I’ve always hated the mantra of ‘no excuses’, the heated war cry of the naturally extroverted, testosterone fuelled trainee, the type who key ‘Dragonball Z Motivational Video’ into YouTube and whip their nervous system into a sympathetic frenzy before they hit a superset of lateral raises and intense eye contact with the mirror.
There ARE excuses, the fact the phrase exists at all is proof of this.
Denying their existence is ’not useful’ at best and at worst can create a sense of identity separation between those who do train and those who don’t.
My thoughts are, and I sincerely hope that my actions align with this, you should attempt to discuss the VALIDITY of the excuses whilst at the same time offering actionable solutions and setting an example.
Nobody wants to hear directly from the trainer who coaches four clients a day and has two hour stretches between each, in the gym, that they just need to ‘make time’. It may we be true, but it’s disingenuous and it can just serve to reinforce the denial of lacklustre time management.
Troubleshoot, help them identify a way to better utilise their time, offer them time conscious protocols, tell them that something will always beat nothing in a fair fight, and that rather than become disenfranchised they should be invigorated by the concept of creating these pockets of ‘negative time’ in which they can move the needle forward and make changes.
Identify the barriers to entry, be it time, money, space, knowledge and BURN THEM DOWN.