There Is A Method to the Madness
This is a podcast where I will be discussing all aspects of physical fitness. I am an exercise physiologist and personal trainer and owner of Maxwell's Fitness Programs for the last 25 years. My passion is health and fitness and I am excited to share my views, some stories, interviews and much more with you.
There Is A Method to the Madness
The Hidden Crisis in Fitness Education
Welcome to the Fit, Healthy and Happy Podcast hosted by Josh and Kyle from Colossus...
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Welcome to there is a Method to the Madness. My name is Rob Maxwell and I'm an exercise physiologist and personal trainer. I am the owner of Maxwell's Fitness Programs and I've been in business since 1994. The purpose of this podcast is to get to the real deal of what really works and, most importantly, why things work. Hence the name there is a Method to the Madness. Before I get started today, let me thank Jonathan and Lynn Gilden of the Gilden Group Realty Pros. They are committed to providing the highest level of customer service in home sales. Why don't you give them a shout and figure out what your home is worth? 386-451-2412. Good morning, good afternoon, good evening everybody, wherever you are and whatever time of day it is for you, it's afternoon time for me and I'm going to talk to you today about what I think might be some priority issues nationwide regarding health and fitness, maybe priority issues individually. So stick around. I think you're going to like it.
Speaker 1:One of the things that I really like to do sometimes it can be very daunting, a daunting task and that is research. Like it's definitely daunting. It's, as anybody knows, whenever you've really had to research a topic. And I mean research, I don't mean scroll the internet or scroll social media. Unfortunately, too many people think that that is research these days. But I mean really research. Go in and pull up periodicals and see what the studies are saying. I definitely enjoy it. I always find that I learned something new or it reinforces something that I once knew and kind of forgot about and brought it back to the surface. I mean, in in short, I like it and in also short, it can be daunting. It can be quite the task to start. It's one of those things for me anyway, that it's kind of like exercise, right. It's kind of like getting going is the hardest thing sometimes and yes, that's true for me, a personal trainer that loves to work out, it's still tough to get going sometimes. It's like that for me with research too. I know I'm going to get into it once I start, but I also know once I start, I'm going to really start digging down into the hole and then once I'm in, I am in. So it's daunting.
Speaker 1:But I've been working on my third book and it's almost complete. I mean I really thought I had it complete and getting ready to send it to the editor and then me, being the perfectionist that I am, I'm kind of like I want to add this I need to think about this, I really want to get more into this and so and that's OK, I think doing that has definitely improved some quality of it, and it kind of brought me into today's topic today, because I've been doing some research and this book is all about what the problem is as far as health and fitness, in my opinion, and the problem, of course, being that only 25% or so of the population is doing enough physical activity to get benefits, which means 75% are not. And the problem also is that we in the health and fitness industry according to the ACSM, they made a very good statement, stated that we're really good at helping fit people get more fit and we're really good at getting healthy people to get healthier, but we haven't been so good at helping the unfit or the less fit get equally fit or average fit and getting the less well to become healthy. And I think that's true. I think especially in our country, maybe worldwide, but you know, definitely I think in the industrialized nations and some of the more affluent nations, you know, we have a feast or famine thing going on. We have people that are super fit and doing everything they can to be healthy, and then we have people who are not average, so I definitely agree with that statement. So the book is about what that problem is, why maybe that problem is occurring, and then, of course, what the solutions are, and it's going to sound very, very self-patting on the back, but one of the big solutions is getting a personal trainer, and I really really do believe that, and I'm going to leave that for another day. But I will say, though, that it really gave me some good research. I mean just a bunch of different stuff, and today I'm going to talk about some of that, some of the financial side of things. A statistic I found that I was pretty blown away over, and it was about talking about what it takes to become a qualified allied health professional as far as the American Medical Association is concerned, and it's quite daunting, and it should be. I guess daunting is my word of the day, I don't know, but it is rigorous and there are many different professions under allied health. So that's more of a general thing as far as what it takes to get into the allied health industry, and it should be pretty difficult, right.
