Mind Pump: Raw Fitness Truth - 3 PART TRAINER SERIES BONUS EP - Episode 2 Diet & Exercise Strategies that Work AND Clients Love

Episode Date: May 20, 2025

 Part Trainer Bonus Series – EP 2: Diet & Exercise Strategies (THAT WORK) and That Clients Love! The MOST valuable piece for coaches and trainers. (0:28) Will they do it? (2:36) Does it have a large payoff? (4:17) Is this realistically sustainable forever? (5:15) General Diet Strategies That Have the Biggest Payoff That Clients Love! Level 1 – Avoid heavily processed foods. (7:55) Level 2 – Hit your target body weight in grams of protein and eat it FIRST. (15:10) Level 3 – Aim for ½ to a gallon of water a day. (20:02) Level 4 – Track. (22:46) General Exercise Strategies That Have the Biggest Payoff That Clients Love! Level 1 – Walk after meals. (26:21) Level 2 – Strength training. (29:38) Level 3 – Daily mobility. (32:30) Level 4 – Structured cardio. (33:35) Related Links/Products Mentioned Trainer the Trainer Webinar Series Mind Pump # 2437: What Happens to Your Body When You Quit Ultra-Processed Foods for 30 Days Ultra-Processed Diets Cause Excess Calorie Intake and Weight Gain: An Inpatient Randomized Controlled Trial of Ad Libitum Food Intake Mind Pump # 2450: The Smartest Way to Use Protein to Burn Fat & Build Muscle Mind Pump # 2160: Macro Counting Master Class Mind Pump # 2402: The 5 Reasons Why Walking is King for Fat Loss (Burn More Fat than Running & How to Do it Correctly) Mind Pump # 1835: Why Resistance Training Is the Best Form of Exercise for Fat Loss and Overall Health Online Personal Training Course | Mind Pump Fitness Coaching ** Approved provider by NASM/AFAA (1.9 CEUs)! Grow your business and succeed in 2025. ** Mind Pump Podcast – YouTube Mind Pump Free Resources People Mentioned Chris Kresser M.S., L.Ac. (@chriskresser) Instagram  

If you want to pump your body and expand your mind, there's only one place to go. Mind pump with your hosts, Sal DeStefano, Adam Schaefer, and Justin Andrews. All right, so we hope you enjoyed part one of this series. By the way, go to trainyourwebinar.com. I'm gonna be teaching a free webinar on June 3rd. I'm gonna teach you how to close.

I'm gonna teach you how to sell training. All right, let's go. All right, this is part two. So let's talk about diet and exercise strategies that work, but most importantly, these are the ones that we found that our clients loved. So it's a great topic. I think it's one of the more valuable conversations

that we could have for coaches and trainers, because obviously if you can't get them to adhere to the diet or exercise, you're probably not going to get them any results. And this was something that it this wasn't taught to me in any certification. So that's why I think this is the most valuable because you could be one of the most educated coaches and trainers that are listening to this and tout all the different studies and research and science that you've got from all your courses. But this was something that they didn't teach us that you learned over time helping so many people.

Yeah, you learn it from application and what really works and what sticks and what's sustainable. And so I think that, yeah, a lot of knowledge that we've acquired from certifications and from textbooks, it's great. But at the end of the day, what's really going to be effective and stick with your clients? So you said it perfectly because I think when trainers and coaches, especially newer ones, when they think of something that works, like if I was to ask a relatively new trainer, what's a diet strategy that works? like if I was to ask a relatively new trainer, what's a diet strategy that works? Or if I were to ask them,

what does it mean when I say this diet works? They'll say, oh, it produces results. That's half, that's not even, that's the half equation. That's not the full thing. There's lots of ways to, for example, lose weight, but only some of them are gonna maintain that weight loss. Something doesn't work if it didn't work forever. Okay, so it's like when a client would hire me

and they'd say, oh, I'm gonna do this diet that I did a long time ago, or this workout program I did a long time ago. And I'll say, well, why? They'll say, well, it worked. I'll say, well, no, it didn't, because you're not doing it anymore. You gained the weight back, you fell out of shape.

It didn't work. It produced a result, but the result didn't stick. So the context that we have to paint here, I think is really important. And this is what you end up figuring out through experience. You end up figuring out, well number one, the most important thing is will they do it? Nothing works, nothing works.

