Personal Fitness Professional - October 2008 - (Page 30)

raining T By Coach Greg LeFever RUTS Don’t let them drag you down It happens to the best of all trainers at some point in their career: the training ruts. When you get up at 4:00 AM, check your schedule, drag into work, thinking about everything you have to do today, errands to get done, bills to pay, etc., it can set you oﬀ track from the start. I know personally that not every day is ﬁlled with positive successful energy from the start. You know, the kind of energy that says you are the who pays their bills. They act bothered by clients or even prospects with extra questions or who may need some extra attention. If you act uninterested, it won’t take long until your clients aren’t either. Treat them like they matter, even if the person is not your personal client. It’s easy to quickly walk by and give someone a short answer with little interest if they aren’t your clients. After all, why should you? They don’t do anything for your income. Wrong! Fall into this rut of disinterest toward people who are not your clients, and word-of-mouth will spread. Soon you won’t have any clients just because of your attitude. Every person in your club matters; treat them like it. best trainer in the club and you are going to prove it with every client and every workout that day. We’re all human, and sometimes the daily grind can slowly sidetrack you and drag you into ruts that will compromise your success and the results that you promised to deliver to your clients. Rather than give you 20 ways to be positive and successful, let’s step back and identify a few ruts that could potentially cost you clients or even your job. Rut #2: Lack of Energy from You We all have personal lives that aﬀect every aspect of our day, be it emotional, physical or mental, but there is no place during a client’s session for the woes of your life, which could drain your energy and aﬀect your performance. You were out late, your last client stayed and talked until 10:00 or 11:00 PM, you have work to do when you get home, and you started your day at 4:00 AM. Regardless, you signed on to give that person — at that time — everything you have, and they expect it. They expect you to bring a great workout with energy to keep them motivated, and they expect it every time. That’s why they hired you. If your energy is ﬂat, they will walk away from their session unmotivated, not worked hard and possibly looking for someone else. Suck it up, dig deep for that energy, and take care of yourself on your time after the session. Rut #3: Getting Too Personal Your relationship with your client is one of the most important ele- don’t forget this. Without them, you don’t have a job. Too obvious? Not to everyone. Just look at the dropout or turnover rate of personal trainers. Why is that? Aside from this being a tough business, I’ve seen trainers in gyms and even people who own their own ﬁtness business who forget the basics of Rut #1: Not Treating Clients Like They Are Your Business Clients are your business — ments of your success. However, many trainers fall into the trap of becoming too close to clients and forgetting that they are paying clients not social acquaintances. After a few sessions training with a person, a relationship begins to develop. It’s natural for conversations to stray a bit from workout form and technique to how little Johnnie is doing at school to how upset your client is with their spouse. This is a huge problem. People let their guards down when they are comfortable, and this is where we as trainers need to put our guard up. Don’t fall into the trap of responding and giving opinions on their situation. You are not the therapist or best friend. Your job is to deliver results. Acknowledge that they made a comment, and quickly steer the conversation back to their workout. 30 OCTOBER2008 · WWW.FIT-PRO.COM http://WWW.FIT-PRO.COM

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Personal Fitness Professional - October 2008

Personal Fitness Professional - October 2008 Contents Letter from the Editor, Writers Current Controversies Combating with Obesity Pilates and Yoga for Athletes New! The Balancing Act The Top Prize Building a Base of Special Populations Datebook The Success Image The Anatomy of a Fitness Assessment Branding Training Ruts Product Profile New on the Market

Personal Fitness Professional - October 2008

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