The Fitness Relationship with Brandon Britton
Hello movers!
I’m Brandon Britton, an evidence-based fitness coach and author based here in beautiful Benicia, California. I’m here to simplify the science of fitness and behavior change for you. There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to your training and nutrition; I know that you have your own needs and goals, and I want to make fitness work for you, not the other way around. I’m a certified personal trainer with distinction through the American Council on Exercise (ACE, *CPT), a TRX, Spin, and HIIT Instructor, and author of The Direct Fitness Approach (2021), which teaches people how to master their mindset, training, and nutrition strategies.
As I stumble through a career of providing fitness services to a variety of entities, I find myself fighting many of the same battles my clients come to me to solve. “How do you stay motivated?” A question I get asked often. “It must be easy for you to stay healthy, you do this for a living.”
We expect a lot from the practitioners we hire, and personal trainers are no exception.
But there is some truth to the assumptions made about us – sometimes. For example I do consider myself motivated, but only after so much pain, trial, and error after humiliating error just to be in a place that I can look back and say, “Damn, I made it through that. Clearly, I can press on through anything!” But whether your motivation comes from somewhere inside or from the heroes and heroines we look up to, staying healthy is a common battle for us all. A battle I prefer to look at as a relationship. One of give and take.
Injury, pain, illness, genetic predisposition and a gamut of human experiences create challenges in this relationship making it feel like a battle sometimes. And your personal trainer is right there with you! His/her job is to show up for you even when you may struggle to. This is part of what some might call “their calling.” Life can be hard and sometimes we need a hand executing some of the fundamental lessons we’ve known our whole lives. That’s all we are. A system of support for those in our community who are able to recognize when support is needed.
I always say, “The hardest part is starting!”
That goes for anything, but once you do, treat your fitness like a relationship with yourself and you are on the receiving end of your own integrity. Then perhaps at that moment you’ve won the battle.
