The Show Up Fitness Podcast
Join Chris Hitchko, author of 'How to Become A Successful Personal Trainer' VOL 2 and CEO of Show Up Fitness as he guides personal trainers towards success.
90% of personal trainers quit within 12-months in the USA, 18-months in the UK, Show Up Fitness is helping change those statistics. The Show Up Fitness CPT is one of the fastest growing PT certifications in the world with partnerships with over 500-gyms including Life Time Fitness, Equinox, Genesis, EoS, and numerous other elite partnerships.
This podcast focuses on refining trade, business, and people skills to help trainers excel in the fitness industry. Discover effective client programming, revenue generation, medical professional networking, and elite assessment strategies.
Learn how to become a successful Show Up Fitness CPT at www.showupfitness.com. Send your questions to Chris on Instagram @showupfitness or via email at info@showupfitness.com."
The Show Up Fitness Podcast
How to train a client w/ Metabolic Syndrome
Send us a text if you want to be on the Podcast & explain why!
Ever wondered how to properly design a fitness program for someone with metabolic syndrome? Meet "Metabolic Mary," our 44-year-old avatar client who presents with multiple risk factors including hypertension, elevated resting heart rate, and poor overall fitness. This episode dives deep into the thoughtful approach required to help clients like Mary succeed when standard training methods might do more harm than good.
The journey begins with understanding what metabolic syndrome actually is—having at least three of five specific health markers that significantly increase risk for cardiovascular disease and diabetes. We explore each marker in detail, from waist circumference thresholds to blood pressure parameters, giving you the knowledge to recognize these conditions in your own clients.
What makes this episode particularly valuable is the stark contrast drawn between typical trainer approaches and the more sophisticated method taught at Show Up Fitness. Rather than annihilating a deconditioned client with high-intensity circuits on day one (virtually guaranteeing they won't return), we demonstrate the "Goldilocks approach"—programming that's not too hard, not too easy, but just right for the client's current abilities.
The conversation extends beyond exercise selection to cover crucial professional skills: how to approach physicians for medical clearance, positioning yourself as distinct from "CrossFit weirdos," and addressing client fears (like Mary's concern about "bulking up") with empathy rather than dismissal. You'll learn specific progression models using CA (compound-accessory), CC (compound-compound), and CCA (compound-compound-accessory) formats that can be modified based on client response.
Whether you're a new trainer struggling with program design or an experienced professional looking to refine your approach to special populations, this episode provides both the science and art of effective training for metabolic syndr
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She was a creeper too, going into the bear's house eating their porridge, sleeping all over the place. Come on, goldilocks, what the hell are you doing? Welcome to the Show Up Fitness Podcast, where great personal trainers are made. We are changing the fitness industry one qualified trainer at a time with our in-person and online personal training certification. If you want to become an elite personal trainer, head on over to showupfitnesscom. Also, make sure to check out my book, how to Become a Successful Personal Trainer. Don't forget to subscribe, rate and review. Have a great day and keep showing up. Howdy y'all. Welcome back to the Showoff Fitness Podcast.
Speaker 1:Today we're going to get into designing a program for a 44-year-young client. Metabolic Mary is what we're calling her because she has metabolic syndrome. Now, if you're not familiar with what we do at Show Fitness and our certification, when you get certified, you need to be able to create a program, a part of the final testing. You need to know the 17 muscles of the shoulder, 20 of the lower body, eight core movement patterns, naming the agonist and synergist, and then walk through a program for a avatar-like client similar to Mary what we have here. So, before we get into the programming and the soft tissue mobilizations that we're going to suggest.
Speaker 1:Let's define what metabolic syndrome is. This is having at least three out of the five health conditions that can increase your risk for cardiovascular disease, stroke and also type 2 diabetes. It can cause other complications as well, but each of these conditions is treatable with lifestyle changes and or medication, the first one being excess adiposity, having a BMI greater than 30 or a waist girth for males greater than 40 inches, females 35 inches. Number two triglycerides greater than 150 milligrams per deciliter or greater. Number three less than 40 HDLs. Less than 50 HDLs for females. Hdl stands for high density lipoproteins. We call these the healthy ones, the vacuum cleaners. They go throughout your blood and they're cleaning up the nasty stuff that's going to be in there. Ldls are the lousy ones, but for metabolic syndrome, they're focusing just on the healthy ones. Again, 40 less than for males, 50 less than for females. If you were to have one of those markers, that would be one of the risks. Glucose if you're fasting, glucose levels are greater than 100 milligrams per deciliter. Greater than 110 is prediabetes, greater than 125 is diabetes. And last one is number five blood pressure. If you have a systolic greater than 130 and or diastolic greater than 85,. That's not the definition of hypertension, which is 140 over 90, 130 or 85. If you have three of these, which is making you more predisposed of having coronary artery disease?
