Tricks of the Trade

Q&A: What equipment do you consider essential for trainers to use with clients?

I think that stability balls and balance boards are essential tools for personal trainers. Stability balls work well for strength and flexibility training. They also come in different sizes, so you can match each client to one appropriate for her. In addition, the range of exercise intensities available with stability balls lets people of all ages and conditioning levels train with them successfully. Incorporating dumbbells, medicine balls and rubber tubing can even increase the difficulty of a stability ball training program to progress clients as they become stronger, better conditioned and more confident. I have had wonderful experiences with stability balls, including teaching elderly clients simple stretches and spinal stabilization exercises and working with high-level athletes on core strengthening and balance training.

Balance boards are excellent for improving balance, proprioception, coordination and core strength. The range of difficulties for the different boards available makes it possible to train not only someone on an ankle rehabilitation program but also someone on a more complex core/functional training program. Adding medicine balls and dumbbells further increases the difficulty of exercises performed on balance boards. Even something as simple as closing one’s eyes while standing on a balance board can be challenging.

Using stability balls and balance boards can greatly enhance a personal trainer’s program design. These pieces of equipment are practical, safe and effective when used appropriately. Of course, I highly recommend hands-on training to anyone interested in teaching clients proper technique for using any piece of equipment.

Stephanie Steele, CSCS

Certified Personal Trainer

Rock River Valley YMCA

Rockford, Illinois

At our company, which specializes in one-on-one training for children, we believe that the exercise equipment essential for a child naturally varies with the child’s age. In addition, because our sessions take place in either the child’s home or his building’s gym or a city park, our trainers must be able to carry all of the equipment that they use.

We have found that a brightly colored stability ball is a great ice breaker: It is essential for balance and core training, and kids love bouncing on it. We also like to use a jump rope for cardiovascular training and hand/eye coordination and a pair of light dumbbells for strength and resistance training. Other favorite props are brightly colored rubberized-vinyl shapes for indoor use and cones for outdoor use; they are perfect for creating obstacle courses and various movement paterns. Furthermore, balloons can be used for volleyball or crab soccer. Last but not least is chalk; by enabling us to draw on sidewalks or playgrounds, it offers endless possibilities for creating outdoor activities.

We’ve found that, when training kids in their homes, we must be cautious and not allow children to persuade us to use items that we know to be not truly appropriate and safe. If you let them, they will pull out of their closets things that you can’t even imagine!

Bonita Porte, Owner

Tracey Gilbert, Trainer

André Valdez, Trainer

Energetic Juniors

New York

I think that a trainer really needs only the basics: a variety of dumbbells and an adjustable workout bench. You can do several exercises for each part of the body by using dumbbells alone and can emphasize different areas of the body part being worked by adjusting the incline of the bench. The bench is also useful for abdominal training and stretching.

Although I feel that these tools are the only essentials, I do think that, depending on your client’s needs, you can use fun gym devices to add variety to his workout. For example, you can use a stability ball for strength training, coordination, stretching, and abdominal and balance work. You can also use a BOSU for abdominal and balance training, and a medicine ball is the ultimate prop for building stronger and thicker abs, whether the client exercises by himself, with a partner, on the floor or on a bench!

Nonetheless, whether or not a trainer has all of these toys, she can challenge any client and keep him interested by using just the basics. Ultimately, it’s up to us as trainers to keep clients happy and offer training variety to cater to their needs.

Chaundra M. Tangi,

Certified Personal Trainer

Athletics Administrator/Group

Exercise Coordinator

Greenwood Athletic Club

Greenwood Village, Colorado

I consider the stability ball essential equipment. It may be the most versatile and cost-effective piece of equipment available to personal trainers. The ball can be used with clients of various skill levels and is ideal when you can’t access a full complement of fitness equipment.

A stability ball enables a trainer to challenge an experienced client. For example, a client used to performing chest presses with a barbell or dumbbells while on a bench will find a new level of challenge by doing them with dumbbells while on a stability ball. Similarly, push-ups done with the feet or even the hands on a stability ball are more challenging than conventional push-ups.

On the other hand, the ball can be used to challenge less fit clients and allow them to develop strength at a comfortable pace while fostering feelings of accomplishment. For example, a stability ball can make push-ups easier; a trainer can have a client perform them with her hips on top of the ball. The client would have to lift the weight of only her torso, and, as the client became fitter, the trainer could instruct her to move her hands farther away from the ball to increase the challenge. For deconditioned individuals, the stability ball provides a convenient means of performing chest presses as well. It can be placed against a wall, and the client can place her hands on the ball and push her body away from the ball.

Any exercise that can be performed on a bench can be performed with a stability ball, and many exercises can take advantage of that inherent instability of moving on a spherical surface to bring more challenge to more muscles. The latter feature produces two benefits: More muscles are trained in the same amount of time, and the client is forced to learn to use her body and muscles as an integrated unit for optimal performance. This integration shifts clients away from the one-muscle-at-a-time concept of training so prevalent today. Indeed, when my clients ask which muscle a stability ball exercise works, I often tell them it is easier to list the muscles it doesn’t work.

As an inexpensive yet handy way for clients to perform exercises that help make them better able to move and live, stability balls are definitely essential to any personal trainer’s toolbox.

Jonathan Ross, ACE and NSCA

Certified Personal Trainer

IDEA Advanced PFT

Owner, Aion Fitness

Personal Training Director, Sport Fit Total Fitness Club

Bowie, Maryland

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