3 PART TRAINER SERIES BONUS EP - Episode 2 Diet & Exercise Strategies that Work AND Clients Love

Summary

Mind Pump: Raw Fitness Truth
Episode: 3 PART TRAINER SERIES BONUS EP - Episode 2
Title: Diet & Exercise Strategies that Work AND Clients Love
Release Date: May 20, 2025

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Introduction

In this insightful bonus episode of the Mind Pump Trainer Series, hosts Sal DeStefano, Adam Schafer, and Justin Andrews delve deep into effective diet and exercise strategies that not only yield results but are also embraced by clients. Drawing from their combined experience of over four decades in the fitness industry, they dismantle common myths and present actionable, science-backed methods for sustainable fitness and health improvements.

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Diet Strategies: Building Sustainable Habits

Level 1: Eliminate Heavily Processed Foods ([08:37])

The foundation of any effective diet plan starts with removing heavily processed foods.
Sal DeStefano states, “Just tell your clients to avoid heavily processed foods. That's it.”
This simple rule serves as a non-restrictive guideline, allowing clients to eat until they're full while naturally reducing caloric intake. Processed foods are engineered to be hyper-palatable, leading to overeating. By cutting them out, clients often see a 10-15 pound weight loss within a few months without feeling deprived.

Level 2: Increase and Prioritize Protein Intake ([09:12] & [12:52])

Once clients have adjusted to avoiding processed foods, the next step is to increase protein consumption to meet their target body weight in grams daily and prioritize it in meals.
Adam Schafer explains, “This will result in additional, probably 5 pounds of body fat loss with some muscle gain.”
Higher protein intake enhances satiety, supports muscle maintenance, and further reduces caloric intake by curbing hunger. Clients are encouraged to consume protein-rich foods first in their meals, ensuring they meet their daily protein goals without excessive calorie restriction.

Level 3: Optimize Hydration ([16:02])

The third level emphasizes the importance of adequate hydration. Drinking half a gallon to a gallon of water daily offers numerous benefits:

• Reduces inflammation
• Improves digestion
• Curbs unnecessary cravings

Justin Andrews shares his personal experience: “When I'm cutting for a show, I go through three gallons a day because if I wasn't, I was thinking about food.”
Proper hydration not only supports overall health but also keeps clients mentally focused on their fitness goals.

Level 4: Structured Tracking ([23:23])

For clients seeking further refinement, especially those nearing their body composition goals, structured tracking of food intake becomes essential.
Adam Schafer advises, “Unless you're training competitors, this should not be level one.”
Tracking allows for granular adjustments in diet, ensuring continued progress towards specific objectives like achieving a six-pack or optimizing body fat percentages.

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Exercise Strategies: Simple Yet Effective

Level 1: Incorporate Daily Walking ([27:25])

Starting with manageable physical activity is crucial for sedentary clients.
Justin Andrews recommends, “Just start walking three, four times a day or three, four times a week and avoid heavily processed foods.”
Walking after meals enhances digestion, improves insulin sensitivity, and serves as a foundational habit that clients can easily adopt without feeling overwhelmed.

Level 2: Strength Training ([29:35] & [30:56])

Strength training offers unparalleled benefits in fat loss, muscle gain, and overall metabolic health.
Adam Schafer emphasizes, “Strength training is when you're talking about bang for your buck.”
For the average person, two days a week of consistent strength training can lead to significant improvements. Alternatively, short, 15-minute daily strength sessions can also be effective, providing flexibility for different schedules.

Level 3: Daily Mobility ([33:07])

As clients progress, incorporating mobility exercises enhances movement quality, reduces pain, and supports overall physical health.
Justin Andrews notes, “This will accelerate their strength training. It's going to create more movement, more steps, more calorie burn.”
A 10-15 minute daily mobility routine can seamlessly integrate into morning habits, further complementing strength training efforts.

