Personal Trainer

[Bodybuilding-Student]

Hi guys i am training to be a personal trainer and have a placement which is with my old personal trainer, i started today and sat in a few sessions, i took over one and he said i need to be more assertive and energetic especially with my counting instead of just 1234567 and so on any tips on how to do this and what i could say to liven it up?
Much apreciated

[BigBuck6]

Sounds more like he wants you to be a coach??? A good personal trainer is honest and worries more about how hard their client is working rather than being energetic.

[Twist]

My advice is to read every thread on this board you can. Train yourself well, and don't ask your clients to do anything, just do it for them (example lol): I put my clients on an elliptical, then without telling them, while I am talking to them and explaining things to them, I up the resistance; if they slow down I ask them to push through it and tell them only five more seconds but wait till ten. Do exercises with your clients and have them use your same tempo, this way they don't feel as if you are torturing them alone. Constantly tell them how good they are doing and tell them why you are doing everything you do. Don't be monotone, be so happy that you have the privilege to change their lives, and reassure them that you can change their lives. Don't tell them how long you are going to have them hold a position, and don't tell them how many reps you are going to have them do. This will keep them thinking that this might be the last rep, but it isn't Make some seemingly pointless exercises easy so that they know that sometimes, when you say "almost there," it is the last rep.

[MuscleScience]

I actually train personal trainers on both the business aspect and training aspect. My philosophy is simply this. You have to first sell yourself. You have to tell them what to expect, and you have to constantly reenforce how well their progress is going. As a trainer you will not see the day to day changes. Ask them about what others have said about them. Complement them on the objective gains you see such as strenght increase, balance and coordination. Never use negative reenforcement, keep it positive, be a buddy but be stern. Make them feel bad on their own when they dont do what they need to. But dont lecture them. Say things like, you will get there I have no doubt that you will get back on track soon.

Secondly, do not bust thier ass the first week or so. Use the concept of gradual progressive overload. (GPO) Give them a good workout but not sometime that they will get so sore that they cant move. Gradual progress their intensity. In a matter of weeks you can be kicking their butts with out the 3 days of cant move soreness. Lastly, do not put the average client on high risk, high impact, high velocity exercises. No stupid unstable surface jumps, or plyos or extreme jump exercise.

You have to slowly and methodically build up to that. In fact, unless they are a elite level athlete there is no great benefit to put them on jump training or extreme unstable surfaces. Remember, risk versus benefit. I have never hurt a client in 8 plus years. it makes no sense to have a guy that wants to get into shape to be jumping on and off a bosu ball. That is a broken ankle waiting to happen, or stress fracture. Be a professional, use your knowledge and dont be a weird exercise hero. Do this and you will be an awesome trainer.

[Twist]

I actually train personal trainers on both the business aspect and training aspect. My philosophy is simply this. You have to first sell yourself. You have to tell them what to expect, and you have to constantly reenforce how well their progress is going. As a trainer you will not see the day to day changes. Ask them about what others have said about them. Complement them on the objective gains you see such as strenght increase, balance and coordination. Never use negative reenforcement, keep it positive, be a buddy but be stern. Make them feel bad on their own when they dont do what they need to. But dont lecture them. Say things like, you will get there I have no doubt that you will get back on track soon.

Secondly, do not bust thier ass the first week or so. Use the concept of gradual progressive overload. (GPO) Give them a good workout but not sometime that they will get so sore that they cant move. Gradual progress their intensity. In a matter of weeks you can be kicking their butts with out the 3 days of cant move soreness. Lastly, do not put the average client on high risk, high impact, high velocity exercises. No stupid unstable surface jumps, or plyos or extreme jump exercise.

You have to slowly and methodically build up to that. In fact, unless they are a elite level athlete there is no great benefit to put them on jump training or extreme unstable surfaces. Remember, risk versus benefit. I have never hurt a client in 8 plus years. it makes no sense to have a guy that wants to get into shape to be jumping on and off a bosu ball. That is a broken ankle waiting to happen, or stress fracture. Be a professional, use your knowledge and dont be a weird exercise hero. Do this and you will be an awesome trainer.

bold is ****ing awesome. I never understand why trainers always have people doing the weirdest things they can think of. It's really hard for me to not take their clients. Especially when their clients tell me things like, "I haven't lost any bf or weight, but he really kicks my ass." I hate stuff like that.

