BeingBuilding

The National Center for Health Statistics reports that heart disease will result in the deaths of 27.2% of the American population.

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, currently more than 60% of American adults are not regularly active, and 25% of the adult population is not active at all.  Additionally, according to the U.S. Surgeon General’s Report, a sedentary lifestyle increases the risk of developing diabetes, hypertension, colon cancer, depression and anxiety, obesity, and week muscles and bones.

This is the world we live in.  These are the facts of our lives, of our health, and our existence.  Now, most importantly, what are we going to do about it?

As a somewhat relevant tangent with politics and public policy, I overhead in the recent Presidential debates that the United States has the best health care system in the world.

Truth be told: That’s utterly slanderous bullshit!!

Fact check:

You can use whatever measurement parameters that you’d please; however, among the 8 most industrialized nations (OCED), the United States is 8th in terms of life expectancy, 8th in terms of infant mortality rate, 8th in terms of nursing supply for every 1,000 patients; meanwhile, being 1st in terms of per capita health care costs, 1st in terms of health care cost per percentage of GDP, 1st in terms of percent of government revenue spent on health, and 8th in terms of the percent of health care cost paid by the government.  To sum it up, The United States health care system isn’t even nearly the best in the world, nor — in my opinion — is it even respectable.

So, again, where do we go from here?

Well, as one great American once said about 48 years ago:

Nothing, right?  After all I’m just one man, a small fish in a big pond.

But from my experience there is so much that can be done, so much more that is not being done.

It all begins with a couple of things: 1) passion, and 2) inspiration.

A personal trainer without a passion for training is as worthless as a physician without a passion for saving lives.  Passion for people, their health, and their potential — despite the obstacles, the excuses, and the frustrations which naturally come with dealing with people — passion, is what separates a good trainer from just another loaf with a name tag.  You can have all the paper, the certifications, the education, and the experience behind your resume, but if you can’t flesh out those credentials into dynamically manifested results on a weekly, daily, hourly, and even momentary basis for each person you’re fortunate enough to meet — then you’re as good as dead.  Personal trainers must have and must exemplify passion.  They have to love learning, listening, adapting, and enjoy the challenge of working with people of all populations.  They have to be willing to go the extra mile to see that even the most basic beginner is getting the best results they can from their exercise.  They have to be willing to seize upon their genuine care and pride for the welfare of humanity and sacrifice themselves for those who don’t appear to know what they’re doing but are still trying to better themselves.  Rather than scoff at people like them as worthless losers, it’s our place to step in as kind teachers and to become helpful coaches for people with these needs, not their cynics.

And on the other end, you have to have and to be inspiration.  You’ve gotta reach down and feel what it’s like for that person to come to you as a beginner in search of lifestyle change.  You have to feel where they’ve come from to be where they are today.  You have to admire their courage to make that jump.  You also have to supply them with proper motivation to break through the common excuses, the doubts, the setbacks, & any associated guilts.  In short, you’ve got to acknowledge the worth in everyone that comes to you for guidance; and you must also translate this respect and this acknowledgment into driving yourself towards being a better trainer and towards training yourself even better.

These are surely some of the things I can do, as one man, to help others to help themselves to make changes for the better.  I can’t change the whole world, but I can help make each person that comes to me “my world”, and to try and guide their well-being towards progressively better results than when they first came in the door.