Categoriesfitness business personal training

Should You Discount Your Rates Or Offer Free Sessions?

The fitness industry gets the shaft sometimes. It endures godawful long hours, we work when others don’t, there’s rarely (if ever) paid vacation, and there’s almost zero barrier to entry which allows a bunch of numbskulls to mess things up for everyone else.1

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I can’t think of any other industry or profession where, more times than not, the expectation is potential patrons get to “sample” the service before they decide to purchase. Okay, admittedly, that 100% describes the process of purchasing a car. However that scenario is a little different. A car is merchandise. The fitness industry is a service industry.

I think it’s a fair question, and feel free to insert any other profession in place of dentist (it’s the first thing that came to my mind when I wrote the Tweet): lawyer, hair-stylist, plumber, tutor, financial advisor, professional Han Solo impersonator, anything.

I also think there’s no one correct answer and that whatever side of the fence you’re on – “yes, you should offer free consultations and services” or “hells-to-the-no you shouldn’t” – has it’s advantages and disadvantages. In fact, if there’s any question that deserves the canned “I don’t know” response it’s this one.

via GIPHY

However, upon further reflection I think the more germane response is…

“It Depends”

I remember when I was working at Sports Club LA (now Equinox) here in Boston back in 2006-2007 every new member received two “free” sessions with a trainer. I say “free” because the sessions were complimentary to the members but I was still compensated for my time. Not every chain does that of course, but you can bet they all have people on staff who’s sole job it is to sell, sell, sell and/or direct people towards the trainers. In Boston, like any major city, there are several notable, big chain commercial gyms vying for people’s attention (and wallets):

  • Equinox
  • Boston Sports Club
  • HealthWorks
  • LifeTime Fitness
  • 24 Hour Fitness
  • Golds
  • Planet Fitness
  • Beacon Hill Athletic Club

In addition there’s dozens of mid-level commercial gyms (not chains, but pretty big) peppered throughout the city, not mention a CrossFit box in every major neighborhood. That’s a lot of competition and it makes sense that many of them would offer a free consultation or discounted introductory rates on training to entice more people to join.

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Cressey Sports Performance business director, Pete Dupuis, discussed this very topic in THIS blog post, and one stat he brought up was that roughly 30% of people who are offered free consultations actually end up taking advantage of them. As Pete mentions:

“This may be a solid conversation rate from the perspective of the commercial gym owner, but not for the independent contractor who doesn’t see a single penny of the monthly membership dues these potential leads are paying.  A 30% conversion rate tells me that 7 out of 10 people decided that something for nothing was actually worth nothing.”

And that’s the thing: I don’t have the luxury of hundreds (if not thousands) of people paying a membership fee just to walk through the doors. Why would I offer my expertise and time for free when I have bills to pay?

Some people may counter with “well, if you offer free stuff it’s less intimidating and allows people to see whether or not you’re a good fit.”

There are a few points I’d like to offer here:

1. Again, try walking into a hair salon and asking someone for 30-60 minutes of their time in order to sample the goods and to see if “you’re a good fit.”

HAHAHAHAHAHA – no, seriously, do it.

2. This is my livelihood, not a garage sale.

3. Plus (and not that I would ever play this card), I’m Tony motherf****** Gentilcore. People, like, me. I’m cool as shit to hang out with. Deadlifts, EDM, and random 90’s Mariah Carey trivia? Who wouldn’t pay for that…;o)

4. When does it stop? You offer a friend a discount and then what? Discounts for life? The mailman trains for free?

Worse you offer one person a discount or free sessions and another client catches wind who didn’t receive the same discount and now things are going to get weird. It’s best to just draw the line in the sand and take pride in your rates.

5. As my boy Dean Somerset has noted: free stuff isn’t the same thing as free training. I have over 1,900 blog posts on this site that are free and will help point people in the right direction in terms of training advice. Please, peruse away. That takes zero of my time.

However, time = money. If you want that it’s only fair to be compensated for it.

6. With regards to free consultations specifically, here’s the deal: that’s my assessment. I’m not taking 60 minutes just to show someone how to put the pins into the machines or to gossip about who’s banging who on WestWorld.

I’m taking that time to dive deep into someone’s unique injury history, discuss goals, using screens to assess movement quality, and taking the opportunity to see how much (if anything) I need to clean up with regards to exercise technique. All of that is information I use to write an individualized program. There’s value in that, not to mention a college degree, a CSCS certification I need to work at to maintain, and years of continuing education. If there’s any time left over, cool, lets discuss robots banging each other. I’m down.

