|
What is Abel Bodies Fitness and Fitness Over 40?
Abel Bodies Fitness is the company Scott founded in the late 80s, and early 90s. After several years of success training and helping diet athletes for shows, Scott made it official by starting Abel Bodies Fitness. Scott was one of the first back then to even think of training people, in volume format and long distance as well. Scott combined personal training and demonstration with diet strategy to help dial clients in for contests. Before long Scott’s success was an international phenomenon, not just because his athletes were cleaning up, but because of the “freaky ripped” condition they all seemed to show up in for the shows. His reputation grew and he then expanded to take on, the “over 40” crowd, which showed that it is never too late to look great and feel great. Now over 45 years old himself, Scott distinguishes little between the two businesses, and just focuses in on client goal setting and achievement.
What makes Abel Bodies Fitness and Fitness Over 40 different from anything else on the market today?
Well, the answer to that question could be a book unto itself. First and foremost is the level of expertise. Seldom can you find a trainer out there with the combination of academic background, real life experience in the trenches, someone who has done it all himself, and someone with all the massive third party recognition that Scott has received in published media of all forms, in the fitness and in the academic industry. What also makes the Abel Bodies experience different is the level of personal involvement and coaching from Scott himself. Scott goes beyond “trainer” and becomes a coach, which is invaluable in ways “trainers” don’t even consider. Addressing what motivates someone, and how and why they are inspired to an undertaking can add or subtract from someone’s goal achievement. Scott recognizes that client’s “self-talk” goes a long way to achieving their goals or failing to achieve their goals, so he addresses the mental and emotional aspects of the coaching relationship as well, which is so important. It’s all like a house of cards, the right diet and the right training still may not be enough to get someone to their goals, if their thought process isn’t sound. That last item is so critical and so ignored by trainers, and yet it can bring down the whole “house of cards.” The other major difference with Scott’s coaching vs. a trainer's approach is that Scott fits the program to the client, while most trainers try to fit the client to the program, with the results that often it’s not that the client fails the program, rather the program fails the client. Scott’s approach to client goal setting and achievement is as different as the people he trains. It’s that individual!
Abel Bodies offers so much... how can it be so inexpensive?
Scott hears this a lot as it seems some of his former students and clients charge as much or more than Scott does himself. The answer is INTEGRITY. Scott has been there and done it, and does not appreciate it when other people take his knowledge, twist it and apply it incorrectly. For Scott it is not so much about the financial reward (although of course it is a contributing factor,) as it is about his concepts being learned and applied appropriately. For Scott it is also about the client reaching their goals, rather than seeing the client only as a means to an end, as in a regular paycheck. It’s very competitive in the training field today, so most “trainers” cannot afford to look after the client first and themselves second. By moving the “trainer” profession, into the “coaching” profession, Scott sees and knows that taking care of the client first will always take care of him as well. With his reputation, he does not need to go out and seek business and try to extort potential clients who may be desperate to reach their physical fitness, health and cosmetic goals.
What if I don’t like the program?
Well, you see this a great deal on various sites and infomercials in the Fitness industry, ‘Absolute Money Back Guarantee.” Usually this is a scam to get you to spend your money to begin with. The difference here is Scott will not take your money until you have had the chance to consult with him if you wish to, or at least explore and discover his credentials. But where Scott differs from most is that from the beginning he will tell you that his job is to prescribe to you what you “need to do” which may not always be what you “want to do.” That is a coach’s real job. If a trainer just succumbs to giving everyone what they want, then the client might as well just do his/her own thing from the beginning, and save the lip service and tongue wagging. With Scott you will know what you are getting into before you get into it. Noting that Scott always has a waiting list for clients, he has yet to have any unsatisfied customers. Most clients average a 5-year commitment with Scott. That is a long time if someone “does not like the program.” However, since Scott charges a monthly fee for coaching services, if you are not satisfied at some point during your training, you just stop paying him; plain and simple.
Eventually I would like to implement a full body strength training and stretching program, but for now I’d just like to know a few good exercises for my lower back and abdominals, can you help me?
Of course Scott can help anyone with whatever training endeavors they may wish to undertake. Of course Scott can help anyone with whatever training endeavors they may wish to undertake. However, beforehand, Scott will get personal information from you and then consult with you to determine if your plan of action is actually the right one for you at the given time, with goal consideration, lifestyle consideration, and current fitness level. There is a lot more to it with Scott than just, “yeah sure, we can do that, give me your money and here is the program.” What if what you thought you wanted was not what you needed at the time. Then, even if you got the program you wanted, it probably would not serve your actual goals. These are the kinds of things Scott addresses, as a coach, that go beyond “the trainer approach.”
