Today we’d like to introduce you to Scott Garan.
Hi Scott, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I am a retired police officer and detective and when I was an officer they sent me to school to both train officers in fitness and test them for fitness for duty. I did that and also became the lead fitness instructor for the University of Akron’s Law Enforcement Training Center.
I did that for years and eventually transitionened into the civililion side of personal training. I became a Master Fitness Trainer Through the International Sports Sciences Association (ISSA) and have been training others for over 30 years now. In addition to being a Personal Trainer, I am also certifiers as a Youth Fitness Trainer, Specialist in Bodybuilding, Certified Health Coach, Specialist in Strength and Conditioning, Specialist in Exercise Therapy, Specialist in Fitness Nutrition, and Tactical Conditioning Specialist.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Testing and training police officers was really much easier than working on the civilian side of training because I was being paid by the city I worked for or the University of Akron. Finding clients as a civilian trainer is more difficult, especially when the economy is not doing as well becuase when it comes down to paying a personal trainer or buying food for the family or gas for the car, personal trainer is more of a luxery than a necessity.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
As Master Fitness Trainer, I have been designing fitness programs around an individuals needs and desires for over 30 years. If the client wants muscle gain, I design a program for that. Fat loss? I design a program to accomplish that goal as well. If the client is a juvenile, their program cannot be simply a scaled version of an adult’s program as growth plates and other issues must be considered. The idea of what being fit is, is really an individual concept. A person that wants to run a marathon must train differently than a person that wants to compete as a power lifter, yet each person can be considered fit.
I believe that listening to the individuals goals and working toward that goal is one of my strengths. Many trainers have what I call “canned” or one size fits all programs, but while there is cross over among programs, the individuals goals must dictate how the person’s program should be designed.
I once had a client come to me that said he had been training for years with little gains. When I asked how often he adjusted his workouts he essentially said never. I changed his program and he told his doctor he had hired a trainer. His doctor told him he didn’t need to lift weights only do cardio. My client stayed with me and his next doctor visit he was down 20 lbs. Again the doctor said only do cardio but on the next visit he was down another 20 lbs. The Dr. finally said keep doing what you are doing because it’s working.
My client’s goal was to drop a bunch of body fat over heart health concerns and he also wanted to climb Mt. St. Helens which was a dream of his. After about a year and a half he accomplished climbing that mountain! Proper program design around the clients needs and desires is what is needed, not some “canned” training program.
Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
I believe that without some risk there can be no reward. This comes from anything in life really. I mean, sometimes when I have been cooking a meal, I will add in a new spice or ingredient and it comes out great so I took a risk and since it was better I keep adding that when I cook that meal again. Sometimes it doesn’t work out so well, so we live and learn and I don’t make the same mistake twice.
Starting a healthy lifestyle is the same. If you start watching what you eat, there is a risk that you will miss the taste of some of your favorite treats or snacks, but the reward comes when you realizxe that you equally enjoy some healthier but also flavorful foods. Likewise, walking into a gym you instinctively know that you may get sore, but after a few weeks of doing so it get’s easier and you start to feel better as the new, healtheir lifestyle becomes a habit.
I have been a risk taker all of my life. I was a police officer, detective and did tactical operations over the years. I am a Master SCUBA diver and certified rescue diver. I have been repelling as part of my job, but even though these things come with some risk, I enjoyed every (almost) minute of it. To me personally, doing new things in life is what life is all about. I am not one that wishes to sit in front of the TV every night simply waiting for my time to die.
I tell my clients the hardest part of starting a healthier lifestyle is walking through my door. I ask them one thing. No matter how hard it is, stay with me for two weeks. if you make it those two weeks, then you are on the path to changing your whole life for the better.
Pricing:
- $40 an hour
- 36 sessions if paid up front for $1080. That is $30 an hour.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.garanfitnessconsulting.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61571826653335
