Customer Reviews

Motivating People to be Physically Active

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Although the concept behind this book sounds interesting, it is simply a long winded conglomeration of surveys and redundant information. I was disappointed in the manner that this book window dresses ground level basics, without any new innovative or even remotely unique ideas for motivating clients.

What the book does do is help pinpoint various "obstacles" in the way of progress, by providing a rich surplus of questionnaires. However, I feel that pinpointing "obstacles" just helps you identify the excuses, and this is an ineffective approach in itself because you will find yourself in a whirlwind of excuses and lack of progress. Regardless of which of the hundreds of excuses the client makes, the bottom line is that they haven't made exercise a priority, and they probably won't until you can bring out their desire to exercise. Besides, having a client fill out a myriad of questionnaires is likely to make thier trip to the gym an extremely boring encounter, thereby creating unenthused bias about "going to the gym".

In my own experience as a personal trainer, I have found "fun" to be the best motivator. Creating games through exercise, challenging personal records, and even simple rewards make the overall gym experience a positive one, and keep the client motivated to keep coming back for more. This book overlooks these approaches.

The lack of creativity in this book's approach to motivating may not be the best investment of your time, in fact, you may need to find a way to "Motivate Yourself To Finish This Book".