Do we truly care how crippled a client feels when they walk onto the gym floor. It is a thoroughly unfamiliar setting for most. There are many who through sheer desire or enthusiasm overcome this.

But for most people who set foot on the gym floor, they have no clue what they can do there and what can be achieved.

Gyms put a ludicrous amount of resources into ventilation, lighting, temperature, beverages, equipment selection, amenities (spas, steam, massage) and appearance (mirrors, paint, messaging). These are designed to make things comfortable. They also impress and motivate.

But do they inform? Do they tell the person who walks in: here’s what I think would be useful for you learn to do, here’s how we could try it. Too hard? Let’s make it a notch easier. Too easy? Let’s amp it up. Here’s why what you did is useful. And here’s what progressing on this would look like and what it would enable. Still have reservations? Let’s try this instead. Just before they walk out, they should have good sense of how they got stronger and what they achieved.

This is not about the tools. It doesn’t matter if the client did leg extensions, sissy squats or back squats. It should matter if they did push ups, benched or did chest presses. What matters is they did something for an outcome. They performed a dose of physical activity that rewarded them with very useful adaptation that most other activity could not have produced in the same amount of time.

Their time on the gym floor achieved this with a lot less risk than most endeavours. And it disheartens me that most of us cannot get people to enjoy and appreciate their training hour. Let alone communicate this profound truth about resistance training well enough.