I am a personal trainer in Schaumburg, Illinois. My career is to help individuals make optimal decisions about their exercise life. I have other interests, too, most being creative things like dancing, sewing, or re-decorating. I am also interested in gaining a further understanding about finances, investing, and managing money. By no means do I expect to become any kind of professional in the field, but my father somehow passed on the “interested-in-understanding-finances-and-numbers” gene.
In the most recent book I have read, Money, authored by Tony Robbins, Robbins teaches a lesson using a youtube video called “Butchers v Dietitians Brokers v Advisors Suitability v Fiduciary” from the Global Financial TV Youtube channel. You can watch the video by clicking here.
In this brief video, the narrator describes a classic butcher shop. The butchers are extremely well educated on meats from all different areas, how to cook these meats, etc. This knowledge is not something the general population would necessarily strive to fully understand, but that is fine. Why? Because that’s why we go to the butcher shop! We can pick the butcher’s brain and buy their meat.
Given this, would you expect the butcher to be fully educated on the appropriate vegetables (and how to cook them) to pair with these meats? Likewise, would you expect the butcher to send you down the street to purchase fish from the competing fish market? Both of these are likely not going to happen.
To sum it up, we have to picture the butcher for what and who he is. He offers incredible depth into understanding the ins and outs of meats and has a goal — to sell you his meats.
The video goes on to compare the butcher to a dietitian. The dietitian’s role is to suggest the food items that would be best for your health. This includes the attempt to avoid as many biases as possible, including not considering the likes/dislikes, personal preferences, and eating style that he/she as a dietitian practices. The recommendations from the dietitian are aimed to solely benefit the health of the customer/client.
If we compare the two professionals, they both play a vital and important role but are very different. The problem arises when we go to our local butcher and believe he is a dietitian recommending foods that are best fit for your health.
The video continues and relates these two different professions to fiduciaries and brokers. At that moment, I thought of exercise professionals and the different exercise options (and there are A LOT).
Have you noticed that there are tons of new gyms and fitness based direct sales companies? It is important that you acknowledge that some people and places are like butchers. They offer you advice with a goal of you engaging and/or purchasing what they are offering. Please note that I am not labeling these individuals as “bad,” but certainly having more expertise in the exact product or experience they are offering. Examples may be different multi-level marketing supplement companies or various franchised exercise programs.
Imagine this. You have a friend that is a coach for a multi-level marketing supplement company. Would you expect that this coach would recommend you to a competing nutritional shake over their nutritional shake? Not likely, even if the other shake was better for you. Now, there are rare unicorns that are able to see past this and may recommend something that they do not represent directly, but speaking in generalities, most people will see their product as the best.
This issue in the fitness world word arises for mainly 2 reasons – 1) sales and 2) education. First, many people do these kinds of sales for a living…. This means they must make money. There is absolutely NO SHAME in making money, and it is a necessity if they want to continue to promote what they are promoting. Second, many people truly believe in their products. This is GREAT! They are not trying to be heartless salespeople. BUT! Believing something to be true or factual doesn’t actually make it true or factual. Everyone is entitled to their own beliefs, though!
Another example: picture two fitness studios. Each studio offers a predetermined workout that everyone will do that day. Do you think that studio A would likely tell a potential client that studio B would be a better fit? Not likely! Now remember, I did mention there are the rare unicorns. Unicorns would likely be your dietitian.
We must acknowledge where the “butchers” are in the fitness/wellness industry. Butchers are not bad, but they are certainly different that dietitians. Butchers are very knowledgeable about their specific products and are generally biased towards that product.
If you are looking for a “dietitian” in the fitness industry, you are looking for a fitness professional that is striving to give unbiased opinions on how to engage in exercise to benefit your health. This is tough to find! But, here are some key things to keep in mind when looking for a “dietician”:
- The exercise professional is trying to be a problem solver. Your professional may try some creative things, especially if you are struggling to see changes in a certain area.
- The exercise professional questions everything and does not put all his/her “eggs in one basket” (i.e. all of their trust in one program or exercise).
- The exercise professional presents exercise as a process and not a “fix”.
- The exercise professional is not giving the same product or experience or workout to any two clients. The product or experience would be completely customized for you schedule, your body, and your goals.
If you are looking for a fitness professional in your area that meets many of the above criteria, we would love to connect with you and provide a recommendation.
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