Product Description
Lou Schuler Fitness Lecture – Understanding The Fitness Journey – Personal Trainer Education
Everyone who has achieved success in fitness has a tale of how they achieved that success, one that includes most or all of the basic storytelling elements found in classic mythology. In this presentation on understanding the fitness journey, Lou Schuler gives examples of how a narrative structure applies to those just starting out on a fitness journey. Health clubs may be the most familiar places in the world to you, but they can be scary to the people you’re trying to help. Lou’s lecture will help you understand complex fitness transformations and inevitable pitfalls so you can help your clients successfully navigate the path.
“It’s not enough for the hero in a classical myth to be strong or powerful or beautiful. The hero isn’t complete until he or she is tested, struggles and ultimately succeeds in transforming his or herself into something bigger and more complete.
“When we start talking about how this applies to fitness—how this applies to weight loss—what we have to remember is that all storytelling, especially in mythology but also in the stories we tell ourselves, are not about where we end up. It’s about the journey to that destination. I don’t think you will ever meet an athlete, a fitness model, a bodybuilder or a successful gym rat who doesn’t have some kind of personal narrative about how they built their physiques or developed the athletic abilities we admire.” ~Lou Schuler
TOPIC MARKERS
• Mythology and Joseph Campbell
• Part One: Separation
• The belly of the whale
• Part Two: Initiation and the Road of Trials
• Part Three: Temptation
• Part Four: Atonement with the Father
• The ultimate Boon
• Part Five: The return
• Free to Live
LECTURER BIO
Lou Schuler is an award-winning journalist and author of many popular books about fitness and nutrition. His next book is The New Rules of Lifting for Life, which he wrote with Alwyn Cosgrove. You’ll also enjoy his blog at here on louschuler.com.
“Lou Schuler is easily one of my favorite guests on our show “The FitCast,” and for good reason: He is more than just an expert at exercise and health, he is a true storyteller. Lou’s experiences and teachings become an event in themselves, always entertaining and always informative. In “The Hero’s Journey into Fitness,” Lou describes the psychology of fitness, helping us understand our own experiences in health and exercise, as well as the thoughts and feelings of our clients as we guide them through their own journeys in fitness. This is exactly the kind of unique and thought-provoking perspective only Lou could provide–listening to his thoughts is like attending a Master’s class in the human experience. I can’t recommend this lecture highly enough!”
Jonathan Fass
Dan –
I love reading/listening to how fitness and your fitness goals relate to life from a philosophical standpoint. I feel like Dan John is the best example of this. Lou has done a tremendous job unpacking Joseph Campbell’s hero cycle in the context of each individual’s fitness journey. In doing so, he does two things. First, he forces you to think of the events that led you to where you are with your fitness and health. This allows you to keep the lessons learned and the successes and failures in context with where you are and how you can learn from them going forward. Second, he provides a framework for where you are going and in a life-sense, how you will get there if you are not already there. The self-reflection that this forces you to go through as you listen to it is the true value of this lecture. Really nicely done.
Roland Denzel, Precision Nutrition-PNC –
I was really moved as I listened to this lecture. I identified with every point of journey that Lou described. I think that every trainer, coach, or nutritionist should listen to this recording just to gain insight into their clients. If they are smart, they could use it to keep a client going when things get rough. Every person who’s trying to lose fat, get stronger, or gain muscle also needs to listen to this. See yourself in the “hero” role and you’re going to find new resolve and new inspiration. As someone who originally came from the fat guy end of things, it was very emotional for me to listen to. Toward the end, when the quest or journey was basically done (and the hero is now just living life), I had a buildup and release of emotion. I’m not going to admit to being choked up. Not publicly… Roland
Aaron Agostini –
I really appreciated this lecture. It’s one thing to hear that people have setbacks, but it’s so much better to put those setbacks in context of the bigger story. I feel I can see further down the road, and have an even better idea of where I want to end up.