Introduction
As a personal trainer, your role is to create long lasting and sustainable changes in your clients’ life. In many cases though, trainers will rely on short term wins like ‘12 week transformations’ in order to market their services for client acquisition purposes. In reality, the real value of a personal trainer lies in designing plans and programmes which are sustainable in nature, whilst acting as a guide and knowledge resource for clients. In this article, we’ll present how personal trainers can create both sustainable plans as well as a coaching environment which encourages long term growth and progress for clients to continually reach their goals.
Consulting with Client about Lifestyle & Goals
In order to encourage consistent progress and longevity in your clients’ fitness journey, you must understand who they are, what their lifestyle is like and what their goals are. The reason why cookie cutter, one size fits all type plans do not work in the long term is because they don’t take into account things like work schedules, family commitments, personal preferences and availability of time.
Before you start designing a workout programme, you should have a thorough consultation with your client, assessing their daily routine, how much time they realistically have available to train, and how much rest they’re getting. Find out what their short and long term goals are and manage expectations for how long results will realistically take to reach those goals.
One thing you should take into account for longevity of a programme is that you cannot overhaul your clients’ lives overnight. Change takes time, and so you should aim to introduce gradual ideas and changes into their life over time.
Incorporate Variety and Flexibility into the Programme
Whilst consistency is key, and so there will need to be movements, workouts and tests which are repeated throughout a programme, you should take into account how monotony can lead to boredom, burnout and disengagement from the plan. Keep clients engaged and motivated with the programme with periodisation, focusing on different elements within their fitness goals at different times.
You should also take into account the demands of your clients’ lives, and offer flexibility in your scheduling of sessions. Again, whilst consistency is key for reaching goals, long term adherence to the programme is the most important, and so being flexible with scheduling is a basic requirement for continuous engagement.
Habit Building
As we’ve mentioned, short term results are often a main focus of many personal trainers’ goals with clients, however these in many cases are built on an unsustainable base of crash diets and a level of intensity that is susceptible to burnout in the client. Instead of this, personal trainers should focus more on building habits for their clients which lend themselves to longer term success. Focus on building small and manageable changes which can become part of your clients’ lifestyles.
Things like encouraging daily habits like a daily step count goal, a frequency of weekly training target, and a focus on daily hydration. Educate your clients on how these small changes to lifestyle compound over time for more significant results. As the coach, your goal should be to change your client’s life, not just their ‘summer body’.
Educate on Rest & Recovery
Whilst you might only be with your client 1, 2 or 3 days a week, you should educate your clients on how sustainable growth in fitness isn’t just about training harder. Teach them about how to find the right balance between activity and recovery, inform on the importance of rest days, and recognise when your client might be feeling burnt out by having regular check ins before and after sessions; be flexible in your programme and adjust your session plans accordingly.
Always Explain the Why Behind the Plan
Just like anything in life, if someone understands why they are doing something, they are more likely to stick to it. Teaching your clients the purpose behind your programming in alignment with their goals is key for not just improving your coaching relationship with clients, but also for maximising engagement, enjoyment and fulfilling their sense of achievement from wins they achieve. You should explain how different exercises benefit their body, movement and align with their goals. Educate them on the health benefits beyond just their goals and how pursuing a fitness focused life can reduce risks of chronic illnesses. Show them progress over time with visual aids such as charts mapping out metrics in accordance with their goals such as strength in key exercises, body mass, or even things as simple as photos displaying their range of movement in certain exercises.
Create an Environment of Accountability
You may find that some clients struggle to stay on track outside their sessions with you. Build a culture and environment of accountability by regularly checking in on them, whether it is mid week between sessions, before sessions or immediately afterwards. Give clients challenges such as things like a daily step target as we discussed prior; all small, daily goals for them to aim for whilst outside the gym. It is by building these systems of accountability which will help clients stay consistent over a longer period of time.
Regularly Review and Adapt
Take into account how life circumstances change and your fitness programming must adapt and evolve alongside these changes. Plan regular reviews with your client to ensure that it is still relevant and effective for their goals. Schedule these monthly or quarterly and always remain open to feedback with a willingness to make adjustments based on this feedback. When clients reach certain goals, set new ones to keep them motivated and continually moving forward.
Conclusion
As personal trainers, our goal is to not just provide our clients with quick wins, it is to change their life over the long term. By focusing on the things we’ve discussed in this article like education, recovery, habit building, adaptability and systems of accountability, we can set our clients up for longer lasting positive effects from our coaching. If you’re looking to become a personal trainer, be sure to take a look at our level 3 personal trainer course. If you’re already a personal trainer looking to elevate your knowledge and skills to the next level, then explore our full range of personal training courses.