raise money for Parkinson's while completing his first Ironman. He raised almost 8,000 and is doing the race today. Go BRETT!

Leah another client was motivated by a trip to France. She was going to France and wanted to lose weight. She is on her trip right now (hopefully not eating too much). She lost over 30 lbs in about 4 months training with me. She is going to Cabo in November so that will keep her on track! Great job Leah. She has been so dedicated to the diet and training!

Susie is another client that came to me to lose weight. She has lost about 13 pounds and her motivation was her daughter. She wanted to be a good example for her baby who is almost 1 year old. I think this is one of the best reasons to be healthy! There are so many obese children because of their parents and the lifestyle the parents are living. If there is ANY reason in the world to be healthy being a good example to your kids is a great one! If competition or trips don't motivate you to live a healthy life then let it be your kids if you have them. They will see you exercising and eating healthy and they will likely follow.

Competition is one thing that motivates me. I am pretty competitive and always have been. Having goals also motivate me. I find if I am not training for something my workouts seem lack luster. I seem to just go through the motions. Lastly being a fitness professional (triathlon coach, personal trainer) motivates me. I feel that I have to be a good example for the people I train. I see lots of trainers in the gym that are overweight and out of shape. They may be knowledgeable about training and have good credentials but they are not practicing what they are doing. It is like going to a hair dresser that has ugly hair. I would NOT have someone do my hair that had bad hair. So why do people hire trainers that are out of shape? I am not sure but I will tell you one thing as long as I am training people I will be in good shape.

Have a great week and stay cool if you are in Vegas!