This article was recently published in the Antelope Valley press (Ca.) opinion section. I am a freelance writer.
I recently completed the 24 hour fitness personal trainer's course, which was more of a lemon than lemonade. 24 hour fitness touts the sale of Apex vitamin supplements. Don't get me wrong, Apex supplements are manufactured by Phoenix labs, and are some of the highest quality supplements.
Apex recommends taking three of their high potency multi-vitamins daily due to the exposure of free radicals. Even if you have a compromised immune system, taking three multi-vitamins a day is unhealthy, and only profits the salesperson. Vitamin studies show that a bowl of cereal with milk contains the daily-recommended allowance.
If you purchase personal training, a client goes through a battery of tests to evaluate their physical ability. A major component is called the standing squat test. A client stands with their hands above their head, and then slowly bends their knees into a squat position.
The trainer evaluates proper posture. If there are any subtle postural deviations, such as too much weight on the toes or heels or if your knees bend inward, the trainer will recommend eight weeks of personal training at $56 an hour to correct bad posture.
Bad posture can be corrected in one to two training sessions using a foam roller on the inside thigh muscles or buttocks called a mayo facial release, which relieves tight muscles. Some 24 hour fitness managers have coined their careers on this type of deceptive sales tactic.
Don't get me wrong, there are some very good trainers working for 24 hour fitness. The bad trainers use postural deviations as a swindle to sell blocks of training sessions for thousands of dollars to unsuspecting clients.
I attended a training session and witnessed a district manager teaching perspective employees the open-ended question sales tactic. He referred to himself as a psychological ninja.
He obviously had an inflated sense of his importance. I also witnessed a fitness manager laughing how he just sold $500 worth of supplements, taking the man's last dollar from his checkbook. Metaphorically, a psychological ninja, in this context, is someone who uses deceptive sales tactics, preying on unsuspecting clients like how a crook approaches their mark.
If you walk the walk and talk the talk, people will automatically gravitate to you. They will ask questions like what supplements do you take, and how did you get into such great shape, which alleviates the need for unnecessary scams.
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