Prescription Drug Reps or Dealers?

My girlfriend is a nurse practitioner here in Hartford and her patients include many people suffering from diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and obesity. According to her account, she must see between 30-45 patients a day that are suffering from endocrinological symptoms that arise from overweight-ness, diabetes, or poor diet. They are often prescribed a drub to treat their acute and chronic conditions by the doctors.

The prescription drug representatives are typically good looking, energetic and vibrant salespeople ranging between ages 25-40. Their job is to sell the drug they represent by using various tactics. They are usually present in the doctor's office on a daily basis. They float around the office laughing and accommodating the staff with plants, flowers, pens, stationary, breakfast and lunch. Every evening, my girlfriend is invited to a dinner by one of the drug reps. Keep in mind, there are so many new prescription drugs that are developed and need marketing...so there are many, many reps "pushing" a certain drug. Each night, the doctors and nurses (including my girlfriend), are treated to an expensive dinner (bill usually amounts to $500+), and the next morning they are languish with breakfast and lunch--all paid for by the prescription drug reps.

One day I went to visit my girlfriend at work, and I bumped into a very attractive young lady whom was pushing Lexapro to a staff-member and asked if I was interest in "controlling my irritability"? I told her "no thanks". My girlfriend told me that these drug reps are given over $10,000 stipends to use for their expense accounts which includes buying doctor's breakfast, lunch, dinner, and odds and ends. These little daily favors put them in a positive light in the doctor's eyes and make recommending their prescription drug easier to the patient. I almost forgot, the amount of "drug samples" that are also transported in. Each doctor shovels samples of the drug into the patient's hands and then writes a prescription for back up.

In the 15 minutes, I spent "behind the scenes" at the doctor's office, I was aggravated. These prescription drug reps spend money, buy the doctors expensive dinners and wines, and supply them with sample drugs so that the prescription drug that rep is pushing will be prescribed by the doctor. Each prescription is then filled out by your neighborhood CVS or Walgreens and equals big bucks $$$$ for the rep and the company----and then a small percentage goes to the doctor! In the end, the patient is the one that builds an addiction and dependency on the drug.

The prescription drug rep is the real killer here. They re no different than the drug dealer in the alley, club, or street corner. When we as a society drop our "crutches" and simply walk tall without any perceived needs?

Massage from a Member...

Message from a member:

John, Hope all is well with you. I wanted to tell you that I really appreciate your newsletter. It's got some good info in each one. It's an actual newsletter and not just an advertisement (although, I don't mind if there are ads, too). It's not part of the recent "circle jerk" going on in the newsletters that I subscribe to (apparently, about a dozen trainers all know each other, went to the same seminar, and send out "newsletters" that pretty much point to each others products. Some don't have any products of their own, they are just reselling the same stuff that you can get at every other trainer's site. It's weird. I've lost track of the number of ways I can subscribe to "Workoutpass." In a way, I feel bad for the "good ones," as the guys with nothing to say send out as much or more than the guys with the actual, good products. Your web site actually has info on it, too. Good job. What's with these guys hurrying up to put up a site with nothing on it, then advertising it on the forums and newsletters? If you've got nothing to sell but your local training services, and I subscribe to your newsletter or read your forum posts, I don't need to see your site, right? If you need a site so new prospects can read a bit about you, fine. But that's just an information web site, not something to send all the forum readers too. Maybe I'm just getting old. Anyhow, I like that you differentiate yourself in all that you are doing.
~ Roland

Life after Shoulder Surgery for the Weight-lifter

Message from a member...

Hey John, I have just recently read your article The Real Under Armor on rawgrip.com. I too have had the procedure called acromioplasty. This past March, my ortho took off about 5mm of my clavicle in my acromium to reset my ac-joint in my shoulder. I too was living the one are life you described for 11 months, and so I finally decided to go with the surgery. I'm a young guy (19 years old) and I am currently 9.5 weeks post op. From my understanding, at 12 weeks "light" lifting can begin and heavy lifting slowly will transition. I have been doing physical therapy right away after my surgery. I am now strengthening my shoulder with band-work, dumbbells (external and internal rotations lying on my side), arm bike, and various other exercises that I am sure you went though. In your article, you wrote that you "began performing movements that once resulted in pain, now only resulted in oddly enough, unfamiliarity. I was beginning to perform movements that I restricted to avoid feeling pain." By this I assume you mean not going all the way down on the bench press and so on. I was just wondering if you could better describe to me what this means, and what your transition was like getting back to lifting.