Speaker 1:She's 44 years, young, 205 pounds. Her resting heart rate is 90 beats per minute. Once we get above a hundred, that's called tachycardia. That is not a good sign. Think of your car idling. You're pressing down on your gas. You are burning more gas at rest. We don't want that. An ideal resting heart rate would be 50, 60, 70 beats per minute and her starting resting heart rate is 90 beats per minute. Her blood pressure is 150 over 87. Body composition is 39%. She's a secretary here at Santa Monica High School.
Speaker 1:Now these are avatars, so we make them up and thanks to Mr Chat GPT, we can throw up an avatar. What she looks like, 25 is her VO2 max milliliters per kilogram per minute. We should be around 50. So she's half of that. That means her heart health is definitely not there.
Speaker 1:She cannot do any pushups. She has really poor flexibility. She's constantly hunched over at her desk. She's afraid of bulking up. So you need to be able to address that and have a conversation. You don't just shake your head and say, oh Mary, that's stupid. You're not going to get big and bulky. You respect that. That's the people skills part of our profession. You need to be empathetic. I totally understand the fear of getting big and bulky, but when we're able to do pull-ups and push-ups, you're going to see that you're not only a lot stronger but you're going to be losing a lot of fat and replacing that fat with a nice muscle tone. There's no such thing as muscle tone. We're just speaking the language that our clients are going to say I want to get toned and sexy. Great, use positive words. We can definitely help your arms get more tone and when you can do 10 pushups in a row, your arms are going to be significantly more toned than they are now.
Speaker 1:She wants to lose 50 pounds and her main area of focus is going to be her midsection and her arms. So I always ask if a genie were to pop out of a lamp and give you one magical body part, mary, keep it PC what would it be? And she's going to say her midsection and also her arms. And she shakes her arms and says I don't want these teacher arms anymore. So we need to focus the accessory aspect within the programming to target those areas we cannot spot, reduce, but it feels great. When the next day that area is sore, we implant into the mind that the process is working. We don't want to get her so sore that she's not going to come back for the next session.
Speaker 1:So it's a constant game of Goldilocks. We don't want it to be too hot, we don't want it to be too cold. Just right, she was a creeper too, going into the bear's house eating their porridge, sleeping all over the place. Come on, goldilocks, what the hell are you doing? No respect today for people in their house. We need to provide this experience for Mary to be pleasurable. She's not a psychopath like you and I who are waking up in the morning chugging water. We're exercising an hour or two, sometimes three plus per day. She's been inactive since high school when she did gymnastics, so that's something that she enjoyed 25 plus years ago.
Speaker 1:So the main concerns are addressing her metabolic syndrome. And how do we know these factors? It's through a blood lipid profile that she had to go to the doctor. We're going to need medical clearance because of that. Blood pressure 150 over 87 is not optimal. That's definitely a sign, and that's why they call it the silent killer of hypertension.
Speaker 1:So you're going to take this as an opportunity to reach out to a medical professional in your area. You're going to reach out to a physician. You're going to ask for medical clearance. We have a mutual client. I would love for an opportunity to stop by your office, bring some coffee to your staff, introduce myself I'm sure you're really overwhelmed with patient load and I'd love to see if we could potentially work together in the future. You go to the office, you dress professionally, drop off some coffee, ask the doc who their trainer is. Hey, doc, I'd love an opportunity for you to come to the gym. I'll take you through a complimentary workout. Most of the time, people think of trainers doing weird BOSU ball stuff and CrossFit high intense workouts. That's not what we do. We have a team, we work with physical therapists, registered dietitians, and my goal is to better serve the community. So I'd love to just give you a complimentary workout to thank you for all the great things that you're doing for the community of Santa Monica. So now you're putting a pin into this local market of yours.
