Cheerleaders, everyone likes them….
Except maybe hardcore feminists and that’s still only a maybe…
What’s not to like?
They’re always really happy……even when their team is getting crushed.
They do ridiculously precise and dangerous athletic maneuvers.
and they are really easy on the eyes.
So yeah, at sporting events, cheerleaders get a big thumbs up:
Not cheerleaders….”Song Girls”………get it right.
But at the gym they really suck azz….
…...like totally, for sure....
Just hold tight and keep reading, this is going somewhere I promise….
Too many people and too many trainers buy into this “motivation” BS.
Folks hire a “trainer” to “motivate” them…..this always ends in disaster.
News Flash: I’m NOT here to motivate you.
I can’t motivate you…You’re going to have to do that yourself.
YOU have to motivate yourself at 5am to get up for a 6am workout.
YOU have to motivate yourself to come in after a 10 hour day at work.
YOU have to motivate yourself when you’re not feeling your best.
YOU have to motivate yourself to not eat that piece of cake…I can’t do it for you.
That’s how it works guys……….
Change/ progress towards any goal…..
It’s ALL on YOU not anyone else.
When you put it on others you’re giving yourself a built-in excuse for failure…..
That said, someone wasn’t honest with you.
The fitness industry and the “professionals” in it had a hand in giving you an excuse…..
We perpetuate the “motivation” myth.
We tell people to hire a trainer because it will motivate them….
True, it may work at first because you paid the money and don’t want to “lose” it so you’re motivated to minimize your loss.
But if you look at the number of people who stop paying for training and even coming to the gym after the initial commitment you’d probably say:
“How the hell do you guys stay in business?”
People are motivated to start working out ON THERE OWN, but they expect to come in, get some type of positive results, and be rewarded for there effort…funny how that works…
Effort = Reward
That’s where the sh@t hit the fan.
They didn’t get ANY results…..
- Move better? Nope
- Stronger? Nope
- Loss Fat? Nope
- Gain muscle? Nope
Even thought the trainer did all the “right” things.
- Dutifully smiled and talked up the client
- Tracked everything on the handy-dandy clipboard
- Changed exercises often to keep the client engaged and muscles “confused”
- Did lots of the latest and greatest “cutting edge” stuff…every session was like an as seen on TV infomercial.
- Motivated the hell out of the client…..sheer, unadulterated exuberance….constantly.
Lots of:
- “Good job”
- “That was great”
- “Great work”
- “You’re doing awesome”
- and other assorted motivational statements.
Despite all of this 10 sessions and 4 weeks later the client is gone, never to be heard from again….
You see what happened was they hired a Cheerleader…..
What they got was someone who sits on the sidelines, never in the actual game.
To the outsider they appear to be part of the game.
They’re on the field, they “motivate” the fans….
But really they’re just some pretty faces in booty shorts dancing and jumping around at TV timeouts.
Looks good, but produces NOTHING….
The players are out there catching passes, scoring touchdowns and making tackles.
Actually in the game making plays…see the difference?
You’re the one doing the squats, pushups and pullups…
When it comes down to it no one gives a damn who has the best cheerleaders in the game, but who wins the Super Bowl?
Different story.
What you really needed/ wanted: A Good Coach.
Best coach EVER…
If you’re willing to show up and fork over money that usually tell me:
- You’re committed, at least for now…..results/ progress breed commitment.
- You’re looking for guidance, expertise, the best course of action to achieve some goals.
What you don’t need is “motivation”.
You need someone to come up with a winning strategy. Not tell you how wonderful you are.
“YOU PLAY TO WIN THE GAME”- Herm Edwards
That’s why cheerleaders are worthless.
You won’t WIN with them….
They’ll tell you how great you’re doing ALL THE TIME but you’ll never actually ACCOMPLISH anything.
Because you have a team made up of people who don’t know where to go let alone how to get there.
How can you be doing great when you’re going nowhere?
“You’re either moving ahead or falling behind”- Jim Rohn
How to tell the difference between a cheerleader and a coach in one simple step:
Does your trainer:
“Coach every rep of every lift”- Buddy Morris
The person you hire should be COACHING YOU, giving you cues, improving your technique, keeping you focused, through EVERY rep of EVERY set.
If you’re not consistently hearing the following from your trainer:
- “Chest up”
- “Chest out”
- “Shoulders back”
- “Shoulders down”
- “Sit back”
- “Hips first”
- “Knees out”
- “Head back”
- “Smash the bar”
- or some variation of the above and 1,000 other cues
You’re being robbed…not only of your money but also your time, effort and good consistent progress.
The same applies to training partners.
If you’re surrounded by nothing but a bunch of cheerleaders you’ll never get anywhere.
There is nothing more useless than someone leaning over “spotting” someone who’s benching and yelling,
- “You got it!”
- All You!
- GO, GO, GO!
- Niiiiicccceee!
If “I got it” what the hell do I need you for?
Exactly, I don’t…..
Cheerleaders don’t give you any constructive feedback cause they don’t have any to give..
They give constant encouragement to serve as a smoke screen for the truth:
They have NO CLUE what the hell is going on.
They don’t know what good technique is…
Usually they don’t even have good technique themselves.
Half the time they don’t even know what the movement should look like any way.
They’ve never learned how the tiniest technique change can make all the difference in the world.
They don’t know why you would change an exercise based on the body, strength and weaknesses of different people.
They’re high on BS but short on experience and knowledge….
“You’re going to be as weak as your weakest training partner”- Dave Tate.
Yeah, it might feel good at first to be told how great you are but a year later when your weights are the same and you’re just as fat….
It might be time to rethink hanging out with the cheerleaders on the sidelines and get in the game.
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