I want to lose 30 pounds in time for my wedding in 6 months. Will I be able to do that with Abel Bodies Fitness?
Well, the immediate answer is yes, but there are other things to consider. First, how much weight do you really have to lose? If someone is 100 pounds overweight, then losing 30 pounds in 6 months is easy and probably healthy as well, but if someone is only 10-15 pounds overweight and still wants to lose 30 pounds for that “once in a lifetime moment,” well, that’s when Scott will step in as an expert and have his say. Unrealistic goals will only set people up for failure. Scott will do a physique assessment, usually via e-mail and decided the best route to take to physique transformation. More than likely with Scott, the scale will not even enter into it. The scale only gives you a number but does not tell you how much of that number is fat, water, or muscle. Zero carb fad diets work on that same “trick you” principle of sudden water loss, and you think you are actually leaner. This is a scam, and a sure way to Fats-Ville long term. Scott will show you instead how to use the mirror and how to monitor how your clothes fit to determine how you are actually doing on a program. Anyone can manipulate numbers, short term, but how many ladies have we seen who killed themselves to get lean for their wedding and then 5 years later have gained 50 pounds or more? Scott will not only get you to your desired and most comfortable cosmetic look for your wedding, but will be able to do it in a healthy fashion so you can maintain it for the rest of your life. Short term dieting seldom works, but you can introduce a short term diet for a short term effect, as long as long term needs will be addressed as well.
Why is coaching important?
In legal parlance there is an old saying, “a lawyer who defends himself has a fool for a client” This is pretty much the same in the fitness world. People do not understand that showing up at the gym is just not enough. Most people are on the wrong program, doing the wrong exercises to try to meet their goals. Most go from exercise to exercise or program to program not really considering where they are at, and what they need to be doing. Scott ties together your goals, and what he calls your Workload Capacity. The fact is, it may take two or three preparation programs to get you to the actual program that will get you to your goal results. Not only that, but program and exercise application is an art. It requires skill and expertise. Imagine trying to read a novel if you never learned the alphabet. Because you go to a gym doesn’t mean you understand the body and exercise. You can travel all the time by plane for vacations and that does not make you a pilot.
The other thing that separates Scott from “trainers” is that as a coach, he addresses factors outside the physical realm that have a distinct effect on your training application and goal achievement. Scott will address things like a client’s self-talk, the reason they are after a certain goal, their mindset going into it, etc. All of these things will need to be addressed in order to have the client in the right place mentally and emotionally—to not only expect goal achievement, but to anticipate it as well. A real coach will address the non-physical aspects of a training and diet goal with the same importance as the actual program. This is the one thing that sets Scott apart from most others, and especially from “trainers.” Scott coaches the person, not the program. To get a better idea of what that may entail, just read a few of his early Blogs.
How can you coach me long distance?
Scott gets this question all the time. More than 80% of Scott’s clientele are extreme long distance. The important thing when seeking coaching is not proximity but EXPERTISE. Just because someone may be in your own backyard should not be a consideration for putting your trust in them. Check out their resume and their level of expertise. Check out their third part recognition. These days anyone on the Net can call themselves anything, but what is their experience level, their education level, and what do respected third parties have to say about those qualities. As long as someone is on-line, and responsible to the relationship aspect of the coach/client relationship, then distance is not an issue. In fact, most people say they communicate with Scott easier, more often and more efficiently than any other trainer they had in their own town, or even in their own gym. With proper client biofeedback, Scott can easily ascertain how a client may or may not be adapting to a training or diet program, and then he will tweak it as necessary. Most clients will send digital pictures every so often, and regular feedback, so Scott is always involved in their day-to-day, week-to-week progress. This makes more sense than the usual "here is a diet and here is a program, get back to me in 12 weeks.” Scott knows that everyone’s physiology is very different and people adapt at their own pace, not according to some weekly or 12 week schedule. That kind of thinking just illustrates how little “trainers” really understand the body and its response to exercise and diet. It is yet another way that Scott is different. His consistent monitoring of his clients allows him crystal clear vision in terms of coaching advisement.
Why not just hire a personal trainer?