Level 4: Structured Cardio ([35:10])

Reserved for clients who have achieved substantial progress and seek additional performance enhancements, structured cardio like 30 minutes on a treadmill or bike can be introduced.
Adam Schafer advises, “Unless they're training for something specific, I wouldn't add this until later.”
This level is often activated when clients have specific events or goals, ensuring that cardio complements their existing fitness regimen without detracting from sustainable habits.

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Key Insights and Conclusions

1. Simplicity Over Complexity: Starting with straightforward, sustainable steps ensures higher adherence rates and long-term success. Avoid overwhelming clients with too many changes at once.

2. Building Trust Through Experience: The hosts emphasize the importance of learning what works through real-world application rather than solely relying on academic knowledge. Sal DeStefano shares, “Nothing works. The best advice doesn't work if your client doesn't do it.”

3. Client-Centric Approach: Understanding each client's unique circumstances and readiness is paramount. Strategies are designed to meet clients where they are and progressively guide them towards their goals.

4. Long-Term Sustainability: The focus is on creating lasting habits rather than quick fixes. This approach not only ensures sustained results but also fosters a positive relationship between trainers and clients.

5. Effective Communication and Coaching: Successfully implementing these strategies requires trainers to skillfully communicate their benefits, address client skepticism, and confidently guide them through the process. Adam Schafer highlights the necessity of selling the simplicity of avoiding processed foods despite initial client resistance.

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Notable Quotes

• Justin Andrews [00:55]: “If you can't get them to adhere to the diet or exercise, you're probably not going to get them any results.”

• Adam Schafer [01:32]: “Nothing works. The best advice doesn't work if your client doesn't do it.”

• Sal DeStefano [08:37]: “Just tell your clients to avoid heavily processed foods. That's it.”

• Adam Schafer [12:52]: “This will result in additional, probably 5 pounds of body fat loss with some muscle gain.”

• Justin Andrews [09:56]: “Stick to the foundation. Let's lay a good foundation. And then you build that.”

• Adam Schafer [29:35]: “Strength training is when you're talking about bang for your buck.”

• Justin Andrews [31:04]: “Do as little as possible to elicit the most change.”

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Conclusion

This episode of Mind Pump: Raw Fitness Truth offers a pragmatic and client-friendly framework for trainers aiming to deliver consistent and sustainable results. By focusing on eliminating processed foods, prioritizing protein intake, ensuring adequate hydration, and incorporating simple exercise routines, trainers can guide their clients through a transformative journey without overwhelming them. The emphasis on long-term habits, effective coaching, and gradual progression ensures that clients not only achieve their fitness goals but also maintain them, fostering a positive and enduring trainer-client relationship.

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For further insights and actionable strategies, consider tuning into the full episode or exploring additional resources available through Mind Pump's official channels.

Transcript

[Sal DeStefano]

If you want to pump your body and expand your mind, there's only one place to go. Mind pump.

[Adam Schaefer]

Mind pump.

[Sal DeStefano]

With your hosts, Sal DeStefano, Adam Schaefer and Justin Andrews.

[Adam Schaefer]

All right, so we hope you enjoyed part one of this series. By the way, go to trainerwebinar.com I'm going to be teaching a free webinar on June 3rd. I'm going to teach you how to close. I'm going to 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.

[Justin Andrews]

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.

[Adam Schaefer]

No.

[Justin Andrews]

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.

[Unknown]

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.

[Adam Schaefer]

Stick with your clients, that's that. 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? Or if I were to ask them, what, 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 half the equation. That's not the full thing. There's lots of ways to, for example, lose weight, but only some of them are going to 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 going to 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 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 the 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. It. Nothing works. Nothing works. The, 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.

[Justin Andrews]

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 too. And a big mistake I think I used to make was you get a client in, you do your assessment, 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.

[Adam Schaefer]

Gosh, same thing.

[Justin Andrews]

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 follow 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.

[Adam Schaefer]

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 their life by using fitness. But it isn't their life like it is for you.

