I’m a personal trainer and here’s why I’m not afraid of Peloton, Mirror, Tonal, NordicTrack, or the Nike Training Club/Future Apps replacing me.
When it comes to exercise, people will always need Connection, Instruction, and Modification.
(1) Connection: We’re social creatures. We crave connection, intimacy, affirmation and human touch. None of which we can get from a piece of gym equipment, a computer screen, or a leaderboard — they come from a community and/or a coach who cares about our well-being.
Across the world, there are special places designated as ‘Blue Zones.’ In these zones, life expectancy exceeds 100 years. Researchers have identified nine pillars that distinguish these zones from other communities. There are three specific to our need for connection: engagement in spirituality or religion, a strong family life, and an active social life. (1)
Because Blue Zones respect our need for connection, their community activities are built around keeping those intact — much more than many of us who live outside of these zones. We’ve been steadily moving away from regularly attending church on Sunday, working the same job for 40 years, and living within 10 miles of our immediate family members.
Today, it’s acceptable to live thousands of miles away from our family, spend Sundays isolated as we recover from a non-stop week of work and to-dos, and hold a job or live in a place we will only stay for the next four years. (2)
Sure, technology has made it easier to live, work, and play anywhere we’d like; but, it’s also severely disrupted our social patterns. We live in a world where we no longer need to leave our house. We can work from home, shop from our phone, meet with our doctor over Zoom, workout in our guest bedroom, attend school virtually, and FaceTime our friends and family; but not without paying a price. The price is an explosion in anxiety and depression across our communities (3,4).
Social Media Disorder (SMD)is now a clinical diagnosis. I won’t be surprised when a study comes out 5 years from now proving phones and screens are decreasing our life expectancy. This is why a piece of gym equipment with a mega-sized screen attached to it doesn’t scare me. In time, just like NordiTrack, Total Gym and Treadmills in the 80’s, these exercise toys will become expensive coat racks.
History always finds a way to repeat itself.
When this pandemic is over — and it will be over at some point — people will look for any reason to get out of their house. Our homes are becoming dungeons, and the instinctual need for oxytocin is a powerful drug.
Because of these factors, I expect small community gyms — along with local coffee shops, restaurants and breweries, parks, and extracurricular activities and hobbies — to become our main source of community. These gatherings will look different than they did before COVID, but we will gather.
(2) Real-time modification: We’re all different. We may all be human, but when it comes to exercise we require a certain level of individualized instruction. You change day-to-day — your physical body, your stress levels, your nervous system, your mood — and a quality training program (especially if you’re paying $2,000+ for it) should do the same.
Any good coach or training program will, and should, accommodate the workout to your body, your needs, and your goals, and then instruct you how to perform and troubleshoot accordingly.
The Peloton can only tell you when to pedal faster, slow down, or what place you’re in. It can’t adjust the fit of your bike to you, it can’t critique your form, use your name to motivate you, build a 12-week plan based on your individual goals, and it can’t ask you questions about how you’re feeling on any particular day and make training adjustments to account for your needs.
The Mirror can lead you through a workout, show you how to lunge, how to punch, and tell you when to start and when to stop; but it can’t tell you if you’re doing the exercise correctly. It can’t give you a high five or a pat on the shoulder, can’t intelligently decide when you should increase weight in order to progress your strength, and it can’t pick a more suitable exercise for you when your low back starts to ache.
The NordicTrack fits in your living room, is accessible at all times, tracks your workouts for you, and visualizes your weekly stats; but it can’t genuinely tell you how impressed it is with your progress, sit you down for a heart-to-heart, pick you up when you really need it, or use the data to inform training decisions today and moving forward.
The Tonal can adjust resistance, tell you how many reps you’ve done, play your favorite music; but it can’t shake your hand at the door, ask you about how your kids are doing, or laugh with you about the latest Chappell show. It can’t select a different exercise based on your commentary, or coach you into a better position — unless it’s pre-programmed into the system. It can’t switch to a barbell, kettlebell, dumbbell, sled, sandbag, bands, or sliders when variation is needed.
