In late spring, Colleen came to me with one goal in mind: improved triathlon times. She had started racing last year, she fell in love with the sport, and she decided this year she was going to take it to the next level.

With race season still a few months away, her initial program included personal training sessions twice a week with an emphasis on cardio training, healthy meal plans, and strength training workouts. I also developed a monthly fitness exercise program specific to her goals. I created a plan that included swimming, running, and biking tasks for her to complete each week that eventually prepared her for top performance in her first race.

As time progressed our relationship somehow morphed from trainer/client to coach/athlete. We began to discuss the psychology of goal achievement, performance, pushing oneself, eating habits, and surprisingly… body image. The following is an excerpt from a body image paper written by Colleen this summer:

"I'll never have the body I need." The sentence surfaced from some deep place within me as I lay in bed one morning, looking for a reason to get up. I had been going through one of the hardest times I had been yet in my life. The wounds I had suffered at fifteen years old were too deep, the barriers too high; it just didn’t seem worth the effort to fight anymore.

(More body image stuff to follow at end of article—back to training stuff for now.)

As Colleen's first race approached, I started to wonder if everything I had taught her would result in just minor improvement or a dramatic shift in her performance… I mean, technically I’d never trained a triathlete before, and I’d only participated in a few myself, when I was a kid.

I guess my good old MSU (GO GREEN) education and Chris Johnson personal training approach came through for me, though, because Colleen ended up making some huge strides! Take a look at the difference in her time: 9 minutes faster! “She Rocks” Triathlon 2009 (first triathlon ever): 50th overall Swim: 27:19 Bike: 34:25 Run: 24:29 (8:10-mile pace)

Overall Time: 1:27:45

Iron Goddess 2010 “She Rocks” (fifth triathlon ever): 14th overall Swim: 20:27 Bike: 33:35 Run: 23:00 (7:40-mile pace)

Overall Time: 1:18:42

While the improved race time was a huge goal for Colleen, as we developed more of a relationship, we uncovered other deeper issues that are also crucial to success. As I mentioned earlier, we adjusted Colleen's mental approach to exercise, eating, and body image, and I know that this was (and is) her key to long-term success and goal achievement.

Because of her dramatic improvement, I decided to do a video interview with Colleen to discuss her perspective on working with a trainer and how it helped her improve not only her time, but other areas she wasn’t expecting as well.

I created a four-part video series detailing the different parts of Colleen’s experience. The topics of the videos range from the difference having a trainer made in her performance all the way to her experience as a young figure skater and how it has affected her self-esteem and body image to this day as a 23-year-old woman.

Part 1: Triathlon Results

• Difference having a trainer made
• Having structure improved confidence
• Difference in motivation
• How she feels now that she has beat her time by 9 minutes

Part 2: Nutrition

• The purpose of having a structured eating plan
• How being coached on nutrition helped her succeed

Part 3: Body Image and guidance through mental blocks that women face

Although I’m not trained as a psychologist, being a trainer exposes you to the many psychological issues people face in the course of their lifetime. Another quote from Colleen’s body image paper reveals the truth about the mental state of many young women today:

Confused, I wondered how I could be too big when I only weighed 110 lbs. with 8% body fat. I felt naked, covering myself and asking, “What is wrong with me?” I couldn’t change my body, I felt hopeless.

In video 3, Colleen explains how training assists you in the mental aspect of sports, fitness, and self-esteem. The discussion focuses on the role of personal training and how often it is about more than the workout—it's about learning positive self talk, positive reinforcement, and how to reach higher levels with assistance from someone on the outside who can see what you are truly capable of achieving.

Part 4: Body Image & the Media

• Being suited for sports even if it's a different sport than you started with.
• Having a different body type than the sport you are in doesn't mean you cannot be successful in athletics or that you aren't an athlete
• How she can use the lessons she has learned in her work as a figure skating coach

I hope you found this article helpful and informative as it touches on a variety of important issues that I feel affect all of us on some level. As most of us know, the line between fitness for health and for looks and sexuality is often very thin or even non-existent. This article brings some of these important issues into the open where they can be talked about and solved.

Jes Reynolds is an Ann Arbor Personal Trainer and the author of her own blog focused on teaching people how to get fitness results. Jes just started a new group training class: How to lose 100 pounds. Want to hear more about what Jes has to say about fitness? (YES, YOU DO!) Subscribe to Jes Reynolds by email! or contact Jes directly at: Jes@JesReynolds.com.