Whether you need a trainer, a coach, or a group comes down to three things: how much accountability you need, whether you already know how to move correctly, and what you will actually enjoy enough to stick with. A listener with all the motivation in the world emailed asking exactly this, and I cannot answer it for him, but I can lay out how to answer it for yourself. In this Physical Friday I cover who genuinely succeeds alone, what a group gives you that willpower cannot, when proper coaching is non-negotiable, and the one ingredient that decides whether any of it lasts.
Watch or listen now: press play above and follow along.
Some people do and some people do not. If you have no athletic background and do not know how to lift properly, run properly, or have never been on a bicycle, then yes, you probably need a coach or some sort of instruction to get you going safely and up to speed. If you already know how to move and you are highly self-disciplined, you may not need one at all.
Yes, but you need to be highly motivated and probably enjoy what you are doing, because you are the only one holding you accountable, and a lot of people fail by themselves. If you are the person who throws a movie on the treadmill and walks or runs for two hours, you have the self-discipline and you are set. Most people transforming their life find it very difficult entirely alone.
Accountability from people who become your friends, real social time in your day, and intensity you would not produce alone. Whether it is a CrossFit gym, Orangetheory, a boot camp, a yoga class, or a fitness group, the group environment makes the whole thing easier and a lot more fun, and for someone who talks to the same people all day at work, the social element alone can be exactly what you need.
Because you tend to do what the people around you are doing. Ride a bike alone and you settle into a comfortable pace; put three or four riders around you and everybody goes a little faster. The same happens with running, swimming, and everything else. The group pulls more effort out of you than you would give yourself.
If you are smart, yes. Get into a group where you are the worst one there and you will improve rapidly, because the intensity around you is higher than anything you would produce on your own and you rise toward it. It is not about exercise being competitive, it is about the environment setting your pace.
Try things until one is genuinely fun, because enjoyment is the most important ingredient, not the last one. This should be the best part of your day, not drudgery. There is no harm in bouncing around until you find something you really like, and what works for you might not work for somebody else, which does not matter at all. It is your life and your body.
The email behind this episode came from someone with all the motivation they need, asking whether to hire a trainer or join a boot camp. The honest answer is that I cannot make that call for anybody, but I can tell you what I have watched work and fail over decades of training people. The full breakdown of who succeeds alone and who does not is in the episode, so press play above.
Accountability is the obvious answer, but it is not the whole answer. The group becomes your friends, in a lot of cases really close friends, and the hour becomes a social time of your day as much as a training time. If your whole day is work and the same conversations, that might be the piece you are actually missing. I get into the rest of it in the episode. Press play above.
If you do not have an athletic background and you do not know how to lift, run, or ride properly, instruction is not optional, it is the thing that keeps you healthy long enough to build the habit. A good coach or boot camp combines that instruction with the social and competitive elements in one package. I explain how to evaluate that in the episode, so listen for it.
I say it almost as an afterthought in the episode and then correct myself, because it is not the last thing, it is probably the most important thing. This should not be drudgery or the worst part of your day. It should be the best part, the time you are giving yourself. How to find that and what to do when you have not found it yet is in the episode. Press play above.
Trainer, coach, group, boot camp, or a treadmill and a movie, there is no single right answer, and that is the point. The right answer is the one you enjoy enough to keep showing up for, surrounded by people who pull a little more out of you than you would give alone.
If you can do it on your own and stick with it, awesome, more power to you. If you need to bounce around a little until something clicks, bounce around. Either way, press play above for the full episode.
personal trainers · boot camps · CrossFit · Orangetheory · yoga classes · group fitness · accountability · training intensity · cycling · running · swimming · Physical Friday
Physical Friday is my weekly fitness series for fishing guides, anglers, hunters, and outdoorsmen — the training, nutrition, and mindset to stay in the game for life. Watch and listen to every Physical Friday episode from Tom Rowland.
I'm Tom Rowland, a professional fishing guide based in the Florida Keys, host of the Tom Rowland Podcast, and the longtime host of the Saltwater Experience television show. On the podcast's Physical Friday series I share the workouts, recovery methods, and fitness habits that keep me ready for guiding, fishing, hunting, and everything else outdoors, in short, focused episodes you can put to use right away.
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