Taking on nutrition with fitness clients

By Greg Rothman, M.S. P.T.

Last column, I talked about how to choose a gym or fitness club, outlining the wide range of clubs out there, while emphasizing how important it is to match your needs with the club’s offerings, and to do your homework before signing a contract. This week, I’ll answer a reader question that has come up from time to time during my career as a fitness professional.

Q: I read in your column that a trainer’s fitness plan should “chart a course for sound and supportive nutrition.” My trainer never talks about food, and when I asked him about this, he told me that it’s against the law for personal trainers to talk about nutrition. So, I’m wondering how you get around that.

A: Thanks for your question. This issue can be controversial, but I believe that it is really important, so I’m going to answer your question as fully as I can.

I believe that talking about nutrition is key if a personal trainer to wants to help his or her clients get optimal results. Food is the fuel and basic building block for all body tissue. No matter how great your workout program may be, it won’t be truly effective if a plan for sound nutrition is not in place.

The issue you mention arose from some specific instances in which personal trainers abused their role and acted outside the scope of their professions. In one case, the family of a man who died during a session with a trainer at a New York City health club won a large settlement against that club: The client was hypertensive, and the trainer had sold him a stimulant-based weight-loss drug that caused him to have a heart attack.

There have been other instances in which trainers prescribed specific diet plans for clients, only for them to become ill or die while following these diets and being subjected to inappropriately intense exercise programs. Largely as a result of these cases, many health clubs now have rules that forbid trainers from speaking to clients at all about nutrition, in order to protect themselves from liability. This might have been the case with your trainer.

As fitness professionals, we shouldn’t be prescribing specific diets or supplements—an area best reserved for nutritionists and registered dieticians, who have the educational background to make such prescriptions. However, if we are going to help our clients to be healthy and fit, we may educate them about nutrition and help them to make better food choices. A fitness professional can and should discuss the following topics related to nutrition:

• Macronutrient breakdowns: the most beneficial balance of proteins, carbohydrates and fats, depending on the client’s goals

• Macronutrient sources: the best food choices from each macronutrient group
Foods to avoid or minimize: hydrogenated fats, sugar, white-flour products, processed foods, etc.

• Blood-sugar stabilization: eating frequent, supportive meals to control spikes in blood sugar and the resulting over-release of insulin

If a trainer is unable or unwilling to help a client understand these basic areas of nutrition, he or she is doing a disservice to them: Without proper fuel, your workouts will not be as productive, and your body will be less likely to recover at its optimal level. After all, your body needs the best carbohydrate sources for fuel; it uses amino acids in proteins as the building blocks for muscle; it requires fuel frequently enough so that it remains anabolic and does not break down muscle; and your blood sugar needs to be stabilized to allow for fat to be released and burned. All of these issues are specific to exercise, and it is a personal trainer’s responsibility to help you to understand them.

For more information regarding a sound and supportive plan for nutrition, you can refer to one of my columns on the subject (http://chelseanow.com/cn_23/achievingaplanfor.html) or check out my general suggestions for baseline nutrition on my Website (http://empowerfitnessnyc.com/Diet_Nutrition.html).

While there are other parts of the nutrition puzzle that a fitness professional also can address, I refer clients with special needs to a nutritionist who I trust and who understands the concept of “supportive nutrition” for those on exercise programs.

That was a long answer to a short question, but the issue is so important that I wanted to make sure that I addressed it completely. In my next few columns, I’ll talk about the best ways to prevent some common injuries people sustain while exercising. I’ll also address what should be done if you do sustain an injury and how to tell when it is serious enough to require a doctor visit.

Greg Rothman, M.S. P.T., is the owner of emPower Fitness Studios (emPowerFitnessNYC.com). He received his masters degree in physical therapy from Columbia University and has 15 years’ experience in the rehabilitation and fitness fields, most recently as the personal training manager and top-level trainer for Equinox Fitness Clubs in New York City. SEND YOUR QUESTIONS about nutrition, fitness and sports injuries/rehabilitation to Greg at emPowerFitness@aol.com.