Male Trainers & Poly Cystic Ovarian Syndrome
One of the biggest challenges to some females is having to achieve their health and fitness goals while confronted with Poly Cystic Ovarian Syndrome. If you have ever been diagnosed with this condition then you will understand the challenges it creates, the frustration that it causes and the emotions it stirs up. The US Department of Health and Human Services say that 1 in 10 women of child bearing age have PCOS and endure a hormonal imbalance and metabolism problems that change their overall health and appearance.
Now imagine a male trainer's female client is forced to take some time off exercise, perhaps work gets in the way, perhaps studying for exams or she has to travel with family. She returns back to the gym some time later with a few extra pounds eager to start training again. The sudden onset of stress and reduced exercise combined with abnormal eating habits has unsurprisingly lead to a bit of weight gain, but what are the chances of her male coach being able to identify that hormonal changes may also be at play?
The trainer know what worked for her last time and what she likes doing so you programme her sessions just like before, except this time the results don't come as easy as before. They both continue with the mantra that slow progress is still progress all the while she is becoming more depressed and demoralised about herself despite his best efforts to motivate her and keep her positive.
As time passes altering her diet doesn't yield the results they were both hoping for, partly because she's unhappy and sometimes resorts to food to make her feel better, but also because the template the diet plan is based on, is a template that assumes she is hormonally functioning at 100% and her food is being metabolised efficiently and appropriately.
She returns from the doctor one day with a diagnosis of PCOS.
As a fitness professional in an industry that helps people feel better about themselves, he is a kind and nurturing trainer with a great relationship with all his clients. He suddenly feels terrible, his good friend and long term client has been suffering with a conditioning he knows nothing about, and how could he know. He's heard of it but as a male it never crossed his mind to think that her challenges could be worsened by something out of whack hormonally. PCOS is not covered in any detail on the courses he's done.
Now imagine there's an opportunity for him to learn about this condition in a weekend and come back almost before their next week of training with a new programme in hand, new diet plan and new lifestyle tips and advice to help her begin to change her hormonal balance. That opportunity is right here, Ben Coomber and his team at BTN have created the perfect Female Development Course that discusses rarely taught issues like PCOS, The Female Menstrual Cycle, Pre and Post Natal Advice, that I know writing this as a male trainer who has worked in the fitness industry for over 10 years, really helped me learn more about the challenges that females face that I've never had to confront and go that extra mile for the ladies who have invested so much trust and faith in me in the past.