[Justin Andrews]

The least effort, because that's what they want.

[Adam Schaefer]

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? Like, because it could give you good results and they could do it, but is it going to stick for, are they going to 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 going to substantially lower your calories. So you'll see weight loss. This was a big, this was a big deal. In the late 90s, early 2000s, low carb, no carb diets were very popular. But was it, 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, you know, they still a fad. 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 realistic, realistically sustainable forever? So along those lines, go ahead.

[Justin Andrews]

I was just going to say, and then I also think that there's, there's levels too, right? So there's like you, you take that in consideration, then you go, I'm going to start them at the, the lowest levels. That's easiest for them to, to, you know, to Accomplish. To accomplish. And then I'm going to build on that.

[Adam Schaefer]

Yes.

[Justin Andrews]

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 going to start with the. The. Like you said, the biggest bang for your buck that I know that they could adhere to is. And then once we do that, then we're going to stack, and then we're going to stack, and then we're going to try.

[Adam Schaefer]

Yeah, imagine. 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 going to do. And then they give you every step all at once. You forgot the first step by the time 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. 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, you know, show here for most people. So we're going to 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, you know, stick to it where you just, like, you want to 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. Yeah, that's level one just of now. 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?

[Unknown]

Very simple.

[Adam Schaefer]

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.

[Unknown]

We used to say eat, you know, on the outside of the grocery store instead of the inside. But, yeah, there's really simple ways of. Of approaching, you know, this topic. And the thing about it is, it sounds restrictive, but really it's. It's. 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. These walls.

[Justin Andrews]

Yeah, they're not, they're not weighing yet. They're not measuring anything yet. They're not telling me. Yeah, 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 going to get this right. So for the trainer, your clients can say, well, what else? Or what? Just. Just do that. Just do that. And I promise we're going to start to see change in the right direction, and then we're going to build on that.

[Adam Schaefer]

Yes.

[Justin Andrews]

And that, That's. 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. The electrical work and all the plumbing and the framing and all this stuff. 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 going to talk about the next thing.

[Unknown]

Most of the time, it's the hardest for the trainer to. To adhere to this.

[Justin Andrews]

Yeah, that's why I said that, because the trainer is going to. The. The client will. They'll go, well, wait, what? That's it? What about this? And they're going to start asking, 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 works. Hopefully you get that from us and all of our experience of telling you, listen, just trust me, say this to them. Let them go do that. And then you'll start to see results and then we'll build a legacy.

[Adam Schaefer]

Now what Adam's saying, I want people to understand this is so important because you're going to 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 going to look at you like you're crazy. What do you mean eat as much? First of all, first I'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? Yeah. 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 carb? What about fat? Yeah, can I eat steak? What about potatoes? I heard potatoes are bad. Fruit? Should I now eat fruit? No, no, all that's fine. Eat as much as you want. Just don't eat heavily processed foods. They're not going to believe you. So now I'm going to teach you how to sell it. Okay. Because you're going to have to sell it to your clients. Because when I first did this, I thought that click clients would just be excited, but they looked at me like I was lying.

[Justin Andrews]

I remember the first time, first time I ever said it was, I was, 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, you. How do you think I got here? How do you think I got here was eating whatever the hell I want. You know, it's not exactly that.

[Unknown]

You gotta give me boundaries.

[Justin Andrews]

Yeah, 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.

[Adam Schaefer]

Yep. Okay, so why does this work so well? Because it automatically controls calories. The data on this now is extremely clear. And I'm going to 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, the, the effects of hyper palatable processed foods based off of like food scientists and my own experience. But I never, I didn't have data. So that for me, when I first said this, I was like, okay, eat until you're full. Let's see what happens. Here's what happened. 10 to 15 pound weight loss consistent. It took like, 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. He said, I don't have to eat breasts. I just, I went for it and then I had some fruit because 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. Result. 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 about 500 calories, 5 to 600 calories.

