Are You Teaching Your Clients Or Just Taking Them Through A Workout? 

There’s a HUGE difference between coaching a client and just taking them through a workout routine! If all you do is stand there and count reps you are not a personal trainer… you are a rep counter!

You should be spending plenty of time coaching clients as well putting them through their paces!

You should be teaching them correct exercise technique, and educating them between sets on nutrition and any relevant topic that can help improve their health, fitness, and well-being.

A Personal Trainer Who Just Counts Reps!

What prompted me to write this post is that I see so many coaches training their clients but all they do is take them through a workout.

They show them an exercise once and then expect them to have perfect form!

They watch clients perform exercises incorrectly but just stand there, looking disinterested and counting reps!

These personal trainers should be sacked, it’s basically daylight robbery and they are taking peoples hard earned cash!

How Can You Help Clients?

Anybody can count reps and do a few demonstrations but are you able to break down each exercise and teach your clients the correct way?

Can you adapt exercises to suit your clients’ current fitness level, strength level, limb length, coordination, etc, etc.

Can you break down and explain each exercise in layman’s terms so that they understand what it is you are trying to work towards?

As much as you are there to train your clients you are also there to help educate them and look for ways to improve their health and fitness.

Some of my biggest breakthroughs with clients have come through our discussions and explanations, a few examples include:

• Demonstrating technique
• Asking them what they’re struggling with? and then providing solutions
• Talking about food relationships and emotional eating patterns
• Supplements recommendations
• Extra resources they can check out: books, blogs, articles, videos, etc
• How to eat out and have a social life whilst still losing weight
• Ways to fit exercise into a busy lifestyle
• Stretches, exercises, and homework to do outside of our sessions to help improve performance

The list goes on…

Providing Value…

I’d prefer to spend half the session educating a client through discussion, knowing that this information will help them out for weeks/years to come as opposed to just putting them through a grueling workout! But when you combine the two you are on to a winner!

Don’t get me wrong not every session is done like this but my aim is to always provide at least 1-3 valuable tips to help them move forwards: that could be to do with techniques, dietary advice or some homework to do outside of our sessions.

Final Words…

If you are a personal trainer who is coasting through sessions, spending time on your phone whilst your client runs on a treadmill for 30 minutes (I’ve seen this happen!), and just counting reps you really need to splash some cold water on your face and wake the hell up! Either change your attitude or choose a different career!

Don’t expect your business to flourish if you take the easy way out! People will notice and you’ll get a reputation for being a poor coach, not to mention your results with clients will be none existent!

Start providing value and coach your clients, teach them, help them and make a frickin difference to their lives.

Nick