BUILT

Q. I’ve got this client who simply won’t follow my training or diet advice, yet he just bitches to me about how fat and out of shape he’s in. How do you handle these types of clients?

A. To be honest, I simply don’t handle these types of clients. This sounds like the type of guy who wants to invest in the “experience” of having a personal trainer rather than the actual training program and the results it’s meant to produce. I price my programs according to my many years of experience in nutrition and physical training, and this usually filters out the individuals who actually want to work hard and be disciplined from those who just want a “token” of what it is to be fit. As my good friend Scott Welch and my clientele of elite athletes and businesspeople know, I can be pretty intense, to say the least. I just don’t mesh well with uncommitted people. It does take time for clients to adjust to a disciplined fitness routine, so I allow them a grace period, but if they really aren’t in it to put out 110 percent, I’d probably drop them as clients so that no one’s time is wasted. As I always say, do it with honour or don’t do it at all.