The best advice doesn't work if your client doesn't do it. It literally doesn't matter if they don't do it. So you always have to ask yourself, will they actually do it? That's the most important thing that goes into this. We talk a lot about this on the exercise portion, but this is included in the diet portion also, which is meeting your clients where they're currently at.

And a big mistake I think I used to make was, you get a client in, you do your assessment, I take in consideration their activity level, their experience, their age, their weight, their body fat percentage, where they want to go, and then put in this formula and outspits, this is your calories, this is your macros. And then from there, okay, here are all the foods. And then it's like, eat this. And it's just, it's so far from where they're currently at that even if they have the discipline for a period of time to eat like that, to see the results and let's say they even see a little bit of results,

you actually haven't had real success yet. It's not, you're not, you're not having success with your clients until you not only get them to their results, but you teach them how to sustain those results and change their lifestyle. And so I think there was a bit of this false reality when I first started because I could say oh yeah I got clients to lose weight or I got the results. Fast forward when I run into them years later and they had put all the weight back on it's like oh did I really help them then?

I just wrote them a meal plan they followed for six months but then they ended up putting weight back on. It's like, oh, did I really help them then? I wrote them a meal plan. They followed for six months, but then they ended up putting it back on. And so understanding that, okay, where are they currently at and meeting them there and then slowly stepping them in the right direction. Yes. And so, you know, will they do it? The second thing to consider is, is the thing that I'm going to ask them to do, does it have a large payoff, or is there a great return? Like what step can I take with the client that they'll do that simultaneously gives them a big result? In other words, is there one step I can have someone take

that will have the result of five other steps? Because it's easier to do one thing than it is to do five or six other things. So that's the other thing you have to consider. It's like, okay, I'm working with this person. Remember, trainers, you're not talking to a fitness fanatic. You're not talking to somebody who fell in love with fitness like you did.

This person is trying to improve the quality of life by using fitness, but it isn't their life like it is for you. With the least effort. That's what they want. That's right, because it's not their life. They don't want to do this all the time. You can make it as enjoyable as possible.

They'll never love it like you do. So can I give them something that they'll do that will also have a large payoff? And then finally, is it realistic forever? Is this sustainable? Because it could give you good results, and they could do it, But is it gonna stick? Are they gonna be able to do this for the rest of their life?

Like a good example would be like a no carb diet, okay? Cutting carbs out completely. A lot of people can do it right out the gates. Why? Because it's simple, cut carbs, done. Okay, I know what that looks like. Does it have a large payoff? Yeah, sure, you cut carbs.

You're probably gonna substantially lower your calories so you'll see weight loss. This was a big deal in the late 90s, early 2000s. Low carb, no carb diets were very popular. But was it realistic and sustainable? No. The adherence rate on those diets wasn't really much better than any other diet.

And so what happened with low carb keto diets? They still have fat, it's still a thing that people will try and fall out of. So you have to ask yourself those three things. Will they do it? Does it have a large payoff? And is it realistically sustainable forever? So along those lines, go ahead.

I was just gonna say, and then I also think that there's levels too, right? So there's like, you take that in consideration, then you go, I'm gonna start them at the lowest levels that's easiest for them to accomplish, and then I'm gonna build on that. Versus, I know I've got all these things I could give them right now

and tell them they should do for their diet, but it's like, I'm gonna start with the, like you said, the biggest bang for your buck that I know that it could adhere to, and then once we do that, then we're gonna stack, and then we're gonna stack, and then we're gonna stack. Yeah, imagine someone teaching you how to build a house, and you couldn't write anything down,

and they said, okay, here's what you're gonna do, and then they give you every step all at once. You forgot the first step, but then you got the fifth step, now you're screwed. But what if they said you go do step one first, then come back and see me? Go do step two back, and then come back and see me? Go do step two back and then come back and see me. So in other words, what we're looking at is

the first step should be the thing that's easiest to do. It should have the largest payoff and it should be the most sustainable. The second step is a little bit worse than the first one in terms of will they do it, does it have payoff, and is it sustainable? And the third step and fourth step. So in other words, let's start with the biggest thing

that they probably will do, or at least that we've experienced that people can do, that is sustainable, that will also give them this large payoff where they feel like they're putting minimal effort. So it's levels, like you said, Adam. Now of course, when it comes to diet, things can get very individual.

We're doing a general show here for most people. So we're gonna talk about general steps that have the biggest payoff that clients absolutely love, that we got lots of positive feedback with. So level one would be this. And this for me, what I'm about to say here, was such a revelation when I was a trainer. It was like, it's one of those things when you do it

and the payoff is so big and the clients get such great results and then people can stick to it, where you just like, you wanna kick yourself and go, oh, why didn't I, I wish I knew this before. It's like one of those moments in life when you do something and you're just like, oh, if I could go back in time. And it was this right here.