Speaker 1:And then I dug into a lot of the research regarding, say, personal training, and I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but personal training still doesn't really have licensure. I mean, I say really because it I mean basically personal training doesn't have licensure at all across the country. There are some states that have some licensure for exercise physiologies exercise physiologists, I should say, in exercise physiology but there aren't personal training licenses. And you know I have taught this stuff. I have been a personal trainer for over 31 years, so I know the pros and cons, I get it. You know I get that with licensure can become there can become some problems down the road with people telling you what to do. I mean I get all of the pros and cons. When people in my industry will oftentimes say, oh, I'm glad there isn't, it's like, well, I don't know. I mean I don't have to worry about that because I don't think it's going to happen. But I will say that I'm pro licensure.
Speaker 1:I think that if we had licensure we would have more qualified trainers out there, because it would take a commitment to get your license. The closest thing we do have is accredited certifications, and accredited certifications are good and there's only like four. Some people claim five, but there's really four accredited certifications, and accredited in this case means that there's an accrediting body that looks at all of the research, all the recommendations, to make sure that everybody in these different agencies are telling people roughly the same thing. So there are many, there are hundreds, there are thousands of non-accredited certifications in the fitness world. I mean it's a joke. And most of them no, all of them, other than the four you can just go on a computer and take the test and never had any live coaching, training or even any proctoring of your test. I mean it's a flat out joke. They charge you I don't know like 50 bucks and then you print this certification. I mean it's an outright joke.
Speaker 1:And some gyms and organizations do their own. I mean hopefully everybody listening realizes how faulty that can be. But the accredited ones don't do that and I've taught for some of them and I can tell you that they're pretty rigorous. I mean the American College of Sports Medicine certified personal trainer exam has an under 40% pass rate. So the majority of people fail when they take it the first time. I've had students that have failed it one or two times before they finally pass it and these were students that I thought were absolutely ready for it. So it's a rigorous test. I mean, I know pass fail rates don't always tell us the quality of person you're going to get. I get that that, but at least it gives us some knowledge, some education, some standards that people have to go by to get into it. And then you have to maintain it, which takes commitment. You have to maintain your CECs. So that's that with the certification and licensure. Again, certification is great. I think it's better than nothing. I wish we had licensure, but we don't.
Speaker 1:And what I want to talk about, though, the statistic I saw was the pay scale for trainers. Now it did not say, in what I saw, whether it was personal trainers or people who kind of call themselves trainers that work at the gyms. You know, like, maybe they work at the YMCA and they work the floor, maybe they work at LA Fitness, maybe they do some personal training and then maybe they do some training for the gym. It did not say. But what it did say was the average yearly salary for somebody who calls themselves a fitness trainer is $46,000 per year. Now what it went on to say and this is in today's economy, it's actually yeah, no, it's today's economy. This is in the latest, actually November, december, acsm Journal of 2024. So we're talking five months ago. So, yes, this is the latest information.
Speaker 1:That is only going to sustain a person in one state in the United States, and that state happened to be Mississippi. This is by no means a slam on Mississippi. What this is is about in only one state in the United States can a fitness trainer who's had some training, according to the research, be able to have a job, have a career in it and pay his bills. And I guess you know $46,000 is the a little bit less than the amount that most states would call a sustainable income. That's pretty sad, right? I mean that's pretty sad, right. I mean I understand that not that long ago, that that wasn't a bad salary, and pleas, I'm not being judgmental, I'm not sitting here saying what's good money and what's not good money. I mean that's all relative, right. I mean, for a person that doesn't have any bills, that's going to go a long way. For a person that's got student loan debt and they're starting their career off and the rent and mortgage prices are what they are.
Speaker 1:I have a daughter who's 21, getting ready to be 22, and I can tell you, man, there is no way. I mean I don't know if she makes that at Publix I mean, it's probably in that ballpark, maybe a little bit less. I really really don't know. But I know she's struggling and is very, you know, very nervous about getting her own place and being a parent. I'm like you know, it's all right, you're still going to school, you know you'll, we'll figure this out. But I do know that that would be tough if you're coming out of school and you're in a state in Florida where I am located happens to be one of those states where that money isn't going to cut it.
