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As a personal trainer, working with clients to reach their fitness goals can be a really rewarding experience. However, training in the gym doesn’t come without its risks.
A recent study found that nearly half of gym users have experienced an injury while at the gym. Having a first aid qualification as a personal trainer could mean that you’re able to help your...
Get Digital Business Cards - Make a great impression with potential new clients with a Digital Business Card and show them who you are and what you do.
Showcase who you are - Simply tap your Digital Business Card on their smartphone and share your fully customized profile including social media, links, photos, videos, contact information and more....
Recent findings from a substantial study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology underscore the significance of tailoring physical activity programmes based on gender-specific physiological and biological differences. This article delves into these findings and discusses their practical applications. This analysis provides a foundation for...
Building rapport as a personal trainer is essential for gaining a strong client base. If you’re new to the fitness industry, this is one of the first things you should work on. Online marketing and establishing your niche as a PT will certainly help you thrive, but not without cultivating positive relationships with prospective and current clients. Many trainers overlook.
Even as a certified personal trainer, designing workouts for beginners can be challenging.
On the one hand, you want to avoid overwhelming your client with too complex exercises and training techniques.
On the other, your goal is to provide fun and rewarding workouts that have them motivated and trusting that your guidance will help them reach their fitness.
Don’t Take It Personally - There are many reasons why a client might decide they no longer want to work with you. While it’s possible this could be due to a personality clash, there are in fact a whole host of much more common and practical reasons that could influence their choice. For example, there might have been a change in working hours that includes..
You’ve already taught them the exercises they need to do. They know how often they’re supposed to work out. They know how they should eat. Do you ever wonder why clients continue to show up to your training sessions, day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year? Everything is in place for them to reach their goals, so why do...
The question of why and how to become an online personal trainer is very easy to answer.
TIME – simply put, with person to person training you can only train a certain amount of people in one day which basically limits your daily earning potential.
MONEY – it’s a simple formula:-
Person To Person Training - You train person to person and work a...
It’s one of the most intriguing questions: what qualities should a great fitness instructor possess? More importantly, how do these qualities help them motivate, inspire and retain clients? While there isn’t a short answer to these questions, we’ve earmarked a few attributes that separate the A-list fitness instructors from the rest. Punctuality, Preparation And...
When it comes to the roles and responsibilities of a personal trainer, there’s far more to the job than you may realise.
Not only must trainers complete a set of daily tasks to ensure the smooth running of their business, but they are leading clients on a journey of improved fitness and self-confidence.
Want to know more about this exciting career path? Here...
The Fitness/Personal Trainer Industry is growing at a phenomenal rate and sometimes it can be hard to keep up and navigate the industry when it comes to the latest requirements, news, software and idea’s - generally speaking a way to move your fitness business forward. We launched www.savvypersonaltrainer.com as an online resource for those in...
As a Personal Trainer your job is to get the most out of your clients and maximise results no matter how big or small their goal is. They’ve called on you to help, and it’s down to you to unlock their door that leads to progression..their goal is. They’ve called on you to help, and it’s down to you to unlock their door that leads to progression....
Do Personal Trainers Need First Aid Training?
The short answer is no; it’s not mandatory for personal trainers to have first aid training. The only mandatory qualifications to become a personal trainer are a Level 2 Gym Instructor and a Level 3 Personal Training qualification.
However, there are several benefits to having a first aid qualification, which we will cover later in this article.
What’s included in first aid training?
What’s included in the first aid training you receive depends on the course you choose. St John’s Ambulance offers Emergency First Aid at Work, First Aid at Work, and Defibrillator training courses, which could all be useful for personal trainers.
First aid courses can help you learn about topics such as adult resuscitation, bone, muscle, and joint injuries, chest pains, fainting, and head injuries.
What are the benefits of having first aid training as a personal trainer?
There are several benefits to having first aid training in any profession. However, as personal trainers work in environments where clients are exercising and using heavy equipment, having a first aid qualification can be particularly useful.
In our list below, we’ve picked out 4 key benefits of first aid training for personal trainers so you can decide whether to add first aid to your list of qualifications.
1. You could help a client when they’re injured, or even save a life
Of course, the most important benefit of having first aid training is that you’ll be able to help your clients should they injure themselves during training. Knowing how to perform CPR could even help save a person’s life.
2. It could help give you peace of mind
Knowing that you can help in an emergency could give you better peace of mind, allowing you to concentrate on training your clients.
You can even find first aid courses tailored to personal trainers, with some providers offering the ability to request additional training if you have something, in particular, you wish to cover as part of the assessment.
3. You’ll stand out from other candidates
In addition to the two mandatory qualifications needed to become a personal trainer, having a first aid qualification on your CV when you’re looking for a new role can help you stand out from the crowd.
Gyms are also legally required to have at least one qualified first aider on site at any one time, so if they’re looking for a replacement with this qualification, it may be a requirement in the job description.
4. It could help you attract more clients
Having a first aid qualification won’t just be attractive to prospective employers, either. You may find that some of your clients are looking for a personal trainer with first aid training for their own peace of mind, or if they have a health condition that may be affected by their training.
If you are ever in a situation where you are the only fitness professional present, you are also required to be first aid trained, so it’s particularly important for those who do freelance work, too.
What to consider before getting first aid training as a personal trainer
If you choose to get a first aid qualification, it’s a good idea to ensure you’re aware of your responsibilities per the law.
As a first aider, if you choose to help someone in an emergency and you are found to be negligent (by causing further injury that they wouldn’t have otherwise sustained or making the injury worse), you could be sued.
For example, if you were to provide CPR to a person who didn’t need it, and subsequently caused an injury such as a broken rib, you could be at risk of a negligence claim being made against you. It’s also worth noting that you are not legally required to provide first aid as a first aider, but you should help in another way, such as calling 999 if necessary.
Therefore, choosing to take a first aid course can be a big responsibility and should be treated as such. You should only provide first aid if you feel you can do so safely and get further help from the emergency services when needed.
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When meeting a potential new client you could do it this way!!
Ok - well my phone number is……………. and my Instagram is……………. my Facebook page is…………….. oh and my other social media accounts are, ohhhh and sorry my website address is – would you like me to write that all down for you?
Or you could simply tap your Digital Business Card on their phone which would upload all of the contact details that you want to share – your phone number, direct links to all of your social media accounts, website and even clips of your training videos - all of which they can save directly to their phone. Which option would you choose?
Gender Differences In Exercise Programming
Recent findings from a substantial study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology underscore the significance of tailoring physical activity programmes based on gender-specific physiological and biological differences. This article delves into these findings and discusses their practical applications. This analysis provides a foundation for fitness professionals to consider more deeply the gender-specific responses to physical activity and to tailor their training programmes accordingly, ensuring that all clients have the opportunity to achieve optimal health benefits from their exercise routines.
Study Analysis
The study examined how physical activity influences all-cause and cardiovascular mortality among men and women, revealing that gender plays a crucial role in the health benefits derived from exercise. Over 4.9 million person-years of follow-up data from 412,413 U.S. adults showed that while both men and women gain significant health benefits from regular physical activity, the extent and nature of these benefits vary significantly between genders.
