Personal training has always been associated with golden handcuffs. Although quality personal trainers provide proper instruction and exercise programs for numerous benefits, the limited contact time presents a ceiling to results. Unlike the “Biggest Loser” clients are completely responsible for their lives outside of the two or three session periods each week. During a one hour session, most clients can burn between 200-400 calories per session. In most cases, the average personal training client does not meet the minimum recommendations for health related physical activity (1000 kcal/week) through exercise with their personal trainer alone. This limitation is exacerbated when clients do not control caloric intakes. It’s often stated that for the 120-180 minutes of training performed with a trainer a week, a client has 9900 minutes a week to ruin the effort. Many people are surprised to find that a person who engages in no structured exercise, but is physically active most days of the week, has a lower risk of weight gain than a personal training client who works out two or three times a week but is otherwise sedentary.

The concept that simply hiring a personal trainer will automatically ensure appropriate levels of fitness without additional effort is actually a misconception. An accountant, lawyer, or small business owner who works at a desk 50+ hours and watches the normal 20+ hours of weekly TV, but trains three times a week for an hour is technically sedentary at a rest:work ratio of 23:1 during the waking hours between Monday and Friday. At rest, a 180 lb man will burn 85 calories an hour. Essentially, during the 9 hour work day an average size man will burn around 756 calories. Since sitting at a desk and typing or talking on the phone requires limited oxygen, the caloric demand is low. The problem is, for most people lunch is far more calorically satisfying then required to meet the demands of sedentary activity.

At rest the caloric expenditure is based on the basic functions of the cardiopulmonary system and minute muscle contractions to maintain tone for postural stability. The oxygen need or metabolic equivalency of rest is expressed as a MET (3.5 ml * kg-1 * min-1). The body is designed to function at low metabolic costs when at rest to spare calories. Humans who lived 20,000 years ago could not afford to burn large numbers of calories at rest or they would have had to constantly pursue food to survive. Today we maintain the ability to exist at a low level of caloric expenditure at rest, yet the availability of calories is seemingly infinite. This imbalance between energy costs to get food and the caloric density of the foods we eat have led to dramatic increases in human size. Physical activity and exercise serve to offset this disparity, but the imbalance still exists because sedentary living plus exercise two or three times a week is not enough caloric expenditure to account for the typical American diet.

When trained at an average level in personal training the caloric expenditure is between 250-400 kcal (~5 METS) an hour for a conditioned client, 150-250 (~3 METS) for a not-so-conditioned client. Therefore more physical activity is required if exercise is not performed most days of the week. Changing one’s average daily MET level from the sedentary level to the physically active level can dramatically increase one’s metabolic expense.

For instance, if a 180 lb person who normally watches TV after work and lazily lets the dog out in the back yard, switches to walking the dog instead, they can increase their daily caloric expenditure by 50 kcals for a 12 minute walk. If that same person clears the table and washes the dishes by hand after dinner rather than using the dishwasher they can add another 50 kcals in 14 minutes. These two simple changes equate to a yearly caloric expenditure of 36,500 calories.

Getting active with one’s kids or pets is another fun and easy way to add physical activity. If that same 180 lb person plays catch with a ball or Frisbee they can burn 100 kcals in 15-20 minutes. If they then wash and wax the car over the weekend rather than pulling through the automatic car wash they will save money, and the energy costs of doing so is at least 500 kcals. In the current economic environment doing household chores rather than hiring someone to do them saves money and burns calories. This creates a win-win situation. More money (to pay for personal training services) is saved and caloric expenditure (which serves personal training goals) is increased.

Personal trainers should provide weekly to do lists for their clients which equate to the desired caloric expenditure. Ironically, burning more calories can add to one’s quality of life. Selecting “physically active” activities to do with friends and family increases social camaraderie and makes everyone healthier. Using the stairs, parking toward the back of the parking lot, and carrying the basket rather than using the cart when light shopping, all add to this expenditure. An increase of just 0.15 to the average MET intensity for the day equate to an average expenditure of 193 kcals for a 180 lb person. When this is added to the exercise costs of two or three sessions per week, weight loss becomes a viable option. Without additional caloric expenditure it is very difficult to contend with modern eating habits.

The chart below demonstrates the metabolic demands of everyday activities. The more a person engages in weight bearing activity the greater the likelihood of sustained weight management. Add these activities to a weekly expenditure of 600-900 kcals from exercise and successful weight control is a realistic option.

	180 lb male	140 lb female
Leisurely Bike Ride <10 MPH	18 minutes = 103 Kcal	23 minutes = 102 Kcal
Hand washing the dishes	28 min = 100	36 min = 100
Cleaning the garage	23 min = 103	30 min = 100
Playing with animals (catch)	25 min = 100	32 min = 100
Vacuum home	20 min = 100	26 min = 101
Actively playing with children	18 min = 103	23 min =102
Fishing (casting a line)	23 min = 103	30 min = 100
Ironing	39 min = 100	39 min = 100
Washing the car	23 min = 103	30 min = 100
Making dinner	35 min = 100	45 min = 100
Shopping w/o a cart	28 min = 100	36 min = 100
Waxing the car by hand	18 min = 103	23 min = 102
Push mowing the lawn	12 min = 102	15 min = 100
Raking lawn	18 min = 103	23 min = 102
Giving a massage	18 min = 103	23 min = 102
Bowling	23 min = 103	30 min = 100
Playing catch	14 min = 100	18 min = 100
Walking the dog (3 mph)	24 min = 103	30 min = 100
Recreational swimming	12 min = 102	15 min = 100
Kayaking	14 min = 100	18 min = 100