Speaker 1:I mean and then it went on to say the same statistics that that person, or these people only 20% of them are continuing to work at that fitness trainer job a year later. Well, it only makes sense if the average salary for a fitness trainer is $46,000 a year and in only one state could they basically pay their bills and I know this is subjective Then it only makes sense that a person, maybe with a lot of passion, is only going to be able to do that for a short period of time and they're either going to have to get a raise of course they are or, I don't know, they're going to have to get roommates. I mean, it's just money, right? I mean it's just simple economics that if that is barely over and under in most states to pay your bills, you can only do it for so long. And so what happens? The person who's considered a qualified fitness professional leaves the industry and goes and starts making money at something that can pay their bills. I mean, looking at that, there are plenty of jobs that are going to pay the bills better than that $46,000. And that's fine. I have nothing against whatever anybody does to make money, whether they go to trade school, whether they go to college, whether they've never gone to college, never go to trade school, whatever, I don't care.
Speaker 1:But if you've got a person who wanted to do this and now they can't, and now you're only keeping 20% of them for whatever reason, well, the reason is they can't pay their bills, right, the rest of them? That's not good. And so then we have part of the problem of the health crisis, right? The health and fitness crisis, where study after study after study has shown that a minimal amount of physical activity 150 minutes of moderate exercise per week, plus two days of strength training is enough to get the benefits to improve somebody's health. So if we had more people preaching and teaching that and teaching people how to do it and having the passion, because you're obviously going to have the passion to go into it.
Speaker 1:But if they go into it trying to help people but they can't pay their bills, then what are we stuck with? Can't pay their bills, then what are we stuck with? Well, if you've listened to past podcasts or when you buy the book, you'll see all this interesting research. But what they're stuck with and I don't know what it is with this 20% or 80% it sounds like it's made up, but I promise you that it's not. But what they're stuck with is only 20% of the fitness influencers have the credentials to be giving advice out there. Now, these aren't the people necessarily that you know, have the education or whatever, but they are self-proclaimed, have what they say they need. These are the people on your social media. They're on your YouTube channels, podcasters. They are fitness influencers, and only 20% polled have the credentials. Yet, if you remember from a past episode, over 70% of people have admitted that an influencer has influenced their fitness. So you are being influenced 70% of the cases by somebody who doesn't know what they're talking about. And so what happens then?
Speaker 1:You get frustrated because you think you're supposed to be doing intermittent fasting. Hey, and maybe that's great for you, but if you've listened, the research doesn't really support it, okay. Or you think that you need to do 2000 crunches a day to have a flat stomach so you can wear your bikini to the beach this summer. Or you think you should be doing the ketogenic diet. Or you think you should do all of your exercise on fasting cardio, which means you haven't eaten before you do your cardiorespiratory, because it's going to magically burn more fat than if you did. So I'm giving you all these myths that are out there that influencers are peddling left and right. Don't even get me going in the supplement world, because hardly any supplements have passed the test. So you're buying supplements, you're buying BS, you're going out there, you're trying these things. It's not working. You're getting frustrated, you quit, you go back to your old lifestyle, and then that's why we have only 25% of the people doing the minimal amount of exercise to get benefits. Don't you see the cycle I mean. So what can you do about it? I mean, what can we all do about it? We have to value health and fitness more.
Speaker 1:I just listened to a podcaster who was talking about wealth and I think I've brought this up before, but I like those podcasts. They're interesting to me. And no, I'm not greedy. And no, you know, that's not my big interest. And no, I don't play in the stock market all the time. No, what I find interesting about these guys is they always make the you know, make the general statement we probably have all held on to, but that health is wealth. And the one I just finished listening to it was so funny. The podcaster asked him. She said so if you're going to leave people with one financial piece of advice, what is it? And he said take your health serious, his words. Take your mental health, your spiritual health and your physical health serious. Make that number one before you do anything else. I hear it all the time from these guys and what's so funny is when I pull up their pictures to check them out, like I pulled this guy up on Threads and X or Twitter to see what he looked like and he's this chiseled faced, fit looking guy. I'm like what is it? I mean, they just seem to get it Like success begets success for some reason with this.
