Interview With A Trainer
A friend of mine connected me with an aspiring personal trainer. Lauren has to fulfill certain requirements, including interviewing a trainer with experience in the industry, in order to get her certification. So she had a few questions for me and I thought the conversation was good enough to share with all of you.
So eavesdrop in on one trainer telling another what really goes on behind the curtain.
Lauren: “Thank you so much, Tim! I do really appreciate it. I have just a few questions. This is super informal, just for my own reference. There’s only so much I can learn from studying. Hearing things first hand from industry professionals is really helpful!.”
“When you sense that program adherence is in danger, what are the first steps you take with the client? How do you approach confronting them about it without making them feel guilty or defensive? Are there certain words or phrases you use to encourage them?”
Tim: “I call program adherence ‘compliance.’ I never sense it’s in danger. I ASSUME it is.”
“Our clients aren’t paying us to be sensitive to their feelings. They can get a counselor for that. They are paying us for results. So, back in the day, when I was in the gyms, and afterwards when I was training clients in their homes, they would learn pretty quickly that I’ll get around to asking each time we meet about their compliance with nutrition.”
“I ask them to be honest with me. I assure them I’m not going to judge them. I’m asking because I need to know what’s going on with them so we can move forward. We can only progress from where they are. Not where they’re not. By keeping a “move forward” culture in our relationship I provide them the service they pay me for and diffuse any guilt.”
Lauren: “Like I said, there’s only so much I can learn from studying which is why I wanted perspective from real trainers. I contacted another trainer and she pretty much said the same thing about not being paid to be sensitive to clients’ feelings.”
“If a client is starting to feel burned out how do you encourage them to continue? Have you found that lowering the intensity of the program while adjusting the client’s long term goals is effective for those that are struggling with the physical activity or do you try and push them harder?”
Tim: “Burnout happens for specific reasons. Finding out what it is and addressing that is going to be key in keeping the client ‘moving forward’.”
“If it’s due to boredom because you’re a boring trainer than you need to get some different ideas to keep the workouts interesting and them motivated. If their physically burned out then the workout intensity may have to back down a bit. But burnout due to workout intensity could also be due to failure in nutrition compliance. In fact, most times, I have found that it is. The client is crashing because they aren’t eating well enough to recover from the work outs.”
“That’s why I jumped right to nutrition when you asked about compliance in your first question. If we’re training the client, then we know they’re complying at least for the workouts we do with them. But as far as eating goes, unless we’re shopping, preparing the food, and spoon feeding it to them, that’s where failure in ‘program adherence’ will happen.”
Lauren: “What, in your opinion, is the best way to motivate someone that doesn’t seem at all motivated?”
Tim: “If I knew the answer to that I’d be a multi-billionaire. Think about it. Every single potential client in the gym and that you see in everyday life THAT DOESN’T USE OUR SERVICES is in someway not motivated enough. I believe EVERYBODY could use our services. They don’t because they aren’t motivated/incentivized/willing to/wanting to enough to put themselves through the work they INSTINCTIVELY know will be part of the process. It’s just not worth it to them.”
“What usually happens when a client approaches me is they already have some motivation to get fit. Doctors orders, realization of the effects of aging; an upcoming wedding, cruise, or reunion; general health concerns like diabetes running in the family. Because they know their motivation and generally share it pretty quickly it’s easy to keep that motivation at the front of our work outs. Depending on the client’s personality I vary the way I keep it part of the dialogue.”
“When it comes to all of the “potential clients” out there, the ones who don’t know they need us yet, I try to find the “why put yourself through this” motivations they have that they may not be aware of. But in the end the client has to want it. That reminds me of a joke:
How many personal trainers does it take to change a light bulb?. . .Just one, but the light bulb has to want to be changed.”
Lauren: “Thanks, Tim. You’re intelligent, charming, and well put together” (OK she really didn’t say any of the stuff after “Thanks, Tim.).
Tim: “No problem, glad to help.”
Thanks for listening in and drop your comments below.
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