Speaker 1:This medical professional recognizes other professionals in the area because they have this misconception that trainers are a bunch of CrossFit weirdos who are doing high, intense stuff hurting clients. But that's not you. I always educate the professional in front of me what the typical trainer does to get certified. They read a simple textbook the most common ones, nasm, ace, issa they take a test, multiple choice, they pass it and they go out there and experiment with live people. That's insane. Doc. I know you're probably thinking oh, I didn't know that. I educate the professional, so they don't group me into the whole market of personal trainers because we have a bad rep. I'm going to nip that in the bud from the get-go. Let him or her know that I'm a professional. I've gone through one of the best internships. I have a great team. Sufcbt is one of the top certifications out there.
Speaker 1:Now you're going to have a better opportunity to get referrals because of that elevator pitch. Best case scenario they're now going to come to your gym, have an amazing experience working with you and now you're training a doctor because they can absolutely afford your pricing. But worst case, they don't want to train with you. I don't care, I'm too busy right now. Whatever, you looked out for your client's best interests. You got the medical clearance and so you can train her.
Speaker 1:The conversations need to be about what she wants to achieve the fat loss, being able to do pushups and pull-ups, the fear of bulking up. I'm not going to have her doing overhead pressing incline, pressing bunch of heavy rows, because she's going to associate the load with bulking up. So when you design your program, keep that in mind. Upper body should be more body weight bands, lighter loads, higher reps, so you can avoid the misconception of what is in her mind with bulking up. She's again not going to bulk up. That is a badge of honor.
Speaker 1:It's very challenging to do Crossfitters and high rocks athletes. They don't just show up on day one and get all jacked up from doing a circuit. It takes a lot of work. Getting developed traps and arms is not easy to do. But she may be following people online or talk to people who did quote, unquote bulk up. So she has that fear it's not going to happen. But you address it and you be respectful.
Speaker 1:You get to know her, ask great questions during the assessment. You're a secretary at Santa Monica High. That's awesome. I've had a lot of clients who've also gone to Santa Monica High as students but also who've worked there. I know the principal. We did some stuff with the swim team. We were working directly with the athletic director 10 years ago. His name was Brian. I'm going to connect with her. I'm going to name drop because, big picture, she could be a huge maven for the Santa Monica community If I'm able to transform her physique. She's going to be talking to everyone at work how great this trainer is at show up. So you need to be proactive, looking at the individual servicing, what her goals are.
Speaker 1:She had some shoulder issues, so we're going to do some screens. Can she put her hands above her head? We're testing flexion If it's not so painful to the point that you need to refer out. Implement some soft tissue work. So when you do the warmup, one of the first things I'm going to implement is a soft tissue mobilization and I like to start with the infraspinatus. You're going to get clearance.
Speaker 1:So she signs the waiver. You find a tender spot, hold for 10, 15 seconds, breathe through it. Parasympathetic nervous system kicks in, calms down her nervous system and then we retest. She puts her arms above her head and, wow, it feels significantly better. Awesome, let's get into the workout now. You do some arm circles, deep squat with thoracic rotations, some banded rows, presses, payoffs, some jumping jacks to check out her conditioning, to see how she's able to handle it. Maybe three to five minutes After the warmup I'm going to let her sit.
Speaker 1:I'm going to go get some water for her, bring her a towel, ask great questions. What's going on with your life, family, everything? Build the rapport when we get into the workout for the day. I'm going to modify our typical CCA based on everything that I discovered during the assessment. Since she's overweight significantly and she has these conditions that lead to metabolic syndrome, I'm going to modify the CCA and start with a CA. We're going to do a body weight squat first into a bicep curl and we'll do two rounds of that and we're going to rest until she's comfortable to do more. I'm prepared.
Speaker 1:I have some glucose tablets ready if she were to get lightheaded or dizzy, and if she wanted one, I would take it with her. It really kicks them back to life because, especially if you have a morning assessment, it's very common for your clients to get some caffeine in their system. They don't have any food because they don't want to throw up. They haven't exercised in years, so they're really thinking, oh, I don't want to throw up or get woozy so they don't eat beforehand. The caffeine spikes their heart rate and then when they're exercised, very common to get lightheaded. We need to increase that blood glucose. So having glucose tablets would be a smart thing to have.
