Example of Leadership: Mr. Pedro Pitton

Discipline. One of the many aspects to observe while working to achieve a goal.

When talking about leaders and leadership, in other articles and social posts, you could see the the many kinds there are but also the importance of discovering a great leader.

In this opportunity I would like to introduce you to a friend of mine who works as a personal trainer, helping people and leading them through a very specific process of change.

Let’s start with this Q & A session with:

Mr. Pedro Pitton, proffesional trainer

Pedro Pitton with a crew of young gymnasts

Q: As a personal trainer you sure have experienced the change people make when they start training with you. How would you say or classify those different types of changes?

A: In my experience, there are three common reasons that gather people around physical activity and push them to consult a professional to start doing it. One of them is to feel better in an aesthetic way through body changes; another one is to improve performance in any given sport and the third one is medical indication due to different healthy issues.

That is why it is essential, at first, to monitor and define the goals, possibilities and limitations that we have with training, and that is the first change they experience. They start to clearly see their objectives and what they can achieve and that is so important because that enables the second type of changes which is related to the commitment they take to achieve the goal they have settled.

To accomplish those changes it is always needed to be in contact with other health proffesionals who may make suggestions to guide the person who is starting the training.

Q: What is the difference between a person that succeds in changing his or her physical aspect against another that does not?

A: There are several factors but the main one is constancy. Once we become aware of what we want, we must leave anxiety behind and know that changes are coming if we keep working. There will be moments or people that will achieve these faster as others will make it slower; there will be ups and downs but we do not have to be anxious nor give up. Every person has a history and a particular development and it is the trainer’s role to be there and empathize with it and it is a lesson regarding which is the best way to accomplish objectives.

Constancy together with the commitment of change or work in other areas of life such as alimentary habits are what make the difference of time in the people who may achieve goals quicker than others.

Q: Which are the change stages of one of your trainees?

A: There are three stages:

1. The first stage: it is a previous to start doing anything, actually. It is about making the decision of approaching me or any trainer.

2. The second stage: Being willing to implement changes in habits that are not useful as well as mantaining those habits that are good for the trainee.

3. The third stage: It is the moment when the person is conscious of the changes he or she is achieving. Aesthetic changes, medical improvements (better clinical exams’ results) or performance changes. The time that this particular stage takes may vary from person to person, but it would not exist by itself without the other two.

Q: Which barriers do you observe, in your students, that need to be overpassed?

A: One of the barriers is time. The time that each person dedicates to training.

Not only to the particular moment of the class with me but to the different activities that complement the physical activity. The training hours are just a small part of the global amount of time that each person has and dedicates. If he or she has a sedentary passive life, it represents a barrier and I have to be a guide so that the trainee adds extra hours of activity, always inside his or her possibilities.

Another barrier is the alimentation. In the majority of cases it is recommended to have the guidance of a professional that teaches you lessons that follow the general change of habits.

“It is my duty as professional to give the best to the people during the time they train with me […]”, Pedro Pitton.

Q: In the business world, an element to help people make changes is the motivation that a coach gives. In your case, what do you do to motivate your students?

A: There are several motivation tools. One of them, and the main one in my case, is a clear explanation of the process so that a person is conscious of the possibilities and the time. And it becomes the main tool when you realize that it can be adapted to every person and his or her objectives. I strongly think that motivation is something internal which every person carries within and what we can do is to be there to help it come out. When periods of doubt and blockage come it is important to be there reinforcing the objectives, reminding progresses and keep pushing until you start moving forward again.

Being more specific in training, it is the constant evaluation and self-evaluation, that is, the self-registration of advances and / or setbacks of markers such as strength or technique. And being specific to issues surrounding training, anthropometric evaluation of changes in body composition or comparison of medical studies can be used.

All these indicators will allow us to see where we are, where we are heading to and whether it is necessary to reorient any part of the process.

Q: How do you realize, before starting, whether a person is ready or not to change his or her physical state?

A: I do not think you could know this before starting but there must be a first appoach or, at least, a first interview with the interested person. By setting one of these you can interact with the people, listen to them and getting to know them better. But also, one must be aware that not every trainer is recommended for any person and viceversa.

It is my duty as professional to give the best to the people, during the time they train with me to help them choose whatever makes feel better for their goals.

Q: Which are he three keys to accomplish a successful change?

A:

• A good training professional who guides you and knows how to refer you when it is not within his reach and who works in conjunction with other areas such as nutrition, kinesiology and medicine in general.

• Constancy and commitment in the proposed process.

• Frustration tolerance.

Q: Which are the three things to avoid in the process of change of physical state?

A:

• Feeling anxiety to see results quickly.

• Being very dependent on motivation, since there are times when it will be lacking and despite this you have to carry on.

• Not paying attention to what the body needs. Although this is a learning that is built over time.

Q: What people (or person) who made changes in their physical condition motivates you and why?

A: Mainly colleagues that I have crossed during my career as a physical education student and also practicing the profession. Many of my motivations come from a positive side and many from the side of learning: what I do not want for my career in the world of sports or training in general.

And why, I have been building it with experience. After starting with aesthetic issues, discovering the implications for both physical and mental health and its relationship with food and awareness of it, until I knew that this knowledge was something that I could share and give to other people to use it to improve their life, trying to continue training and updating myself, in the mean time.

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I hope you enjoyed this interview. Now I would like to listen your thoughts: Would you like to read more interviews in the future?.

Leave your comments for Pedro in the box below and I will make sure he receives them.