Fat Loss is so 2016
In 2014 when I started PT 95% of people came to me for fat loss.
Over ten years later that’s not the case.
More clients than ever are coming to me about pursuing goals unrelated to losing weight. Mental health & wellbeing, sports performance, delaying the ageing process, are among some of the reasons many of my newer clients have come to see me and I love it. While they are self-aware enough to admit that they might like the aesthetic benefits of adding a bit of muscle that hasn’t been the main focus. It’s refreshing and a lot more fun as a coach.
Fat loss can be really hard for a lot of people and a tricky topic to navigate as a PT! Often tied up a lot in how we feel about ourselves on a far deeper level than ‘I just want to look good’ it can require being quite introspective and making changes to our lifestyle that can feel pretty monumental. It’s also something that can take a lot of time and, if we place too much value in it, distracts from all the other incredible things that exercise does for us.
Exercise has an awful lot going for it beyond fat loss, as “the only known stimulus that can simultaneously prevent or ameliorate heart disease, diabetes, cancer, obesity, osteoporosis, sarcopenia, and cachexia, while improving learning and memory” (Baar & Hargreaves 2011) it’s CV is pretty impressive! In addition to all of the above it trains our mental muscles too. The act of challenging yourself to exercise, especially aerobic, literally changes how your brain works and helps you build resilience to difficult tasks in other areas of life.
If we could pop the benefits of exercise it in a pill it would cure us of many ills... and it’s not like we don’t know it’s great. Back before influencer there was philosophers and as one of those put it, “Take care of your body, it’s the only place you have to live” wrote Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius, among other wise things We exist in these bodies for our whole lives, with them we can do wonderful things. They are worth doing whatever you can to look after and exercise should be top of the list.
