[quote]10kchallenge wrote:
[…] instead of say, paying $10-20K on a car, I’d rather pay that for a trainer/gym/cook to more or less guarantee I get to that point.[/quote]
If I had $10-20K laying around and I was a lazy, thoroughly-unmotivated dude who wanted to get into shape I’d probably:
- Hire an online nutrition coach like John Meadows, Mighty Stu, or another legit guy with a track record of dramatic client successes.
- Hire a local personal chef for 1-2 days a week to cook the meals advised by the coach.
- Hire a personal trainer, in person or online. Again choosing a coach with a notable track record of results, preferably whose methods I find agreeable and in line with my goal (as in, I wouldn’t hire a kettlebell coach if I wanted to build muscle or a Crossfit coach if I wanted to train for a PL meet).
- Join a site like gym-pact, where I pay a significant amount of money each time I don’t go to the gym and pay money each time I slack on the diet.
For perspective, as a trainer, I had considered getting into a pay scheme along these lines, it’s definitely a solid concept in theory, but I found it wasn’t worth the effort of explaining the new/foreign structure to clients. Most just didn’t understand it. Pay-per-hour or per-session has been the go-to, and seems the most hassle-free way to do business.
If you sat down with me and explained things the way you explained them here, I honestly don’t think I’d accept your business and I can’t think of a single colleague who I’d be comfortable sending you to.
The onus is and always will be on you, the client, even if you hire a team of coaches and a personal steroid guru. You’re the one who puts food in your mouth and decides if it’s grilled chicken or fried, you’re the one who gets dressed, gets in the car, and drives to the gym or hits the snooze button.
[quote]I’d like to explore the results pay structure – if for no other reason that it brings out a kind of reality check.
“You want these results? Well, we can work on that.” vs. “If you don’t get there, I don’t get paid? Let’s think about this some more.”[/quote]
Most coaches I know do approach each client with the latter mindset. If you hire me and don’t get the results you want, I might have your money now, but obviously no way you’re going to return and you’ll most likely spread word of my ineffective methods (super-easy with social media), costing me even more money in the long-run.
This is why the best coaches treat the junior high kid trying prepping for his first football season with as much attention, care, and professionalism as they give the college senior prepping for the NFL combine, or the 40-year old mom trying to lose baby weight with as much attention as their pre-contest IFBB pro.
Then get a life coach. Seriously. If you think you’ll need detailed guidance and hand-holding instead of building/discovering internal motivation to maintain a long-term fitness lifestyle, you need more than just a personal trainer or nutrition coach.