These machines work extremely well if…
- You have a decent fitness base.
- You’re self-motivated.
- You have expendable income.
- You have a solid family, spiritual, and/or social group.
I recommend these machines to about 10% of my existing and potential clients. The other 90% need a standing appointment or group class with like-minded individuals. They need a close community to support their efforts. Enter the community-based gym or class where you show up 3 days-a-week — “where everybody knows your name.”
What about The Nike App, MyFitnessPal, Fitbit Coach, or The other 27 top workout apps? These get a bit closer to making the connection we need; but they have their own limits, such as our access to the space and equipment we need to see meaningful change. And still, they don’t physically connect us with people.
In the 12 years I’ve been doing this, here are the habits I’ve seen people use to be physically active over the long-term:
● Call a friend to go for a walk, hike or run.
● Join a recreational sports club — Beer League! (Post-Covid)
● Take an in-person or online class that is small. Ideally, the coach can see you, connect connect with you, and critique you (generally this is in a class of less than 8 people).
● Hire a personal trainer to evaluate you and write a specific program based on your needs and goals. Schedule weekly check-ins.
● Get your family members involved! Take the kids to the park, go for a bike ride, garden, cook home meals together…
● Use the Peloton, Tonal, The Mirror, and fitness apps to fill the void for the other days you’re not participating in a class or getting outside and connecting with someone.
Digital fitness tools can be a great supplement, but they don’t replace the meat and vegetables — people and personal connection.
- Strength train 2–3x per week (Build)
- Get outside 2–3x per week (Play)
- Have a movement practice 2–3x per week (Move)
The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends 150–300 minutes per week of moderate-intensity physical activity or at least 75–150 minutes per week of vigorous-intensity physical activity. (5)
Build — Play — Move.
Physical activity is a HUMAN endeavor. Machines can’t educate you on you — but a good trainer can. Machines can’t interact with you to make informed decisions — but a good coach will.
You can take human connection out of exercise, but you can’t take the need for connection out of humans. I’m a personal trainer and gym owner, and I confidently look forward to a long career helping people to improve their lives.
Technology is a tool, not a replacement for the human experience.
Coach Brendon Rearick began his career at Mike Boyle Strength and Conditioning in Woburn, MA after graduating with a degree in Kinesiology from the University of Massachusetts — Amherst. Over the last eleven years, he has opened a massage business (Movement As Medicine), launched an education company (Certified Functional Strength Coach), spoke at conferences both domestically and internationally (Perform Better), wrote a book (Coaching Rules), and opened an Adult Fitness & Sports Performance facility (Train Smarter AND Harder Gym) with his wife Jenny in Brentwood, CA.
(1) Buettner D, Skemp S. Blue Zones: Lessons From the World’s Longest Lived. Am J Lifestyle Med. 2016;10(5):318–321. Published 2016 Jul 7. doi:10.1177/1559827616637066
(2) 2020. EMPLOYEE TENURE IN 2020. [PDF] U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Available at: https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/tenure.pdf [Accessed 23 December 2020].
(3) McCarthy C. Anxiety in Teens is Rising: What’s Going On? HealthyChildren.org. https://www.healthychildren.org/English/health-issues/conditions/emotional-problems/Pages/Anxiety-Disorders.aspx. Published November 20, 2019. Accessed December 23, 2020.
(4) Elizabeth Hoge, David Bickham and Joanne Cantor Pediatrics November 2017, 140 (Supplement 2) S76-S80; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2016-1758G
(5) Miller, R. (2020, November 26). Here’s how much exercise you should get a week, even during a pandemic, WHO says in new guidelines. Retrieved January 16, 2021, from https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2020/11/26/how-much-exercise-you-should-you-get-week-health-guidelines/6432362002/
