Podcast 2

The Biggest Reasons People Can’t Stick To The Traditional Exercise Program

. . .

SHOW NOTES

Brian and Amy dig into the top five reasons why people can’t begin or stick with the average fitness program and why those barriers don’t exist over at the Exercise Coach. Learn what’s holding you back from making strength training a regular part of your life and why the Exercise Coach paradigm may be right for you no matter how old you are or what fitness level you bring to the table.

• Nearly 85% of the population is not engaging in meaning and regular exercise. Conventional exercise guidelines have failed for most people.
• Some of the main obstacles preventing people from doing what they need to do are having the time and being concerned with safety.
• Many people live with some sort of pain so they want to avoid exercise that they believe will exacerbate their condition, this is especially true for people over the age of 40.
• Roughly 1 in 2 adults are afflicted by a musculoskeletal condition and when it comes to conventional fitness it may not be a good option for those people. The Exercise Coach approach takes this into account and tailors the exercise to the person’s unique situation.
• Meeting people where they are is the core of the Exercise Coach and without that first step, they may never make fitness a part of their life.
• The top 5 reasons that people don’t start or stick with exercising begin with not having enough time. 42% of people say they don’t have enough time, the next biggest reason is a lack of motivation.
• A lack of motivation is understandable when you consider why someone would want to pursue the traditional exercise path that hasn’t given them the results they want.
• The third biggest reason is that some people just don’t like exercise. For many clients of the Exercise Coach, this belief is often flipped on its head as people achieve results and transform their bodies.
• The fourth biggest reason is work getting in the way. Committing to multiple hours a week to a fitness program can be daunting, which is why the Exercise Coach approach is so revolutionary.
• The fifth most common reason for people avoiding exercise is that they “feel” too old. 41 is the average that most Americans feel too old to exercise. Some people even believe that they need to get in shape before working out.
• The irony of not feeling like you belong in an exercise facility is that the older you get the more important exercise and strength training becomes for your longevity.
• 63% of people believe that their habit of not exercising enough will shorten their lifespan. People know they need to exercise and by not doing anything, they are adding to their stress and shame.
• Almost everyone can identify with one of those barriers, even if you enjoy exercise you can probably see people in your life that fall into those categories.
• Fitness hasn’t done much to remove those barriers over the past five decades but the Exercise Coach is working to make fitness available to everybody.
• The data and tracking that Exercise Coach provides to its clients is crucial to their success. Seeing progress is a huge component of maintaining motivation.
• Not seeing results fast enough can be very demotivating and this prevents people from sticking with an exercise program. This is why having a guide and coach to help you reach those results is so important.
• A bad experience exercising or an increase in pain can also be an obstacle that prevents people from staying with their program.
• You will be hard-pressed to find another business that cares more about your fitness results than Exercise Coach.
• Compare exercising to brushing your teeth. Exercising is a healthy long-term habit that changes your health trajectory for the better.
• Amy plays a client testimonial from Brenda and how the Exercise Coach completely changed her mindset around exercise and how the program overcame her obstacles.
• In terms of the fitness industry, the Exercise Coach is a very private and intimate program involving one-on-one coaching instead of the more common group activity that you would find in a gym. It’s mainly about coaching and understanding what each individual needs to achieve their fitness goals.

85 % of people do not adhere to conventional exercise guidelines. Those guidelines that say you need to get out this many days per week for this many minutes and do all these different types of activities.

Welcome back to the Strength Changes Everything podcast. My name’s Amy Hudson, and I’m here with my co -host, Brian Saigon, co -founder and CEO of The Exercise Coach. And today we’re talking about the reasons that nearly 85 % of the population is not engaging in consistent, meaningful exercise. This is a big question. And something we specifically want to address today is why it’s so hard to start and stick with exercise. So this is going to be a great episode.

Hi, Brian.

Good morning, Amy. How are you?

I’m doing great. I’m excited about this topic. And I actually know that this is the very question that is one you’ve been passionate about for a long time. And it really is one of the main reasons you founded the Exercise Coach.

That is true. It really very closely connects with our why at the Exercise Coach. What we do at the Exercise Coach is unique. It’s based on science. But it really flows from our passion to be the perfect fit for people that conventional fitness has failed. As you said, 85 % of people do not adhere to conventional exercise guidelines, those guidelines that say you need to get out this many days per week for this many minutes and do all these different types of activities.

