In my mind there are two types of personal trainers…
Those who blitz through high intensity courses to give their clients the results they want in the short-term.
And those who fine-tune every microscopic detail of a client’s exercise regime, in order to deliver effective, long-lasting fitness.
If I was looking for a personal trainer, I’d know which one I’d want.
The question is, how do you become a real personal trainer who carries out the job to the letter and always goes the extra mile for your client?
Never take shortcuts
All personal trainers know that clients want to see results – but a good trainer will never take shortcuts to achieve them.
High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) helps people burn fat and tone up quickly, but if your client stops exercising or starts eating badly, all the progress made is undone.
That’s why so many get-fit-quick ‘trainers’ are getting it wrong.
Think back to when you were first studying the job – the key to achieving a good level of long-lasting fitness is strength.
Muscle tissue burns up to 15 times more calories per day than fat tissue, even when it’s at rest. So, if you dedicate enough time to lifting weights with your clients, they’ll start seeing lasting results.
And if you can help clients succeed in the long-term, your reputation starts to gather momentum.
You won’t be known for getting quick results – you will be known for treating your clients’ health and fitness with respect…and then you’ll be delivering results on top of that professional trust.
Word of your success will get round. People at the gym love to talk.
Go back to basics
Take weight-lifting.
Whatever your client’s fitness goal, lifting weights is vital for developing strength. But if you don’t teach your clients the core lifts, or how to execute them properly, their success is likely to be stilted… and their physical health could be at risk.
You don’t want to be the trainer who put George the homeowner back into physiotherapy by forcing him through a ‘boot camp’ style fitness programme when he clearly wasn’t ready for it.
Let’s get back to the three core lifts – the squat, the bench press and the deadlift – and let’s zoom in on the squat here:
You already know that the majority of clients LOVE results. But what many of them don’t like is the grind and sweat it takes to achieve them.
So, the squat is often neglected, even though it is a full body exercise that uses over 200 different muscles and has a significant impact on your client’s overall strength and performance.
Again, health and safety first here – never let your client take on too much, too soon.
Once your client improves their squat, they’ll start to see other exercises like their bench press dramatically improve too… not to mention regular daily activities like getting out the car.
And when they start seeing improvements in all aspects of their performance, they’ll be spurred on to continue even further.
They’ll be motivated by results – real results they can see and feel over time (beats a quick-fix HIIT course in my opinion).
Most importantly, they’ll rate you as a top trainer. And the higher you’re rated, the more you can charge (that’s the goal).
Start being the best personal trainer you can be
There’s no overnight solution for becoming a successful personal trainer or helping your clients achieve their fitness goals.
The best way is to get those fundamentals locked down. Become a master in the core lifts and build your training empire up from there – educating your clients along the way.
HFE’s Level 3 Personal Trainer Course is a strong resource for taking you back to basics – teaching you how to create safe and effective workout regimes for your clients.
You’ll also be taught how to integrate nutritional wellbeing into your sessions and the foundations of anatomy and physiology for personal training. It’s the full package.
What do you think? What are the best ways to prove your worth as a personal trainer? Let us know in the comments.
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