[Justin Andrews]

Which by the way, the irony of that is that's about what we were taught to cut your clients without having.

[Adam Schaefer]

To tell them to.

[Justin Andrews]

Right, right. When you, you used to, used to figure out, like I was saying, all the math on where they're, where their, you know, where their current calorie main 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.

[Adam Schaefer]

That's right. So and the reason why you end up eating less calories, because heavily processed foods are 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 want to illustrate this for your client, 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 gates? And person will say, no, I'll gag. Okay, could you eat a family sized bag of potato chips? And they would say, yes. And he would 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, compounding effect. But it continues to happen over time. And what it feels like from 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, is accomplished and consistent and not a problem. So 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. Just think of some whole, you know, 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, 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 with 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, let's take your target body weight, eating grams of protein, eat it first in your meal, and that's level two.

[Unknown]

That will result high octane version.

[Adam Schaefer]

That'll result in additional, probably 5 pounds of body fat loss with some muscle gain.

[Justin Andrews]

And also, don't over complicate this because the questions you're gonna get back, well, can I eat steak? Can I eat pork? They're gonna Start asking all kinds of questions about protein.

[Unknown]

Yeah.

[Justin Andrews]

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. 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 gonna say is, oh, wow, that's harder because this is the most common thing that happens here. Right.

[Unknown]

Simple but not easy.

[Justin Andrews]

Yeah. The next. 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. That's so much food. And so then we start diving into what are we, what choices are we eating? And this is where us going to like, leaner cuts tend to help just with digestion and then being able to eat more. And it's not because you can't have the tri tip, it's 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.

[Unknown]

For you to take and different strategies. Sometimes you have to break it up. Right. You can't get it out all in one meal or a lot of times, like your dinner 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.

[Justin Andrews]

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.

[Adam Schaefer]

Okay, so I'm just gonna Back up. Cause I want. 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 going to want to lose weight. That's the majority of your clients. They want to 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 going to 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 failed.

[Unknown]

To punish themselves for not hitting it.

[Adam Schaefer]

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 want to lose weight. And two, you brought this up about breaking up the protein. You're going to have to. You're going to 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 have to really coach them on that process. But that's level two, and I'm going to stop right here because I'm going to say you do level one and level two. Most, your clients will be happy. That's straight up. Most of your clients are going to be happy if they do these two things consistently. Most people are not trying to get shredded. Most guys trying to get around 15, 16% body fat. Women somewhere in the low 20s. This will get them there through a nice, long, consistent process, especially heavy lifting.

[Justin Andrews]

Especially if they learn to do it all through whole foods and they don't even need shakes.

[Adam Schaefer]

Right.

[Justin Andrews]

You're eating all whole foods and hitting your protein intake. Oh, you're. Yeah, you're going to be solid.

[Adam Schaefer]

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 combine 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 you. 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.

[Unknown]

They were onto something. It. It totally increases energy. It. It's one of those things like it. You don't realize a lot of times joint pain is. 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, and get after your workout and your performance.

[Justin Andrews]

It 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, and they, they come over, 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 start 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, 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 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's 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 gonna get incredible results just from that alone. And so if you make it to here, this is just adding on top of it.

[Adam Schaefer]

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 going to 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 till much later. And this is tracking. Now, this tends to be level one for most trainers.

[Justin Andrews]

Yep.

[Adam Schaefer]

Which is tracking. And I'm going to tell you this, unless you're training competitors, unless you're training people who really understand diet, want to take 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 of me. We're sitting at about 16 body fat. He's feeling good. He's like, I want to get, I want to get a six pack. All right, well, now we got to track. It's not going to happen until we track.

[Justin Andrews]

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, oh, what's going on? We've been say, okay, let's, we've been, 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 want to track all the time. Do not think that your client wants to. Now you can make the argument it's education and they got to learn it, but yes, you can. But they can also learn a ton and get really far with those first three levels before they get more granular.

