personal trainers

The impact of age and education on physical activity

Written by on April 20, 2012

CDC risk factor

How do age and education affect physical activity? Think about how you’ve been influenced by these things and how that’s affected your physical activity. When you think about our own personal experiences it helps you to be empathetic towards others; who may be similar or different. It also allows you to come from a real, lived perspective and allows you to connect with your client. This does not mean that you should use or share all of our personal experiences with your clients because not all of it is appropriate. Part of your initial session with a client ought to … Continued

Mental note

Written by on March 23, 2012

Self fulfilling prophecy: what you think (negative or positive) is going to happen will happen! For example, if your thoughts are ‘I can’t do this’ then you won’t be able to do it. If your thoughts are ‘I can do this’ then you will.

Deepening communication for exercise adherence

Written by on February 29, 2012

MI chart

  As a personal trainer fortunately, fairly simple motivational interviewing communication strategies can be effective in helping client’s feel supported, understood, and comfortable in forming a new relationship with you. These same simple communication strategies also minimize disagreements. By maximizing support and minimizing disagreements, we will help get people connected and that connection is what leads to adherence to an exercise program. Last week I talked about open ended questions and reflections. This week I am going to talk about the extended version of motivational interviewing: using affirmations, asking permission to talk about a subject (particularly when it’s a sensitive … Continued

Good communication is key to exercise adherence

Written by on February 22, 2012

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Have you ever been in a conversation with a client thinking you knew exactly where it was going? Instead of listening did you launch into giving a bunch of information only to find out that was not at all where the client wanted to go with the conversation and that all the information you just gave was inappropriate to the situation? Effective communication is often the difference between success and failure of the relationship between a personal trainer and a client. Effective communication requires an attitude of honoring each client’s perspective and a genuine interest in getting to know people. Effective … Continued

If there are so many benefits, what gets in the way of exercise

Written by on January 11, 2012

Health benefits-gym

On Monday I talked about the psychological benefits of exercise. As a personal trainer it’s important that you understand these because besides losing weight and getting stronger these are elements that can be more tangible for clients. Today I am going to talk about what gets in the way of people being able to exercise. You probably hear a lot of reasons why people don’t exercise: tired, busy, I got stuck in a meeting, my daughter was sick or my car broke down. The reasons to not exercise can be perceived or real. For example, if the client says that … Continued

It’s important for personal trainers to understand the psychological benefits of exercise

Written by on January 9, 2012

Personal trainer

Supporting people who are new to exercise is not as much about the exercise as it is the relationship, the support and how you communicate with your client. Part of that relationship, support and communication is being able to have a conversation around the benefits of exercise. Most people new to exercise are unable to connect to any benefits and the reasons to not exercise really do outweigh any benefits they do know. For example, if a client enjoys lying on the couch, eating cheese puffs and exercise is painful which do you think your client is going to choose; … Continued

Exercise Addiction (part II)

Written by on October 28, 2011

transform who you are...

Addiction and the brain Compulsive behaviors like compulsive shopping, pathological lying, shoplifting, gambling, overeating, over exercising or obsessions with sex can be trigger by genetic predisposition, by environmental stress and by the comfort, reassurance, or escape provided by the repetitive behavior itself.  What triggers exercise addiction A study of mice found that when the exercise was denied to certain animals, brain scans revealed activity in areas normally linked to drug withdrawal.  The same might be true for exercise addicts as many experts believe that exercise addiction is not physical. This study of mice, published in the journal Behavioral Neuroscience stated that … Continued

Coaches and trainers what motivates your clients

Written by on September 14, 2011

motivation

Motivation is the direction and intensity with which someone does something. If athletes and exercisers don’t have direction and intensity than the intention to follow through won’t be there. Intrinsic versus extrinsic Motivation is broken down into intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Some intrinsic rewards for participation include: having fun and feeling satisfied. Some extrinsic rewards for participation include: trophies, approval and medals. Athletes and exercisers The importance of intrinsic motivation In intrinsic motivation, a person participates for the sheer joy of participating. Experiences that provide fun also provide the motive to continue to participate. People are intrinsically motivated in particular to … Continued

How do I work with clients to overcome mental & emotional barriers

Written by on September 2, 2011

Business shot

Are you wondering how I work with clients? Let me explain. Who do I work with and how do I work with them I specialize in breaking emotional patterns that hold people from achieving their physical goals; whether the motivation is to get healthier or beat the competition. When I work with individuals it’s very similar in some ways to ‘therapy, counseling, or coaching’. I talk with clients about the mental and emotional roadblocks that are getting in the way of my clients reaching their goals. This discussion usually stems from childhood and can be emotional. I use my education … Continued

How do you help your clients find balance in their life

Written by on August 24, 2011

balancing life

  Clients struggle and sometimes quit. What does this mean? As a coach and a personal trainer it’s important to have a sense of balance and what that means for each client. I can’t tell  you how many times I’ve worked with an exerciser who’s said that in their first experience with exercise they hired a personal trainer and the trainer gave them so many things to do and things that were so difficult they didn’t go back; they quit exercising. On the other hand, I’ve sat with people who were addicted to exercise. My dissertation was about what transitions women … Continued