Other Miscellaneous Things I Want to Say, But Have No Idea How to Put Them In Coherent Order.

  • I’d be remiss not to say this: Have a filter. Experience matters in this context. If you are in fact a new coach/trainer there is going to be a degree of doing stuff you’d rather not do. The entitlement that permeates with new trainers entering this industry is dumbfounding. There will be times you may have to offer your time for free or offer discounts in order to get more eyes in front of you. It’s not beneath you to do so. Moreover, you may end up working for a year (or longer) earning “beginner” wages. It’s part of the gig. Suck it up.
  • What about online stuff and emails? I take a lot of pride in that I try to answer every email sent my way. I think there’s huge value with interacting with your audience and not being an uppity dick. I’m not that much of an a-hole that I can’t take a few minutes to answer someone’s question. Where it becomes absurd is when one question turns into 17, or someone sends an email that would rival War and Peace in length. I ain’t got time for that.
  • I feel strongly there needs to be some form of “buy in” for the person to take things seriously in the first place. If the session(s) are free and there’s no penalty (loss of $$) on their end to 1) show up and/or 2) be accountable there’s less likelihood they’re going to be invested in the process.
  • This is NOT to say I don’t feel there’s value in offering discounted training/rates sometimes. The peeps over at Mark Fisher Fitness are huge proponents of offering special one-time only offers of 20-25% off packages when people attend a special bootcamp or class. I like this idea! If you’re already making the time to be at a certain place at a certain time, go for it. Offer free shit. Make it a special charity bootcamp or, I don’t know, just because it’s Thursday. MFF’s rule is run the class, get people’s names, offer the offer, stalk them for 30 days with emails and phone calls, but after that stop.
  • Understandably, there are some commercial gym trainers who are stuck between a rock and hard-place who receive minimal help from management in terms of client referrals. In this scenario I sense some value in offering free classes or sessions. If it’s a matter of getting more eyes in front of you I’d suggest offering 15-30 minute workshops or hands-on sessions during your floor hours where you go over core training, fat-loss strategies, or maybe offer exercise technique tutorials. Here people can get a flavor for how you roll and decide if you’re a good match or not. You totally are by the way.

Have some of your own advice to offer? Please chime in below or on the Facebook feed. I know many people have different perspectives and ideas on this topic and I have no doubts others can and will benefit from your experiences.

UPDATE

I should address a common theme I see popping up from people who oppose my view point. And that is: “I want my plumber to come and fix the toilet and that’s it. There’s more to the conversation when you factor in client-trainer relationships and the importance of rapport.”

I couldn’t agree more.

Which is why I refrain from pressuring people into purchasing large blocks of training up front. You want to talk intimidating? That’s intimidating.

“Hi, we just met and I spent 30 minutes gently tapping your glutes, want to hang out more? That’ll be $1200 for 30 sessions mmmmkay?”

Stealing another train of thought from Pete Dupuis, I’d rather earn my client’s business month to month. I only offer monthly plans. That’s a more palatable pill to swallow for most people. And, on the off-chance someone doesn’t like my glowing personality (and sweet He-Man references) or feels we’re not a long-term match, I am totally cool refunding their unused sessions. That’s just Business 101. And not sucking as a human being.

CategoriesAssessment personal training

What You Weren’t Taught About Assessments

As this post goes live I’m (hopefully) en route back to Boston after attending Mark Fisher’s wedding in NYC this past weekend. I decided it best to pre-schedule something on the off-chance some crazy shenanigans went down, like, I don’t know, an impromptu dance-off with a unicorn or a shot of Tequila somehow made it into my hands.

Nevertheless, better safe than sorry…I needed to plan a head.

Today’s guest post comes courtesy of Boston-based strength coach and massage therapist, Mike Sirani.

Enjoy!

Copyright: dolgachov / 123RF Stock Photo

 

Oh, the assessment.

The assessment is one of the most pivotal moments when working as a personal trainer or strength and conditioning coach. It’s often your first in-person interaction with a potential client.

Even though brand awareness, marketing, and your reputation can all help your chances of success before the assessment even starts, you still have 30 to 90 minutes to sell a client on why you or your gym is the best person/place to help them reach their goals.

This can be difficult, especially if:

  • You’re young and/or new to training people.
  • You feel like you’re not as busy as you should be.
  • You have thoughts like, “I’m so much smarter than this other trainer, but they’re making way more money than me.”
  • You often scratch your head thinking things like, “I’ve taken PRI, DNS, FMS, FRC, SFG, and eat KFC, and despite all of my continuing education, the number of clients I see still isn’t growing.