Women, for instance, achieve a maximum survival benefit from about 140 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) per week, whereas men need about 300 minutes per week to gain similar benefits. Moreover, women continue to see benefits at increased levels of physical activity beyond these 140 minutes, which is not as pronounced in men.
These results are critical for fitness professionals who are tasked with developing gender-appropriate exercise programmes that not only cater to different fitness levels but also consider physiological differences that could affect health outcomes.
Practical Application in Exercise Programming
Gender-Specific Programming
For Women:
For Men:
The study highlights a critical need for personalised exercise prescriptions that acknowledge and integrate the biological and physiological differences between genders. By understanding these nuances, fitness professionals can more effectively design exercise programmes that not only close the physical activity gender gap but also enhance health outcomes for their clients.
Reference
Hongwei Ji, Martha Gulati, Tzu Yu Huang, Alan C. Kwan, David Ouyang, Joseph E. Ebinger, Kaitlin Casaletto, Kerrie L. Moreau, Hicham Skali, Susan Cheng. Sex Differences in Association of Physical Activity With All-Cause and Cardiovascular Mortality. Journal of the American College of Cardiology, Volume 83, Issue 8, 2024.
7 Ways To Build Rapport As A Personal Trainer
Building rapport as a personal trainer is essential for gaining a strong client base. If you’re new to the fitness industry, this is one of the first things you should work on.
Online marketing and establishing your niche as a PT will certainly help you thrive, but not without cultivating positive relationships with prospective and current clients. Many trainers overlook this when starting out, so mastering this skill could give you an edge over your competition.
Here you’ll find 7 ways to build rapport as a personal trainer, so you can attract new clients on the gym floor and retain those you’re already training.
1. Appear Friendly And Approachable
In a recent survey, 62% of consumers were most attracted to companies that exhibit ethical values and authenticity.
This applies to you and your business, especially since you are your own brand when working as a PT. The more you smile and interact positively with clients on the gym floor, the more ‘human’ and relatable you’ll seem.
Instead of immediately approaching clients with a sales pitch, try greeting them and chatting with them each time you see them on the gym floor.
Establishing yourself as a friendly acquaintance first can work wonders for attracting new clients. If you want to learn how to transition into this stage, skip our fourth tip.
2. Pay Attention To Your Body Language
With at least 70% of communication being non-verbal, mastering your body language when talking to potential clients is essential for building rapport as a personal trainer.
Mirroring is an effective way to create an affinity with others through your body language.
This technique involves matching the body language of the person you’re communicating with to subconsciously signal that you’re connected somehow.
This includes sitting down if they’re sitting or standing up if they’re standing. It can also include talking slower or faster to match their talking speed. When done subtly, it’s a proven method for building rapport with potential personal training clients.
Other tips for positive body language include:
• Smiling
• Standing tall
• Holding your arms in an open position
• Using eye contact when speaking
The key thing to remember when building rapport as a personal trainer is it’s not just about what you’re saying. It’s how you say it.
Avoid body language or speech patterns that could appear abrupt or standoffish, such as crossing your arms or talking too fast, even if this is how your potential client communicates.
Appearing friendly and relaxed could help them warm to you during your initial encounter if they seem introverted or shy.
3. Find Common Ground
Once you’ve greeted a potential client a few times and started a conversation, it’s a good idea to try finding common ground early on so you have something to connect with them over.
It’s a great way to get into further conversations with them before you follow the advice in our fourth tip and invite them to a free exercise class, for example.
Common ground could be:
• Shared hobbies away from the gym
• Similar taste in music
• Similar taste in films or TV shows
• Similar taste in books
• Follow the same sports
Bringing the above into conversation can be difficult if you haven’t spoken much before.
To make this stage more natural, try engaging in small talk first, such as discussing the weather or their plans for the weekend.
Remember, the main goal here is to find common ground, which at first could simply involve showing them you’re human too.
This is hugely important when building rapport as a personal trainer, as establishing a connection with potential clients will make them more likely to choose you over a PT they’ve barely spoken to yet.
4. Build Rapport By Offering A Free Exercise Workshop
This is hands down one of the most effective ways of building rapport as a personal trainer.
Once you’ve become acquainted with a potential client, you’ve set up the opportunity to indirectly showcase your services to them.
The process is simple. Create a short workshop focusing on an area of fitness you specialise in or one that aligns with the goals of the potential clients you’ve been talking to.
Then, around 15-20 minutes before you run it, approach the gym members (make sure they aren’t in the middle of a set or cardio session first) and politely invite them along.
Let them know it’s due to start soon and that it’s half an hour long and completely free of charge.
Not only is this more effective than delivering a hard sales pitch, but it also means that if potential clients aren’t interested, your relationship with them isn’t damaged.
They may still love what you’re offering and refer a friend interested in working with a personal trainer.
If they are interested, they’ll be much more likely to sign up with you over another personal trainer, especially since you’ve kindly given them free advice.
At the end of your workshop, give your attendees a strong CTA (call to action) to follow.
Don’t be afraid to let them know you’ve got an offer ending soon, and they’re welcome to sign up for a free consultation to learn more about your services.
5. Make Your Consultations Personal And Memorable
Your personal training consultations are your time to shine to prospective clients.
While their structure can vary, they are free sessions that allow you to discuss the client’s goals and show them how working with you will mean they achieve them.
They’re also the perfect opportunity for you to present your personal trainer packages and encourage them to sign up, and the only time you’ll be able to hard sell to potential clients.
If you’ve put effort into building rapport with potential personal training clients beforehand, you’ll find consultations much more effective.
But if you haven’t had a chance, you must put extra effort into making them personal and memorable to stand out against competitors and establish trust.
Follow our previous tips for building rapport with personal training clients and be an excellent active listener when discussing their goals.
Find out any special training requirements they have because of an injury or health issues and use strong examples of relevant clients you’ve worked with to demonstrate your previous successes.
6. Use Examples Of Client Successes
Another go-to method for building rapport as a personal trainer is to demonstrate the success current or past clients have had by working with you.
The key thing many trainers overlook is using a relevant testimonial for each person they’re selling to.
For example, if you’re talking to someone looking to gain muscle mass, you wouldn’t show them the progress of someone who lost three stone because their goal was weight loss.
It’s better to demonstrate the success of someone who started in the same position they are in. That way, they can visibly see the results you can help them achieve if they choose you as their trainer—you’d struggle to find a better way to sell your services.
7. Don’t Forget About Your Current Clients
Trust is key when building rapport with personal training clients. The more your client trusts you, the more they can open up and talk to you about their goals and even the barriers they face.
Be honest with them. If you think that their targets are too high, tell them. Push them if you think they aren’t working hard enough or can go even further. Don’t hide anything from your clients - they’ll thank you for it.
Going the extra mile for your clients is also vital for client retention. Show them the session doesn’t end when they go home. This will help convey to your client that you are there to help.
A friendly email asking how they are getting on or a text with a brief reminder of that 5k park run they should be doing this morning helps build a better working relationship with your client.
You could also point them to helpful books or podcasts or buy them a token gift for their birthday. Small, kind gestures can make your clients feel valued, which works wonders for retention.
Above all else, remember to always be an active listener, so your clients feel heard.
If they’re having a tough week, adapt their session accordingly. If their goals change, alter their workout plan and set specific goals to facilitate their progress.