Just tell your clients to avoid heavily processed foods. That's it. That's level one. Just, now why will they do this? Why will a lot of clients do this? Because it's an easy black and white step. What's heavily processed food? Very simple.

Yeah, what's heavily processed food, Sal? Things that come in boxes and wrappers and things that are packaged. So just stay away from that kind of stuff. We used to say eat on the outside of the grocery store, to the inside. But yeah, there's really simple ways of approaching this topic. And the thing about it is it sounds restrictive, but really it's freedom in that they have, we're not talking about calories.

We're not talking about confinement in terms of them going out to actually eat. They can eat as much as they want at this point, but it has to be within these walls. Yeah, they're not weighing yet. They're not measuring anything yet. They're not doing any of that yet. It's just literally just stay away from heavily processed foods, eat whole foods. And what I love about that too is that, because you're gonna get this, right? So for the trainer, your clients can say, well, what else?

Or just do that. Just do that, and I promise, we're gonna start to see change in the right direction, and then we're gonna build on that. And that's the key to this is not, resist the temptation to give them all the other steps. Back to your analogy with the building the house, like resist your temptation to talk about the electrical work

and all the plumbing and the framing and all this. So it's just like stick to the foundation. Let's lay a good foundation and then you build that then come back to me and then we're gonna talk about the next thing you're gonna do. Most of the time it's the hardest for the trainer to adhere to this. Yeah, that's why I said that because the trainer

is gonna, the client will, they'll go, well wait, that's it I know about this and they're gonna start asking you what about this? What about that? Don't worry about that and you got to be you have to be confident in saying that and so and this is what I lacked in my early years was the confidence to know how well this work Yes, hopefully you get that from us and all of our experience to telling you listen just trust me Yeah, say this to them. Let them go do that And then you'll start to see results, and then we'll build a level two.

Now, what Adam's saying, I want people to understand this, is so important because you're gonna have to sell this to your client, because it sounds like nothing. It sounds so simple. This is what the conversation sounds like. Avoid heavily processed foods and eat as much as you want. And people are gonna look at you like you're crazy. What do you mean, eat as much?

First of all, the first thing they'll say, what is heavily processed foods? Foods that come in boxes and wrappers and packages. So just avoid that, don't eat that. But then otherwise eat as much as you want. And they're gonna be like, huh? What do you mean, like eat until I'm full? You don't want me to cut?

You don't want me to eat less? What about carbs? What about carbs? What about fat? Can I eat steak? What about potatoes? I heard potatoes are bad. Fruit, should I not eat fruit?

No, no, all that's fine. Eat as much as you want. Just don't eat heavily processed foods. They're not gonna believe you, so now I'm gonna teach you how to sell it. Okay, because you're gonna have to sell it to your clients. Because when I first did this, I thought that clients would just be excited,

but they looked at me like I was lying. And I had to sell it. The first time I ever said it, it was a guy who had to lose like 80 to 100 pounds, and he looked back at me and he laughed at me. He says, Adam, how do you think I got here? Yeah, yeah. How do you think I got here? Yeah, yeah.

How do you think I got here? Was eating whatever the hell I want. It's not exactly good. You gotta give me boundaries. No, you're fine. Just eat, that's it. This is the only boundary is not processed foods and just watch what happens, I promise you.

Yep, so okay, so why does this work so well? Because it automatically controls calories. The data on this now is extremely clear. And I'm gonna say this, back in the day when I was telling people about this we didn't have studies. So back when I was saying this what I knew was the effects of hyper palatable processed foods based off of like food scientists and my own experience but I'd never I didn't have data so that for me when I first said this I was like okay you need to until you're full, let's see what happens.

Here's what happened, 10 to 15 pound weight loss. Consistent, it would be like a 10 to 15 pound weight loss over two or three months for everybody, right out the gates. Which most people, here's why your clients love it so much, they don't understand how it's working and they think they're eating a lot. They all would come back and be like, I'm eating like big dinner.

