Every now and again I get asked about how I will train my kids when they are old enough.
My answer is and always will be:
“I’m not going to train them at all.”
Why?
I am not particularly enamoured with the idea of “training” people (as in supervising most if not all of their sessions) in general. Reason being, it creates a dependency meaning the trainee is likely to fall off the wagon when the supervision they have hitherto become accustomed to is unavailable. (Also why I don’t do much “in person” PT and when I do, I am very selective about who I train, for what reason, and for how long).
Listen: You have to really want to do this training lark, if you’re going to stick at it for long enough and do it carefully enough to stand any chance of seeing meaningful results you can hold on to for more than five minutes.
You certainly have to desire it enough to use your God-given intellect to think critically about what you want to achieve in relation to where you are, and determine the best method to bridge the gap between the two.
And that’s a skill you will never develop all the while someone is standing over you controlling exactly which exercises you perform, how many sets and reps you do, the weight you use, etc.
Not that there isn’t a whole lot of value in seeking advice from someone who knows more about training than you do. But it’s up to you to determine how to actually implement what you learn, because that’s how you begin developing a training philosophy of your very own.
Which is kind of cool, in my biased opinion. Because your own training philosophy is something tangible and uniquely yours that you can pass on to those you care about.
In other words, you can advise your kids or whoever on how you personally overcame certain challenges, so they can take what you’ve done and apply it to their struggles in much the same way as you did to create their own “training philosophy” they can pass on ten, twenty, thirty, or more years down the line… potentially creating a profoundly positive multigenerational impact that persists long after you’ve gone to your eternal reward.
More:
Your words will carry all the more weight because whoever you are advising will see you practising what you preach (which is far more powerful than merely “telling” them what to do from the comfort of your sofa with one hand and one eye on your phone).
While I’m on the subject, if you want reams and reams of my advice on training (all of which I personally use or have used) to inform your training philosophy, you will find it in “Phil Tyreman’s Big Book of Fitness”.
It’s actually a collection of five books and unlike a lot of my books it’s very inexpensive at just £5.
For a summary of what’s inside and to purchase if you want, go here:
https://philtyreman.co.uk/big/
Thank you,
Phil Tyreman