How To Make A Workout Plan For Beginner Clients
Even as a certified personal trainer, designing workouts for beginners can be challenging.
On the one hand, you want to avoid overwhelming your client with complex exercises and training techniques.
On the other, your goal is to provide fun and rewarding workouts that have them motivated and trusting that your guidance will help them reach their fitness goals.
It’s a fine line between too much and not enough. Whether it’s your first time working with a new client or trying to refine your approach to
creating beginner’s workouts - this guide will help you immensely.
Understanding Your Client:-
Understanding your client is the first step in crafting an effective and engaging workout plan.
When working with a beginner client, you must approach them with sensitivity and awareness of their unique situation. The gym might be a second home to you, but it’s unknown territory for them. They often feel unsure, apprehensive, and afraid of failing.
It’s your job not only to design the workouts that will help them reach their goals but also to motivate them to stay on the right track.
After reading this article, you’ll be able to confidently craft an effective workout program that targets the entire body and ensures beginner clients feel accomplished and motivated.
Let’s break down how to fully understand your new client and to make each gym session successful and rewarding for both parties.
Establish a Baseline Fitness Level:-
One of the most important things when designing a workout program for beginners is ascertaining their current fitness level.
Are they fit and healthy from a physically active lifestyle or other sports, or have they been sedentary for years? The current fitness level of your client dramatically influences how you plan their introduction to strength training.
Start by evaluating muscle mass, muscle endurance, general health, and any previous weight training or exercise experience. Establishing this baseline level provides the best place to begin crafting a challenging and appropriate workout for your client’s status.
The number one thing you don’t want to do is to overwhelm them with too many exercises or too complex exercises.
Understand the Specific Needs of Your Client:-
Each client may have particular needs or constraints you must consider when designing workouts.
Understanding your client’s specific needs helps you design the best workout routine tailored to them.
Setting Goals – Together:-
Fitness goals guide your clients toward a healthier lifestyle
Always work with your clients, setting meaningful and achievable goals.
Discuss your client’s big-picture goal with them and break it down into concrete milestones, then design their workout around those.
Sometimes a client might come to you without clear goals. Then you work with them to establish both a long-term plan and meaningful short-term goals.
Whether it’s building a muscular physique, losing a few inches around the waist, increasing muscle endurance, or even simple goals like working out for a specific number of days of the week, clear goals set the direction for your workout design.
Identify Preferences and Limitations:-
Don’t give your clients a generic exercise program. Don’t assume that the primary movements that work for 90% of your clients will work for this particular client.
Designing the perfect beginner workout is not just about stacking the “best exercises” for all muscle groups together in a spreadsheet.
It’s also about what your client wants to do and enjoys doing. And when your client is a complete beginner, you’ll have to work with them to find that out.
Understanding what exercises the client enjoys or dislikes and any physical limitations they may have is critical to ensuring a successful gym workout. Successful, as in giving your client the desired results, being fun, and motivating them to reach the next milestone you’ve set together.
These preferences guide your exercise plan, making it more enjoyable and sustainable for them. Use them as a starting point and build the workout around them.
Building Trust and Rapport:-
Last but not least, making your client feel comfortable and understood is vital.
The first week of training can be intimidating, especially for complete beginners. As a personal trainer, you must ensure your client feels supported and encouraged.
Open communication, empathy, and encouragement can turn the gym into a space of growth and empowerment rather than a place of uncertainty and fear of being judged.
By taking the time to truly understand the client’s needs, preferences, goals, and limitations, you build the foundation for an effective workout plan.
A personalized approach ensures that each gym or home gym session is more than just an exercise routine. It’s a step towards a healthier life where your clients look forward to the next workout.
Whether it’s a long-time fitness enthusiast or someone new to the world of strength training, everyone benefits from this attentive, tailored approach. But it is particularly beneficial when designing workouts for beginners.
Crafting the Perfect Workouts for Beginners:-
When creating a workout plan tailored to beginner clients, you must carefully consider several factors, including their fitness level, specific needs, and goals, as discussed above.
Most beginners benefit the most and get the best results from a balanced approach that combines strength training, flexibility exercises as needed, and cardio workouts, all while keeping rest days and safety in mind.
Let’s take a detailed look at the essential components of workout design.
Strength Training:-
Strength training is the number one activity anyone can do to improve their health, fitness, and body composition. Properly programmed strength training can change lives, and the changes are most apparent in beginners.
These are some key points to consider when designing a beginner workout for your clients.
Keep detailed track of that progress. Keep logs of your clients’ weights, sets, and reps, then use that information to plan the intensity of upcoming workouts and adjust as needed.
Upper Body:-
Most upper-body exercises can be categorized into one of these four major movement patterns.
Consider them when designing an upper body workout.
Including a primary exercise from each category (not necessarily in every workout) effectively targets the entire upper body.
Examples of each category are the overhead press, lat pulldown, bench press, and barbell row.
They focus on the chest, shoulder, and back muscles while also targeting the biceps and triceps.
You can then add secondary exercises like bicep curls and tricep extensions to specifically target biceps and triceps, although it is not always needed.
Lower Body:-
For the lower body, these three movement patterns cover all major muscle groups:
Excellent primary exercise suggestions for the lower body include regular back squats, goblet squats, lunges, and Romanian deadlifts. They cover all three movement patterns and are great ways to engage the quads, glutes, and hamstrings.
Adding secondary movements like leg extensions, leg curls, and calf raises ensures a well-rounded lower-body session.
Again, more is not necessarily better. A beginner is often better off focusing on the basics, learning proper technique, and how to activate the muscles.
Full-Body Workouts
Training the entire body in one workout is often ideal for the beginner.
Full-body circuit workouts can be a lifesaver for clients with less time. A circuit workout combining both upper and lower body exercises is highly effective. You can also incorporate bodyweight exercises like push-ups and planks alongside weight training to engage the whole body.
Tertiary Exercises:-
Tertiary exercises are prehab or rehab exercises you can program into active rest between sets or place at the end of a workout, after the secondary exercises, if time permits.
An example of a tertiary exercise is band internal shoulder rotations to strengthen the rotator cuff muscles.
For rehabilitation purposes, working with a physical therapist is ideal for optimal transition from physical therapy to personal training.
Free Weights, Machines, or Both?:-
Free weights are often considered superior for producing strength-training results, providing flexibility in movement, and targeting various muscles.
However, recent research shows that free weights and machines are equally effective for strength and muscle growth.
Feel free to design workouts for beginners exclusively using free weights, machines, or a mix of both, depending on your client’s preferences and limitations.
For example, if your client is interested in the barbell squat and wants to get good at it, making the squat a primary exercise in their workouts is a no-brainer. However, there is no need to include it simply because it’s a revered exercise. There are no “must-do” exercises for most fitness goals.
Loading and Rep Ranges:-
Different rep ranges and training loads produce different adaptations, although significantly overlapping.
If your client wants maximum strength gains, they’ll mostly do low reps with heavy loads.
For clients looking to maximize muscle growth, most of the training will be in the medium range.
Training for strength and muscle growth is the way to go for fat loss, as losing fat is the result of your client’s diet, with complementary cardio if needed.