Like my wife made potatoes, we had steak, for lunch I had rice and chicken and I had chicken thighs you said I don't have to eat breasts I just I went for it and then I had some fruit so I was still hungry. I don't understand how this is working I'm losing weight and it feels like it's just happening on its own. Well here's what's happening you're eating less calories. The data on this now is very clear. This result for the average person who eats mostly heavily processed foods, which is most Americans, when they do this,

their calories will come down by 500 calories. 500 to 600 calories in a day. Which by the way, the irony of that is that's about what we were taught to cut your clients. Without having to tell them to. Right, right. You used to figure out, like I was saying,

all the math on where their current calorie maintenance or balance is at, and then you would cut them by 500 calories. And so that was kind of strange. So you're doing this organically through not telling them to eat less, but by just eating these types of foods. That's right.

So, and the reason why you end up eating less calories is because heavily processed foods are engineered to make you overeat. They're very, very well engineered, expertly engineered to make you overeat. They're very, very well engineered, expertly engineered to make you overeat. So simply avoiding them results in appropriate caloric intake, which typically results in about 10 to 15 pounds of body fat loss. That's how powerful this is. And a good example would be, I love this example, Chris Kresser gave it to us years ago on the podcast.

So if you wanna illustrate this for your clients, say okay, could you eat four or five plain boiled potatoes with no salt, no butter, just plain? Could you eat them all in a row, right? Right out the gate, some person will say no, I'll gag. Okay, could you eat a family size bag of potato chips? And they would say yes. And you'd say well that has the same amount of potatoes

except one of them is hyper palatable, the other one is just whole natural food plain. So that's what they do to you, they just make you over. So step one, level one, and I'm gonna be straight up with you guys, okay, listening right now. Many of your clients will never have to go anywhere else. Many of your clients will go 10, 15 pound weight loss. Then when you combine exercise with this

and muscle building with this, then the weight loss slows down after about 10, 15 pound weight loss. Then when you combine exercise with this and muscle building with this, then the weight loss slows down after about 10, 15 pounds. But it continues to happen over time. And what it feels like for the client is, I'm just eating as much as I want. I'm kind of living my life. Like this is pretty amazing. Okay, let's go to level two though.

So I would not go to level two until level one is accomplished and consistent and not a problem. There's no reason to go to level two until level one is not a problem. Once level one is not a problem, by the way, what's your coaching look like for level one? Your coaching is going to look like them saying, oh, I had the chips or hey, I had this, no problem, let's stick to whole natural foods. Let's think of some whole natural alternatives and what did your food look like this week. So there's still some coaching that's involved, just minimal compared to other

diet strategies. Level two is you have them now hit their target body weight in grams of protein and to eat it first. So that's level two. Now why are we adding this level two or what does this accomplish? They bump their protein intake significantly. They eat it first. Protein has a satiety effect on top of whole natural foods so their calories come down even lower typically but the protein also results in more muscle

and less body fat even when calories are controlled. So two same calorie diets, same exact person in both scenarios, high protein, lower protein, higher protein results in more fat loss and more muscle gain. You eat it first, it controls blood sugar better and it provides more satiety. So that's level two. So now it's like, hey, you know how you're eating whole natural foods?

You've been doing that for three months? Yes, here's what I want to do. Let's take your target body weight, eating grams of protein, eat it first in your meal and that's level two. That will result- High octane version. That'll result in additional probably five pounds of body fat loss with some muscle gain. And also don't over complicate this because the questions

you get back, well can I eat steak? Can I eat pork? They're gonna start asking all kinds of questions about what kinds of protein sources can they have and can they have tri-tip and can they have all these? Yes, yes, yes, yes. The answer is yes you can have those things so long as we hit those grams and protein You're right now what I know as a trainer is that if I eat all from really high fat foods It's hard to get to the protein intake, especially if you're eating them first and you're doing that So knowing that you might have to then this is where the coaching comes right? So it's like that's just the advice what you end up what will probably happen over the next couple weeks is

Struggling to hit their protein intake. I was just going to say. Is, oh wow, that's harder because this is the most common thing that happens here, right? Simple but not easy. Yeah. The next challenge with this client at level two for me was, oh my God, I just can't, that's so- I can't eat that much.

