Back in Shape with Christian

Meet Christian, fitness manager of Slimmers World. Christian is now my personal trainer, fitness partner and friend. Having known each other since I joined the club as lifetime member in 2001, Christian and I share interests for running and music and we both have a passion for fitness.

Fitness to us is a way of life and I like the way Christian has customized a special program for my back to put me back in shape as I am in the final stages of my rehabilitation for scoliosis. What gives Christian an edge from other trainers is that he is a physical therapist.

With him, there is more than just training — there is rehabilitation and with rehabilitation comes therapy. With each session, Christian and I talk about the anatomical and physiological dynamisms that take place inside my body. He monitors my pulse rate, coaches my breathing, elongates my muscles with stretches and educates my muscles with trigger-point-based massage. As my trainer, he is in command of my diet and nutrition plan. During days when I don’t have PT sessions, Christian monitors my cardio exercises.

In putting me back in shape, Christian “imposed” a three-point command: BALANCED AND HEALTHY DIET. FOCUS ON YOUR GOAL. CONSISTENT HARDWORK AND DISCIPLINE Your wish is my command. But personal trainers are no genies. Choosing a personal trainer must be done with caution and circumspect. Compatibility is the first criteria so that there is teamwork between trainer and client. The trainer must be sensitive to client limitations and conditions. He must be practical about achieving goals and realistic about meeting expectations.

When Christian and I discussed for the first time what my goal is, I told him I want my body to be “pleasing, holy, acceptable and a living sacrifice before God.” He then adjusted my PT sessions such that these do not get in the way with my coverage, rehearsals, performances, ministry work and newsroom time. With Christian, I have found plenty of time to be in communion with God during my devotion time and for my skin and facial treatments, besides.

Slimmers World is the first gym in the country to introduce personal training. In Cebu, Slimmers World is perhaps the only gym where personal training has a physical therapy component in a bundled package. Likewise, it is perhaps the only gym where there are customized programs for special case populations like those who have diabetes, hypertension, scoliosis and other ailments that would normally keep a person away from exercise.

Personal training fees at Slimmers World are a little more expensive than other high-end gyms in Cebu but it has the value of pampering and service that people to whom fitness is a lifestyle are looking for.

Slimmers does not engage in the crude practices of trainers in other high-end gyms that also professes to be international, who sell training packages while the client is huffing and puffing on cardio machines. Slimmers trainers are focused on training and are not ganged up on client quotas so they don’t rush up on sessions. It is only in Slimmers World that personal training clients get good cool down time, stretching and focused massage thus sparing clients of irritating muscle sores.

Christian shares the many aspects of personal training, staying in shape and getting back in shape. Excerpts:

Ruth: There has since been a shift from hardcore training to therapy-sensitive fitness training. Why would you say that gyms where physical therapy and personal training come in one package have an edge?

Christian: Slimmers World encourages newly hired personal trainers and fitness trainers to be physical therapy graduates. A physical therapist has an edge because he has extensive knowledge about anatomy and exercise physiology.

By combining the disciplines of personal training and physical therapy, the approach to exercise is scientific and safe. When you are with a trainer who only thinks about reducing your waistline or hardcore training, that trainer does not think of what is going on inside your body while going through the full range of motion of exercise. That is why some personal training clients get overtrained or have painful muscle sores and spasms after the sessions. This is because muscles are not oriented and educated while training.

In the process of educating muscles we actually educate the client on what muscle is being used, the effect of exercise for certain muscle groups and do’s and don’ts while doing exercise. If you are in a hospital setting, physical therapy is responsible for muscle reorientation, education, strengthening, and rehabilitating the patient to restore muscles to full range of motion. In a gym setting, we innovate and improvise exercises that would have almost similar or at least the same results in a hospital setting.

Ruth: It used to be that those who are diabetic, hypertensive, scoliotic or asthmatic were advised to just diet, rest and stay away from exercise. But you were saying that these special population clients can actually stay in shape even with their disease or disorder. How do you do that?

Christian: People with ailments ought not to be discouraged about exercise. It depends on the ailment. For those with mild scoliosis or those with curves of less than 20 degrees, programs can be customized to limit or prevent the curve from getting worse. For scoliotic patients like you, you will notice that in between weights training, we stretch the muscles to make it limber and enhance blood circulation. We also focus your massage on the affected areas of the curves to re-align the spine and relax tightened muscles

For those who are diabetic, they are not allowed to be on the treadmill or cardio machines for a long period of time because the sugar level shuts down. For those who are hypertensive they are prohibited from exercising where the head is below the heart such as decline bench presses. Instead we encourage more repetitions and less intensity on heavy weights. We always put clients in a safe zone while exercising.

Ruth: Would a mindset for looking sexy matter if you want to lose weight and be in shape in three weeks?

Christian: No matter how much people say they are into exercise for health reasons, something in their subliminal mind is a desire for the visual impact of exercise. For as long as a person is fit and is not diagnosed to be with any ailment, we encourage circuit training for a three-week slimming program. This is a combination of weights and cardio where training is in the fat burning zone.

The bottom line of exercise has least to do with weight loss or inch loss. While the dream to look shapely may motivate a client to be consistent about exercise, what is important is that your blood circulates efficiently so your internal organs are working harmoniously. Of what use would it be to lose 10 pounds or 10 inches when your sugar, blood pressure and cholesterol are at alarming levels. That is why we always have a recommended diet plan for clients who enroll for training.

Diet and exercise go hand in hand. If you want to lose weight, limit on food intake. Make sure that your diet has protein, carbohydrates and fibers. There must be no overtraining in the exercise routine. Overtraining will wear down your muscles and the internal organs especially when nutrition and diet are not well planned.

Ruth: When you hear people give a compliment on the shape of your client, it must give you a sense of pride and accomplishment. What to you is most rewarding about being a personal trainer?

Christian: The visual impact or physical aspect of training is only the bonus. It is only secondary. What is most rewarding is after completing their sessions with me, my clients can execute the routines and exercise programs – correctly, safely and with utmost confidence in themselves.