Start Slowly and Build Up Gradually:-
However, before starting your beginner client on heavy 3-rep deadlifts to failure, gently introduce them to weight training.
Instruct them on proper technique and form. Once they are familiar and comfortable with the movement, gradually adjust the load to fit the rep range corresponding to their goals.
For a beginner, 6–8 reps is an excellent starting range, particularly when it comes to compound movements involving several muscle groups.
Firstly, it’s great for building muscle and strength. But it also offers other significant benefits:
Once your client is comfortable with the key movements of your workouts, increase or decrease their rep range to align with their training goals.
Implementing Cardio:-
Cardiovascular fitness is an integral part of overall health. However, cardio isn’t always part of a personal training workout.
For example, someone whose primary goals include maximizing muscle and strength gain shouldn’t do too much cardio simultaneously.
Typically, you’ll prescribe aerobic exercise based on a client’s needs, and they will then perform the cardio independently.
How much, if any, cardio your client needs depends on many factors: their fitness level, their goals, and how physically active they are in general.
Starting with a gentle elliptical workout or a short session on the stationary bike can be an excellent way for sedentary clients and complete beginners to implement cardio. If their fitness levels are low, low-intensity cardio as a warm-up for the strength-training session can be enough to begin with.
As your client progresses, you can introduce higher-intensity options, such as high-intensity interval training, providing more challenging cardio sessions.
If they are beginners when it comes to lifting weights but engage in aerobic training regularly, they’ll likely prefer to handle cardio entirely on their own. If an endurance athlete comes to you for strength training coaching, you’ll have to adapt your workouts around their primary form of training to allow for optimal recovery.
For clients with fat loss as a primary goal, you can program 2–3 weekly cardio sessions to boost progress. Stress that losing fat is mainly a result of a healthy diet with calorie control, not exercise. For most people, fat loss through exercise alone is an exercise in futility.
Flexibility Training:-
Flexibility training focuses on stretching and elongating the muscles, promoting posture and movement.
Regular stretching is often said to form a vital part of active or passive recovery, aiding in delayed onset muscle soreness relief. However, there is very little evidence to support such claims.
It can complement strength training and cardio workouts by promot ing better functional performance, improving muscular balance, and possibly preventing injury.
That being said, including stretching as part of your workouts might not be necessary unless your client has a specific mobility issue that needs to be addressed and isn’t related to a medical condition (in which case a physical therapist should review it).
Strength Training Is Often Enough:-
Strength training using a full range of motion effectively improves flexibility to the point where general stretching may not be necessary.
In other words, ensure your clients perform all movements with a complete range of motion, as their mobility allows, and they will improve their flexibility and strength.
Suppose you do include specific flexibility training and strengthening in your workouts. In that case, simple routines targeting core muscles and whole-body stretches can be done on an exercise mat in the gym or as part of a home workout.
Rest and Recovery:-
Recovery and rest are fundamental elements in any workout plan, often overlooked but vital for the success of beginner clients.
Rest Days:-
Incorporating enough time for rest days is essential in any fitness program.
They allow the body to heal, muscle mass to grow, and help your client to adapt to your workouts by becoming stronger and fitter. Days off are not just about avoiding the gym workout but actively allowing the body to recuperate.
Active Recovery:-
The best recovery from a workout isn’t passive recovery like laying on the couch doing nothing.
While complete rest can be an essential part of coming back from an injury or sickness, active rest and recovery helps the body recover from exercise and prepare for the next workout.
Active recovery is a great way to keep the body moving without putting it under stress. Getting the heart rate up and blood flowing aids in muscle recovery, helps with muscle soreness, and keeps muscles flexible.
Activities like gentle cardio workouts on the elliptical trainer, brisk walking, or bike riding can maintain momentum without hindering recovery. Light stretching can also feel good.
In short: encourage your clients to stay physically active between personal training sessions.
Mental Health Considerations:-
Rest isn’t only about physical recovery.
Mental health plays an essential role in overall wellness. Rest days provide a chance to recharge mentally. The result is a more positive approach to training goals and general health.
Exercise releases stress hormones, which is a good thing that aids in training adaptation. But you must balance it with appropriate rest and recovery, or your client can end up burnt out, either physically, mentally, or both – particularly important to track with beginner clients.
Combining rest days and active recovery creates a well-rounded approach that allows your client’s body to heal and grow. Understanding the importance of rest and integrating it into your workout plan enhances their physical development and overall well-being.
Over time, that translates into a sustainable and successful path to fitness.
Safety First:-
Putting safety first is essential to designing workout programs for beginner clients. It ensures a strong foundation for their long-term success and well-being.
Strength training is a safe form of exercise compared to most other sports. However, injuries can happen, and avoiding them is in both your and your client’s best interest.
Good Form:-
Proper form is the cornerstone of safety. While a beginner might not handle heavy weights that can cause serious injury, it’s always prudent to learn the correct form in all exercises.
Whether performing bench presses, kettlebell swings, or bodyweight exercises, maintaining a correct posture and alignment during the movements prevents unnecessary strains and injuries.
Teaching good form from the first session sets the stage for successful training sessions.
Proper Equipment Use:-
From the free weights to the latest advanced workout machine, understanding and using the gym equipment correctly is vital.
Educating your clients about the right way to use the equipment minimizes risk and maximizes effectiveness. For a beginner, everything in the gym is new, and what is self-explanatory to you might be a mystery to them.
Understanding Your Client’s Limits:-
Recognizing and respecting your client’s physical limitations is critical. Pushing too hard or lifting much weight too soon can lead to injuries.
On the other end of the spectrum, some clients want to go faster than their bodies are ready for. In those cases, your job is to explain the importance of gradually increasing training intensity and volume.
Starting with a light weight and gradually progressing ensures a safe and effective workout.
By prioritizing safety, you create an environment where your clients build strength and fitness without fear of injury, laying a solid foundation for continuous progress and results.
Warming Up:-
Including a proper warm-up before workouts makes for a smooth transition into intense activities like lifting weights.
Warming up raises overall body temperature and enhances blood circulation to the muscles, setting the stage for optimal performance. It also improves flexibility and sharpens concentration.
Though your client may be keen to dive into your strength training workout, encourage a few minutes to warm up properly. Don’t trust your client to warm up independently when they are a beginner. Instead, include a short but effective warm-up in your sessions.
During the first weeks with an untrained beginner client, exercise-specific warm-ups are less necessary, as the working weight should be light enough in itself.
A cool down following a workout can be included if your client likes it, but it is not necessary for other reasons.
Feedback And Progress:-
Monitoring feedback and tracking progress is essential in ensuring your fitness program aligns with your client’s fitness goals and specific needs.
Here’s how to effectively implement this aspect into your workout plan.
Regular Check-Ins:-
Regular meetings with your client to discuss how the workout program is feeling, what they’re enjoying, and what might be challenging is a great way to keep the lines of communication open.
It’s also the best place to assess if you need to adjust your exercise routine, weight training intensity, or even rest days to further your client’s progress.
Check-ins can be either in the gym or in an online setting.
Progress Tracking:-
Keeping a record of improvements in strength, weight loss, or muscular endurance allows you and your client to see how far they’ve come.
Whether it’s an increase in reps, lifting more weight, or simply feeling more energetic, tracking these changes provides motivation and insight into what’s working.
