Think about it: What do clients want from their personal trainer? In a nutshell, they want their trainer to be effective. To get results. To help them achieve fitness or weight loss, or the summer body they want to have.
Being a effective personal trainer
1. Be super-educated about your sport
Effective personal trainers are knowledgeable about fitness, exercise, muscles and nutrition. They have to be – otherwise their clients wouldn’t be able to trust them, right? And he’d put their health at risk, too…
So invest in yourself. Make sure you get the best personal training, on an ongoing basis. Stay on top of the latest best practices. Always hone and refine your own skills.
2. Get results
Can you say, honestly, that you can see tangible results in your clients? Are they losing weight, losing centimeters and dropping pant sizes? Are they fitter and faster?
If not, then you’re not really a very effective personal trainer.
Be sure to track and record your clients’ individual progress so that it’s easy for you to justify their commitment to you. And it proves just how effective you are!
3. Embody a good attitude
Your attitude, in general, is of paramount importance.
You may be faced with a difficult client, for example. if your attitude is professional and assertive, you’ll be able to resolve any troubles quickly and effectively.
4. Be self-motivated and make sure you’re a master motivator in your own right too
You cannot inspire or motivate others to exercise and eat well if you’re not passionate about these things yourself. Make sure you are always motivated to be fitter, stronger, leaner and better in your own right. This in turn will motivate your clients, making your job a little easier.
But don’t stop there. Take the time to figure out what motivates each client. Connect with each client, create trust and rapport.
5. Make sure you have excellent communications skills
You have to not only explain exercise movements to your clients so they perform them correctly. You also have to engage your clients so they’re interested, stimulated and so they feel valued.
If you’re a good communicator, these things will come easily to you, and you’ll be a fabulous personal trainer. If you’re not a natural communicator, invest in training to learn the skills you need.
Personal trainer, Kim Ingleby, agrees: “Every person is different, so finding out what makes them tick: their goals, dreams, fears, limitations and lifestlye is key to helping them make the changes they want.
“Work with their lifestyle and support them with their mental and physical changes while being mindful of the difference between what is normal for you and what is normal for them.”
6. Be creative and proactive in solving problems
Life is seldom smooth sailing, for you or your clients. The air conditioner stops working in the gym. Or the traffic on the highway is at a stand-still, and you can’t get to the gym on time. Or your client is booked off with an injury…
What sets a great trainer apart from the rest is that he has a Plan B (and a Plan C) for all sorts of mishaps and “unforeseen” situations. This means he can solve the problem quickly and efficiently. He’ll set up fans in the aircon-less gym. He’ll call clients and re-schedule a make-up group class. And he’ll create a specalised workout plan that takes the client’s injury into account.
Contact Trifocus Fitness Academy
Trifocus Fitness Academy’s highly specialised personal training qualifications – both the certification and the diploma – will make you into the best personal trainer you can be!
