40% Better Results w/ Coach vs. DIY

I remember back when we were building our house. We had decided to do a natural rock wall and stairs in our backyard using some huge boulders. 

When the guy who was going to build the wall showed up and rang the door bell I wasn't sure if I should open the door or call Crime Stoppers.

[caption id="attachment_5396" align="aligncenter" width="300"] My reaction when I saw the wall builder show up.


But as it turned out he was legit and built a beautiful wall in our backyard.

Now as this was during the summer and I was home for the day I offered to help the guy out. Although he had some heavy equipment to move all the boulders around I figured there would be benefit to a  second set of hands.

My thoughts were that this guy would probably appreciate the help. And maybe the job would go more smoothly. And if the job took less time because I was helping him maybe it would shave a little of the bill time-wise. Because as some of you know building a home isn't cheap.

So I offered to help. And this is what the guy said.

'It's 50% more if you watch. Double if you help.'

Roger that. Alexandra packed up some food, drinks and a blanket and we headed to the beach.

But home build projects aren't the only areas where we might be tempted to lend a hand or DIY (do it yourself). We all know lots of examples where people do their own investing. They take care of their own vehicles. They log on to Web MD to diagnose whatever ails them. And a number of people will look to take after their health and fitness on their own as well.

But what kind of results can you get on your own compared to using a coach? Can you achieve the same kinds of results? Is it as safe? How efficient is it?

Well the first answer to these come from a client RI who is a physiotherapist. RI came to us for some help with his knee pain. And since he is a runner this injury was directly affecting his ability to participate in this sport.

And this was interesting because RI spends his time helping others address their injuries. RI knows better than most why an individual's knee would hurt, what to stop doing to prevent more damage and what to start doing in order to get better.

Yet RI came to us to help address a knee pain issue. And the answer was that we demonstrated ourselves as experts in addressing knee pain during our Knee Solution Seminar. And it is near impossible to assess and monitor our movements.

It's pretty hard to see our movements in real-time from all planes. It's pretty hard to see where a hip shifts. Or when a knee collapses. Or simply how we compensate. And if we don't see and know these things we will never be able to address them and get better.

But what about if we don't have an injury and we simply want to get stronger, more toned and have more energy? I just described about 90% of people with a health and fitness goal in January.

If this is our goal we should be able to simply go to a gym and we'll start seeing results in 3-4 weeks, right? As long as we're doing this safely, consistently and with an honest effort we can expect the best results, right?

[caption id="attachment_5397" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Let's just leave it to the experts, shall we?


Well, not exactly.

A recent study compared the strength gains of those who worked with a fitness coach compared to those who went it alone. Groups were divided into two based on this condition of having a coach or not. Both groups completed 3 training sessions per week for 12 weeks.

So, what did they find?

The group that worked with a coach increased strength by as much as 40% compared to 10% of the DIY control group. Imagine if both groups started the study being able to press 100 lbs. At the end the group working with a coach could press 140 lbs versus 110 lbs for the DIY group.

In terms of VO2max, those working with a coach saw improvements in their aerobic capacity where the DIY group did not show an improvement. The DIY group actually performed worse in terms of their aerobic capacity at the end of the study.

Lastly, although both groups lost fat mass during the study, the group working with a coach lost more fat than the group without a coach.

To summarize, the coached group got stronger, leaner and fitter.

So what does this mean for you?

If you are serious about your health and fitness...

If you want to make sure you are doing things the right way...

If getting your result in the most efficient way possible matters...

If you have plans to do a race of any type (and want improvements in your fitness)...

Than you should be working with a fitness coach.

Where else in life would you happily give up 30% results and be ok with it? Imagine getting 30% less on your portfolio compared to your neighbour. Imagine 30% less on your tax return. Imagine being woken up 30% earlier than usual every morning. Imagine if your flight took off 30% late.

30% is a big deal. And we can't afford to simply waste away the potential results available to us.

If you are ready than give one of our coaches a call. They will see if you qualify for a free fitness review. At minimum you'll receive some solutions to get you closer to a 30% result in your training.

Reference

1. Storer TW1, Dolezal BA, Berenc MN, Timmins JE, Cooper CB.Effect of supervised, periodized exercise training vs. self-directed training on lean body mass and other fitness variables in health club members.J Strength Cond Res. 2014 Jul;28(7):1995-2006.