[Adam Schaefer]

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, how to, 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 going to only hire you for 30 days. And then what you're thinking is, and I'm going to show them best results in 30 days, I should have them track right out the gates. Now will you get the fastest results by tracking right out the gates? Yes. Will you get the most sustainable? No. So you have to think long term if you want to be a career trainer. If you want to 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 out the gates. Give them a meal plan and force them to follow it. That's true, but they're not going to 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 going to buy 15 sessions because I want to see if this is good for Me, I don't think to myself, I'm only going to see you for 15 sessions. I think to myself, I'm going to train you for 15 sessions. You're going to keep working with me because I'm going to show you how good I am. And I'm thinking long term, like you're going to be with me for the next couple years. So that's why we're moving in this, in these steps, in this way. All right, 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 going to mix with you if you're an in person trainer because you're actually going to 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 going to 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. It's one of the easiest first steps anybody could ever take.

[Justin Andrews]

As a paying client, I'm probably doing level one and level two together. But I love this is 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, when people ask me advice, I normally tell them, just go do this first. Yes, 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, 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, a routine, oh my God, like I'll show you great results just from that and then guess what? I'm going to put it into hyperdrive when I show you strength training. Now, if you're a paying client, right, you're paying for my service 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.

[Unknown]

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 going to 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 too with that insulin sensitivity with digestion, and it's just kind of a snowball effect.

[Adam Schaefer]

And it's easy. Requires no, no coaching or training like you said, Adam, again, if you're an online coach, this is a good first step because 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.

[Justin Andrews]

Huge.

[Adam Schaefer]

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.

[Justin Andrews]

You're paying for that.

[Adam Schaefer]

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. All right, 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 how you get. 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 fat, it's easy. Everybody can take 15 minutes a day. It also, in my opinion, tends to.

[Unknown]

Turn into a really ramping up momentum by doing that as well.

[Adam Schaefer]

It turns into a habit very quickly.

[Justin Andrews]

Every day strength training one to two times a week, in combination with someone walking after meals, is a dramatic shift for most people.

[Adam Schaefer]

Yes.

[Justin Andrews]

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, is going to move the needle a lot.

[Adam Schaefer]

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, the 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, 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.

[Unknown]

Feels like I'm doing nothing.

[Adam Schaefer]

Feels like I'm doing nothing. Oh, I love hearing that. And that would. And when I got good, I used to hear that all the time. You want to hear that. What you don't want to 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 Want to 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.

[Unknown]

Butter.

[Adam Schaefer]

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'd 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.

[Justin Andrews]

Well, this is going to accelerate their strength 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.

[Adam Schaefer]

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 I just had steps.

[Justin Andrews]

Yeah, I saved this until. Here's the thing, if you, 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, you've been. 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. The bikini. I'm going to be out on the boat comes up. Something's going to come up in that, you know, first six months to a year, I'm training this client and they're going to come to you and be like, Adam, you know, next month, I got this thing, this trip. Beautiful. We're going to add some structured cardio, and that's. That's. I wait till that. I feel like that inevitably happens with every client. There will become. There will become an event that will happen during the time that I'm coaching them where they're going to really want to look a little bit better or lean out a little bit faster. And then you throw it in, and then I throw it in. And what's beautiful is that I saved it to that point. So when we do it, they see great results.

[Adam Schaefer]

Right. So the key here to be really effective, you guys, is to take everything that we're second saying here and center your coaching around the stuff that we're saying. Center around all this stuff. Keep it simple. I'm going to 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 going to 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 going to be coming up on June 3rd. You can go to trainerwebinar.com on that. I'm going to teach you how to sell training. I'm going to teach you how to close the deal. So Again, go to trainerwebinar.com thank you.

[Sal DeStefano]

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 progress 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 [e-mail] if you enjoy this show, please share the love by leaving us a 55 star rating and review on itunes and by introducing Mind Pump to your friends and family. We thank you for your support and until next time, this is Mind Pump.