When something’s not working, having a training log to consult makes it much easier to adjust the necessary variables to kick-start progress again.
Personal training software (which you can find here) can be a great option for tracking progress for in-person and online training programs. You can record your client’s performance, such as the rep range, rest periods, and weight used in a session, making it easy to plan the next workout.
Such functionality is especially beneficial for online personal training.
Flexible Adjustments:-
Based on feedback and progress, your workout plan should be adaptable.
Whether it’s modifying the number of exercises, introducing new challenges like higher intensity training techniques, adjusting rep schemes, or changing the workout day focus, flexibility ensures that your plan meets your client’s evolving needs.
Keeping your workouts fresh keeps motivation high.
However, don’t change your workouts for the sake of change alone.
Your workouts should be repetitive enough to promote specific training adaptations and make it easy to track progress.
Balance that repetitiveness with enough variety to keep things fun for your client. Preventing staleness is essential for motivation.
Utilize Technology And Social Media:-
Tools like fitness apps or a personal trainer’s social media channels can provide additional support and encouragement.
Sharing success stories, workouts, or engaging in an online community is a great way to foster a sense of achievement and belonging.
Recognizing and celebrating not just physical but also mental and emotional growth is essential for a successful coach and personal trainer.
Acknowledging increased confidence, better mental health, or even the simple joy of committing to regular exercise adds a deeper dimension to the fitness journey.
Building A Long-Term Coach/Client Relationship
Building a lasting relationship with your client is one of the best things to sustain their fitness journey.
Ensuring that they feel supported and heard, and adapting the plan as their life changes, turns a short-term gym session into a mutually rewarding partnership in health.
Most clients will likely only work with you until they reach their fitness goals. But as a great personal trainer, you’ll leave them with the tools for a lifelong commitment to health and well-being.
This dynamic and responsive approach leads to a sense of partnership and trust, making the workout experience more rewarding and effective in the short and long run. It is not just about the number of sets or the type of exercises but about creating a meaningful and lasting impact on your client’s life.
Putting Theory into Practice: Example Workout Design:-
Let’s design a fun and effective workout for a hypothetical client to round things off.
Our client is a 50-year-old female who has never tried strength training before.
We’ll focus on a well-rounded and progressive program that considers her goals and current fitness level.
Here’s a 4-week plan to get her started:
Weeks 1–2: Foundation and Adaptation
Warm-Up (5–10 minutes)
Strength Training:-
She’ll start with 2–3 sets of 6–8 repetitions for each exercise. Make sure she starts with lighter weights and focuses on proper form. There is no need to go anywhere near failue on any set.
Cardio (10–20 minutes)
Choose a cardio option she enjoys, like brisk walking or cycling, and aim for steady-state cardio. Gradually increase the duration as she gets comfortable.
Weeks 3–4: Progressive Intensity
Warm-Up
Same as weeks 1–2.
Strength Training
Increase her weights slightly and aim for 2-3 sets of 8-10 repetitions for each exercise. The last rep should be a bit of a struggle, still focusing on controlled movements and proper form.
There is still no need for secondary, single-joint exercises. At this point, we’re activating her body after a 10-year slumber and focusing on multi-joint movements for the major muscle groups to wake her body.
Cardio
Increase the intensity of her cardio sessions, incorporating intervals (e.g., alternate between 2 minutes of moderate pace and 1 minute of faster pace).
The faster-paced minute should not be exhausting, but she should be breathing hard at the end of them.
After the First Month
Progression is key. After the initial four weeks, you can increase the weight gradually, adjust repetitions, and introduce new exercises to keep her program challenging and effective.
Also, nutrition plays a crucial role in achieving her weight loss goals, so provide guidance on a balanced and calorie-controlled diet that supports her training efforts.
Always encourage her to listen to her body and get adequate rest between sessions.
Of course, this is just an example of workout programming for a beginner client and one without any significant hurdles to work around, but it should give you a foundation to build on.
Final Words:-
Designing personal training programs for beginners requires a multi-faceted approach.
Every detail matters, from understanding your client’s fitness level and specific needs to creating an effective workout plan.
By keeping the steps outlined in this article, you ensure that your clients receive the best workout routine, whether it’s in a gym environment or online. You’re set to create a tailored fitness program that will become a long-time asset for your clients, leading them to success.
By understanding the specific needs of beginner clients and implementing them in your workout programming, you ensure their physical and mental health.
Fitness is a long journey, and every workout day is a step closer to optimal results.
6 Top Tips For Reconnecting With Lapsed Clients
1. Don’t Take It Personally
There are many reasons why a client might decide they no longer want to work with you. While it’s possible this could be due to a personality clash, there are in fact a whole host of much more common and practical reasons that could influence their choice. For example, there might have been a change in working hours that includes shift rotas or night time working, a changing financial situation such as moving home or a loss of income, new family commitments could crop up or maybe they just want a change of scenery.
After spending hours building a rapport and brainstorming workout ideas, it can feel like a kick in the teeth to suddenly be rejected by a client. However, personal trainer Julia Willmott explains that it’s important to be philosophical about it. “When I first started out in the business, I couldn’t help but take it personally when a client decided to leave,” Julia admits. “But over the years, I’ve learnt to be more philosophical about it.
It can be a great opportunity to improve your service and do even better with the next client. Rather than take this personally, I’m really happy to have been a part of their journey back to health.” So pick yourself up, dust yourself off and get ready for your next session.
2. Offer Something New
A client may decide they want to leave because they have reached the goal they originally set out to achieve with you, so one way to re-engage lost clientele is to offer them a brand new service. Be creative and think of ways you can attract ex-clients without sticking to the original one-to-one format.
Fitness media marketing expert Yvonne Radley advises: “Try creating some upsells like retreats or extreme training in small groups to add a competitive nature, maybe even get a group together to compete in an event. Don’t look at getting clients back to continue where they left off, instead help them progress by offering them a different level.”
Julia Willmott agrees, explaining that clients who leave her small group Pilates sessions may book onto one-day retreats or workshops instead. She adds: “Keeping them in the loop regarding new ventures is vital.”
3. Keep In Touch
It’s always worth keeping in touch with ex-clients in case their situation changes and they’d like to work with you again in the future, or even refer your services to a friend or family member. They may start training for an event and want an extra hand with specific drills to help them gain a new PB or maybe a promotion at work gives them the additional income they need to fit in a few gym-based sessions with you. Julia uses emails and Facebook as her main ports of call for linking with current and past clients, maintaining a mailing list so she can easily send out blogs and recipe ideas to give them inspiration.
Celebrity trainer and award-winning author Christianne Wolff agrees: “My ezine is my second biggest tool [after PR], so I always build my audience and write good content.” Other tricks to stay in touch include social media posts and Facebook live videos.
“My lapsed clients are on my mailing list and they always get back in touch after a while, even if it’s been 10 years! This week, I had three clients get back in touch to train over the summer and it was just as my other clients were all on holiday, so it was perfect,” she continues.