At what week post-op did you start lifting again, and at how much weight?

Were there any exercises that you avoided once you started lifting again because it gave you pain in your shoulder?

How long did it take you before you could lift with the same intensity you had been training with before your injury and surgery?

Do you have any other suggestions for me on my road to recovery (beside following your advice outlined in the article)?

Thanks in advance for your help John. I have not lifted in over a year because of this injury! As you can imagine I have lost a lot of muscle mass, and I am looking to get it back! I realize that I won't be in the weight room for at least another month, but I want to be smart and ease my transition with care and intelligence. Thanks again John.

Brian

My response:
Thanks for the e-mail. I know where you are coming from brotha...all too well...

I have a few minutes in between clients so I will answer you questions in list form. Here goes:

At what week post op did you start lifting again, and at how much weight?
My surgery was in November 2002, so my memory is but vague, but I think I started lifting light weights about 6 weeks after. I remember I got too overzealous and caused some inflammation within the joint capsule that set me back again. At one point, I saw my doctor and thought he messed something up, but he told me I was being too aggressive. "Even though it feels good, doesn't mean its ready"--that was the best advice I was told. So I actually hooked up with a PT friend and we went back to do some serious therapy to calm down the inflammation.

Were there any exercises that you avoided once you started lifting again because it gave you pain in your shoulder?
Sure, I still avoid the following: flat bench or any bench with a barbell. I use strictly DBs only for incline bench. No decline whatsoever. No upright rows until recently I started doing hang pulls (which look like an upright row) and I seldom do lateral raises, never do front raises; and seldom do pullovers.

How long did it take you before you could lift with the same intensity you had been training with before your injury and surgery?
Good question...my training changed drastically after surgery. I went from benching 315 at 175 and having some serious "imaginary lat syndrome" to thinking about training differently. My intensity now is probably higher than it was when I was lifting "heavier" weights. Now...my rest periods are short (<20 secs.) and I am suing alot of explosive movements and compound exercises (chins, DL, squat, DB snatch, etc, etc), so the intensity is there--just not from lifting serious weight. Although my weights are still better than most guys I see at my gym (405 Dead lift, 330 Squat--again, no bench) Plus I make an emphasis to perfect my form. I like to think I have a really, really strong core--much stronger than before my surgery. I think strengthening my "insides" has helped with my recovery and conditioning. I am 35 and feel better than I did when I was 19.

Do you have any other suggestions for me on my road to recovery (beside following your advice outlined in the article)?
Use this time to really learn how your shoulder works and how alignments within the ankle/hip/lumbar all effect how your shoulders act. Honestly, at 19 I feel your doctor really didn't waste any time. I was 26-27 at my surgery, but I didn't want to live with the pain and I was unsatisfied with physical therapy. Looking back I am content with the outcome as it has made me more aware of my form, strength levels, and has made me a better trainer.

Bootcamp Class #2

So my second boot-camp class went off without a hitch today. I call it "Group Strength Circuit" simply because I know what a "boot-camp style" class is, but I don't want to market it as such. Why you ask? Typically, I have found that group classes (like a boot-camp) usually keep the instructor busy shouting out instructions or showing off their own moves; and I like to walk around and supervise each individual's form.

So what did I have the ladies doing today? Another her great circuit made up of some strength, power, and metabolic components.

Warm-Up

Jogging in Place
Jumping Jacks
Partial Squats
Arm Circles

Circuit

Sumo Squats with 10 lb. Med Ball

Jogging in place

Standing DB Press

BOSU Squats

Y's on Ball

Single Leg Bulgarian Squats

Curls with Tubing

Rows with JC Band

Mountain Climbers

Med Pall Throwdowns

Tricep Dips

Group Stretch

Active & Static

Even Trainers Need Help...

