Hey you. Yeah, you.Sit up straight when you read this column! STRAIGHT!Don’t tilt your head! Hold the paper higher! GET THOSE ARMS UP!Stop thinking about those HoHo’s and Ding Dongs! Look at you! You don’t need them!Don’t put down this paper yet! And don’t you question me! I’m the boss here! You just do it when I say DO IT!Sorry, folks. That was my alter ego, Olim, sneaking in a few words. He sounds harsh, but I bet some of you read that and got a little tingle in the gut.Some people, in fact, actually would like Olim.Most people, however, don’t respond well to screaming or to a trainer whose words border on ridicule.Unfortunately the yelling, ridiculing drill instructor trainer is the stereotype.Television fitness and weight-loss shows too often give us the drill instructor who doubles as a fitness professional. She’s the one screaming and swearing that you’re gonna get your fat “assets” in order, or you’re gonna sleep in your own puke, then finish the exercises when you wake up.That trainer might exist off television, but I haven’t seen her — at least not in the years I’ve been training. She’s not in the gyms I’ve been to. Her male counterpart isn’t, either.A good trainer will be able to take enthusiasm for training and helping people improve their fitness level and combine those attributes with incredible knowledge to effectively motivate and consistently generate a positive influence.Nobody should have to yell at you or degrade you to get you to perform an exercise routine.However, there are exercise workouts called boot camps. Typically, the instructor will yell at boot camp, but mostly because there are typically 10 to 20 people — or more — in the camp. And boot camps have a bit of military flavor. Still, you’re not getting degraded in these boot camps.Gaining good or great physical fitness is about building. The only tearing down that should happen is the muscles ripping apart, only to build back stronger.A successful relationship can usually be attributed to two things: good communication and trust.The relationship between a fitness professional and the client is no different. The client has to trust that the professional knows what he’s talking about and always has the client’s interests in mind.The professional has to trust that the client is going to do what she should be doing when the professional is not around. The two have to communicate about the workouts, about making the bad ones good and the good ones great.In my years of training, that communication has never included yelling or ridicule.Milo Bryant has two National Strength and Conditioning Association certifications and he appears on KOAA’s Comcast Channel 9 most Wednesdays at 4 p.m. You can contact him by e-mail at milo.bryant@gazettedev.gazette.com or read his blog at milobryant.blogspot.com

Quarterback Shea Smith, left, will be one of many competing for a starting job. There are a lot of spots open with so many seniors leaving after last year. Photo by BY KEVIN KRECK, THE GAZETTE