4. Be Visible
Maintaining an active, public profile that showcases you as an industry expert in your field is a great way of keeping you fresh in the minds of clients who may have otherwise walked away. Christianne ties this in with her marketing strategy, writing for the national press on a weekly or monthly basis as well as distributing leaflets, utilising Facebook ads, providing free webinars and taking on public speaking engagements at events. All this reinforces your image as the go-to trainer in your area, as well as giving you the opportunity to showcase any specialities or niche know-how you have. This gives past clients the chance to get to know you again and see what new skills you may have picked up since you last trained them.
Julia Wilmott has also seen success with this method, explaining: “I also find that keeping a presence in the local press helps, and clients often come back to me having been ‘reminded’ of my services in a local magazine or paper.”
5. Fine-Tune Your Marketing
Having a succinct marketing message in place is vital to reach out and connect with your clients, whether you are looking to attract new members, engage the ones you already have or reconnect with clients of sessions gone by. Having a targeted message that you can relay and have them relate to can help lapsed clients rejoin the fold, as they are reminded what you are all about as a trainer and what you can offer them.
Yvonne Radley states that to be really successful with your marketing, you need to understand your clients inside out. “You have to talk directly to your client and their issues,” she emphasises. “Next, you need to highlight the benefits of working with you – how can you help them? And the one most people forget is a plain and simple call to action – click this link to buy now or call me on this number or give me your email address. You have to have a clear path for them to engage with you in some way.”
Other strategies you might want to employ include showcasing testimonials that your clients can relate to. Yvonne advises steering clear of using your own physique as an example, as many new clients may find this intimidating rather than motivational.
6. Client Retention
Client retention is all about keeping your clients happy and delivering on your side of the bargain. Christianne Wolff emphasises that simple etiquette can go a long way. Being on time, not cancelling sessions last minute, having a good energy and being positive, varied training routines and showing them how far they have come since starting their fitness journey are all crucial etiquette extras. “Sometimes I will also make nice gestures like baking some lovely sugar-free cakes or making them a healthy smoothie,” she adds.
Yvonne Radley agrees that these distinguishing little extras can make all the difference to make a client happy. “It doesn’t have to be grand gestures,” she explains. “Lollipops on a hot day, daffodils for all the mums on Mother’s Day, nights out, extra workshops, the list is pretty endless. But it’s all much cheaper than trying to recruit new people with advertising, whether that’s online or offline.”
Christianne Wolff adds that it’s important to ask how a client is feeling at the beginning of a session so that the workout is tailored to their energy levels. She also throws in meditation and mindset work too, to ensure clients are in a positive frame of mind when they see her.
Interestingly, Christianne also comments that sometimes, you are ready to part ways with a client, and that’s fine too. “What’s important is that they leave at the right time. We have all clung on to clients for dear life, even if we don’t enjoy their company and they suck the life out of us at every session because we would rather do that than find a new client, which is madness.”
Julia Willmott, on the other hand, notes that client retention has formed the basis of her personal training business: “Retaining clients means that we can really drill down to what they need and want in terms of their fitness and health, enabling me to give bespoke sessions which are sometimes lacking in the ‘one size fits all’ nature of larger gym-based classes.”
Ramp Up Your Marketing To Engage Lapsed Clients
The Real Reason People Pay Personal Trainers (It’s NOT For The Training)
You’ve already taught them the exercises they need to do. They know how often they’re supposed to work out. They know how they should eat.
Do you ever wonder why clients continue to show up to your training sessions, day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year?
Everything is in place for them to reach their goals, so why do they still need you?
Sure, part of it is your great personality. But there’s something deeper.
What’s the thing they can’t do themselves, the thing that makes the trainer-client relationship so powerful, the thing that enables clients to get results? One word: Accountability.
To create real change, clients need to go out of their comfort zone... and stay there.
That’s not easy to do on your own, even if you have all the knowledge you need. And so they turn to you to keep them on track.
Great news for you, because it keeps you in business.
But what if you could provide that support and consistency clients need without having to physically meet with them and guide them through each training session?
You’re still providing a vital service - accountability - that clients will absolutely still value and pay for.
But you’re doing it more efficiently, saving time that you can use to serve more clients (or take a much-needed break!).
Providing valuable services that
...is the whole point of online coaching! - more to come on this article soon.
Why Become An Online Personal Trainer?
The question of why and how to become an online personal trainer is very easy to answer.
TIME – simply put, with person to person training you can only train a certain amount of people in one day which basically limits your daily earning potential.
MONEY – it’s a simple formula:-
Person To Person Training - You train person to person and work a 9 hour day charging £XXX per client (9 multiplied by £XXX = your daily wage, multiplied by the number of days you work a month = your monthly wage). The difficulty here is having having 9 different clients a day 5-6 days a week and being able to train them consistently, perhaps at different locations!!
To Become An Online Personal Trainer - You create your online personal trainer website and then create online personal training courses with a monthly subscription charging £XXX per month per client (Unlimited amount of clients multiplied by £XXX per month per client = your monthly wage). Then you up sell and offer Weekly Check In Videos & Customised Nutrition plans.
Of course you still may want to train clients person to person, but concentrating your efforts to online Personal Training is an option that will see your career and financial situation improve significantly.
So the question now might be "how do I create my online personal trainer website". For fitness professionals, becoming an online personal trainer is one of the most sought after approaches to get more clients and make more money.
With the rise of technology in the use of apps and smartphones, more and more people are turning to online Personal Trainers.
The advantages of online personal training include easy access to expert advice, it’s less expensive than face-to-face personal training and you are free to train any time, anywhere.
OK – So Now Here’s Even More Good News. You Can:-
Create Your Website In Minutes.
No design skills needed - Just point & click your way through the ready-made, fully customizable templates to build your awesome online academy in no time without the development time and hassle.
Capture Your Clients Attention Like Never Before
Supercharge your videos with vivid interactions and without post-production. Add dozens of interactions to your videos with just a click𑁋text, images, thumbnails, watermarks, and a lot more. You can even pick a skin to jazz up your video player.
Create interactive videos that keep your learners hooked until the very end. Make your videos come to life with interactivity and keep your clients glued to their screens. Experience the power of interactive videos in online coaching.
Personalized Coaching
Craft memorable personal experiences with 1:1 and group sessions. Coach your clients, showcase your expertise, build trust & confidence and increase client retention.
Multiple Types Of Payment Options
Make it easy for your clients to buy your online courses by accepting one-time payments, offering subscriptions with Stripe, and creating payment plans to sell courses or bundles with instalments.
Subscriptions For All Types Of Customer Audiences
Offer subscription packages with different access levels to suit different client needs in exchange for accessing exclusive drip content, your online community and more!
Click Here To Get Your Online Personal Trainer Website Up & Running Today - For FREE
What Makes A Great Fitness Instructor?
It’s one of the most intriguing questions: what qualities should a great fitness instructor possess? More importantly, how do these qualities help them motivate, inspire and retain clients?
While there isn’t a short answer to these questions, we’ve earmarked a few attributes that separate the A-list fitness instructors from the rest.
Punctuality, Preparation And Professionalism
If you’re late for a class, this could put your clients off exercising before they’ve started. More accurately, it could put them off exercising with you. Needless to say, losing clients to other trainers because of poor timekeeping reflects very poorly on you.
Not keeping people waiting is tip number one, and tip number two is to be prepared. From music selection to choreography, every element of your class needs to be researched and planned to a tee. Otherwise, it looks like you don’t take client satisfaction seriously.