I can't eat that much. That's so much food. And so then we start diving into what are we what choices are we eating? And this is where I was going to like leaner cuts tend to help just with digestion and then bit them being able to eat more And it's not because you can't have the tri-tips just that you notice that oh wow when you have these higher fat Protein meals they tend to fill you up more and then it makes it harder for you in different strategies Sometimes you have to break it up, right? You can't get it about all in one meal or a lot of times like your dinner

It was the heavy portion of that but when you're really trying to seek a higher amount of protein It's it's difficult when it's all there at once So, you know portioning it out throughout the day a lot of times This is also where we might introduce protein shakes if I have to right here This might be a place where if a client is just absolutely struggling With getting to their their protein through whole natural foods This is the one exception that we might make or this is how I would teach them like this is how you use a protein shake It's not

Protein shakes are healthy for you. I want you always targeting healthy foods And if we don't that's like that's still the goal But if we if we're now at level two and we can't hit protein intake because you just can't eat enough, then this is where we might lose. Okay, so I'm just gonna back up, because I want you trainers to really understand the power of what we're saying.

Here you have a client who wants to lose weight. Most of your clients are gonna wanna lose weight. That's the majority of your clients. They wanna lose weight and you're coaching them because they can't eat enough. So think about that for a clients. They wanna lose weight and you're coaching them because they can't eat enough. So think about that for a second. This is a person who struggled with weight for a long time. They need to lose body fat, it's very difficult.

And now they're talking with you and saying, I can't eat as much protein as you're telling me. Talk about a mental flip, but also just how much healthier of a mentality they're gonna develop because they've probably dealt with trying to restrict their whole life. They've probably dealt with struggling and binging and now they're like, ugh, I'm full. They'll punish themselves for not hitting it.

That's right, so the two coaching strategies or tips I have for this are one, you're gonna have to suddenly learn how to talk to people about eating more food, especially people that wanna lose weight, and two, you brought this up about breaking up the protein. You're gonna learn how to talk to people about eating more food, especially people that wanna lose weight, and two, you brought this up about breaking up the protein, you're gonna learn how to coach people on how to get the protein in the morning, in the afternoon, and also the evening.

Because if they don't get a high protein breakfast, they're typically screwed, and most people's breakfasts are like 12 grams of protein at best, so you're gonna have to really coach them on that process. But that's level two, and I'm gonna stop right here, because I'm gonna say, you do level one and level two, most of your clients will be happy. That's straight up.

Most of your clients are gonna be happy if they do these two things consistently. Most people are not trying to get shredded. Most guys are trying to get around 15, 16% body fat. Women, someone in the low 20s. This will get them there through a nice, long, consistent process. It's gonna be all the heavy lifting.

Especially if they learn to do it all through Whole Foods and they don't even need shakes. That's shakes. If you're eating all Whole Foods and hitting your protein intake, you're gonna be solid. Most clients, the majority of my clients, this is kind of where we were at and this gave them all the results and it was a nice steady consistent progress that was sustainable. But let's say this person does this well, they do the first one well, next level, here's level three. Sounds silly, but it makes a big difference. And sometimes you can go by level three with level two, but

I like to do things step at a time. And that is to aim for a half a gallon or a gallon of water a day. This one sounds silly. It's like, what? What's the magic of doing this? Now you've probably heard, and they've probably heard that thirst, you know, your thirst signal makes sure that you're not dehydrated, so why do I need to drink more water? Well, there's optimal, and then there's just, you're not dehydrated. We're aiming for optimal.

And when I have clients drink a half a gallon to a gallon of water a day, they all have reduced inflammation, they all feel better, they all have better digestion, and then number three, they- reduces their cravings. They just don't drink other calories. And so what I would have my clients do is measure

their water to learn how to do this. And this took most clients about three to four weeks to get used to. Once they got used to it, they noticed when it was less. Then they're like, oh my God, I feel so much better. My skin looks better. This is amazing. And again, this is a silly one because it's water.

I'm not telling them to take any supplement or anything crazy. But this one actually makes the bodybuilder bro, the bodybuilder bros, they knew what they were doing. They were onto something. It totally increases energy. It's one of those things like it, you don't realize a lot of times joint pain is associated and related to this. So to not have any kind of pain and restriction and have more energy on top of that is, you know, it's a lot more inviting to now go be more active and get after your workout and your performance. And also, if you've checked level one and level two, it also is keeping your mouth busy

on something that's not detrimental. So why I like this right here at level three is that level one and level two, if you figure this out where you get your clients to do this consistently and they get over the hurdle of, oh my God, this is a lot of foods, a lot of protein, and then they start to hit it. By this time, we've probably been going for a couple months now and we're building muscle and we're starting to speed our metabolism up. And now maybe the hunger is starting to kick in and the appetite is starting to kick up a little bit. And so I love having this client now go, okay, hey, when you're not eating those meals

that we're talking about, then be drinking that water. And it just keeps them busy focusing on something that's healthy, that's good for them, that has all the benefits that you guys talked about and not eating something else. I just found, and this is the part of the body, but man, drinking water during cutting for a show was such a huge hack. I mean, I go through three gallons in a day is what I'd get up to in my cuts.

