7 Things Fitness Clients do that make Personal Trainers Crazy
If you are a personal trainer, you’ve probably got some pet peeves – things your clients do that make you crazy. Here’s a few we’ve noticed that perhaps you have as well.
- Arriving late for every. Single. Class. We all have that one client who seems to have their watch set perennially behind. They blow into the studio either with a thousand apologies or blithely disregarding the fact that the rest of the class has already started exercising or that you are pointedly looking at the clock. How do you fix this? For class clients, banish them to an adjacent area to warm up alone; for individual clients, remind them that their hour is up on the hour, not 60 minutes after they arrive.
- Showing up to class food in hand. Clients should eat on their own time, and definitely not right before working out! Make a no food or beverage rule (with the exception of hydration drinks and energy bars) and avoid having clients wolfing down their last few fries or gulping the dregs of a macchiato in your gym.
- Thinking the scale is the only monitor of success. Pounds don’t matter as much as healthy fitness does. Many clients are upset when pounds don’t wear off as fast as they think they should, but point out if they are building muscle, than their fat weight loss may be significantly more than the number on the scale indicates.
- Squatting with wrong form. This is one of the easiest ways to get injured, and can undo tons of careful workout habits. Remind clients about proper form if they squat to pick something up – even if class is out.
- Rushing through warm-up or skipping the cool down. If your client is always early to leave, they are missing out on a key part of their workout. If they have an honest scheduling conflict, dismiss them to cool down in time for them to do it properly.
- Talking instead of working out. While socialization is great, it needs to take place before or after the session – not during. Be a stern taskmaster if you have to – they’ll respect you (and your time) more.
- Coming in with every latest fad or weight loss scam. Explain that while you are always excited to find out about new advanced in fitness, you aren’t really interested in seeing anything from Natural News today, thanks!
When clients drive you crazy, just take a deep breath and do what you can to steer them in the right direction – then make sure your fitness trainer insurance is up to date in case one of them ignores you and hurts themselves in a session!