If any of the above rings a bell to you, I believe this article can help you.

All the knowledge in the world is as useless as the Cleveland Browns on a Sunday unless you understand a few key things.

1) Most People Are Seeking Your Services to Get Fit

Somewhere along the way, physical therapy blurred with strength and conditioning, and strength and conditioning blended with physical therapy. It’s great for the field, and both do work optimally together, along the same continuum, but it’s important to know your role.

Most clients looking to improve their fitness don’t give a shit about their pelvic inlet position or posterior mediastinum’s or the 10-degree difference in hip internal rotation from side to side. When you start throwing out those terms, you’re just a big weirdo. Here’s what I recommend instead:

Listen

  • Be an active listener.
  • Have good body language.
  • Ask the right questions. All of your questions should help you build rapport and lead towards making good clinical decisions in order to help the person in front of you.

Meet Them Where They’re At

  • Don’t put down or talk bad about someone’s previous exercise programs, especially if it’s something they enjoy doing.
  • Making them stop doing something they enjoy should be your last option and done only if you’re 100% sure it’s holding them back from reaching their goals.
  • People will have pre-conceived notions and it’s your job to educated them—but also respect their views and understand that not everyone will be a good fit to work with you.
  • I currently train clients who are yogis, cyclists, triathletes, Cross Fitters, Pilate’s enthusiasts, and runners. What do they all have in common? They see value in my service, enough to limit how much they’re doing of their other activities to make room for strength training because it will help them reach their goals and allow them to continue doing the activities they love

Actually Come Up with a Fitness Plan

  • Here’s an idea: Instead of throwing someone through the gamut of corrective exercises on Day 1, why don’t you bring them through a brief workout?
  • Show them what they’re good at, show them what they’re bad at, and actually coach them through different movements.
  • Then work with them to come up with the outline of a plan that you’ll use to guide them towards reaching their goals.

2) Context Matters!

It’s clear that above I poked fun at a few philosophies and anatomical terms. Please don’t get me wrong. I don’t condone being one of those trainers who is all about doing an exercise only because it looks cool and fun. The better you know your anatomy, physiology, biomechanics, and pain science, the more potential you’ll have to be a great coach.

But, as a coach, you must also take all of that knowledge and put it in CONTEXT for the client to UNDERSTAND, APPRECIATE, and VALUE what you are saying.

You see, we take these continuing education courses that are catered towards physical therapists, massage therapists, and chiropractors and think we can explain things the same way when bringing someone through a fitness evaluation. Often times in a course, you’re explaining that increasing this range of motion or decreasing tissue tension in this area will help alleviate pain.

What if your client isn’t in any pain and they just want to get fit? What do you do then?

Consider learning how to re-phrase things and put them into context that not only work for fitness and performance, but put value in what you can do to help them reach their goals. Here are a few examples:

  • A right-handed baseball player who lacks passive hip internal rotation – “When we increase your hip internal rotation, you’ll be able to load and explode much better with your lower body and generate a lot more power during your swing.”
  • A powerlifter who lacks ankle dorsiflexion – “When we increase your dorsiflexion, it’ll become much easier to hit depth on your squat and you won’t get red-lighted on weights you should be able to lift.”

 

  • A client who asks why you’re watching them perform certain movements during a FMS – “This will give us a better idea of what exercises will be best for you body at this time and tell us what you need to work on in order to progress the exercises you’ll be doing during your first program.”

With that being said, you also need to realize that you’ll run into situations where a client may have a Type A personality and want to know the details and the science. Now is the time when you can step up to the plate and impress the client with your knowledge of anatomy, physiology, and biomechanics.

3) Analogies

Science can get complicated. It can be overwhelming explaining tissue healing or specific training and rehab concepts to a client. This is where analogies can be huge for educating a client and getting them to buy in and be on the same page as you.

A good analogy is great for explaining an unfamiliar concept with a familiar one and can take complex explanations and make them simple.

Be creative with these and make sure you drive your point home with something your client really resonates with.

In Summary

If you’re good at your job and are able to get a client to train with you a couple times a week, you’ll likely have good adherence and get good results. But you have to first know how to put yourself in a situation where someone is willing to spend money on you or your gym each week. It’s easy to fail getting to this point when you get caught up in how much you think you know and are waiting for every opportunity to share what you learned over the weekend.

Instead of feeding into your own ego by showcasing your knowledge with a new client:

  • Be a good listener
  • Meet them where they’re at
  • Always come up with a plan
  • Know that context matters!
  • Use analogies.

