Having some "skin in the game" is an expression used in the finance world implying that if one is to advise a financial client to buy stock XYZ, then the advisor in turn should own a little XYZ to give his recommendation credibility.  Often times in the financial world, or in the world in general, people will tell anybody anything in an attempt to make a buck.  If a stockbroker is shortsighted he might tell his client to buy "risky" XYZ because it is a "hot" stock and one that is getting all kinds of press.  The stockbroker will make a commission regardless of what stock XYZ does for the customer.  If the stockbroker doesn't own XYZ he doesn't suffer the loss only the commission. So a good question to ask a stockbroker who recommends that you buy a stock is "how many shares do you have?". You want to see that your broker has some "skin in the game" before you take his advice. This is true outside the world of finance and the broader world of sales as well.  The fitness world is full of trends that are pushed by us fitness people that are credible or not so credible.

Take the toning shoe craze that Skechers pushed a few years ago.  Wearing these shoes was supposed to help "tone" your legs. However, wearers of the shoe ended up having similar injuries and discomforts that perpetual wearers of high heels have. Eventually Skechers parent company Reebok faced lawsuits.  Maybe Reebok should have had some of their employees walking around in toners for awhile before they were brought to the market. Having their employees, or better, the CEO and board walking around in the toners might have shown more "skin in the game".

I have seen a few personal trainers who spend too much time on up selling their clients on supplements. These supplements can be expensive and I doubt that many of the trainers who sell them consume them on a regular basis. Personally, I wouldn't have a problem selling a multivitamin, b12 complex, or protein powder because these are all things that have worked for me. I have "skin in the game" with these nutrition aids.  On the other hand, if I were to push a client to buy "white bean extract" because it's the latest and greatest in weight loss supplements, I'd be full of it.  I've never used the stuff, so I have no clue if this stuff works or not. However, I have managed to keep decent body fat level, eating well most of the time, controlling portions, and exercising,  so that is what I preach. There's 1000's of supposed weight loss products at the health food stores and I get emails every day from supplement companies who recommend that I push their product on my clients.  Now, other trainers might look at these supplements as opportunities to up sell their clients and create bigger "revenue streams". 

The health and wellness world is full of people pushing you something. I had a chiropractor propose a $1600 plan for each of my kids that addressed every health issue that we addressed on the waiting room forms. Do they do $500 adjustments on each other for runny noses, attention problems, etc?

How about the constant pharmaceutical ads that show you some sad face turn into a happy face, and that you should ask your doctor about their drug.

Another area where people in my profession should have some skin in the game is in prescribing exercises. If a trainer is going to charge you $70 an hour to improve your golf swing, they should know the actual mechanics of hitting a golf ball. I don't golf much but I know there is a lucrative market for trainers who work on exercises that improve the golf swing. I could prescribe a couple rotational exercises that might help somebody get "torque" on their swing, but I don't think it would help my credibility if I worked with a golf pro and after a couple of months the golfer saw no real difference in their game. So anybody, charging a customer $70 a workout to improve their golf game, should know the mechanics of the different swings, know where to see the imbalances in the swing, and where weaknesses can be improved. Charging somebody $70 an hour to do a couple sets of woodchoppers isn't legit.

Also,  if I were to make my clients do 1000s of pushups and burpees until they puked while walking around with a beer belly and bull horn, I'd have a credibility problem. Sure some clients will get progress in this environment, and they might not question the trainers girth. However, at some point they might question the trainer  if every workout they are so drained, or hardly drained at all, and they might look elsewhere. If you don't know what a workout "feels like" yourself you could run your client into the ground. Running  50 yard dashers in a 15 minute period might not sound like much on paper but if you done it before you know that you can be exhausted at the end of the workout. Watch out for the trainer with no "skin in the game". The trainer who runs you into the ground while the text to their buddies about what night club to meet up at night. So, iIs the trainer able to do the workout they prescribe? Or has the trainer lost all interest in health and is just going through the motions throwing routines at clients to pass the hours?

 I have seen some popular fitness programs that utilize the Olympic lifts, but after watching some of the videos on you tube you'd question if any of these programs spent any time going over proper form with a client.  Telling a 45 year old woman, to power clean 95 lbs as many times as possible in a minute because it's intense and will build up explosiveness isn't smart training.   I love the Olympic lifts but I wouldn't spend too much time doing them with novice clients who are just looking to get in shape.  If you're going to teach the lifts, you should know how to do them right, otherwise your clients will end up with degenerative injuries over time.

The most important thing I can do as a trainer is to show observable progress with every client. If I wanted to just sell whatever to make money, I'd sign up with Amway. I love seeing people push their limits, turn back the clock, and get in tune with healthier way of living. I try and follow this myself, when I'm not training I'm working out, trying new exercises to see what works and what doesn't.  I look forward to training more clients down the road.

Tom Pollard

Dr Plankenstein