Training Clients for Results
By Kelli Calabrese
Your success as a personal trainer ultimately depends on your ability to produce impressive before and afters of your clients. I just got back from teaching a seminar and am always surprised at trainers who place the blame on their clients for failing. While responsibility does of course need to be taken by the client, I hope you would agree that there is more we can do as trainers to empower, support and coach our clients towards success.
If you understand the basics of exercise and nutrition sciences, you know enough to physicolgically change someones body. So, why do more people fail than succeed? Why don’t more people look like the models on the covers of fitness magazines? Why is obesity rising at epidemic proporitions?
This article will focus on what you as a fitness professional can do to create positive physical change with your clients, along with the tools for a rewarding career.
Many clients are failing because of the E-Factor. The E-Factor has to do with expediency. People strive to get things the fastest and easiest way possible with little immediate concern for long term consequence of their actions. Exercise and eating wholesome and nutritious foods are a bit of a slower road when compared to today’s touted solutions such as fat burners and surgery, which promise fast, simple effective results. We know that lasting change takes longer, but is guaranteed, safe and effective. We can help clients get past false beliefs, however we must first master the C-Factor!
The C-Factor is communication and its one of the greatest reasons trainers are failing. Communication is imperative to coaching clients towards results. It’s something we are not necessarily taught in our primary certifications, nor is it developed naturally for some. How we communicate is largely taught by our parents. Communication is learnable and can be mastered. If you think about trainers who you aspire to, they are likely have become highly skilled at communicating.
Those trainers who have exceptional and increasing communication skills and sincerely are passionate about fitness have hit the sweet spot. Most every trainer I know has become a fitness professional out of a passion to help people become fit. Yet, so many trainers are frustrated by their careers. The passion is not teachable, but the communication skills are!
Communication can measure up to 85% of your Success. Clients want to be liked and respected- Clients want to feel valuable
- You want to be able to persuade clients
- You want to get clients to change their minds
- Be more powerful and effective
- IQ
- EQ
– interact and effect lives of other people
– the ability to persuade – instead of being persuaded
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
- People are selfish – think about themselves all the time – needs, hungers, appetites, desires
– Start out with them and their wants
– Get out of yourself and into the mind of your clients
– Can persuade if you can do something for them (or prevent something from happening to them)
- Desire for gain – act towards self improvement (material, physical and most importantly emotional gain.)
- Most basic needs are covered – affluent society
- Emotional Motivation status, presitige, love, warmth, value, self esteem – can give those
- Fear of Loss
- Emotional loss – loss of approval, loss of love
- Find out what they desire to gain
- Find out what they fear to lose
- Motivated 2.5X’s more to avoid loss than to gain
- Best rule is use both – if you train with me you get X if you don’t you get X
- Personal Power – can create, earn, carry yourself as though you are important and respected
- Positioning – how people think and talk about you, your reputation, how are you described?
- Persuasion – ability to influence
- Politeness – kind, courtesy, respect
- Acceptance – respond to need for unconditional acceptance - smile
- Appreciation – thank people
- Admiration – compliment
- Approval – praise –be specific – be immediate
- Attention – to ignore is sole destroying
- Lean forward
- Don’t interrupt
- Pause before replying
- What do you mean exactly
- The person who asks questions has control
- And then what did you do / say?
- How did you feel about that?
- Feed it back and paraphrase it in your own words
- Body language – 55% of message – 1st impression
- Tone of voice – 38% of message
- Words – 7% - words you use to convince or persuade – least important
- Relator – introverted & people oriented
- Analyzer – introverted & task oriented
- Director – extrovert & task oriented
- Socializer – extrovert & people oriented
– Determine personality
– Change your own mental & physical gears
- Everything counts – everything ads up or takes away
- Keep promises, be trust worthy, punctual
- Dependability – foundation of trust
- Consistency over time
- Clients weigh and measure everything
- Look the part – 90% visual
- Be prepared
- Make clients feel important
- Education
- Coaching Skills
- F.E.A.R. of having Nutrition Conversations
- Clients need
– A plan / system - Education
- Nutrition
- Behavior change
- Exercise
– Make your proposal the most expedient for the time to get them to take action
- Trainers need
– To position themselves as experts
– To be paid for their time
– Accept responsibility for clients success
– A strategy
– To work on communication and coaching skills
- Know What People Really want
- Establish a Position of authority
- Focus not on “the Workout” but on the “Result”
- Take Responsibility for Your Own Success and Master Influence Skills
- Deliver More Value Than People Expect
- People choose what, when & why to change based on being ready, willing and able.