I once heard Alwyn Cosgrove say, “If you can see John Smith through John Smith’s eyes, you can sell John Smith what John Smith buys.”

If you can remember to see John Smith through John Smith’s eyes and know that clients don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care, you’ll be a much better coach, and your busier schedule and increase in clients/members will surely reflect your improvements.

About the Author

mike-siraniMike Sirani is a strength and conditioning coach and massage therapist in Boston, MA. He works at Pure Performance Training where he helps client’s look, feel, move, and perform better.

Prior to building a successful personal training business in Boston, Mike graduated from one of the nation’s best exercise science programs at Springfield College and graduated from the Cortiva Institute in Boston for massage therapy shortly after.

He interned at Conca Sport and Fitness, one of Western Massachusetts’ top training facilities, and the nation’s best baseball strength and conditioning facility, Cressey Sports Performance. He is a certified strength and conditioning coach through the NSCA and has completed extensive continuing education in manual therapy, cardiovascular training, Functional Range Conditioning (FRC), Postural Restoration Institute (PRI), and Functional Movement Screen (FMS).

Mike played collegiate baseball at Springfield College and is an avid golfer. When not doing any of the above, Mike enjoys binging on good television shows and spending time with his fiancé. You can check out what Mike is up to on Facebook or check out some of his other articles at Rebel Performance.

 

 

Categoriescoaching personal training Program Design

Program Design Considerations for the New Personal Trainer

With more and more personal trainers entering the industry faster than Marvel and DC Comics can resurrect D-list characters to put into their movies2, it’s becoming more readily apparent how ill-prepared some (not all) are when it comes to writing effective training programs.

Today’s guest post, courtesy of Tennessee-based coach, Andy van Grinsven, helps to shed some light on the topic and remedy the situation. Enjoy.

Program Design Considerations For the New Personal Trainer: What You’re Missing

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Copyright: dolgachov / 123RF Stock Photo

It’s five after, and my client is running late. Like an owl I spin my head round and round checking first the door, then the suspiciously empty squat rack, and back to the door, tapping my clip board with feverish anxiety.

My client arrives. “Hey there! How was your weekend? Ready to get started?” Like Fred Jones I wave of my arm as if to say “come on, gang!” I’m listening to my client while trying to break the speed-walking world record on my way to the rack.

Then it happens. Like a swarm of vultures a group of teenagers snag the only squat rack in the gym. Nut punch. Now what?

Personal trainers and coaches pride themselves in their ability to write programs: sets and reps, rest periods, organization, periodization, and all the other details that make a program, a program. And at the end of the day, we hope this program turns our clients into card-carrying certified badasses.

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Copyright: dolgachov / 123RF Stock Photo

But here’s the thing:

Any trainer worth his weekend certification can put together a program. It’s not that hard: pick some exercises, assign some stuff to them, and voila! You’re a coach.

But what happens when you actually hit the trenches and start training these clients? Does your program actually work? Does it fit the context of the gym and client? Does it make them better?

I’ve been training, largely in community gyms, for the better part of 7 years. I’ve written countless programs. However, the number of times I’ve been able to execute a program 100% as written is likely less than 10.

Why?

Because when life throws you a bunch of teenagers in the squat rack, you make do with what you’ve got left (after cursing the Gods, and maybe, crop-dusting them).

Suddenly, your perfect program gets shot down because the equipment you needed is occupied.

Or your client just got back from a 2-week vacation. Or your client slept poorly. Or they stayed up late watching Friends reruns.

Your program means nothing if it can’t roll with the punches.

Exercise selection, sets, reps, and rest periods are great. But there’s a few things you ought to consider along with the meat and potatoes of your program:

Program Design Considerations: What Your Certification Course Forgot to Mention

1.) WHO is your client?

Are they an athlete? Are they a bodybuilder? Powerlifter? Or just some regular Joe trying to lose

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belly fat?

This question might sound silly, but you may be surprised to see many coaches and trainers blindly fit all their clients to one style of training:

Powerlifters like the “Big 3,” so every client is barbell benching, squatting, and deadlifting.

Bodybuilders chase max muscle, and often write programs with titles like “chest day” or “leg day.”

This is, of course, appropriate, if the client is a powerlifter or bodybuilder. But what if they’re not? How do you write a program for the regular Joe?

Do both styles of training, and the tools they prefer, have a place in your program? (<–the answer is probably, yes)

2.) What’s Important?

You’ve got your exhaustive list of exercises: squat variations, different hand position, barbells, TRX, medicine balls, boxes, and the list goes on.