This is something that a small percentage of people actually do. and we really understand why. I think there are actually decent reasons why. I think people are pretty smart and they look at these recommendations and they think about what they’ve experienced in the past and they make an assessment and they say, I don’t know if it’s really worth trying again. And that’s what we’re going to talk about today.

For a long time we’ve said that it’s our passion to be the perfect fit for people. Conventional fitness has failed and that these people are people who feel busy and want to avoid the gym scene. and who definitely don’t want to get hurt exercising and really maybe just don’t love exercise. And so they just feel like it’s not for them.

Yeah. So what I’m hearing you saying is that some of the main obstacles to people doing what they know they should do, which is engage in regular exercise, is time. You said they’re busy, right? And they need something that’s going to be efficient. You said safety. You mentioned safety.

Can you expand on that a little bit more? Sure. I think that takes different forms. I think for a lot of people, it’s just a fear of getting hurt exercising. Now, why would they have a fear of getting hurt exercising? For good reason, especially if they’re over the age of 40, they might have some musculoskeletal condition.

that already hurts and they don’t want to make it worse. Or maybe they’ve been hurt exercising before. I’ve heard so many times people say, every time I start, I end up getting hurt. And so they want something that isn’t going to make existing conditions feel worse, isn’t going to hurt them. And they want something that they can continue to do into the future, something that they can sustain. Musculoskeletal conditions are a pretty big deal.

It’s estimated actually that 120 % million Americans, so about one in two adults, are affected by a musculoskeletal condition. And we see that every day.

People that have achy backs, sore knees, knees that need surgery, all kinds of different things.

And again, when you think about conventional fitness and this message that, well, you need to get out and you need to move and run and jump and do all these things, For one in two adults, it may not be the best idea.

Sure. And how ironic is it that the very thing that may eventually help these conditions, which is strengthening exercise, is the thing that they feel like they can’t get started with because of the conditions. That’s right. They need a better way. And that’s what we’re so excited to be able to provide people with at the Exercise Coach. We look at exercise through this lens of making it maximally safe, effective, and efficient And this science -based method that we use that’s powered by data and technology allows us to customize programs for any individual, regardless of their current fitness condition, any physical limitations they might have, and even their personal comfort level with exertion.

Exercise results require a threshold level of exertion, right? We have to exercise in a manner that actually makes a difference. And but we meet people where they are, even in that area, and teach them how to really embrace effective exercise exertion. And meeting people where they are, I’d say is really, really a big part of our heartbeat at The Exercise Coach. That really describes what we’re passionate about. And it means meeting them where they are, regardless of their current fitness capacity, but also in terms of their current motivation and their current

perspective on what exercise is all about. We make sure that at the Exercise Coach, it’s a place where people feel welcomed and encouraged when they step in. And this is all part of what we’re offering. We’re talking on this podcast about how strength changes everything.

And it’s cutting edge what we do at the Exercise Coach in terms of our methodology.

But we also know that if we don’t meet people where they are, in terms of the experiences they’ve had and where they’re at physically, then we’re never going to get even off the ground and get them moving in the right direction. For sure. And something we always do when we meet new clients at the Exercise Coach is we walk through a conversation we like to call the success map. And this is us talking through with the new person who’s checking out the studio, how we’re going to customize the path to their success. And one thing that’s very important for the trainer to understand and the staff at the studio to understand is what is currently getting in your way. And just as you said, we hear, we meet a lot of people who talk about motivation there.

They lack the motivation to stick with something to consistently show up and do it.

Like you said, they mentioned safety concerns.

I have knee pain. I have back pain. I’m afraid of getting hurt by exercising. Time is a common one. Like you just said, they’re too busy. They’re maybe a busy professional and they don’t have.

hours a week to commit to going to the gym and maybe not knowing how to, like you said, exercise in a way that’s going to deliver the right results.

Exercise with the right level of intensity and effort in that safe way. What other factors have you run into along the way that are barriers sometimes for people getting started on exercise? I thought I’d share some stats that I found recently that line up well with what we hear people talk about. when we meet them. And what I’ve got is the top five reasons that people don’t start exercising. The top five barriers that people face as it relates to starting and sticking with an exercise program.