Here is an e-mail I received yesterday from a good friend who happens to be a personal trainer going into his second year on the job:

Question: "Your blog rocks man, I was on it earlier this morning and on there I've read one of your posts where you mentioned a newbie and the conversation that you held with him.
Well after spending two years on the gym floor and studying my ass off, I now struggle to get clients more then I did when I first started do think that it does have something to do with me going from 217lbs/10%BF to about 240lbs/20%BF....my confidence is shut down and no one approaches me anymore. That being said, I achieve phenomenal results with my clients and I always create positive change. Just today I had a 46 year old mother of two get into size 6 for the first time in the last six years (8.5 months of training down from 14-6) while working on her fat loss goals we've completely heal her skin, she had some serious inflammation going on and half her body was covered in bloody scabs....anyhow the point of this story is this, I'm by far the most 'effective' professional on our team yet we have guys that sell like crazy who don't give a damn about how fat loss actually occurs in the body or how to activate the posterior fibers of the glute medius......
Once my clients sign up with me I don't have a problem retaining them and they do renew. My average client is with me from 8-12 months some I've had since my first day at the club (2 years)....Problem is getting them right now. I'm heading into the summer with very few hours (20-25/week) I would like to get 2 or 3 new clients asap.
I have a marketing board on the wall at the gym. It has a bunch of success stories of my clients with photos, my bio, my services, etc. It's very neat and it looks nice. I often spot people reading it yet I have not received one phone call since it's been up there (3 months).
What's the problem?"

Answer: I read your message and you remind me alot of me back in my Gold's Gym days. I was always the chubby trainer, yet, I had the most clients because I had the most knowledge and knew how to build rapport. I hate when these buff trainers say "you need to look the part", because it is tough to be a trainer and work 20-35 hours a week, maintain clientele; eat right; and workout. But I gotta admit...I have lost 25+ pounds and my confidence has skyrocketed. I am actually not ashamed to tell people that I am a personal trainer when I 'somewhat' look the part.

Here are a couple of reasons why I think you are struggling:

1.) I don't know about Canada, but in the US...times are tough with a failing economy and gas prices. People are not spending money on things that can take a back seat to groceries, bills, and gas. So I think that it may be tougher for you to "sell" them on health, when they're thinking about "savings".

2.) Your confidence is low. Bro...its not the first time you seem down to me. Your confidence levels have been up and down since we first started interacting. I think you need to not focus so much on what you look like and let your work (with others) do the talking.

3.) Ask your clients for help. Connect with some of your clients that you are most comfortable with and ask them to make you as accountable to them as you make them accountable to you. Sounds ridiculous, but back in the commercial gyms days, I had 3-4 clients that I really was able to call my "friends" and we would workout together on weekends (not a session), keep records of each other diet; and go running with. A personal trainer doesn't have to be on an island alone...and if asking your fellow trainers for assistance is a burden, then hell...make a friend (out of a client) and ask for help.

Hope this advice helps. I know where you are coming from. Heck, I left personal training for management just so I could sit behind a desk and hide my gut. Trust me...I am happier now. Keep me updated! ~John

6 Things Every Trainer Should Do

Check the new May newsletter from standAPART. You'll find a nice article written by yours truly titled "6 Things Every Trainer Should Do".

How do you stack up?

http://www.freewebs.com/standapartnews/newsletter17.htm

CSCS vs. CPT

This weekend I met a trainer at the gym I was working out in. He told me that he was certified by the National Strength & Conditioning Association (NSCA) as a certified strength & conditioning specialist (CSCS). He was 21 years old and had just entered the field of personal training. I asked him if he was having trouble getting clients. He replied no. I asked, "What kinds of clients are you getting?"

He replied, "Mostly girls and some young guys--ranging in ages 21-30." He also added that he wasn't getting many clients to renew once their initial packages had expired.

I wasn't surprised.

I told him that, although, "...your CSCS sounds great to have, you are still missing experience. You are roughly out of school and have only trained yourself and your friends... friends that lift like you. So the clients that you are obtaining are not financially secure enough to keep renewing packages with you so that will not see results."

He missed the boat as far as my explanation that he needs to attract Baby-Boomers as clients in order to sustain a consistent client load. They have money. Young women and men do not have the financial means to continue personal training--especially if they are working off their "first"salary and paying bills.

The CSCS is great to have, but it really doesn't mean squat to the general population clientèle. Then again, neither does a CPT (certified personal trainer). But many employers look for a reputable certification for incoming trainers.

A year or so ago I presented this topic to my Round table. What is the major diffrence between a CSCS and a CPT? Here's what they had to say.