Explain why personal trainers should give clients feedback on their performance during a session
|
CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE TO OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL Show
Like this video? See our other popular videos for Personal Trainers:
Struggling to motivate PT clients? Or perhaps you’re already doing a great job and you’re just looking to up your game. Whatever your situation, we’re about to give you 9 ways to motivate your personal training clients in every session to ensure that they reach their goals in a quick and sustainable way! Not only will this information benefit your clients, but it will also help you with retention in your business. Want to further your fitness career? Go check out OriGym's Level 4 PT qualifications or our sports massage courses before you carry on reading! Become a Level 4 Nutrition SpecialistDownload Your FREE Course Prospectus #1 - Use Personal Trainer Software One of the best ways to motivate personal training clients is to connect with them via a savvy piece of software. If you’re not sure what this is, you can check out our list of the best PT software here. Essentially, most software allows you to connect with clients in a way that you can’t when you’re training them in the gym. It exhibits your willingness to connect with them outside of training hours, as well as granting your clients access to content such as nutrition plans and workout routines that you’ve suggested to them (rather than giving it to them on a piece of paper that they could lose before your next session!). Software that allows clients to view goals that you’ve set for them is also quite appealing in the sense that they can view them on their mobile phone, whether they’re at home and trying to stay motivated with their nutrition or visiting the gym and need a reminder of what they should focus on. Another way that fitness management software is a great motivator for clients is that it usually gives them the opportunity to leave feedback for you. An example of a piece of software that uses this feature would be ‘OneFitStop’, which allows you to collect feedback from your clients and ultimately improve your business as well as communication with your clients, as the software comes with an integrated messaging system. As well as this, the clients can view their individual progress which motivates them further and inspires them to continue to interact with you and push forward with their goals. If this doesn’t drive them to beat their personal best, what will? Become a Level 4 Qualified Master Trainer Expand your PT Business & Become a Qualified Level 4 Master Trainer #2 - Set Short Term GoalsIt is crucial to set both long and short-term goals for your clients. It’s straightforward to set a long-term goal to lose 30lbs of fat or gain 10lbs of muscles, but these goals often take a long period of time to accomplish… If the client was only tracking this single long-term goal over a 6-month period, then they would surely suffer from a loss of motivation. It’s only natural that this would happen, as we are all human and there’s only a small percentage of people who are motivated enough to see a goal like this through to the end! To avoid this when learning how to motivate PT clients, try setting smaller goals like losing 3 or 5lbs of fat by the end of the month. This will help the client keep track of how close they’re getting to their overall goal, and it will seem much more attainable rather than something that is on the horizon. The best way of doing this would involve speaking and listening to the client and learning everything that you can about their goals in training with you! #3 - Setting Realistic Time-Driven GoalsFollowing on from our last point, realistic and time-driven goals are definitely a great way of motivating PT clients both during sessions and away from the gym. Let’s face it, there is no point in setting goals for your client that you know they aren’t going to reach. You need to find a fine balance between setting goals that are realistic that they can achieve short-term, or within a certain time frame. When your client sees significant changes in their body and their fitness during the time frame that you’ve given them (or the one that they’ve given you to get them into shape!), their overall motivation will soar. Setting time-driven goals with your clients is a must, as otherwise things can become a little vague and it can be hard to measure whether they’re on target or not. As soon as you bring time into the equation, a sense of urgency is created, which can be incredibly motivating for clients who want to make significant progress in their fitness journey as soon as possible! A time-driven goal could be to perform 20 push-ups non-stop within 8 weeks (for someone who has never been able to manage 1 rep), to be able to run 5k non-stop within 6-8 weeks, or to be able to bench press 140lbs within 2 months, etc. You should base these goals off what will be realistic for your client, depending on their current level of fitness and how many sessions they have with you per week, as well as other factors. Setting the bar low at first is a great way to ensure that your clients stay motivated, as it makes it much less likely for them to fail and their motivation will soar if they have success after success! You can then incrementally increase the expectations of each goal that you set for them, which makes the gruelling task of sticking to a new routine much more exciting for them. They will be less likely to fail this way, and much more likely to succeed with regular time-driven goals alongside their overall long-term goals. Develop Advanced Sports Nutrition Expertise