Personal trainers are fine for the uninitiated. People that do not know their way around a gym very well would be wise to hire a personal trainer for 10 sessions or so, to start to know all the equipment and how it works. But almost all Certification Programs fall short on the application end. Some certifications can be had in a weekend, and like anything else in life, if it is not difficult to achieve, then it probably does not merit much consideration. Many gyms and fitness chains now have instituted their own in-house certification programs in order to show a certain level of professionalism and conformity for gym members. However, this is usually more of a business consideration than a real pursuit of expertise. Beyond the first year or so of training, EXPERTISE is what you should be paying for. Personal Trainers that work in gyms are NOT experts. If they were, they wouldn’t be working in a gym that takes most of their wage from them. If you need to pay someone in order to show up at the gym or be your friend, then Scott’s feeling is your motives are not sound (that's coaching mentality again) and therefore you will not last long term. Physique transformation only works if diet and training are followed long term. Scott is after the people who WANT coaching. In reality everyone needs coaching, but Scott’s services are for clients who are serious about achievement. Many of Scott’s clients happen to be personal trainers as well, yet they still hire Scott for their own diet and training protocol and to learn from the Master.
What is biofeedback, and why is it so important?
Biofeedback is the surest way to measure and monitor a client’s progress over both the short and long term. What Scott does is introduce a stimulus to people in terms of training protocol and diet and then monitors their response over time to that stimulus, much like a scientist. Again, because everyone is different, monitoring training and diet adaptations via biofeedback allows Scott to assess how the client is doing and what should come next. Scott developed his biofeedback system over his 20+ years of training clients, and now has it down to simple and effective and quick feedback from his clients on a regular basis, that does not require huge time investments from the client, but still allows Scott to monitor them closely. What biofeedback also does is help Scott determine what direction to go next. Most “trainers” just change things for the sake of changing them, with no real rationale behind the change other than staleness. Scott’s approach is more scientific. Biofeedback allows Scott to determine when and how to alter things like training volume, training type, less cardio, more cardio etc. Training should always change for a solid reason and that reason should be based on the client’s own response to training and diet stimulus, not just because a certain number of weeks have passed and it’s time to try something else. Every change Scott makes, he makes for a reason and the reason is based on the individual’s own body and its feedback. It is difficult to go wrong when you combine biofeedback with proper expertise.
What is Innervation Training?
Innervation Training is a methodology of training developed by Scott for clients seeking physique enhancement. Most trainers in Scott’s day developed training protocol based upon research of the musculoskeletal system. Scott departed from such traditional archaic thinking and developed his Innervation Training based on research to do with the neuromuscular system. While traditionalists of his day focused training methodologies on everything to do with strength and strength research, Innervation Training is based upon Intensity and all concepts to do with intensity, including but not limited to, strength concerns. Many new and innovative concepts were born from the Innervation Training Methodology and the number of champions it has produced from previously beginner athletes is a testament to its effectiveness. Think of Innervation Training and Functional training as two parallel one-way streets. Both involve, to the greatest extent, the concept of Intensity.
What is the Abel Body Cycle Diet?
The Scott Abel Cycle Diet is known by many other names, mainly the Supercompensation Diet, and the “Have your cake and eat it too” diet, as some of Scott’s clients call it. What it boils down to is that Scott trains the metabolism to be a Fat Burning Machine. Once that is accomplished, Scott introduces regular Cheat Days and Cheat meals; the sole purpose of which is to keep metabolism revving, and encourage the body to get even leaner and stronger. To read testimonials from clients who follow this wonderful diet of regular cheating, just go the Scott's Testimonials page and look it up. It’s no lie. Few, if any, other experts have developed a diet where regular cheating is advocated in order to serve the body and promote a leaner, stronger physique. If you wish to know some of the science behind the Cycle Diet you can order the DVD of Scott’s last SWIS SEMINAR appearance on the subject, through his website.
Scott does not claim this diet is for everyone, but those that are on it, including his wife Annie, think it is the easiest diet in the world to follow since there are always regular breaks from the controlled eating regimen. And when Scott says Cheat Meal or Cheat Day, it is not some diet scam where you find out that it means only certain foods. On the Cycle Diet, when cheating is allowed it is anything you want, and in any quantity you want. The Cycle Diet, again, just illustrates Scott’s level of expertise and creativity when compared to most other experts.
When I am on the coaching program, can I put my membership on hold for a certain amount of time and then resume?
Scott realizes that sometimes “life happens.” Injuries, illness or unavoidable situations are a fact of life, so whatever the reason, as long as the duration is not unreasonable, Scott will certainly honor a time freeze, but obviously not indefinitely.
|