Lastly, professionalism is key. You need to look and act like a top fitness instructor if you want to be one. There are the basics like good personal hygiene and clean clothing, and how you interact with clients is crucial. Your sessions should be enjoyable, but they should not be compromised by too much story-telling or chit-chat. You need to occasionally keep a distance to get the best out of your class.
Education, Education, Education
As in most professions, the fitness instructors who go furthest are the ones who strive to continue learning. After all, your job is to encourage people to be the best versions of themselves. Therefore, why wouldn’t you apply this principle to your career?
You might have a Level 2 certificate or Level 3 Diploma in Fitness Instructing, but this can only take you so far. Not gaining further qualifications limits who you can work with and the services you can provide.
For example, what if a client came to you with questions about nutrition and weight management, but you weren’t equipped with the knowledge to provide detailed and helpful advice on this subject? What if you didn’t have the sufficient qualifications to take on pre and postnatal clients, and lost potential female clients to another instructor?
Gaining specialist qualifications not only makes you a great fitness instructor, it positions you as the go-to expert on some key topics. Thankfully, there are many different courses which can take your career to new heights.
Great Communication Skills
When we say that the best fitness instructors are great communicators, this doesn’t mean incessantly barking out orders. A great fitness instructor is someone who builds a relationship of mutual understanding and trust through clear communication.
According to Albert Mehrabian’s 7-38-55 Rule of Personal Communication, 55% of how we communicate is through body language, 38% is through tone of voice, and 7% is through the words used. Therefore, you should always consider how your body language and tone of voice communicate your verbal instructions.
Some examples of good body language include adopting an open posture, maintaining eye contact and using physical contact where appropriate. For instance, guiding them through an exercise, or giving out a motivational high-five! Which ties in nicely with our next top tip…
The Ability To Motivate
You might be the greatest communicator in the world, but this doesn’t mean everyone will respond to your instructions with the same enthusiasm. Throughout your career, you will encounter people who are lacking in self-confidence and take time to learn certain exercises. Or, they simply aren’t sold on the idea of exercise altogether.
There are several strategies you can adopt to make these people feel valued and reiterate that what they’re doing is worthwhile. Giving out praise (even for the smallest accomplishment), showing a genuine interest in the progress of your clients and hammering home the benefits of each exercise are all key parts of the learning process.
One way of not only motivating your clients is to buy them an unexpected present when they complete one of their goals. This will help them find that extra 1% when they’re in the middle of a workout!
The more motivational you are, both regarding verbal and non-verbal communication, the more positive your clients will feel within themselves and the more likely they are to keep coming back to your classes.
A Sensitive And Friendly Approach
The most common adjectives you read in most fitness instructor job descriptions are ‘friendly’ and ‘approachable’. The simple reason for this is that no two clients are the same. Some people are self-starters, others need a bit of a push. Some people learn exercises quickly; others take more time.
Most people who are performing exercises for the first time are likely to have a few questions along the way. On top of this, certain clients can be very sensitive and may feel uncomfortable in a new environment. As such, you need to come across as someone who is always willing to help and can provide the ‘arm around the shoulder’ treatment when needed.
This should apply before, during and after sessions. While you want to motivate your clients, you also need to realise their physical and mental limitations and tailor their workouts accordingly. Achieving the correct balance between pushing them and letting them learn at their own pace is therefore vital in shaping people’s perceptions of you.
An Up-To-Date Knowledge Of Industry Trends
As a fitness instructor, it’s essential to keep your finger on the pulse when it comes to the latest trends. Exercise is evolving all the time, so it pays to be on top of what’s going on in your industry.
Podcasts and webinars from leading influencers will provide you with useful information which you can take into your class. What about contacting other instructors to ask for their advice, or attending networking events?
You can also set up Google Alerts for any topics that are relevant to you. All you need is a Google Account, and you’re good to go. As an example, just type in ‘fitness trends’ and then you’ll receive notifications every time an article featuring these keywords appears online.
Avoiding Unnecessary Risks
The importance of this last tip cannot be overstated. Even if you meet the above criteria, it counts for nothing if you don’t have the right insurance. You are unlikely to be permitted to work on a gym floor without fitness instructor insurance, and with good reason.
Let’s say you were training a class and a client injured themselves, holding you responsible and claiming against you. If you didn’t have Public Liability, you wouldn’t be covered and could be forced to pay hefty legal costs. What’s more, your business and reputation could be affected in the long run.
12 Roles And Responsibilities Of A Personal Trainer
When it comes to the roles and responsibilities of a personal trainer, there’s far more to the job than you may realise.
Not only must trainers complete a set of daily tasks to ensure the smooth running of their business, but they are leading clients on a journey of improved fitness and self-confidence.
Want to know more about this exciting career path? Here you’ll find the roles of a personal trainer and their responsibilities to themselves and their clients.
The main roles and responsibilities of a personal trainer
1. Complete Fitness Assessments With New Clients
Fitness assessments are crucial for gauging a client’s current fitness level and help you determine an action plan for getting them in shape.
An assessment will usually include:
Testing your clients this way will allow you to track their progress whilst training with you. This is important for maximising your client’s results and can help to boost your personal training client retention.
2. Run One-To-One Training Sessions
One of the major roles and responsibilities of being a personal trainer is leading one-to-one training sessions with your clients.
They usually last between 40-60 minutes and are structured based on the personalised fitness programme of the client in question.
The personal trainer will complete exercise demonstrations during the session, count reps and sets, check exercise form, and ultimately keep their clients motivated.
3. Create Tailored Fitness Programmes
You will design tailored programmes for your clients using the results from their fitness assessment and taking their personal fitness goals into account.
This includes clients who have injuries, long-term health conditions or disabilities that could affect their performance.
A reputable trainer understands that every client is unique and strives to give their undivided attention when creating and administering personalised advice.
4. Offer Nutritional Guidance
Most clients will expect nutritional advice from their trainer to assist them with their fitness goals.
This is one of the most rewarding roles of a personal trainer, as it involves helping clients make healthier choices that positively impact their long-term health and fitness.
However, it’s important to remember that PTs cannot create meal plans that directly aid clients with medical conditions. Any recommendations you make should only aid clients with a fitness-related goal.
As a rule of thumb, personal trainers must not seek to:
Only Registered Dieticians (RDs) can provide advice that does the above.
Be careful about how you phrase your advice, and make sure you get specialist personal trainer insurance to protect you in the event of a claim.
5. Track Client Progress
Another of the major role and responsibilities of a personal trainer is tracking client progress from session to session.
By doing this, you can assess how effective the programme is in helping your client reach their goals and make any necessary adjustments.
It also gives your clients visibility into the value your service is providing and encourages them to keep training with you.
Progress tracking can be done in many ways, but one of the most popular is inputting data into a personal training app. This way, the client can easily visualise their journey so far in the form of a map or graph – you can get your own personal training app which you can try free for 30 days, no credit card required right here.
To maximise client satisfaction, you can also track their mental progress.
Record how they’re feeling in each session as well as their weight, BMI, and body fat percentage, and they’ll be able to see the overall impact you’re having on their life.
6. Educate And Motivate Clients
Transparency is key to educating your clients on how to structure and maintain a fitness routine.