From just £999 Learn More #4 - Creating AccountabilityMaking clients accountable for their progress and their downfalls in incredibly important when learning how to motivate personal training clients. If you’re too lenient with them over this aspect of their training, then how do you expect them to smash their goals? One of our favourite ways of creating an element of accountability is to assign homework to your clients. No matter how many sessions you have together each month, your clients will still have a significant number of hours free to exercise whenever they wish. That’s a lot of time to be accountable for, and you should do everything to can to make them aware of this! Alongside the tailored workout plan that you assign to them, give them extra tasks to perform that will accelerate their progress. This could be to do some weighted pull-ups before they leave the gym each night, or a triceps dip challenge alongside their weight training to build more upper-body strength. As we mentioned earlier, another idea is to incorporate some accountability for your clients by investing in a good personal trainer software. This will mean that you can track their progress, both during your sessions and in the workouts that they perform in their own time. You will both be able to monitor their progress within each session, and therefore get a good idea of how to tweak their plan if they don’t reach their goals. This holds them accountable and adds a healthy amount of pressure, so they’ll be less likely to slip up in the future and be motivated to make any necessary changes! Become a Level 4 Nutrition SpecialistDownload Your FREE Course Prospectus #5 - Talk to Your ClientsLeading on from the point that we just made, it’s incredibly important to have a good relationship with your client and keep up a good level of valuable communication. When we say valuable communication, we don’t mean asking them how their week has been at the beginning of each session. As friendly as that seems, it certainly doesn’t cut it as being ‘above and beyond’ what is required of you. What we do mean by communicating with your clients in a valuable way is:
Failure to do these things could certainly result in a loss of motivation for your clients, or even worse; they could give up on their personal training journey altogether. This is a lose-lose situation, as it is bad for the client’s personal health (which you should genuinely care about if you’re in the industry for the right reasons), plus your own business. Talking to your clients properly helps with retention, as well as keeping them properly motivated to do a good job in each session. This will get them to their goals much faster, and they’ll be thanking you later! #6 - Stay PositiveEveryone has bad days, which is completely understandable, so there will be times when you’re not on top form during sessions with your clients. However, when learning how to motivate personal training clients, you’ll soon learn that a positive attitude is the best place to start. Think about it this way; if you went to a PT session and the trainer was creating a negative atmosphere by coasting through without giving you any real motivation and not seeming ‘present’, you’d definitely be hesitant to train with them again. Not only this, but it’s likely that one session like this could steer you from your fitness goals! A career in personal training is about finding the best ways to motivate personal training clients, so that they will ultimately reach their goals faster and have everything to thank you for! You can’t motivate others without having a positive attitude yourself, so this is something to consider if you’re new to personal training or you’re looking to expand your business. Even if you’re having a bad day, try to clear your mind and put the negativity to one side. As a personal trainer, you need to be the most motivated person in the room. It’s all about positive vibes. If you’re down in the dumps, then your clients will mirror this. This will affect their results and your business if word spreads (and trust us, it does!). Want some quick tips on how you can be more motivating? It’s not as hard as you think. It involves small but easy steps like the following:
You’re there to help your clients to loosen up and leave any doubts
or anxiety about their progress at the door. Keep them motivated by having infectious positivity! Become a Level 4 Nutrition SpecialistDownload Your FREE Course Prospectus #7 - Make Sure Your Workouts Are Fun & Challenge Your ClientsWe can’t help but ask the question; would you workout if it wasn’t at least partially fun? The answer may be yes for you, especially if you’ve always had the ability to push through gruelling exercises to reach your goals. However, for those who are new to exercise or seeking a personal trainer to improve their current routine, it’s usually a different story. According to Gov.uk, inactivity is a major issue here in the UK. From a study that they conducted, they found out the following:
If someone is hiring you as their personal trainer, it’s likely that they’re enlisting you to help them in finding ways to make working out engaging and entertaining, so that it ultimately becomes something that they enjoy. This way, they can avoid becoming part of the above statistic! Currently, exercise has a lot to compete with. With the rise in digital media and the entertainment industry in general, going for a run around the park just doesn’t match up to the latest Netflix documentary or defeating rival teams on FIFA… What makes your job as a PT so rewarding is that you have the power to step in and change the fate that the world is facing. To do this, not only do you need to be incredibly motivating for your clients, but you must ensure that your workouts are tailored to each client and their personal preferences in order to make them fun. Once you’ve found out what works well for your client in terms of keeping them entertained during your sessions, take this information and run with it! Create challenges using their favourite exercises mixed with some difficult variations and watch them hit their targets again and again. In their study on sedentary behaviour in British youth, Yahya Al-Nakeeb et al state the following:
It’s clear from this statement that one of the biggest issues when it comes to the declining number of people who participate in physical activity is that exercise isn’t perceived as fun. Otherwise, people would do it more often due to the ‘multiple health gains’! If you manage to make exercise fun for your clients by teaching them how to challenge themselves and keep their workouts varied, you also show them how to make exercise sustainable for life (and fight back against the unfavourable statistics). Want some ideas for challenges that you can introduce into your sessions? Check out our suggestions below! Become a Level 4 Qualified Master Trainer Expand your PT Business & Become a Qualified Level 4 Master Trainer CHALLENGE 1: The 20/10 ChallengeComplete all exercises as one circuit. Rest 30 seconds in between circuits. Complete for a total of 5 rounds. 20 Squats CHALLENGE 2: ‘The Dumbbell Complex Challenge’Without putting the dumbbell down—complete the following exercises as a circuit. Rest 30 seconds between sets. Attempt to increase the weight with each set. Complete 3 total sets. 10 Dumbbell Squats Develop Advanced Sports Nutrition Expertise
