Introduction
Much of the success you will find as a personal trainer when coaching clients will depend on how well you prepare beforehand. You can’t just look at session prep as an obligation, but a key part of each session to provide effective and results driven training for your clients, which is equally engaging, In this article, we’ll break down the importance of session prep, as well as what it involves and the potential impact it can have on your personal training business.
Why is Session Prep Important?
Ultimately everything you do as a personal trainer is to maximise your clients’ results. Without properly planning and preparing, your sessions can lack structure, which massively reduces their effectiveness. Being well prepared with your sessions will maximise every minute of the session; clients are investing their time and money for a set amount of time with you, and so you must ensure that this time is completely personalised to your clients’ specific goals, current position and progress.
Additionally, from a professional standpoint, being well prepared demonstrates your commitment to your clients. Clients do notice when you’ve taken the time to come into a session with a fully individualised training experience for them, building a trust and loyalty which will greatly develop the coach to client relationship. Conversely, being unprepared is glaringly obvious, leading to a disjointed session structure which will generally reflect poorly on your entire expertise as the personal trainer.
Furthermore, being prepared with your sessions will set you up for overall efficiency in your day. Whilst preparing for a session may take time, it ensures that you are not wasting time during the session, and you can stay ahead of potential challenges that may arise. For example, checking in with how your client is feeling prior to a session can allow you to get ahead and not waste time during the session trying to restructure the plan.
What are the Main Components of Session Preparation?
Awareness of Clients Needs, Goals, and Current Progress
Before each session, you should revisit the specific client’s goals, progress and any feedback they’ve given to you. Take a look a their latest movement assessment, review your notes from their previous session and identify any physical limitations that they may have such as injuries, or even just how they have previously moved through exercises. Adjust your plan based on these things to either avoid pain areas, or work on their weaker points.
Session Structure
Ultimately, everything accumulates to session structure. Adjust warm ups based on the specific goals of the session, and set the main workout to have specific objectives which align with their overarching long term goals and shorter term goals. Use the cool down to, again, be specific to the client’s mobility, flexibility and intensity of that session. The key to session structure is specificity.
Equipment Prep & Space Check
You should also always be prepared with respect to your equipment and space that you want to use during the session. Ensure that all the equipment you need is available and functioning. Check you have other tools such as bands, kettlebells or mats ready so that you’re not wasting time during the session.
Progress Tracking of Clients
You should keep a record of your clients’ performance metrics such as weights, reps, times, as well as more subjective notes such as form, mobility and feel. Use this continuous feedback loop to ensure that your clients are progressively being challenged.
The Business Benefits of Prep for the Personal Trainer
The main benefit of session prep is that you will increase your retention of clients. Clients that see that they are consistently progressing as a result of well planned and designed programmes by you are more likely to stay with you long term. You’ll also develop a greater reputation, as a meticulously detailed and client centric personal trainer, which’ll lead to word of mouth referrals and greater client uptake.
As a well prepared trainer, overall you’ll be able to charge more for personal training services, as clients are willing to pay more for effective coaches.
Thing to Avoid with Session Prep
Whilst you do want to be creative in your session prep, you should really avoid overcomplicating them with complex workouts. You do not want to overwhelm your clients. You should try to balance new things with old things and simplicity with challenge.
You should also ensure that you are not ignoring client feedback. If they mention there are things that they like or don’t like, make sure that you are taking this into account as to not lead to client frustration, which can eventually lead to disengagement from sessions.
Whilst having a plan is important, you should also try not to be too overly rigid with it. Be flexible and ready to adjust your session should your client turn up to the session with potential issues such as injury or fatigue.
Check out our article on mistakes to avoid as a new personal trainer.
Conclusion
Your session preparation is an incredibly important part of your practice as a personal trainer, ensuring that your clients receive effective and professional training. If you’re looking to get started in the industry then check out our level 3 personal trainer course. If you’re already a personal trainer looking to develop your skills, check out all of our personal training courses.