Phil Faris: You brought up an important point that comes into play with anybody, but specifically people over 50. That’s the psychological aspect of “who shows up” at the gym. There are some days where your body just can’t push it as much as the next. Either your body hasn’t recovered enough, you haven’t had enough sleep, or maybe your nutrition may not be there. How do your trainers tune into where the client is that day? How do they find the maximum effort for that day, which may not be the same as the workout they had a week ago?
Dwayne Wimmer: We try to teach every client from day one that all we’re asking for is their maximum effort of that day. Whatever that is for that day, if they can walk away and say they gave 100%, that’s all we can ask. Every day is different, like you said, from the mental capacity to the physical capacity. Did they sleep as well? Did they eat as well? Is it a different time of day? Did someone just pull out in front of them in the parking lot? All these things affect you. All we’re doing is taking from them as much as they can give. If that’s what they give, that’s going to stimulate the overload, and their body will change. We must take whatever they can give, and we give back to them whatever they need to get to that maximum effort for that day.
Phil Faris: Could you share a success story of one of your clients that would be representative of your program?
Dwayne Wimmer: One of my biggest success stories came to me almost 20 years ago before I even opened Vertex Fitness, and he’s been training with me for … let’s see, in September it’ll be 19 years. He came to me three months after bypass surgery. He had a five-way bypass, and he couldn’t even open the door to the studio I was working in at the time. He had to bring his 12-year-old son with him. Since then he has not had any issues, he’s as strong as he’s ever been; he goes back for his stress tests, and he blows them out of the water. I’d say that’s probably my biggest success story. He’s a guy who comes to me three months after a five-way bypass, almost 20 years ago, still training with me and living life to the fullest.
Phil Faris: That’s impressive. I think most people over 50 who have fitness challenges would benefit from working with a personal trainer especially if they haven’t done a lot of training or any training lately. But many would hesitate because they really don’t know what to look for in a trainer. What advice would you give people over 50 on how to select a trainer that could help them achieve their fitness goals?
Dwayne Wimmer: Make sure that the trainer can adapt to your abilities, and listens to you personally. Not that he or she is always going to do what you want them to do because that’s not always the best thing either. Over time you should feel comfortable with your approach, and that you continually see results. You know a lot of people get into a comfort zone, and they just do the same thing repeatedly, and they do not see any results. The trainers must be able to adapt to you personally, daily, and over time. Then make sure that their methods are proven. We base everything we do in the science, not in the marketing. Not necessarily everything you hear on TV or read in magazines is appropriate, but the science doesn’t lie. You don’t have to spend a lot of time doing what we do; the science shows that a little bit of overload goes a long way. So, make sure the trainer’s adapting to you over time, and that you’re staying safe.
Phil Faris: I know that one of the things you talk about with your trainers is referring out weight-loss programs instead of doing them yourself. Why don’t you have your trainers do weight-loss programs?
Dwayne Wimmer: I’m big on analogies. You don’t go to an eye doctor if you hurt your foot, even though they both know your body. The person that knows food better than me is a dietician. They went to school for this; they got a degree in this. I can help people with general stuff, but if someone’s really looking to lose weight, I need to send them to someone who’s an expert in that. I have a couple of dieticians that I feel comfortable with; they’ve been in the industry for a long time, they’ve seen a lot of great results, they don’t jump on the latest bandwagon as far as weight loss goes. They’re based in science, just like what we do as far as strength training and exercise, and they’re both clients of mine. So, they come in, and they work out, and we refer our clients to them if they’re looking for nutritional help.
Phil Faris: That makes a lot of sense. Another way of assessing a trainer is to either watch them train someone or better yet, get a personal session. Do you advocate clients “trying before buying” with a trainer?
Dwayne Wimmer: Yes. We give a complimentary session. I don’t know many people who would buy a car without test-driving it first. We let them come in, we go over the health history form, and we take them through a whole session the first time they come in. They know what they’re getting into. Everybody is different, and we want to make sure that they understand what they’re getting when they come in here. We give them a complimentary session, we take them through a full body workout, and answer any questions that they have. So that it’s a full test-drive of who we are and what we do, and I suggest that anybody go out there and do that with any trainer that they’re looking to work with. Because if trainers don’t feel strong enough that they can give a complimentary session out to you, they’re probably not strong enough in what they do, so they must sell you before you try it.
