After 14 years teaching fitness, Rhonda Goode knows within 60 seconds if a new student will stick around. Here’s what she sees and what she’d say to you.
Listen to the episode here:
She Knows Before You Even Start Moving
After fourteen years of teaching fitness classes, Rhonda Goode can read a room fast. And when a brand new student walks through the door, she usually knows within about sixty seconds whether they are going to stick with it or be gone by next week.
She is not judging. She is just paying attention.
This is the third and final episode of a special three-part series on More Movement Please, recorded as part of Podcasts On. This global initiative brings thousands of podcasters together in one week to raise awareness for a charity of their choice. Ashley has been highlighting the Humane Society Animal League for Life of Madison County, Kentucky throughout this series. Links to donate and learn more are in the show notes.
Now, here is what Rhonda actually sees when you walk in.
The Signs You Do Not Realize You Are Sending
When Rhonda introduces herself to a new student before class, she is already picking up signals. She tells them what to expect, reminds them to do what they can, and reassures them that even her longtime regulars cannot always keep up.
Some new students look her in the eye and nod. They are engaged. They are in.
Others look at the floor. Look away. Their whole body says, I am not really going to be here very long.
And then class starts, and some students just stop. Not because they are lost. Not because they need a break. They stop and stare with a look that says, I did not sign up for this.
Those are usually the ones who do not come back.
Does Seeing the Regulars Intimidate New People?
One of Rhonda’s long-time students sent Ashley a thoughtful message before this interview. She asked whether new people feel intimidated when they walk in and see the regulars, people who know all the moves and clearly have a rhythm with Rhonda.
Rhonda’s honest answer is that she does not think so. Not in her class.
Her students come in every body shape, every age, every background. New people tend to head to the back anyway, where they feel safer. And her regulars are welcoming. There is always someone in the room who will say something to a new face, whether out of genuine kindness or sheer nosiness, usually both.
She says gyms with cliques in the corner, where nobody acknowledges newcomers, those places exist. But her class is not that.
What Separates the People Who Transform From the Ones Who Stay Stuck
Ashley asked Rhonda the question a lot of people want the answer to. What actually separates the people who make big changes from the ones who come back year after year and stay exactly the same?
Rhonda’s answer is simple. The ones who stay stuck refuse to change anything. Not their workouts. Not their habits. Not their diet. Nothing.
She has watched people come in, have the same conversations with her repeatedly, complain about the same lack of progress, and then go home and do the exact same things they did before. If nothing changes, nothing changes.
The Lifestyle Habits That Derail People Outside the Gym
Most people focus on what they do in the gym. Rhonda says the bigger issue is everything that happens outside of it.
Diet is the obvious one. But just as damaging is sitting. A desk job five days a week is hard to outrun with a three-hour-a-week gym habit, especially if your genetics are working against you. It just does not math out.
Rhonda says you have to look for ways to move throughout your entire day. Take the stairs. Walk the dog. Actually walk the dog, not just let it into the backyard. Do the outside work. Keep asking yourself, what else can I do to be active today? She says that question is always running in the back of her mind.
The Netflix and binge cycle, she has never done it once in her life. She says it is fine if you are sick. Otherwise, it is just sitting when you could be moving.
Can You Out-Exercise a Bad Diet?
Short answer from Rhonda: it depends.
It depends on how bad the diet is and how much you are willing to work. She points out that if you are drinking half your daily calories in coffee drinks and sugary beverages, you have already used up a huge chunk of your allowance before you have eaten a single real meal.
She also makes the point that once you clean up your eating, your body starts to tell you when you have gone off track. You feel sluggish. You feel tired. You know. That feedback loop becomes its own motivation.
Can you eat junk and lose weight if you are willing to go to the gym five or six days a week and keep moving the rest of the time? Yes. Rhonda says you can. But you have to actually do all of that, not just pick one or the other.
What It Feels Like When a Student Hits a Big Goal
Rhonda admits that teaching is a job. She gets tired. Physically tired. Mentally tired. Tired of her students sometimes, and she says it with a laugh.
But then she gets a message. A student on vacation sends a photo from the top of a mountain and says that hiking felt easy for the first time in her life, and it is because of Rhonda’s class.
That is why she shows up. Even on the days she does not feel like it. People can take care of themselves. They can do the things they want to do without limitations. That is what matters to her.
What She Would Say to You Right Now
If you are listening to this and you are exactly at that crossroads, you know something needs to change but you have not made the move yet, Rhonda’s message has not changed in fourteen years. She says the same thing every time because it is always true.
Look at your future fifteen to twenty years from now. If you stay exactly where you are right now, which will actually get worse because that is how it works, what does your life look like? And if you have kids, what are you showing them? What are you leaving them with?
That is it. No fluff. No soft sell. Just a real question worth sitting with.
Action Items
- Be honest with yourself about what you are broadcasting when you walk into a fitness class. Engagement and effort show. So does the opposite
- Make one small change this week outside the gym. Walk more. Take the stairs. Spend less time sitting
- Think about what your life looks like in fifteen to twenty years if nothing changes. Let that thought motivate you, not paralyze you
- If you have been coming to class and staying stuck, look at your habits outside the gym. That is almost always where the real issue lives
- Go back and listen to episodes 48 and 49 if you missed them. This three-part series with Rhonda is worth hearing from the beginning
- Visit the Humane Society Animal League for Life of Madison County, Kentucky through the link in the show notes. Share the link. Donate if you can. Awareness is the goal and you sharing helps more than you know
Show Notes from this Episode:
This podcast is for entertainment purposes only and is not medical advice. Please consult a healthcare professional before starting any diet or exercise program.
Be sure to follow me online: https://famousashleygrant.com/fitness/
Learn more about Podcasthon: https://podcasthon.org/
Learn more about and donate to Humane Society Animal League for Life of Madison County: https://www.humanesocietyall.com/
Follow Rhonda online: https://www.facebook.com/fitnesswithRhondaGoode
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