And the first one, you might not be surprised, is I don’t have time. And When you look at the top reason that people cite, for 42 % of people that cite their top obstacle, it’s, I don’t have time. Like we’ve said, people are busy. And the second most often cited top reason is, I don’t have the motivation. Now, I like to frame that a little bit differently. I don’t like to suggest that it’s your fault, so to speak, when it comes to why you’re not in your best shape possible, why you don’t just get started and stick with an exercise program.

I don’t like the message that it’s your fault, you’re lazy, if you just had more motivation. But people do cite that they lack motivation. I would say, I understand that. Why would you be motivated to go spend hours and hours a week doing something that in the past hasn’t yielded all the results that you want. Sure. And why would you be motivated to do that in some of the settings that it’s offered?

And why would you be motivated to do that if you fear that it might hurt you? That’s why it’s so important to offer a methodology, a solution that is safe regardless of your condition, brings about maximum total body health and fitness results, and does so in a super efficient manner. The third is I don’t like exercising. So I don’t have the motivation was 35%. Then at 25%, I don’t like exercising.

So a quarter of people just say they don’t like it. Now, again, I would say I can understand why they don’t like some of the things that they think of when they think about exercise. But what we found is that when you can introduce people to a solution that is brief and focused, and they learn they can do, and it brings about results. You’ve probably heard this before, right, Amy? Things like, I don’t know what’s happened to me. I don’t like exercise. And now, if I miss my scheduled workout at the exercise coach, I can’t wait till I get back in there.

It drives me crazy. I’ve got to get my workout a couple times a week. Do you hear stuff like that? Yes. And it’s a total, it’s a total mindset shift. It, they actually assume a new identity.

I was previously not an exerciser, not a person who had the identity of a, of an exerciser. And now I found a way to assume that identity because I’ve been able to stick with and succeed with a program that has taught me what to do and deliver the results of exercise that truly I wanted. So that is so we love to see that is so inspiring. It is. And the fourth reason that people cite is work gets in the way. Again, this is about, I think, efficiency.

Obviously, we’ve got a lot of clients that work, a lot of clients that are very busy, have very busy lives, and they can fit this in. They can fit in a 20 -minute workout a couple times a week. And again, that’s why we say strength changes everything at this podcast, because Effective strength training changes all the systems of the body for the better, but it also fundamentally changes the requirements for getting those results and the most important requirements. the time requirement. So we’ve overcome that barrier, but people say work gets in the way. So just to review, recap real quick.

I don’t have time. I don’t have the motivation. I don’t like exercising and work gets in the way.

And then the fifth most commonly cited reason is I feel too old. 23 % of people say I feel too old.

In fact, about two in five Americans feel too old to work out. Oh my gosh. So what age do you start to feel too old or is that just subjective? Actually, there’s an answer to that question. Do you want to guess? I’ll put you on the spot.

Take a guess, Amy.

What do you think?

Based on your experience, when do people start to feel too old to work out?

I’m going to say 50. Pretty good guess. Maybe it’s younger than that. Yeah, it’s a little younger. I was actually surprised. 41 is the age Americans feel officially too old to work out.

And I’ve said so many times, it’s true. At age 40, you wake up on your 40th birthday, you put your feet on the floor, and it hurts. And things can start to change without an effective exercise program. But at 41, people feel too old to work out. And we hear people even say in that initial consultation, we take people through working through that success map. And sometimes whether it’s on the phone or talking to people who are just considering, just contemplating coming into the exercise coach, we’ve heard people say that they feel like they need to get in shape in order to be able to work out, that they need to get in shape first.

And it’s Oh, you don’t I don’t know why you I don’t know why you feel that way. I guess I understand it. Because again, it, it feels like there’s not the right personalized on ramp for them.

We know that we’ve created that. And that 41 at the exercise coach around the country, that’s like a spring chicken, right?

