The Challenges of Being a Lifetime Natural In Today's Fitness Industry
Being a lifetime natural in today's fitness industry, filled with performance-enhanced fitness influencers and personal and online trainers, is not easy!
Please remember that this blog is not about downplaying fitness influencers and other fitness industry members that use physique and performance-enhancing drugs. Instead, it is a blog that is supposed to praise and recognize the physical and mental hardship that personal trainers and online coaches go through in an ever more competitive fitness industry!
Being a lifetime natural in such a competitive environment can often lead to feelings of burnout, stress, and even depression. Having to compete with people that have a few times higher levels of androgen hormones, that quickly recover from workouts and lift insane weights, can affect your mental health if you don't have the confidence and resilience needed!
But there is something admirable about that personal trainer who refuses to take the quick route through PEDs and instead chooses the path of hard work, dedication, and resilience. It truly takes extraordinary commitment to pursue the path of natural bodybuilding and performance!
Again it is important to note that hormone replacement therapy is a must in some cases, and one should not abstain from medical help when needed as it can dramatically increase the quality of life.
To find out more about testosterone replacement therapy, click here!
What does it mean to be a lifetime natural?
Being a lifetime natural means not using anabolic steroids, pro-hormones, or other performance-enhancing drugs. It means sticking to a strict training and nutrition regime that relies on proper programming, periodization, and supplementation (when necessary).
This also means that you have a limited ability to put on muscle and must be careful with your training volume and intensity due to the limits of natural human physiology!
It also means having the mental strength and resilience to accept setbacks as part of life and stay true to your natural lifestyle.
There is something admirable about those who decide to stay natural, as it takes an incredible amount of mental fortitude!
Can the physique of a personal trainer or online coach impact earnings?
The answer is yes. Let’s face it, in today’s fitness industry, looks do matter. However, it is not the decisive factor that guarantees success! I can say that from my personal experience and colleagues I have been working with over the past 12 years!
My personal story is that I have looked better, had more muscle, and been leaner, yet it did not replicate in my bank account and, most importantly, to the clients that have stuck with me over the years!
The truth is, regardless of whether you are a lifetime natural or not, your ability and experience as a fitness professional will give you success.
So many elements are involved in being successful at your job, like understanding human physiology, human and sports psychology, marketing, sales, honesty, motivating, and inspiring your clients!
No client who comes to see you expects you to look like Arnold Schwarzenegger. They want results; if they are convinced you can give them those results, your look won't matter much!
I always say the better my clients look, the less critical it is that I look good!
Personal training with enhanced vs. natural personal trainers!
From my experience, bodybuilders that have a history of steroid use that are competing will benefit from working with other experienced trainers who have a history of steroid use. The fact that the trainer has experience using the performance and physique-enhancing substances on himself does not automatically make him an expert but will definitely give him an advantage over most people that have never used the substances.
At the same time, I have often seen trainers that are steroid abusers that simply give criminal recommendations to their clients. It is almost like they have lost touch with reality after years of using that hey give completely beginners cocktails that will most certainly damage their health! I have also seen enhanced trainers that provide the same training programs to their natural clients as they train themselves, which is also incorrect and can lead to diminished return and long-term poor outcomes!
One could conclude that whether using or not the trainer can be fantastic and can be poor, so you need to choose wisely! To learn more about choosing the best personal trainer for you, click here!
The personal issue I have with enhanced athletes, influencers, and trainers!
I have a few problems with them, and I will list them here:
Do not claim you can eat whatever you want and remain lean because of your unique program!
Do not give credit to yourself that you can eat fast food and remain lean because you somehow have hidden knowledge that others will get if they sign up with you when in reality, you have a combination of good genetics, PEDs, and a fast metabolism!
Do not claim that you are natural when you are using performance-enhancing drugs!
It does not make sense and violates the core of being an honest personal trainer or coach.
Do not claim you are a natural if you have a drug use history!
Whether you used steroids for a few months 10 years ago or 10 months ago and stopped does not make you a lifetime natural!
Do not promote supplements in an unethical way, overpromising their effects and claiming that they are better than they are!
It is unethical to use physique-enhancing substances and then claim that the counter supplement you use got you the results you have, and it is even more unethical to promise your followers that they will reach their health and fitness goals if they purchase them!
Do not promise your clients that they will look like you if they follow your program!
It is shameful to promise your followers and clients that if they do your shoulder routine, they will develop 3D-shaped shoulders like you when your shoulder looks like a volleyball and simply can not be attained with any amount of training due to the natural limits of building muscle aka genetic limits!
Don't tell people that they will build 10 kilogram of muscle in 6 weeks or less following your program!
Such statements are shameful, even a genetic freak won't be able to build muscle naturally at that pace! It is ok to spice up your marketing a bit and sell people the dream, but how about having some kind of human decency and not putting people through a traumatic event when they realize they did not add more than 2-3 kilograms of muscle tissue during that time frame!
Advice for trainers that are struggling to remain lifetime naturals!
If you are someone who is struggling with your self-confidence and facing mental health issues due to the fact that you feel overwhelmed and unable to keep up with the high expectations set up by people on testosterone, human growth hormone and other substances, then here are a few pieces of advice that you should consider:
Believe in yourself and stay true to your values. If you believe in taking the natural route, stick with it and never give up!
If you have made the necessary effort and dietary changes and your hormone levels are below optimal levels, have a chat with a medical doctor and look into hormone replacement therapy!
Focus on what you can do and not what other trainers or influencers are doing. Every body is different so focus on improving yourself in the fields where you can excel! Maybe you won't have the biggest biceps but you can have the best email marketing campaigns, and you can develop a brand and you can go that extra mile for your clients!
You can use the fact that you a a natty bodybuilder and use that as your marketing strategy to draw clients that would prefer to have a natural coach!
Get lean! You might have a hard time getting jacked, but you most definitely can get lean so no excuses on that front! Get lean, and have the sickest photo shoots that will drive clients your way!
Talk to a mental health professional, or simply talk with other trainers in the business that manage to overcome this challenging life experiences and are having success!
Conclusion
Being a lifetime natural, is not easy, but it is also not impossible. With a combination of the right strategy and dedication, you can be successful and remain true to yourself in today's fitness industry filled with performance-enhancing drugs. It can be a stressful experience for many personal trainers and natural bodybuilders, but it can also serve as a great motivator to stay on track and reach the goals that you set out for yourself! So if you are struggling to remain a lifetime natural, I hope this blog post can serve as an encouragement and reminder to stay strong and never give up! Good luck and keep going strong!
Do not forget: Your mental power is more important than your physique when it comes to earning. So make sure you take care of your mental health no matter what happens!
Best of luck to all the lifetime naturals out there! You got this! 💪🏼