From just £999 Learn More CHALLENGE 3: The Descending Rep Scheme’Rep scheme is descending and allows for great strength work as well as some conditioning. Each movement is performed for 10 reps. Once all are completed perform each movement with 9 reps, and so on down to 1 rep of each movement. 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 Bench Press CHALLENGE 4: The 500 Rep ChallengeMove through this circuit one time at 50 reps per movement. #1 - 50 Push Ups Become a Level 4 Nutrition SpecialistDownload Your FREE Course Prospectus CHALLENGE 5: ‘The By-the-Rack Bear Complex’Clients will complete four sets. Increase weight each set: Perform all 5 movements in succession, 2:00 rest between sets: 5 Hang Cleans Positivity is the key to completing fitness challenges provide as much encouragement as possible and motivating personal trainer clients becomes very easy. The possibilities are endless when it comes to using challenges to motivate clients! #8 - Get Online!So, it’s almost 2020, and social media use has never been as prevalent as it is now. According to smartinsights.com, there are 3.484 billion social media users as of 2019, and this figure is up 9% on a year-on-year basis. We’re sure that this emphasises just how important it is for PTs to build a following on social media, especially since the fitness industry is incredibly popular on platforms such as Instagram and Twitter. It would be a real shame to miss out on that much exposure, especially with the rise in celebrity personal trainers and fitness influencers! Not only can being on social media be great for your brand and business, but it’s also a fantastic way of motivating your personal training clients. Stuck for ideas when it comes to content? Not to worry! We have plenty of suggestions in our guide to creating a fitness Instagram, but here are a few quick-fire ideas for now:
When it comes to learning how to motivate personal training clients, one of our favourite types of content to post from this list is client progress photos. Not only are they a great reflection of your business and how well you do your job for prospective clients, but they’re also a great way of showing your client what is possible if they follow your guidance. They serve as solid evidence that if they work with you and stay motivated, they will achieve their goals. As well as this, motivational quotes and behind-the-scenes content also work incredibly well, as your clients can see how you live a healthy lifestyle whilst managing to treat yourself simultaneously. For example, you may post a pic of the cheat day meal that you had at the weekend followed by a meal prep shot the next day. You become even more of a role model this way, as you’re motivating them indirectly and out of hours; it will remind them to stay motivated when they’re scrolling down their feed and encourage them to get back on track if they’re slacking! Develop Advanced Sports Nutrition Expertise
From just £999 Learn More #9 - Go Above and BeyondOne of the most overlooked ways to motivate personal training clients is to go above and beyond what they expect of you. We don’t just mean being extra supportive and kind during sessions, as that is just basic stuff (and certainly won’t motivate your PT clients any more than the next personal trainer in your gym can). We’re talking things like building a community amongst your clients, creating challenges or competitions, giving your clients rewards, etc. things that your average personal trainers just don’t even consider. For example, a private Facebook group where your clients can connect with each other could work really well, as not only are you showing them that you’re willing to connect with them outside of your sessions, but they will also stay motivated by motivating each other. We’re not saying that you must start your own CrossFit business here, but you get the idea! As well as this, you could run competitions with prizes that are good enough to motivate your clients to truly push themselves. This could include:
You could also use these things as rewards for your clients if they hit their goals, as some may prefer to focus on their individual goals rather than competing, and who doesn’t enjoy being rewarded for hard work? Not only will these things be great for learning how to motivate your personal training clients, but they’ll also be good for your business. As we said earlier, word spreads fast, and if other gym members find out about the competitions that you run or the monthly meet ups that you and your clients have, they could become part of your community themselves. Become a Level 4 Qualified Master Trainer Expand your PT Business & Become a Qualified Level 4 Master Trainer Before you go!You don’t need to repeatedly ask yourself ‘how difficult is motivating personal training clients?’, you’ve got this! If you nurture and grow your business as you would a new client, you will be sure to stand out in the competitive personal training market. Are you a PT looking to boost your income? Go check out our incredible range of speciality fitness courses such as sports massage therapy or advanced sports nutrition for more information on what you could be learning here at OriGym! OR, go download our latest prospectus here: https://origympersonaltrainercourses.co.uk/download References:
Become a Level 4 Nutrition SpecialistDownload Your FREE Course Prospectus When and how personal trainers may effectively give clients feedback?Give this type of feedback to inform the client about their performance. The personal trainer should aim to feedback something more about a client's performance than they would have received through intrinsic feedback; it should provide specific information on how to correct mistakes and to reinforce correct technique.
What reasons would you give to your clients when explaining the importance of regularly reviewing and monitoring their progress?It will show both you and your clients how much they are improving, what areas they need to work on, and helps them see how close they are to obtaining their goals.
How do you gather feedback from client PT?5 steps to simply and effectively ask for client feedback. Ditch your ego. ... . Figure out what you want to know. ... . Compose your questions thoughtfully. ... . Introduce the survey to your clients. ... . Collect responses and organize them into information you can act on.. Why is it important for clients to understand the advantages of a personal trainer?Having an educated personal trainer beside you to demonstrate the correct posture and technique is invaluable. A personal trainer will ensure clients are performing exercises correctly and efficiently, in order to maximise results. Good form when performing exercises is also essential in reducing the risk of injury.
|
