Episode 61: Welcome to the Judgement Free Zone with Brody Kendrick

It was time to bring exercise classes back into my life. A gym, close to my grocery store, seemed as good a place to try as any. I walked into Planet Fitness and realized, that I had found the perfect solution to my fitness needs. Their mission statement aligns itself to what I believe, strive for and try to teach you. In short it is “A judgement free zone where a lasting, active lifestyle can be built.”

I was planning to find a few classes where I could blend in and just be one in the middle of a group, to get in a workout. Instead I got what amounts to a personal trainer out on the floor with me and no more than 5 other people. These “classes” come in 30-minute blocks, with titles such as “new member orientation” “lower body”, “design your own program”, “stretch” and so much more. Instead of multiple instructors doing this for the day the gym has one trainer that holds all classes. You can sign up for as many as you like, all at no extra cost.

Welcome to the judgement free zone with Brody Kendrick, the trainer from Planet Fitness who is making my Monday, Wednesday and Friday’s great. Brody has seen 1000’s of members over the last 4 years as he worked his way through college and now as his profession. He embraces the Planet Fitness mission in his work and his home life.

A common reason people give for not joining a gym is that they will pay and never go.

Brody feels bad when people are afraid to join or join and then don’t come in. He knows it can be intimidating so he hopes to be able to engage those people and walk them through getting started or starting again. He wants to point them in the right direction and set them up with a routine. Everyone has to start somewhere. Someone once pointed him in the right direction, and he would like to do the same for you.

Another thing that scares people away from joining is a past bad experience with a trainer or just stories about bad trainers yelling in your face, while you are surrounded by hard core athletes. That is not the case. Brody generally trains a generic population of the common gym goer. He wants you to feel comfortable and to have a good time. He is there to help you count your reps, adjust your seat on the equipment or set up a routine. He holds very small classes to get you started, keep you going and/or teach you something new. Different options are available all week. He is proud of the fact that the people who come in are friendly and having fun. It makes his day easier when he is working with people who are smiling.

Brody’s passion for fitness and healthy living carried over to his family and he wants to give a shout out to the ladies in his life. When his sister asked him to help her lose weight after having twins, his mother and grandmother jumped in to join her and lend their support. They were all intimidated and worried that he would have them doing his body builder workouts. They were pleasantly surprised to find that he had them setting small goals as they worked towards a long-term goal. He showed them what they were capable of. They ended up losing a total of 140 pounds and joined Brody in a half marathon. Many of the habits they learned have stuck with them.

One tool that Brody suggests would be to keep track of your efforts, especially at the beginning. Then when you think you are not progressing you can look back and see the difference. Videotaping yourself occasionally will give you a visual success log.

If you have fallen away from working out, there is no better time to start back than now. You don’t have to go back to the very beginning. Start where you left off. It is like riding a bike. It will come back to you. Take it one day at a time. Remember, progress is a process.