Post-industrial fitness: personal training doesn't have to be a luxury for the upper classes

As a trainer/instructor, I am sometimes asked by students for tips on how to make big money at personal training. These students seem to approach fitness and exercise as activities for those with discretionary time and income. They often forget that exercise is a necessary component of healthy living in the post-industrial age.

Personal training is considered an activity for the middle to upper classes by the majority of Americans. In many parts of the world where people must earn a living through hard physical labor, non-competitive forms of voluntary physical exertion such as jogging, weight training or stair climbing are unusual and considered extravagant. However, what might happen if an American personal trainer and a poor immigrant from an underdeveloped country were to meet?

Consider the following fictive encounter. Maria is a recent immigrant to a major U.S. city from a Spanish-speaking country. She is portly, unable to speak more than a few words of English, and has three small children who trail her in silence. You, a U.S.-born citizen, have seen Maria around the large urban community center where you teach an introductory fitness course. You know Maria to be popular with the center's staff because of her broad smile and effervescent personality. You also know Maria's day-laborer husband insists that she remain unemployed so she can stay close to home.

One evening, Maria approaches you. In broken English, she cheerily informs you that she watched you through the glass door as you taught your class and has decided to become more physically fit. She wants you to be her trainer, and offers to pay you for personal training sessions. Although your community center allows such arrangements, you suspect that taking on Maria as a client will bring on a host of difficulties related to her poverty and your cultural differences. What do you do?

Poverty and Cultural Differences

While a client's economic and social status should not influence a trainer's decision to take on a client, impoverished and socially marginalized people such as Maria pose certain practical, logistical and contractual challenges. Thus, a trainer would be foolhardy to dismiss them. Before agreeing to Maria's proposal, consider the following.

First, assess whether or not Maria really needs a trainer. Perhaps she would be better off in another fitness program. Her isolation in a house-bound situation suggests she might benefit more from a social fitness program such as an introductory exercise class.

If you decide to take Maria as a client, you will probably encounter certain obstacles. For instance, she probably has a narrow range of locations in which to train. While the community center seems to be ideal, its urban setting increases the likelihood it will be used heavily and unavailable for individualized instruction. Home training may be a problem since it is likely Maria's impoverished condition means that she lives in small quarters. In addition, while facilities at a local YMCA or YWCA may be low cost and available to you, they may not be accessible by affordable transportation or located within walking distance of an unfit person and/or Maria's smallest child.

It is almost certain taking on Maria as a client will bring on contractual challenges that will induce changes in your usual client-trainer relationship. Though Maria insists she will pay you for your services, her situation suggests that she can't afford to do so. The fact she is unemployed indicates she has little spare income to use for a trainer. Should you opt to train her for free or a pittance consider how your special arrangement will impact the community center and your other work. Taking on Maria as a special client may upset the center's routine or change your working relationships with its clients, administrators and your co-workers. If your special relationship involves the bartering of services like trading your training for her service as a baby sitter, housekeeper, Spanish tutor or beautician, there might be legal issues for you to consider as well.

These are just a few of the training challenges that relate to poverty. In addition, Maria's case presents unique circumstances related to her situation as a female Spanish-speaking immigrant to the United States.

Maria emigrated from a country with a completely different culture. In her native country, she most likely had access to tropical fruit trees or sidewalk purveyors of fresh vegetables. As a U.S. urban dweller, particularly if she lives in the Midwest or Northeast, she now may find that familiar fresh foods are too expensive or unavailable. She may now rely on starchy and fat-laden foods and satisfy her hunger with dishes that contain highly refined grains, dairy products, and lard as a binder. To complicate things further, as a recipient of provisions from food banks, she may now be using more preprocessed items than she did in the past. Taken together, Maria's move to a seemingly similar urban environment may limit her diet and make it less healthy than it was in the past.