Speaker 1:After two rounds I'll get into the next circuit. We're going to do some banded military press into some face pulls. So we did a CA first and the next circuit we're going to do a CC and I'm going to see how she handles 10 to 12 repetitions. After two rounds of that we're going to get into the last circuit and if you feel like it's appropriate and she's not about to pass out, you could then introduce the first CCA, a step up for maybe six to eight, six to 10 reps per leg into a bar pushup, into a pale law for the abs, or if you want to do triceps a lot of times for that last circuit I'll ask them. We're going to do an accessory right here which is an isolation exercise. What's an area you really want to target right now, mary? And if she points to the back part of her arms, we'll do some tricep extensions and she says I really want to feel more in my core, then maybe we'll do a pale off or maybe we'll do some crunches. The accessories are kind of thinking on the fly, based on what the client wants. A lot of people are going to look at this scenario, this avatar, and say she needs to lose weight. We're going to do a step up curl press in the beginning into pushups, into jumping jacks and you're just going to smoke her. So at the end of the workout she's not going to get through it one, but she's going to be exhausted and annihilated and she's thinking, wow, I'm in really bad shape. I don't know if this is for me.
Speaker 1:The next day she wakes up and her whole entire body is just toast. That DOMS kicks in two days later, typically. So on Wednesday she's going to feel it even more. Soreness is chemical and mechanical breakdown. If you want to get all science-y, it's the breakdown of ATP, the byproduct being hydrogen ions and inorganic phosphate. That metabolic stress that accumulates is going to be the soreness the next day. It's not lactic acid, it's the chemical aspect, but the mechanical from the exercises that you're doing. And when you add load on a microscopic level, there's going to be tearing of the muscles. So you're creating this biofeedback that the whole organism is just wrecked. She's not going to feel great if you do all these total body exercises. So that's why I like to try to keep it lower volume.
Speaker 1:Two sets If she's doing better than expected, you could go to three. But I start with a CA, move into a CC and then go into a CCA. The second workout, when she comes back, that's when I would start progressing to a CAA, into a CC again and then back into a CCA. And the last workout we'll do a CAA, again CCA and then a CCA. So you're progressing from workout one to workout three and then, to give you an example of the month program which we designed within the SUF CPT, the last workout, which would be 12 for the month, we're going to be doing a CCA, cca, cca. We're going to be getting into more compound lifts, overloading those tubalitional fatigue. So the first workout is significantly different than the last one. If you want this program, email info at showupfitnesscom. We will send this to you to help you better understand how to progress.
Speaker 1:Someone who has metabolic syndrome not confused with metabolic disease, which would be a thyroid issue, diabetes confused with metabolic disease, which would be a thyroid issue, diabetes, something along those lines which can be reversed depending on the situation, but that's why you communicate with the physician. There are a lot of different ways to skin a cat. Yes, we still use that analogy. This type of programming that we implement at Show Up Fitness and the CCA is great because you can regress it to a CA or even a C or maybe even an A.
Speaker 1:I trained a client one time which was significantly over 400 pounds and we started out with isolation exercises because, in my professional opinion, it would not have been applicable to do a C, a compound movement into a C or a CCA or a CAA, because it's too demanding. The whole purpose of working with the professional, which is you, which is I, is to make the experience enjoyable within reason. Yes, work needs to be done, but you don't want to tax and annihilate the person so much that the experience is negative. So then, at the end of that first session, when you sit down to talk about training, they're going to come up with uh, it's too expensive. Let me think about it Really. What they're saying is this was just way too difficult. I don't know if I'm capable. I want it to be enjoyable.
Speaker 1:She's going to feel in the areas that she mentioned in the beginning of the assessment, but then I provide an assessment, going through the movement patterns that I feel are appropriate to test and to overload appropriately. I really like the goblet squat. I like banded presses. I like face pulls because they're not that taxing. It's to encourage, to ignite a fire under Mary's ass. Yes, you can do this. It's not going to happen from one workout. The best workout you can be doing is the next one. I want to be very optimistic and positive because she has a great community that she's a part of and I want to tap into it.
Speaker 1:If you're struggling with your programming, reach out, get into one of our classes that are live we have them daily where you get to learn how to optimize the CCA, which is going to lead into being more confident during the sales presentation, which is going to lead into being more confident during the sales presentation, so you can build your book of business. And then I teach the level two, soft tissue, getting into nutrition as well, driving those streams of revenue, making you the competent professional to reach out to other medical professionals, so you can build a sustainable career 100%. If you need to get certified for life, we have that option. As I said, we have our soft tissue certification, where you work alongside a physical therapist. You shadow them, and then we have our registered dietitian, who helps teach our nutrition certification course. Remember, big biceps are better than small ones. And keep showing up.