There is a lot of value to be found in teaching vs telling. Your role as a personal trainer is to ignore the urge to simply tell your clients what to do.
Many trainers believe this will reduce their retention rates. But what they don’t know is clients will value those who explain the ‘why’ behind their programme, as understanding this will keep them motivated and ultimately help them see better results.
As you continue to educate them on advanced training methods and their results surpass their expectations, they’ll only want you to push them further.
They’ll realise the value of your teaching and that they couldn’t possibly achieve what they have done alone. Plus, you will fulfil your role as a PT in transforming their perception of fitness.
7. Administrative Tasks
What is the role of a personal trainer beyond working with clients? It may not be what you want to hear, but admin is necessary to ensure the smooth running of any business.
If you’re a freelance trainer, you can expect to spend time:
8. Marketing
As a personal trainer, developing your marketing skills is necessary for standing out against competitors. This is especially true if you’re freelance or plan on taking your services online.
Targeting a niche fitness market is a great approach, as becoming the go-to expert in that area will help you build a dedicated client base. It’ll also make your job of marketing your services easier.
Learning social media marketing and SEO for personal trainers will also help you get ahead of the game. Ranking for keywords that those in your local area will be searching for, such as ‘personal trainer for seniors’, is invaluable to your business.
9. Performing Risk Assessments
Ensuring client safety is one of a personal trainer’s most important roles and responsibilities.
You can do this through a thorough risk assessment of the environment you’re training in and considering multiple factors surrounding the participants themselves.
The process should look something like this:
Roles And Responsibilities Of Personal Trainers In 2024
We’ve covered the major roles of a personal trainer above. Still, the following points are certainly worth looking at if you want to have a successful and long-lasting career as a fitness professional.
It’s your job to ensure that every client you cross paths with has a positive experience, as making an impact on how others view their fitness is what it’s all about. It’s what keeps clients coming to you and ultimately makes fitness accessible to everyone.
10. Acting As A Positive Role Model
Personal training clients seek your advice because they need help with their fitness.
There can be many reasons behind this, but it’s usually because they’re either new to exercise or struggling to motivate themselves.
By presenting yourself as an upbeat and motivated individual that practises what they preach, you will gain their trust and find it much easier to keep them engaged with their programme.
You don’t have to be in peak physical shape, but it helps if you have a healthy mindset towards training and good self-esteem, as this will naturally rub off on your clients.
It would help if you also were selective on what you tell your clients about your personal life and always remain professional. This includes your behaviour on social media!
11. Encouraging Self-Acceptance In Clients
It’s no secret that the fitness industry has been under fire in the past for influencing people to see weight loss as the ultimate goal.
Nowadays, the roles and responsibilities of a personal trainer should be to discourage this mindset and instead focus on boosting their client’s self-esteem during every step of their journey.
Your sessions should leave your clients feeling strong and empowered, rather than resentful towards their current body.
Not only is this the best approach for your business due to how authentic you’ll appear, but you’ll be setting your clients up for a positive relationship with exercise and nutrition for the rest of their lives.
12. Making Inclusivity A Focus
Making your services inclusive and actively showing prospective clients that you’re open to adapting your sessions for anyone will truly make you stand out.
In recent years, the fitness industry has taken strides towards becoming more progressive, largely due to personal trainers spreading awareness of various social issues on social media.
James Smith, who started out working as a regular PT in his home town, is a great example of this. He’s now a No. 1 Sunday Times best-selling author and has 915k followers on Instagram.
This is largely due to his no-nonsense approach to fitness. He is well-known for spreading awareness of how the menstrual cycle affects exercise for women, which was never widely considered in such a male-dominated industry.
If you show your willingness to make walking into your sessions an empowering experience for everyone, you’re truly living up to your role as a PT.
Who Are Savvy Personal Trainer???
The Fitness/Personal Trainer Industry is growing at a phenomenal rate and sometimes it can be hard to keep up and navigate the industry when it comes to the latest requirements, news, software and idea’s - generally speaking a way to move your fitness business forward.
We launched www.savvypersonaltrainer.com as an online resource for those in the fitness industry where they can easily access all of their essential requirements on one website, from Creating An Online Personal Trainer Website, Getting Insurance, Personal Trainer - Coaching Apps to Footwear & Clothing, Training Equipment and much more.
Our full list of resources are on our home page and can also be accessed by clicking on the (Take Me To - button) on the Home Page header.
Whether Your An Established Fitness/Personal Trainer Or New Start Business Trying To Navigate Starting Up A New Venture – We’ve Listed Some Fantastic Resources To Help You Start Building Your New Empire Or To Grow Your Existing One.
We Hope You Find Our Website Useful And Wish You All The Best In Building Your Fitness Empire.
It’s Your Time To Win
How To Motivate Your Clients To Achieve More – Be SMART!
As a Personal Trainer your job is to get the most out of your clients and maximise results no matter how big or small their goal is. They’ve called on you to help, and it’s down to you to unlock their door that leads to progression.
One of the biggest ‘doors’ that prevent people from achieving what they want is motivation. Or to be more precise: a lack of motivation. Without motivation, will power and downright grit and determination, goals will fall by the way side, results will flounder and progression will come to a standstill. One of your jobs, as a Personal Trainer, is to ensure this never happens, and it’s all about being SMART.
Be SMART!
Goal setting is one of the most effective tools to keep motivation levels high. However, it’s not as easy it seems. Get it wrong, and your client’s motivation will significantly suffer. A popular method to use when setting goals is the SMART formula. Follow this and you shouldn’t go wrong.
Set (S)pecific goals. The more specific goals are, the more motivating they will be. For example, telling your client that you want them to lose one stone in six weeks is a precise statement with a finite outcome. Both you and they know from the start what the end goal is.
Set (M)easurable goals. It can be easy for you and your client to set goals that are too vague. Wanting to become fitter or weigh less doesn’t work. How much fitter do they want to become? How much weight do they want to lose? Charting and documenting development is clear and measurable and will help you and your client identify your progression.
Set (A)djustable goals. Goals that are set in stone can put too much pressure on both you and your client, which may have a detrimental effect on motivation. For example, what happens if your client feels sick or gets injured? Problems like these may require training to be put on hold, which could have a huge effect on goals. On the other hand, if a goal is too easily achievable, it may need to be raised. Targets that aren’t challenging will affect motivation.
Set (R)ealistic goals. Setting an end goal that is unreachable will have absolutely no benefit. Forever striving to reach a target that is unobtainable will exhaust both you and your client and leave you deflated once the goal hasn’t been achieved. Set targets that can be reached, but require hard work. Goals that are too easy – losing 3lbs in six weeks – will leave your client unfilled and bored. Remember, by following the SMART principle, you can always adjust them.
Set (T)ime-based goals. Breaking down goals into shorter goals (stepping stones) will help maintain focus and motivation. For example, let’s say you and your client have identified that you want to lose one stone in six weeks. Now this may seem like a big target, but by breaking it down into shorter weekly goals, i.e. 2.3lbs a week, makes it feel much more achievable and will help keep you both motivated and more likely to stick to it.
Remember, goals and targets help create structure for both you and your client. Without them, training sessions will become less effective, your client may become disinterested, and you too could lose motivation. Be SMART will help you motivate your clients to achieve more.