Speaker 1:But in any event, if we know this, if we're all claiming that we understand that this is a priority, then why is a professional fitness trainer? Again, I don't know if that's personal trainer. Personal trainers tend to make a little bit more, but they have to make it on their own. I mean, I know that there's nobody paying my paychecks, it's clients. I think I have somewhere around 50 clients or something like that. They all pay my paycheck. So us personal trainers you know you eat what you kill. For the most part, rarely do personal trainers work for gyms. I guess that's when they would be called the fitness trainers. But if we value it so much, then why is their salary not sustainable in 49 states? If we really see it as a priority in this country and people talk about it all the time and most of the doctors I know really push for it and hustle for it I mean, the ones I know are great about it. So if we know this, what's happening? Why aren't they making more money? I mean, I know a lot of businesses in town and I'm not going to mention any names because there's probably people on their boards that are going to be pissed off, but I know that they canned wellness programs. I know for a fact they got rid of them and I know what they were paying their wellness directors and they were paying their wellness workers. It was not good. I mean, it was probably as low on the salary board as anybody in their organization. It's like okay, so these people have degrees, they have certifications and you don't want to pay them. So what message is that sending to everybody else?
Speaker 1:When I was in college, when I was working on my master's degree, corporate wellness was going to be the next big thing. In fact, my master's degree was called exercise, physiology, slash wellness, because wellness was going to be the big thing and a lot of the people the students my age, older, younger, whatever went into graduate school thinking they were either going to go out on their own or become wellness directors for hospitals, for private businesses. I mean, it was big Coors, the beer company had a big wellness department. Believe it or not. The guy out in Colorado I don't even know if they're still in business, I have no idea but I know that he had a personal passion for physical fitness and he had one of the best facilities and paid the best money. Disney had a huge wellness program. There was wellness programs in Winter Park and Orlando. It was really really big.
Speaker 1:Some companies called it work hardening programs and a lot of the physical therapists that I knew started working in that and they were pushing exercise physiologists in that direction. Because you work for companies like UPS male companies, you know, nowadays I guess it would be Amazon but you work for them to strengthen their employees that work in the warehouses, I mean that is great, that is like great programs and they were getting paid decent. And then they weren't. Companies quit investing in the wellness movement, end over that. A healthy and well-employed misses less work, is more productive and costs the company less in medical insurance and medical bills. So they know that. But then it comes to okay.
Speaker 1:So we've got to hire Jane, who has a master's degree in exercise physiology from University of Florida. I'm a UCF guy but I'm just throwing Florida out there because they have a phenomenal ex-phys program. So we're going to hire her. She's one of the best and she's going to run our program and she's going to hire a small staff to help her run the gym and do you know, say, lipid profiles, you know through the doctor's prescriptions, all this stuff. Whatever, she's going to be the wellness director. You know, say, lipid profiles, you know, through the doctor's prescriptions, all this stuff, whatever. She's going to be the wellness director, but you know what? We're going to have to pay her $75,000 a year.
Speaker 1:You know, to do this, you're going to see companies go oh, we are Well, yeah, but if you do this, then you're going to get this back in all of your 1,000 employees. It's going to cost you less to get this back in all of your 1,000 employees. It's going to cost you less to do this. They're going to not call in sick as much. They're going to feel happier. They're going to do a better job because they're more fit. I mean, studies have shown it over and over and, of course, down the road, they're going to be way more productive and hopefully they're still working for you. And if you took care of their wellness or helped them take care of their wellness or gave them opportunities to take care of their wellness, they probably are still working for you. Oh well, you know what We'll do that next year. I mean, this is what happens all of the time and I'm just giving that scenario out there. You know why don't we value it more? Why don't we value it more.