And it was just because if I wasn't, I was thinking about food. So it was just like, okay, I'm thinking about this water, drinking this water all day long. So it was like a huge hack into that. And again, if you just did level one and level two, most people are going to get incredible results just from that alone. And so if you make it to here, this is just adding on top of it. Now level four, this is where, you know, and by the way, keep them at those earlier levels until they're consistent.

And they will see results over time. Fight the urge to get greedy, okay, because here's what's gonna happen. The initial 10, 15 pound weight loss happens relatively quickly. Then things start to slow down, but body composition changes are still happening. Stay consistent, stay consistent, stay consistent.

Fight the urge to go hard all the way out the gates. Because level four, for the average person, typically doesn't have to happen until much later, and this is tracking. Now this tends to be level one for most trainers, which is tracking. And I'm gonna tell you this, unless you're training competitors,

unless you're training people who really understand diet, wanna take it to the next level, this should not be level one. Telling the average person right out the gate, start tracking, start doing all this stuff. Now that's nothing necessarily wrong with it, but this is a much harder first step than what I said earlier,

which was just avoid those heavily processed foods, eat as much as you want. But if you get to level four, now we can play the track and cut and see where your calories are and start playing with that. And these are the clients that are like, this is the guy who's like, you know, he lost 20 pounds with me. We're sitting at about 16% body fat. He's feeling good. He's like, I want to get six pack.

All right, well, now we got to track. It's not going to happen until we track. I just love teaching the trainer to get as far as you can without this and then this is your way of getting granular. We've now been training for three, four, five months down the road. We've seen great results. Now results are starting to slow down. Now clients asking questions. What's going on? We've been saying, okay, okay, let's, we've been great on level one, level two, level three for a while now. Progress is starting to slow maybe. Let's get a little granular. Let me dive into the diet.

Let's really start, let's track for the next couple weeks and let me see if I can make some tweaks to the diet. That's how I want, I want to go as far as I can with this client without ever having to make them track because when you talk about sustainability, that's probably one of the least sustainable things. I don't know anybody, including fitness fanatics like ourselves, okay, who want to track all the time.

I don't wanna track all the time. Do not think that your client wants to. Now, you can make the argument it's education and they gotta learn it, but yes, but they can also learn a ton and get really far with those first three levels before they get more granular. By the way, I want to communicate something

real important. What you'll notice, okay, with these strategies, I mean, we're teaching you guys how to really do this effectively long term. This is a long term mentality from a trainer. What you don't want to do is take a client who says, I'm gonna only hire you for 30 days. And then what you're thinking is,

and I'm gonna show them best results in 30 days, I should have them track right off the gates. Now will you get the fastest results by tracking right off the gates? Yes. Will you get the most sustainable? No. So you have to think long term

if you wanna be a career trainer. If you wanna build a good career as a trainer, think long term, even when your client thinks short term. Because yes, I could give someone way faster results if I track right off the gates, give them a real plan, and force them to follow it, that's true. But they're not gonna get long term results. So as a trainer, when I would get clients,

when I got good, even if they hired me for just 60 days, or they hired me just for 30 days, because sometimes people will do that and say, oh, I'm only gonna buy 15 sessions because I want to see if this is good for me I don't think to myself. I'm only gonna see you for 15 sessions. I think to myself I'm gonna train you for 15 sessions You're gonna keep working with me because I'm gonna show you how good I am and I'm thinking long-term like you're gonna be with me For the next couple years. So that's why we're moving in this in these steps in this way. Alright, let's get to exercise

Okay, so exercise is Again, this is the other side of the coin. This is the other part of the equation. And with exercise, these are levels as well. Now, level one and level two are probably gonna mix with you if you're an in-person trainer because you're actually gonna train people. But if you were just advising someone or you're just working with someone online

and you're only giving them one piece of exercise advice And this is the average person who doesn't work out. There is no structured exercise. They're sedentary Level one is just walk after meals and again remember remember the context here Is it something that they'll do is there gonna be a big payoff and is this sustainable? Long-term walking for 10 minutes after meals has a huge payoff both for health. It's good for insulin resistance It does help with fat loss. It helps with digestion. It builds good habits Super easy to do and it's done every single day frequently which turns it into a habit very quickly This is one of the easiest first steps anybody could ever take