[tbody66]

My first session with any potential client is an interview, I have them talk about what they are wanting to accomplish and what they are willing to do to get there, then I ask them about their experience with exercise, even going back to high school, or further, if necessary. I ask them if they have an event in the future, wedding/class reunion/etc.., that they would like to have some noticable results by. I always encourage them to use measurements, clothing fit and photographs as their gauge for progress as opposed to the scales. Then I use their words and desires to remind them why they are there doing what they are doing when maybe they'd rather be doing something else. I almost always try to tell them no during the interview to plant some realistic expectations into their goal setting. My job is to help them to acheive their goals in the quickest and safest way possible. EG: "No ma'am, you can not lose forty pounds in four weeks while not changing your eating program and walking on the stair master for five minutes a day just because you drink grapefruit juice and wrap your thighs in reynolds wrap. You can expect to make a fifteen pound difference in your appearance and look and feel better with more energy and focus at work and play, as well as an increase in your self esteem."

Hope that helps, best luck in it all.

[Bodybuilding-Student]

My first session with any potential client is an interview, I have them talk about what they are wanting to accomplish and what they are willing to do to get there, then I ask them about their experience with exercise, even going back to high school, or further, if necessary. I ask them if they have an event in the future, wedding/class reunion/etc.., that they would like to have some noticable results by. I always encourage them to use measurements, clothing fit and photographs as their gauge for progress as opposed to the scales. Then I use their words and desires to remind them why they are there doing what they are doing when maybe they'd rather be doing something else. I almost always try to tell them no during the interview to plant some realistic expectations into their goal setting. My job is to help them to acheive their goals in the quickest and safest way possible. EG: "No ma'am, you can not lose forty pounds in four weeks while not changing your eating program and walking on the stair master for five minutes a day just because you drink grapefruit juice and wrap your thighs in reynolds wrap. You can expect to make a fifteen pound difference in your appearance and look and feel better with more energy and focus at work and play, as well as an increase in your self esteem."

Hope that helps, best luck in it all.

Lol at the bold so true!
Regarding the workouts how can you really motivate your clients, i know personality is key but as refering back to the question i think the way the reps are counted plays an important role, i heard some1 sound very monotone when they were counting and they sounded boring, is they any words i can throw in between numbers for encouragement and what?
thanks guys

[tbody66]

It truly depends on the client and the goals. Some of them you get intheir face and say "Is that all you got? Give me some intensity! I thought you wanted to impress the girls at the beach, not be impressed by how much more muscular their arms are than yours!", others you say "you are doing great ma'am, your great grand-children would be so proud, just 9 and 1/2 more reps to go. Let's try that next time without the walker."

[Myalansky]

Hi guys i am training to be a personal trainer and have a placement which is with my old personal trainer, i started today and sat in a few sessions, i took over one and he said i need to be more assertive and energetic especially with my counting instead of just 1234567 and so on any tips on how to do this and what i could say to liven it up?
Much apreciated

I think he may have wantedyou to be more inspiring, you know, to give some energetic motivation to the person whom you're training. Think about the person - it's about them, not about you. They have some goals, that's why they're there. And they have a personal trainer probably because they're not too familiar with the training/fitness/etc. stuff. Let them feel that this particular way is the best way for them to do it (that you know your stuff (you do, don't you?)), just guide them to their goals and give them motivation to do it and make it fun.

[scotty51312]

My first experiences with a personal trainer was absolutley worthless as a person who was always interested in the fitness industry even before my PT cert, I had more knowledge than the guy who was training me. Later I trained with someone who pointed out some simple flaws in my form that gave me a lot more stability and less joint pain. No client is paying you just to count reps. Positive professional attitude goes a long way, limiting your conversational time to before and after the work is done. You can't let them control the session but you can't be overbearing either. Its all about balance

[Tigershark]

Just added this thread to my favorites as I am looking into this as a possible side job. Lots of good advice in here.