- Change is not linear – people cycle through stages of change
- Identify missing or weak links to change
- Vision Phase– foundation for change
– Self awareness & responsibility
– Strengths - look for other successes in their life
– Values – the way people view change
– Benefits & information – identify, explore, prioritize & emotionally connect – timely education
– Obstacles & strategies
- Preparation Phase
– Confidence – to sustain behavior in the face of obstacles – important!!!
– Commitment – verbal and or written
– Support – positive feedback
– Plan – details – describe, schedule, prepare update, track, set goals
- Action Phase
– Behavioral steps – choose, refine, commit to 3 month behavioral goals – in small steps
– Problem solving- opportunities to learn and grow
– Rewards – reinforce motivation and confidence. Observe, enjoy & celebrate
- Results Phase
– Lasting Change – the big pay off!
– Relapse Prevention – life is full of change, work to keep positive behaviors – be a role model for others
– The real me – uncover the person under the emotional and physical weight.
- Share Basic Understandable Truth
- Measure Receptiveness
- Identify Obstacles
- Consistency in Information Delivery is Vital
- Shatter False Beliefs
- Progression is Key / Perfection is Impossible
- Understand the relationship between calories and energy
- The differences between natural complex carbohydrates and bleached, processed, refined carbohydrates,
- The fundamental roles of proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, minerals, and water.
- Perform a fitness assessment and regular re-assessments
- Journal
- Weekly weigh ins
- Monthly conference call
- E-Newsletter
A Confident Trainer Designs Programs . . . .
- Maintaining Respect for the Power of cardio, strength training, wholesome eating & recovery
- Increasing Caloric Requirements
- More Weight
- More Reps
- More Volume
- Less Rest
- More Frequency
- More Intensity
- More Speed (Dynamic)
- Less Speed (Controlled)
- Split routines
- Circuits
- Intervals
- Balance stimulus
- Unilateral moves
- Plyometrics
- New equipment
- Body weight exercises
- Break Downs
- More Muscle Recruitment
- Different planes
Cyclic training
- Sample Cycles
– Metabolic Efficiency
– Strength & Growth
– Muscle Endurance
– Fat Liberation
– Active Recovery
- 85% of success - communicate effectively with others
- Clients want to be liked and respected
- Clients want to feel valuable
- You want to be able to persuade clients
- You want to get clients to change their minds
- Be more powerful and effective
- IQ
- EQ
– interact and effect lives of other people
– the ability to persuade – instead of being persuaded
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
- People are selfish – think about themselves all the time – needs, hungers, appetites, desires
– Start out with them and their wants
– Get out of yourself and into the mind of your clients
– Can persuade if you can do something for them (or prevent something from happening to them)
- Desire for gain – act towards self improvement (material, physical and most importantly emotional gain.)
- Most basic needs are covered – affluent society
- Emotional Motivation status, presitige, love, warmth, value, self esteem – can give those
- Fear of Loss
- Emotional loss – loss of approval, loss of love
- Find out what they desire to gain
- Find out what they fear to lose
- Motivated 2.5X’s more to avoid loss than to gain
- Best rule is use both – if you train with me you get X if you don’t you get X
- Personal Power – can create, earn, carry yourself as though you are important and respected
- Positioning – how people think and talk about you, your reputation, how are you described?
- Persuasion – ability to influence
- Politeness – kind, courtesy, respect
- Acceptance – respond to need for unconditional acceptance - smile
- Appreciation – thank people
- Admiration – compliment
- Approval – praise –be specific – be immediate
- Attention – to ignore is sole destroying
- Lean forward
- Don’t interrupt
- Pause before replying
- What do you mean exactly
- The person who asks questions has control
- And then what did you do / say?
- How did you feel about that?
- Feed it back and paraphrase it in your own words
- Body language – 55% of message – 1st impression
- Tone of voice – 38% of message
- Words – 7% - words you use to convince or persuade – least important
- Relator – introverted & people oriented
- Analyzer – introverted & task oriented
- Director – extrovert & task oriented
- Socializer – extrovert & people oriented
– Determine personality
– Change your own mental & physical gears
- Everything counts – everything ads up or takes away
- Keep promises, be trust worthy, punctual
- Dependability – foundation of trust
- Consistency over time
- Clients weigh and measure everything
- Look the part – 90% visual
- Be prepared
- Make clients feel important
- Your success as a personal trainer ultimately depends on your ability to produce impressive before and afters of your clients. Are you frustrated by your clients inability to see and even feel physical changes? Have you been blaming your clients for sabotaging your best efforts? Learn the tools to help your clients transform their bodies and lives– yes even the tough clients! This session goes beyond exercise and presents the key tools to producing fit and fabulous bodies for every one of your clients.