Whether you currently work as a personal trainer or are working to become a trainer, the fact remains that it can be a very rewarding job to have. Helping people empower themselves and reach their health and fitness goals is a great feeling. However, there are surely times when your clients will frustrate you or make you scratch your head. Specifically, there are a few things you’ll probably find yourself wishing your clients understood!
You’re Not a Miracle Worker
Too many people who sign up for personal training believe that this is the end-all-be-all. “I have a trainer now, so he or she will make sure I achieve my goals!” These are the same people who put too much of their own burdens on their trainers, believing that they don’t need to be accountable for their own actions. Contrary to what seems to be popular belief, personal trainers don’t have magic wands that they wave at their clients and instantly help them achieve their goals.
Open Communication is a Must
Communication is important in any professional relationship, but this is especially true when it comes to the relationship between a trainer and his or her client. As a trainer, you need to know a lot about your client’s life if you’re going to be able to help them in any meaningful way. This means knowing what kind of work they do on a daily basis, what their hobbies are, how they eat, and the like.
Unfortunately, open and honest communication isn’t valued by all clients. Some will even so go far as to lie about completing a workout or what they ate over the weekend!
Nutrition and Exercise Go Hand-in-Hand
Spending hours at the gym won’t help your client if his or her nutrition game isn’t on-point. Sadly, many clients fail to understand that their nutrition is just as important as their exercise routine. These are the same clients who will work their butts off at the gym, then go home and eat half of a pizza for dinner. And then, they’ll be the ones to complain to you that they’re not seeing results! This is why it’s so important to hold clients accountable for their nutrition just as much as you do their exercise.
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A Minor Injury Isn’t an Excuse
If you’re a personal trainer, then you probably get this all the time. Your client has a sprained wrist, so they won’t be able to come in for their training sessions this week. Any trainer knows this is a load of garbage. A minor injury is no excuse to live a sedentary lifestyle; there are plenty of ways to remain active and get a good workout in without further agitating your injury, after all. With a sprained wrist, you can still enjoy some cardio on the exercise bike or treadmill. Sure, you won’t want to be lifting any weights with your hands, but that won’t stop you from getting in a great lower-body workout.
Make sure your clients understand from the very beginning that minor injuries are going to occur when you live an active lifestyle, and that you can’t allow them to set you back completely.
It is Possible to Overdo the Exercise
On the contrary, there will also be clients who can’t seem to get enough gym time. It’s as if they think they’re going to get “extra credit” from you or something, right? This is another problem that trainers need to be on the lookout for, as there is such a thing as too much exercise. You don’t want your clients to over-exert themselves and possibly injure themselves as a result. While a little bit of extra exercise is definitely not a bad thing, it’s important to make sure your clients aren’t setting a course for hurting themselves or embarking on a fitness plan they simply can’t keep up with.
As a trainer, surely you’ve experienced these problems in the past. If not, you will in the future, so knowing how to handle and address these kinds of situations will not only help your clients, but will help you continue to grow as a personal trainer.
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