Is it as a paying client? I'm probably doing level one and level two together. But I love this as level one and talking about this because this is actually the level one of nutrition and level one of exercise is what I tell family and clients when they ask me advice. I don't know what to tell them, just go do this first. Just start walking three, four times a day or three, four times a week and avoid heavily processed foods. Come back and see me. Because for me, what I'm looking for if someone, if it's family or friends, is I'm looking for their, if they can't commit to that, they're not ready for all the other things that I can potentially teach them. And that right there will actually get a lot of people really far. If you are looking to lose 30 or 40 pounds and you've never cut out

processed foods and you've never made walking a routine, oh my god, like I'll show you great results just from that and then guess what? I'm gonna put it in a hyperdrive when I show you strength training. Now if you're a paying client, right, you're paying for my service. Strength training is there. Strength training is there because that's part of what you're paying for. You're paying for that expertise in biomechanics and teaching you how to program correctly. And so this I'm going to include level one and level two together. Well, there's a lot of benefit too,

to attaching it to after meals as well because of the habit stacking as they've talked about. But really it's like you're not trying to now create an opportunity throughout the day that you're gonna have to kind of punch it in at a time where you're normally doing something else. Like you're always gonna be eating This is just something that you're consistently going to be doing to to allow for that time

A lot of times you allow for an extra amount of time anyways for these for these meals these lunch breaks or Dinner or time set aside for meals So now to just attach this habit of going for a walk immediately after that helps. There's so many benefits to with that insulin sensitivity, with digestion and it's just kind of a snowball effect. And it's easy, requires no coaching or training. Like you said, Adam, again if you're an online coach this is a good first step because it doesn't require you showing them

anything. They know how to walk, just walk after meals. If people did step level one with diet, no processed foods, and just walked, if everybody in Western society did this right now, we would solve a large portion of the health and obesity epidemic. Just from those two silly things right there. But you're right, Adam, level two,

if you're training people in person, this is built in. And this is strength training. Strength training is, when you're training people in person, this is built in. This is strength training. Strength training is, when you're talking about bang for your buck, there is no form of exercise on a time for time basis that will give you more than strength training when it comes to fat loss, when it comes to mobility, of course strength, when it comes to hormone effects,

when it comes to just bang for your buck, aesthetic effects, strength training. Alright, how much strength training are we talking? One to two days a week for the average person. One to two days a week. Most people two days a week consistently will take them very, very far. There's a lot you can progress in two days a week

because people think, what do you mean two days a week? That's nothing. People get stronger, so they're adding weight, they're progressing. Exercises change, the intensity changes. There's so many things I can do with two days a week. I trained clients for 10 years two days a week

with strength training, and they would do some stuff on their own on the side, but I never had to progress them beyond that. So one to two days a week, or here's the other option, one or two exercises a day, 15 minutes a day of strength training like our Maps 15 program, that's another approach which equals to about the same volume, the value of that is it's easy.

Everybody can take 15 minutes a day. It also, in my opinion, tends to turn into a habit. You're really ramping up momentum by doing that as well. It turns into a habit very quickly. Strength training one to two times a week in combination with someone walking after meals is a dramatic shift for most people. And this, again, the goal is always to do combination with someone walking after meals is a dramatic shift for most people. Yes.

So and this again, the goal is always to do as little as possible to elicit the most change. This is going to elicit a ton of change in 99% of anybody who would ever potentially hire you. And so don't make the mistake of just because they're telling you they want more or they have time for more or give me more for you to add more to their plate right now. This simply just simply doing level one, level two both on the nutrition and the exercise portion more or they have time for more or give me more for you to add more to their plate right now. This simply, just simply doing level one, level two, both on the nutrition and the exercise portion is going to move the needle a lot. But I got to say this too, like if you do what we're saying and you do it right and

you coach it right, what you're going to hear from clients is going to be, if you're, as you become successful, as you build your career, is going to be your favorite phrase you'll ever hear from any of your clients. When I would hear this, oh, I would get like this warm fuzzy feeling. And it was this, Sal, I'm getting leaner, I'm getting stronger, my body's changing, and I barely feel like I'm doing anything.

It feels like I'm doing nothing. Feels like I'm doing nothing. Oh, I love hearing that. And when I got good, I used to hear that all the time. You wanna hear that. What you don't wanna hear is from your clients who are saying, I feel like I'm doing everything. I'm trying so hard. I don't understand.

