Episode 234: What Is Fitness, Really? Coaching, Career Advice & What It Takes to Thrive in Fitness Today | Tom Rock

Tom Rock on goals, critical thinking, sleep and why boring training works

TL;DR

• Fitness means different things to different people. A marathon runner and a strongman are both fit.
• If you want a career in fitness, go in with an open mind and get as much hands-on experience as you can.
• Don't take everything you see online as gospel. Ask why an exercise is in a program.
• Set a realistic goal, then focus on the daily and weekly process.
• Start with sleep, keep training simple and remember that less is often more.

Introduction

I met Tom Rock at the Fitness Expo, where I was walking around asking people what fitness meant to them. Tom is a strength and conditioning coach and sports scientist with a master's in high performance sport. He's worked with athletes and as a PT in a private studio, and for about six years he's worked at the Australian Fitness Academy, where he now develops course content for the Certificate III and IV in Fitness.

This conversation is for anyone who wants to understand fitness better, whether you're thinking about becoming a PT or just trying to get healthier.

Lesson 1: Fitness is whatever you need it to be

Insight: Tom says everyone has different ideas and goals when it comes to fitness. You might look at a marathon runner and think they're fit, then look at a strongman and think they're not. In reality, they're both fit, just at different ends of the spectrum.

From asking people at the Expo, I came away feeling that fitness is almost a living thing. It's whatever you need it to be in that moment, and you can use it to achieve almost anything.

Tom also loves sport as a way to stay fit. He grew up playing AFL and tennis, and still plays tennis every week. If you don't enjoy the gym or running, he says sport can be a way to keep fit without it feeling like training.

Action: Write down what being fit would mean for your life right now, not someone else's.

Outcome: You train for your own goal instead of chasing somebody else's.

Lesson 2: Building a career starts with a learning mindset

Insight: Tom's tip for anyone starting out as a PT is to go in with an open mind and want to learn. He says a lot of people have trained for years and think they already know it all.

If you're studying online, he says the hard part is staying committed and consistent. His advice is to approach an online course like a face-to-face student and engage with the scenarios, not just tick off questions.

His number one tip is work experience. Don't be scared of it, because that's where you'll learn the most. If you already go to a gym, find a trainer there who's happy to take you on. I'd add that watching good PTs train their clients is one of the best ways to learn.

Action: If you're studying fitness, ask a trainer you respect if you can shadow a few of their sessions.

Outcome: You learn what the job really looks like on the gym floor.

Lesson 3: Be critical of what you see online

Insight: Tom says it's really hard to silence the noise these days. His advice is to be critical and not take everything online as gospel. When you see a crazy exercise on social media, you only see a snapshot. If you put it in a client's program without knowing why it was there, it probably won't make a difference, and it may not benefit them.

I asked him why health problems seem to be rising even though information has never been easier to find. He thinks social media can make fitness look harder than it needs to be, like you have to be up at 5am or in the gym for two hours a day. In reality, there are so many ways to make it fit your lifestyle. If someone can only train twice a week for an hour, a good PT needs to know how to structure that.

Action: Next time you see an exercise online, ask yourself what it's for and whether it suits your goal before you try it.

Outcome: You build a program that makes sense for you, not just one that looks good on a screen.

Lesson 4: Set realistic goals, then focus on the process

Insight: Tom believes goals are important because they give you something to aim for, and consistency is the key to getting fitter or healthier. But they need to be realistic. If you want to run 10k, a good trainer can help you work out how many times a week to run and how fast. That's what you should focus on every day, rather than the outcome.

The same goes for a career. If you want to be a PT, find a course that suits you and the support you need, then set a weekly study schedule. Stick to it for six months and you'll have your certificate. Then break down the next goal, like getting a job and building a client base.

How you track it is up to you. Some people like journals, and others stick a checklist on the fridge or calendar and tick it off.

Action: Break your current goal into a simple weekly checklist and stick it somewhere you'll see it.

Outcome: Big goals become a series of small, doable steps.

Lesson 5: Boring training works

Insight: Tom admitted he doesn't always have a great goal himself, and that's why training sometimes stagnates. He currently does a four-day upper/lower split, two or three runs a week and tennis once a week. He calls it general, boring training, and as we agreed, boring works.

He'd just finished a four-week block where he wrote a new program and stuck to it, swapping his usual bench press and seated row for exercises like incline chest press and lat pulldown. He enjoyed the change and seeing progress again. He says there's nothing wrong with just being consistent, but setting an 8-week or 12-week goal will probably keep you more accountable.

Action: Write a simple four-week training block with a few new exercises and commit to it.

Outcome: You get fresh progress without overthinking it.

Lesson 6: Start with sleep

Insight: I asked Tom my usual question: if someone could only focus on sleep, nutrition or exercise, which would it be? His honest answer was "it depends", because it's different for every client. But if he had to choose the easiest place to build habits, it would be sleep.

Training requires learning how to train, and nutrition can involve big barriers like food availability and knowing how to cook. With sleep, you can learn a few things and start tomorrow.

For most people, his number one tip is a consistent bedtime and wake-up time. Work out what time you need to get up, count back seven to eight hours plus a little time to fall asleep, and that's your bedtime. Then build a 45-minute to one-hour wind-down routine before it, like a hot shower and a book. Nail that for a few weeks, then move to the next building block.

Action: Set a consistent bedtime and wake-up time and keep them for two weeks.

Outcome: You build an easy first habit that supports everything else.

Lesson 7: Less is often more

Insight: If Tom could talk to every PT student at once, he'd talk about resistance programming, and his main message would be that less is more. He loves seeing other people's programs and never knocks them, because there's room for lots of variety. But he thinks many people do far more training volume than they need, which can slow down recovery and progress.

He's also passionate about cardio programming and thinks PTs could do more to make cardio engaging, like intervals tailored to someone's fitness level.

Action: Look at your current program and ask whether you could get the same results with a little less volume.

Outcome: You recover better and keep progressing.

Quick wins

• Go to bed and wake up at the same time each day.
• Try a sport you enjoy as part of your fitness.
• Question one piece of fitness advice you see online this week.
• Write a weekly checklist for your goal.
• Keep your training simple and consistent.

Closing insight

Tom and I kept coming back to the same idea. Health and fitness aren't as complicated as they're made out to be. Nutrition, exercise, sleep and living a little healthier are the basics that work. The challenge is connecting people with that simple information and helping them actually put it into practice.

Connect with Tom Rock

Find out more about the Australian Fitness Academy or listen to Tom's podcast on Spotify.

Listen to the full episode

The full conversation is on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube, or press play at the top of this page.

Related episodes: The Power of Mindset and Movement with Matt Wells and Lessons on Health, Growth and Longevity Plus Listener Q&A