What's your marker for achievement?

I was inspired to write this post this morning when training one of my clients as she really made me realise how much huge accomplishments differ from person to person. You may be used to thinking about how a huge weight lifted or amount of reps completed is required to achieve respect from your trainer, fellow trainees or fellow gym go-ers but this morning has confirmed even more so in my mind that this is not the case.

At the start of January, this particular client (I won't say her name for fear of embarrassment) was new to the gym so to a degree you expect poor motor and recruitment patterns along with a certain degree of weakness. However you are not always faced with someone who has no control of their hip popping out and being unable to complete a bodyweight split squat without incorrect movement of their foot, knee, hip and torso. Also when using the overhead squat as an assessment technique she could not get more than a quarter of the way down without an uncontrollable hip shift.

For 2 months we have started with the basics, step ups, split squats, pull through etc to slowly start to strengthen limbs uni-laterally (we have no access to a leg curl otherwise I would have used that too). The PICP guidelines for re-hab are clear; slow tempo, moderate-high rep range and moderate rest period to ensure enough recovery to complete the subsequent sets with good form.

This morning she completed 3 set's of 8-10 reps with 10kg with a front foot elevated split squat before going on to complete 10 full range of motion bodyweight squats. Then completed her first full back squat and first full deadlift. With NO hip shifting. We've managed to increase her range of movement by 75%, simply by strengthening what was weak (everything) and stretching what was tight. Also she's reported that her hip has not popped out in the whole time we've been doing our sessions.

What we've competed is perhaps not as astounding as a female doing 13 chin ups or a guy doing a double bodyweight back squat but the look on her face when she completed this morning what was previously impossible made the feeling for me as good as anything else that I've achieved with my clients.

Too often I see trainers eager to jump ahead to maybe what could be considered to be more glamorous exercises and hammer on with poor form and incorrect technique, just so that they feel their client is doing what they believe to be empowering. Maybe there's also a feeling that doing structural work their client won't be able to lose body fat but again my client has proved this to not be the case. Over the notoriously tricky christmas period to now she has lost 6 lbs and over 3% body fat with only being able to train 2 times per week. With her increased strength we can now start to use exercises that create an increased metabolic demand which in theory suggests her body fat loss will now increase further.

Hopefully this post has made you realise that your marker for achievement does not necessarily have to be something as conventional as lifting a huge weight, doing none can be just as remarkable.