I am new to the fitness industry, i have an important question to ask
If i was to train a beginner client who has no experience in the gym and their goal was to increase muscle or build strength. The best approach for that goal will be prescribing a full body muscle building program. Now i know i said full body program is the best approach but is that the first thing i train the client on ? after i meet the client for the first time and do all assessments on him/her ( fitness, posture, nutrition, strength, flexibility assessments) after that first day when he/she comes back and is ready for day 1 of training with me do i train the client from that day and on wards using the fullbody muscle building program that i created based on all results i got from assessments ? and another question if i was to train that person 2 or 3 times a week would i need to make different full body muscle building programs for each day using similar format ? or do i train the client 2 or 3 times a week using same program for each day
There is many ways you can go about this, But first cover the basics. your client is new to working out so defiantly do a full total body exercise plan covering every muscle group and a cardio plan as well
You can use cardio interval between sets of very exercise. or leave part of the session for just cardio.
Now you have your strength and cardio plan together, if you training the client twice a week, go ahead and split the program in two. Three times a week you can do lower, upper, core. Four days, you can do chest/ back, bi/legs and abs/shoulder for example.
As I said there is many ways to go about this.
Best way is to look at your client write down that they need as far as all component of fitness and plan from there. keeping in mind what they want and like to do and how hard they want to work. You have to experiment as well.
I hope I answered you question. at the end of the day you should feel that your client is enjoying the workout, they are getting stronger more flexible and that they know more about fitness than the average person in the gym, because you taught them everything they need to know to be successful.
Good Luck
Hi Jim. As Summer suggests, there are many ways to approach this. In my practice ‘yes’ I create a new workout for EVERY client session. Each of my sessions is generally a full body workout, but of course I may accentuate certain specific muscle groups or skills workout to workout. Each trainer is different however, and as you correctly pointed out in your question, the main idea is to address your specific client’s, specific needs as you gather them from your assessment. Let your assessment and client interview be your guide as to how you want to work with that client, and of course always remember you can always change your approach as you go along.
Great that you are starting out as a new trainer! Lots of opportunities to learn, grow and teach. Good luck!
LaRue, CSCS
www.lecfitness.com
Hi summer and LaRue I really appreciate your help. Now I was taught that for a beginner who wants to build muscle full body programs is the most appropriate than after approximately 1month or 6 weeks change it to split so upper body and lower body than after 6weeks from there change that intosplit so chest)back, arms, legs etc.
But my.concern that I am just still worried about is I know how to make programs for each goal based on medical conditions and clients wants and needs but before that when I do the assessments and measurements do I start after that day on the program I made or do I make a body conditioning program as well to see the Clients weaknesses than after about 2-3 weeks after examining twice.a week for 2-3 weeks using the body conditioning program I than start with the actual muscle building fullbody program that I made.
And one other question What should day 1 involve not day 1 of training but before that when u meet the client and ask questions should it involve all assessments, pre exercise questionaire and a quick workout or no workout since its time consuming but that quick workout shouldnt it be a goos idea doing the body conditioning program on that day than after that start training the client using fullbody muscle building program
I have personally found it best to stick to a program that has the same, or very similar exercises for the first two or three weeks, regardless of how many sessions-per week. The purposes for that repetitiveness are to build form and have a good history of exercises in order to track their progress in terms of resistance used and number of repetitions per exercise. But as we all know (or should know), the body does need to be shocked in order to avoid plateaus. Further, a repetitive workout gets boring after a while.
You also have to use your own judgment and be very observing of each particular client’s needs and wants. Some clients prefer to have a completely new workout each session and get very bored easily. Others are the complete opposite. The way I see it, the initial assessment is just that: an initial assessment. I still assess a client every session that we have because if he or she is progressing (or regressing), their training needs to be adjusted accordingly. Clearly, I don’t do full-blown assessments in every session; what I mean by that is that I take notes and make sure to know what has changed for that particular client.
For the most part, I design whole body workout programs that emphasize on legs, chest, and back. I spend very little time, if any, on isolated bicep or tricep exercises, since those are thoroughly used in major upper-body exercises (such as push-ups, lat pull-downs, etc.)
I also integrate HIIT segments in between exercises. Google “HIIT” or “Tabata”. I get creative on those and don’t necessarily plan them since I know them in my head and I can pull them out whenever I want or need them.
Hi Jim, The previous four have covered things pretty thoroughly here. I just wanted to add, in my 27 years of being a personal trainer I’ve taken to the 1-10 approach in asking ” How hard was that “. As taught to me by James Bell from IFPA. After each exercise, I ask ” One to Ten “. Especially when first stating a new client. It is THE communication tool, to get a feel of how hard is their perceived effort on the full set/rep of that exercise. I ask it after each set, and record it with a little dash, next to where I chart the workout. When I first start a new client, I tell them ” This will be the easiest workout we ever do. If they answer ” 1 “, it was of no effort, if they answer ” 9 ” it was extremely hard to finish ( 10 is working to fail ) I try ( based on consultation strength test/evaluation ) to keep them under a 5 on the first workout. Over time you just get a feel how hard you can push a particular client and how fast you can advance them. As the weeks go by, you push them more into the 7-9 range. Here is the KEY, I always ask, the following workout, first thing ” starting with what was sorest, what hurt the most, after our last workout ” I then use that as a tool, to gauge how much they can take. If I got a “9” on my sheet on calves for instance, from the previous workout and they tell me ” I could barely walk the next day ” I know I pushed them on calves too hard. So I drop the sets/reps on the calves. You don’t want to hurt clients, but a little soreness is good. I ask them to rate the soreness 1-10. I write it at the top of the chart sheet. Hope this helps. good luck to you. Jeff Jackson