I'm barely seeing any progress. What's going on? That's the worst thing you could possibly hear as a trainer. What you wanna hear is, I don't know how this is happening. My body seems to be getting in shape. I don't feel like I'm doing anything. That's what'll happen when you follow these steps

and you do them consistently. So level two strength training, one to two days a week, that's it, proper, appropriate strength training, this is where your expertise really comes into play. Level three, you can start to add, and this is of course, level three is when everything else is consistent. By the way, I'm gonna tell you right now,

I waited for the next levels for my client to ask me. So what would typically happen is we train, we'd strength train two days a week, we do all the other stuff, everything's going great, everything's phenomenal, getting great results. Three, four months into it, they come to me and they look at me and say, hey Sal, is there anything else I can do?

I'm really enjoying this. Then I would include daily mobility. Daily mobility is great for movement, it's good for health, and I would give them a 10 minute, 15 minute mobility routine that they could do every morning. This was the third level for me that I would have. Well, this is going to accelerate their strain training. It's going to create more movement, more steps, more calorie burn. And so the benefits of this is incredible. And then also most of us are going to be training middle-aged people with chronic pain and joint issues.

And so I think attaching that to this at this point, but just like you, I'm waiting until this client is already seeing tons of results. They're kind of starting to beg for more from you, and then now it's like, okay, we can start to move in this direction and see some serious benefit from that. Totally, totally. Lastly, I would add structured cardio. Structured cardio is like 30 minutes on a something,

treadmill, bike, whatever. Now sometimes people like doing this and this is what they enjoy or they want endurance. Maybe they're more performance based, in which case we would add this sooner. But for the average person, they want to just feel better, lose weight, be more fit. I would add this later on.

I would wait because the strength training, the walking after meals, the strength training, the mobility, those give you such great results, I wouldn't have to add the cardio until later. And sometimes I'd never add this at all. If they were just happy, like no reason to add. I just add steps, yeah. I save this until, here's the thing,

if we've made it to level four, you've been training this person for months. Okay, you shouldn't be at level four in the first week or the first couple weeks, right? So if you've made it to level four, you've been training this person for months. I like to save this. What's inevitable when you've been coaching

or training someone for a period of time, the reunion comes up, the wedding comes up, the bikini, I'm gonna be out on the boat comes up. Something's gonna come up in that first six months to a year I'm training this client, and they're gonna come to you and be like, Adam, next month I got this thing, this trip. Beautiful. We're gonna add some structured cardio and that's, that's, I

wait till that. I feel like that inevitably happens with every client. There will be, there will come an event that will happen during the time that I'm coaching them where they're gonna really want to look a little bit better or lean out a little bit faster. And then I throw throw it in and what's beautiful is that I saved it to that point so when we do it they see great results. Right so the key here to be really effective you guys is to take everything that we're saying here and center your coaching around the stuff that we're saying. Center around all this stuff keep it simple. I'm gonna say this also by the way we're saying. Center around all this stuff, keep it simple. I'm gonna say this also, by the way,

we're making it as easy as possible, that does not mean it's easy. Your coaching is still extremely important because even the stuff that we, even the stuff we said, as effective as it is, as good as it is, as we found it, their clients are still gonna require your coaching. Focus on this, get good at coaching these things right here,

your success rates will go through the roof. So that's the second part of the series. The third part coming up is how to do an assessment the right way and use that assessment to really communicate your value. By the way, we have a webinar that's gonna be coming up on June 3rd. You can go to trainerwebinar.com. On that, I'm gonna teach you how to sell training. I'm gonna teach you how to close the deal. So again, go to trainerwebinar.com. Thank you for listening to Mind Pump.

If your goal is to build and shape your body, dramatically improve your health and energy, and maximize your overall performance, check out our discounted RGB Super Bundle at mindpumpmedia.com. The RGB Super Bundle includes maps anabolic, maps performance, and maps aesthetic. Nine months of phased expert exercise programming

designed by Sal, Adam, and Justin to systematically transform the way your body looks, feels, and performs. With detailed workout blueprints and over 200 videos, the RGB Super Bundle is like having Sal, Adam and Justin as your own personal trainers, but at a fraction of the price. The RGB Super Bundle has a full 30-day money-back guarantee, and you can get it now plus other valuable free resources at mindpumpmedia.com.

If you enjoy this show, please share the love by leaving us a five-star rating and review on iTunes and by introducing MindPump to your friends and family. We thank you for your support, and until next time, this is MindPump.