Have you ever wondered what makes a personal trainer happy? It’s likely the first guesses would be watching a client lose ten pounds, add fifty pounds to their bench press, or cross the finish line of their first marathon. Those accomplishments are worth celebrating. However, the moments that warm a trainer’s heart the most are much smaller, and they arrive much earlier.
Someone interested in our personal training services recently reached out to us about developing a fitness routine two years after having her first baby. She explained that her body was doing things it had never done before. Her back hurt in ways it never had before. Her hips ached. A little extra weight had settled in. She had returned to work after maternity leave, noticed pain showing up everywhere, and decided it was time to get back in shape. We scheduled her initial consultation.
She arrived about ten minutes late, apologized profusely, and avoided eye contact. Her hair looked like she had just been shot out of a cannon. Her shirt displayed what appeared to be dairy stains, baby vomit, or both. Her socks didn’t match. Her pants were on backward. Anyone raising a small human while holding down a job knows this uniform well. A bit of trepidation came through in her voice as she described her current fitness levels and what she hoped this training program would accomplish.
Her experience makes sense from a functional standpoint. Pregnancy and childbirth ask a lot of the body. The abdominal and hip muscles stretch and decondition, posture shifts to accommodate a growing baby as the abdomen expands and stresses the spine and hips for nine months, and the months that follow involve hours of carrying, rocking, and lifting a rapidly growing human off the floor. Add a lack of sleep and a return to work, and it’s understandable that the back and hips might speak up in ways they never had before.
During the first session, we covered foundational movements. We walked through the simple dynamic stretching routine we teach all our personal training clients and practiced a push-up with a conservative incline, using a desk about thirty to forty inches tall. She admitted that performing a push-up from desk height felt a little embarrassing. She also agreed it was useful. Establishing a starting point, wherever that point is, is how fitness levels get re-established.
The next week, something amazing happened. She showed up fifteen minutes early and began the dynamic stretching routine on her own. She was decked out in a new fitness ensemble: a headband, hair tied up in a bun, an athletic shirt, matching shorts, exercise tights, and a brand-new pair of training shoes. She looked like she was preparing for a Division I college volleyball tryout. The fire had been ignited.
Witnessing that spark is what makes a personal trainer happy. The spark doesn’t show up as a number on a scale or a personal record on the squat rack. Arriving early, wearing the right workout clothes, and practicing something as simple as a dynamic stretching routine sets a powerful tone that has the potential to redefine a person’s identity from someone in pain who might feel out of shape to a strong, happy, and healthy individual who exercises regularly. When someone starts reinvesting in themselves, potential emerges. Potential is the raw material a coach works with when someone is ready to ingrain lifetime fitness into their identity.
Significant life events change the body. Giving birth, recovering from surgery, starting a demanding job, or caring for a family member can put exercise on the back burner for months or years. When we return, the starting point can feel humbling. Many of us have likely hesitated to begin because a desk-height push-up doesn’t feel impressive. In contrast, consistently practicing simple movements one to three times per week pays far more dividends than an intermittent, random session. Giving ourselves permission to start where we are is a valuable first step.
Helping people overcome these challenges has been my life’s work for more than twenty years. Watching someone overcome the physical changes of a significant life event, such as persevering through pregnancy and bringing a child into the world, is one of the greatest privileges of this profession. The spark becomes a hot-burning star that never extinguishes. For this client, her star lit up somewhere between a backward pair of pants and a brand-new pair of training shoes.
The human body adapts to the demands we impose upon it. Consistently practicing exercise helps produce strong muscles, reinforced joints, and a resilient state of mind, and most importantly, proof that a spark lit at any starting point can keep burning for years to come.
Sean McCawley, the founder and owner of Napa Tenacious Fitness in Napa, CA, welcomes questions and comments. Reach him at 707-287-2727, napatenacious@gmail.com, or visit the website napatenaciousfitness.com.