We work with people in their 30s, 40s, but 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, and people who have never exercised a day in their life or haven’t for decades get started with us at any age. And the ironic and sad thing about the mentality behind not feeling included in the group of people who belong in an exercise facility or feeling too old to work out is that the older you get, the more The more you need exercise, specifically strength training, the more important and vital it becomes for you, for your health and for your longevity. And that’s the last thing we want is to see people backing away from effective exercise at those ages. Absolutely. And people know they need it. Another amazing statistic.

I think so. So we’ve got people feeling like they can’t get started because they’re too old. They don’t have time, et cetera. But 63 % of people think that their habit of not exercising enough will actually shorten their life expectancy. Wow. So we’ve people talk about the health care crisis, the health crisis and health care crisis that we have in this country.

But I’ve often thought of it as a health consciousness crisis, meaning people know that they need the benefits of exercise to live their best life, to increase longevity and quality of life. They know they need it, yet they have these barriers in front of them. And what stress and frustration, and sometimes even shame, does that generate in people?

63 % of people feel, this is shortening my life that I don’t engage, yet I can’t get I can’t get across these barriers. That’s what is so exciting for us with this science -based understanding that strength changes everything. It’s so exciting for us to be able to offer solutions around the country in our studios to people that have this problem. We can help them overcome these barriers. All of these barriers, absolutely. We love to see a person walk through the door who knows, like you said, that knows they need to start engaging in meaningful exercise and they have obstacles and they are given the exercise coach a shot and they’re walking through the door.

And what we want to provide to them is a clean, comfortable environment that is going to be supportive, encouraging, predictable, and tailored to their experience completely. And.

to remove all those barriers, like you said, to give them success that they need and they desire and that they may not get on their own.

And so when we sign up a client who has that experience that we’re trying to deliver, that’s just one of the most satisfying things in the world for us to see. And that’s, that is the passion behind the brand. Very beautifully articulated, Brian. Thank you. And really, if you’re listening, I’m pretty certain that most of us can identify, even personally, with at least one of those barriers. Our time, we are busy, we may be afraid of getting hurt.

And at one point in our life, maybe we had, we experienced a few of those obstacles ourselves.

Or even if you are listening and

you are a regular exerciser, when you think of the people around you and the other people in your life, my question for you is what percentage of the people in your life would you describe as exercise enthusiasts, people who don’t have these obstacles, and then compared to the percentage of people who are sitting on the sidelines for one of these reasons. I think the proof is in the pudding, right? As we look around, we see that this is an issue that needs a solution, right? Absolutely. The needle hasn’t moved much over the past 40 years in terms of participation. It’s moving, but It’s a lot of swirl in and out of participation.

And I think that has a lot to do with the fact that we haven’t fundamentally, over those decades, haven’t tried to fundamentally change the requirements. That’s what we’ve done. Actually, that’s what we’ve been striving for the last 20 years and now do today for people. We optimize exercise. And another thing that I wanted to mention is just the ongoing need for motivation. And what we found is that providing people with proof of their progress is another huge motivator.

People today, I think we live in a data -driven culture. And so our clients around the country really enjoy being provided with proof of personal progress. Our approach has at the heart of it, technology, strength training technology called exerbotics. And Excerbotics makes everything that we do at the Exercise Coach completely customized and also data driven. So in real time, our clients have an engaging target. They know this is exactly the effort that

need to put forward to be on track today, to make my workout as effective as possible, to get that great workout in 20 minutes. But then we’re also able to provide them with ongoing analysis of their experience and proof of progress. We can actually show them they’re getting better. And so that’s a real advantage when it comes to continued motivation. Yeah, actually, let’s flesh that topic out more. I want to camp in on that topic a little bit.

So we really covered the reasons people hesitate to start an exercise program, but now let’s talk about the person who, okay, I’ve signed up somewhere. I’ve decided to start a new healthy habit. I’m going to start exercising. What are the barriers to people sticking with that healthy habit? And the one you just mentioned is that motivation piece. The exercise coach excels at proving your results to you.

And we want to keep you motivated by showing you your progress each and every workout and also at various intervals.

So you can see the big picture of where you’ve come to keep you motivated. That is a very powerful thing. You want to know that what you’re doing is working. What other results, Brian, along the way have you seen, or I’m sorry, not results, but What keeps people from sticking with exercise programs over a long duration of time as a healthy habit in their life? Yeah, I think it starts really quickly after starting an intentional exercise program with not seeing results fast enough. Not seeing enough results fast enough can be really demotivating.

