My partner and I were invited to go on a mountain bike ride with another trainer and her clients. A separate friend who was going on the same trip told me that we should have a great time. That it was an easy course and not to worry since she is slow we wouldn’t be alone in the back.
One thing you should know is that the trainer organizing the ride trains primarily those preparing for triathlons.
It was a beautiful morning and the pack left the parking lot. Not long after leaving the start we slowly made our way to the back. In fact it wasn’t long after that, that we actually lost sight of them.
We didn’t know the course they were following but we knew the area pretty well. So instead of packing it in we headed for trails that we knew. We ended up having a really good time.
This incident sparked a very interesting discussion about why people exercise. I could get very detailed here but suffice it to say that there are 3 different reasons to exercise.
One is for sport, another for fitness, and yet another for enjoyment.
None of these can be seen as better than the others but they certainly are at different levels of difficulty and intensity.
My friend who said she was slow and that the course was easy trains primarily for sport.
My partner trains for fitness and enjoyment.
How do you view others? Do you expect them to be as competent as you, at what you do?
Trainers, where do you set the bar for your clients? Do you compare them to yourself? Or do you set the task relative to their fitness level?
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