Speaker 1:One of the guys I listened to, a motivational speaker kind of guy. He always says it's not really a principle of yours unless it costs you money. I mean, isn't that so true? Somebody will say, oh, you know, I really really believe in this. You know it's a big principle of mine. It's like okay, so you know it's going to cost you this much. It's like well, I mean it's great for somebody else. I mean you see where I'm going with that. I mean, is it really a foundational principle that we should all be thinking about?
Speaker 1:I mean, the clients that I have, I mean I know they value it. They pay the money because they know it helps them. I mean a lot of them know what they're supposed to be doing but they don't do it and they know that about themselves. So they're like you know I'm going to pay so this person can tell me what I should be doing, and then they're going to help me do it correctly, and I don't see this as like a terrible expense. I mean I'm paying into my health.
Speaker 1:I mean that's the conversations I have with clients. You know, I can't really ever remember a time. I mean there's probably been a couple of times where somebody was, you know, kicking tires somewhere at a place and was talking to me about personal training, which I never solicit. When I'm out public or even at events, when I go speak places, I still don't solicit. It makes me feel very uncomfortable, like I just don't do it, and literally it makes me feel uncomfortable and I do all I can to. You know, if I think somebody is getting ready to ask me if I'm taking any clients, I'll change the subject or walk away. I mean, that's how uncomfortable it makes me. Number one, because I rarely am taking new clients and number two, it's just not a good place to do that.
Speaker 1:I mean, I want somebody, you know, to have taken the time to think about it and call me, not you know. Oh, I sparked motivation for them and now they're going to come up and kick tires and ask some questions. But you know, obviously, if they do, I'm going to politely answer questions. But maybe occasionally there's been that case where they'll ask me and I'll say, oh, it's this much. Oh, yeah, that's a little, you know, that's a little much out of the budget. I mean it might happen then. But like when people call or keep people come in for consultations or clients that currently pay. I've never heard them say, oh man, this is like really expensive, like it just doesn't come up, cause I think when people are ready to change their health, it's not expensive. I mean, you know, we've all got our priorities, what we want and what we can spend our money on. I absolutely get it. But it just doesn't come up privately because I think at this point people are ready to change.
Speaker 1:So how do we get society in general to think about this? How do we get you know where trainers at gyms are? Fitness trainers at gyms are considered somebody that can really, really help people, because they are. If they have their credentials, they can. I mean, they're on the front lines. They're the ones out there that can give you the right advice or the wrong advice. And guess what people? If they make crappy incomes, you're not going to get people who are motivated and passionate to help you because they didn't go into the field. They realized they can't do it. I know a lot of people that that's the case, that they know more than the trainers working out there and they chose to go into a different career because they couldn't pay the bills for them. I know I have a lot of friends like that. I got friends with exercise physiology degrees that are working as insurance salesmen or selling real estate.
Speaker 1:So I mean, how are we going to put our money where our mouth is in this country and understand that if we really really, really value it like we say we do, how are we going to really really value it? All right, I've learned long ago that I can't change the world. I can only change me and my circle of influence. But I'm just putting it all out there and you know, the way I try to help is I try to educate people. I try to encourage young people who have good physiques and are passionate about health and fitness to go into the industry and try to make it. I mean, that's how I do it and I have taught sports medicine before and I can proudly say that I have a lot of students out there at least 10 in the area that are out there making a living and I'm very proud of that because they're making a living. They came to me wanting to know how to become a trainer. They got their degree, they got their certification and they're making a living and now it's up to them to make a better living. But that's what I try to do, so I'm just going to put this out there.
Speaker 1:I want you to value it and remember. If it's really a principle of yours, then it's going to cost you some money, right? Thank you for listening to today's show. I ask you to please follow this show on wherever you get your podcasts and also please hit automatic downloads. It really helps me and it helps the show. Now I want to thank Overhead Door of Daytona Beach, their premier garage door company in Volusia County, with the best product with the best service. I can vouch for Jeff and Zach Hawk, the owners. They are great people. If you need any help with your garage doors, give them a shout. 386-222-3165.