And then not seeing the kinds of results that you’re looking for. So for some people that might be, well, I’m just not seeing enough of the weight loss. or the toning or change in body shape that I’m looking for. And so I think that really ends up being an issue of a lack of confidence. And so what we found that a lot of people need really is a trustworthy, motivating, encouraging guide. Someone that can help them start to get results quickly so that success breeds success, confidence breeds confidence, but also can help them make sure that they’re getting the results that matter most to them.

And then help them understand if they’re not getting all those results, why? And make adjustments. Then another thing I guess I would say is just having a bad experience. Again, feeling bad. like you’ve over -exercised, or something is getting flared up, or if you’re exercising at a fitness establishment, just having a bad experience. It might not even be related to the workout.

It might be that maybe the place doesn’t seem as clean as it should be, or an interaction with someone just wasn’t uplifting or encouraging. And that makes perfect sense. We’re really intentional about the type of atmosphere that we create in our studios. And that’s both physically, but also relationally. We know we want to be a positive influence on people when they walk in the door. There’s enough negativity in the world, right?

The last thing people need when they’ve taken this step and they’re engaging in something that’s been hard for them to engage in, the last thing they need is any kind of negativity.

In fact, they need to be encouraged. They need to plug into something that is uplifting and makes them feel good. walk out with their shoulders back and their head up, feeling good about themselves. Oh yeah.

Our clients often tell us, I feel so much better about myself when I walk out that door than I did when I come in a lot of times.

And that is a win. And that will continue to inspire that motivation. I like the feeling I get when I’m here physically and emotionally. Yeah. And that’s not just because we’ve got wonderful coaches around the country, but it’s not just because they’re wonderfully nice people. It’s really because of a couple things.

One, they have a deep conviction about what we’re helping people achieve. They have a deep conviction that we are helping people get extremely important health, fitness and longevity results, and that every workout that they do matters. And in some cases, I would say that we care so much we want to we really at the exercise coach, we want to care more about our clients workout and our clients results.

We want to try to care more than they do so that we have an energy and a motivation and a confidence that it’s been said before that they feel like they can borrow from us. We’ve heard clients say that. I feel like I get to borrow and feed off of your excitement and confidence and conviction about where I’m headed. And I think these two things are a big reason why people leave feeling encouraged. Absolutely. We aim to be the business and that the fitness choice that cares the most.

So you’re going to be hard pressed to go find another option where somebody cares more about your results, who cares more about you personally, who tailors the experience so specifically to you, who is so dialed into you and more motivating and more of that feedback.

It’ll be hard pressed to find a better experience when it relates to those things.

And that’s what we strive to do well at all of our studios. So that’s awesome. Absolutely. Great. So what I heard you say, just to recap, so why people have a hard time sticking with an exercise program.

And by the way, if this helps you, I like to compare exercising as a habit to brushing your teeth. It’s not like you go to the dentist once every five years and get a deep clean and that’s it. And you’re good to go for the next five years or 10 years. You have to brush your teeth. as a regular healthy habit to keep your teeth healthy. And exercise is a healthy long -term habit that changes your health trajectory for the better.

And so we want you to be successful with the healthy habit of exercise and make it something you stick with.

And so the barriers that can get in people’s way that the exercise coach tries to overcome are that motivation, that people don’t like it, that it’s too time consuming, that they get hurt doing it, they don’t like the environment. Those are all reasons people have to quit. And what we aim to be is to overcome all of those obstacles for you. Yep. And I’m excited, Amy, to talk in upcoming podcasts about how we do that. How is it that science -based strength training can bring about all the results that people need and want from exercise?

with just a 20 minute workout a couple times a week with days in between.

And how do we do that with people that, like we mentioned, in some cases have arthritis, have back pain, neck pain, knee injury, et cetera. How do we do that with people that have physical limitations? So excited to get to dive into that a little bit more in the upcoming podcast. Absolutely. It’s going to be great. At this time, I thought it would be neat to share with you a client testimonial.

Brenda is a client and she started off her time at the exercise coach with a little bit of a short -term mindset, thinking that she could achieve results overnight.

