Client Advice Articles

You just finished teaching what felt like a seamless kickboxing class. You’re feeling that post-teaching buzz that comes from your own endorphins and the added high of inspiring others to move their bodies and have fun. As you pass through the locker room to freshen up, you overhear a conversation that kills your buzz. “Can you believe she taught that same tired, old routine?” says an unfamiliar voice from behind an open locker door. “I know, right?” echoes another voice. “And she could also stand to lose a pound or two. She doesn’t look that fit to me.”newsletter_teaser: You just finished teaching what felt like a seamless kickboxing class. You’re feeling that post-teaching buzz that comes from your own endorphins and the added high of inspiring others to move their bodies and have fun.

While the majority of exercisers are healthy individuals with a positive view of themselves, a few people use fitness as a means of perpetuating compulsive, obsessive exercise patterns. In fact, according to the American Council on Exercise, about 1%–3% of the population experience some degree of exercise addiction (Matthews 2009). Overtraining--or overexercising--is common at nearly all health clubs. newsletter_teaser: While the majority of exercisers are healthy individuals with a positive view of themselves, a few people use fitness as a means of perpetuating compulsive, obsessive exercise patterns.

Letting a client go is always difficult. As a professional, you have the highest expectations for every client—even if they are somewhat unrealistic. However, not everyone seeking professional help in reaching health and fitness goals is prepared to make the sacrifice or take the steps necessary to change. Change is tough!

Attracting new clients is an ongoing challenge for fitness and wellness professionals. Keeping clients motivated long-term can be even harder. A client might begin training with a strong intention to lose 40 pounds, run a 10K or reverse her prediabetic condition. But the best intentions may not be enough to sustain exercise interest and intensity over time.newsletter_teaser: Attracting new clients is an ongoing challenge for fitness and wellness professionals. Keeping clients motivated long-term can be even harder. A client might begin training with a strong intention to lose 40 pounds, run a 10K or reverse her prediabetic condition.

There are at least a dozen clichés about making a good impression.

For some clients who join a gym or hire a personal trainer, everything goes as planned, and their stories have happy endings. But other clients start discouraged or become discouraged. They may cancel their workouts or go through them half-heartedly, offering up more excuses than repetitions. They may fail to exercise on their own, and may let their gym memberships lapse. Discouragement is a vicious downward spiral, resulting in depression and plummeting self-esteem, not to mention ever-decreasing conditioning. So what can you do?newsletter_teaser: For some clients who join a gym or hire a personal trainer, everything goes as planned, and their stories have happy endings. But other clients start discouraged or become discouraged. They may cancel their workouts or go through them half-heartedly, offering up more excuses than repetitions. They may fail to exercise on their own, and may let their gym memberships lapse. Discouragement is a vicious downward spiral, resulting in depression and plummeting self-esteem, not to mention ever-decreasing conditioning. The discouraged client becomes a former client, and everyone loses, including you. So what can you do?

I encourage my clients to breathe when they are working out, as in life. Jokingly, I say, “Breathing is the first thing you learned in life, so please do not forget to do it over the next hour that we are exercising.”