And she also had an obstacle, a real obstacle, getting in her way of starting an exercise program and sticking with it, which is a knee surgery. She had double knee surgery. And so we’re going to play her testimonial for you so you can hear about her, the way the exercise coach overcame her obstacles, and how she’s feeling today. So go ahead and take a listen. Prior to coming to the exercise coach, about a year before, I had bilateral knee replacement surgery. And I was really having a hard time recovering from that.

And I saw my orthopedic surgeon, and I was complaining about not being able to do what I wanted to do. And he said, your knees are great. Your surgery went great. Your problem is you’re not strong. And he said, you need to get a trainer. When my daughter first shared with me what she knew about the exercise coach, I was very skeptical.

First off, I’d never had a coach, and that was a daunting thing for me. It seemed like it was really time -consuming, and you had to be very committed to six or seven days a week, and that just, that wasn’t a thing. that wasn’t in the cards for me. I realized that I couldn’t expect results overnight and it was going to be a process that I had to go through and I had to be committed to put in the time. It was only 20 minutes twice a week. Coming to the exercise coach is not like going to the gym around the corner.

It’s a semi -private facility that’s beautiful when you walk in the door and as soon as you walk in it’s like coming home to family. The exercise coach adjusts their manner of workout to whatever your personality type is. I’ve been coming for a year and I am so strong and they are super committed to my personal success every step of the way. It’s just so invigorating and it’s just I feel like I have my life back. So across the country we offer one -on -one training and coaching.

Then we also do offer semi -private coaching where one coach will take up to four clients through their 20 -minute strength training workout. So the contrast would be that a lot of what has been really popular in the fitness space over the past few years has been a large group approach to exercise. And that’s great for many people. has been up to this point. Right now, that’s become obviously a bit of a challenge given the COVID -19 pandemic. Our approach hasn’t really, while we’ve certainly adjusted and added procedures to make sure that our environment is as safe as it can be and people are as confident as they can be, in terms of the training format, it remains the same, very personalized.

So it’s really about coaching.

It’s really about having a deep understanding of an individual where it is that they’re trying to get to, what’s getting in the way, what their abilities are at the moment.

Our approach is ability -based. We use technology really to measure an individual’s unique fitness capacity right now and software to actually prescribe perfectly personalized exercise sessions for each individual. Our niche really is in the area of highly personalized, data -driven fitness coaching. Sure. Not to mention the 20 minute icing on the cake. Awesome.

Thanks for that. I think a great way to wrap up this episode is to share one final story with you about a client who has a really neat story. So one real big obstacle that this person had was a struggle with cancer. He had multiple kinds of cancers and had gone through a lot of health journey and came out of it very weak, lost a lot of muscle, was feeling very weak, and like you said, old Brian, and needed to get his life and strength back in order to function.

He joined a studio and he had within four months quite a transformation.

And so we’re going to end the episode having you listen to Rob Hiller’s testimonial. Hopefully it inspires you and we look forward to seeing you next week on the Strength Changes Everything podcast. Have a great day. Bye everybody. It is great to give this testimony because it’s meant so much to me in my life. About four months ago, I came here after five months of chemotherapy because I had three different kinds of cancer.

And I’d gone to Mayo Clinic and I was depleted of all energy and my muscles were so weak it was hard to go up and down the stairs, let alone walk very much. So I came here because 20 minutes will work for me because I’m not a gym rat type guy. I’m an executive and I have a busy schedule. So I started working on the computerized machines and I could tell there was a real difference. But three months later, hence, I’m flying down to Naples to go play golf with my brother, my first time after a year and a half being off because of the cancer. And we go play, and the other three guys hit, and I get up there and hit, and Scott, who’s a championship golfer, hit a great shot down the middle.

I get up for my first time and hit a drive, and I go 20 miles yards past him. And then the next hole, I go 20 yards past him. The third hole, I go about 15 yards past him, and guess what? He walks over to me and says, I think I need to talk to this exercise coach. I think that, in a nutshell, is what it’s meant. 20 minutes, twice a week for me,

made a huge difference and brought me back from nothing, basically, to someone who can out -drive a championship golfer today. And I’ll just reiterate it. The computerized screens that you see and the progress that you can see is incredible and it’s meant a lot to my life. Thanks so much.