In this crazy world of fitness and exercises, which ones are most important for your client? What do you choose, and how do you implement them?

Develop your own “10 Most Important Things” list. This list will serve as the foundation for your program design.

Here are my 10 Most Important Things (in no particular order):

  • Squat
  • Hip Hinge
  • Push-ups
  • Chin-ups
  • Lunge
  • Row
  • Carry
  • “Power movement”

 

  • Crawl
  • Anti-movements (planks, Pallof presses, etc.)

 

For me, these 10 represent the most important things I need to coach all my clients. The style of squat; the type of hip hinge; how many push-ups they can do; and the “power movement” will all differ client-to-client, but they’re all things my clients will do with me. If I’ve covered these 10 things, we’re going to be in good shape for both the gym and life.

If you must leave your client with only 10 things, what would they be?

3.) What Are the Client’s Goals?

I get it: squatting is a ton is fun. Being super strong is awesome. But does your client want to squat a metric shit-load? Do they even know if they do or don’t? Further, how strong is “strong enough?”

Remember: you’re in business to help your client. If being as strong as humanly possible is their goal, then get after it. If not, reassess “why” you’re designing your program to include heavy squat sessions. They might not be appropriate for this client, or many of your others.

Now before you go writing me off as some soft coach, hear me out: I agree that everyone needs to be “strong.” Helping your client get stronger is helping them build muscle, boost confidence, and reduce their risk of injury.

But, how we get them stronger is through progressive overload, not necessarily the tool: dumbbells, barbells, and TRX each provide a stimulus to help your client get stronger.

I encourage you to evaluate how you define strong and evaluate the methods you use to make your clients strong.

Sometimes, a goblet squat is all you’re ever going to need.

 

4.) What Does Your Client Need?

You’ve established the client’s goals: shed body fat, get stronger, and look great naked again.

What if your client wants to squat a brick shit-house, but can’t squat to parallel with body weight?

Maybe they want to run next year’s full marathon, but they’re carrying an extra 50 pounds of fat.

Get your clients to their goals, but assess their needs along the way. If they have the body awareness of a 2-year old and joint mobility that would make the Tin Man cringe, we’ve got some work to do first.

Whether these things pan out during your first few sessions or are discovered through your screen is up to you, but make sure you’re using the safest and most effective methods for their abilities right now, and not where they think they are.

5.) What CAN You Do?

It’s not what you want to do, it’s what you can do.

There have been numerous times I’ve walked into the gym, program in hand, and had to make adjustments, X-out exercises, and switch my order.

Why? The teenagers in the squat rack. My client didn’t sleep well. The lat-pulldown is out for maintenance.

What are you going to do now?

1. Roll with it

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I’m all for program writing and I love the enthusiasm but have progressions, regressions, and other options that can get the job done.

For most everyone, like 99% of the people you’re going to work with, it won’t matter whether you squat them with a bar, dumbbell, or kettlebell. It won’t matter if your hip hinge movement is KB swings instead of deadlifts. It won’t matter if you choose to do push-ups over DB presses.

All that will matter is that you’ve provided a stimulus and a fun training experience.

Why? Because good, hard work, trumps no work at all. And in the grand scheme of things, most of your clients just want to move well and feel well, get a good workout in, and be on their way.

2. Assess Readiness

Many coaches, many smarter and more experienced than I, will use Heart Rate Variability or some other tool to assess “readiness” of the client or athlete before the training sessions starts.

If you have the tools and like to use them, great. If not, borrow my “RPF,” or 0-10 Rating of Perceived Feels scale:

A zero (0) on the scale roughly means “Andy, I’d rather throat punch you than work out today.”

Ok. No problem. Maybe we’ll de-load or reduce the volume on some things.

A 10 on the scale roughly means “Andy, I’d like to fight Superman today.” Great! Let’s get after it: slap on more weight; more sets; and more intensity.

Your 0-10 might mean different things to you and your client, but make it fun and relatable. At the very least, you’ll get a laugh out of them with the silliness.

My RPF scale is a simple, subjective tool that gives you an idea of the state your client is in before you start hitting the weights. Make changes accordingly.

Conclusion

Writing a program doesn’t have to be complicated, however, these are considerations most don’t take into account when designing a program.

It’s easy to jot down the program that *you* would want to do, but is it appropriate for the client? Is it appropriate for the context of the gym and client’s goals?

Answer these questions before you even sit down to write the program, and have progressions, regressions, and built-in flexibility with your exercise selection.

If you can do that, I promise you’ll write better programs and rarely run into trouble.

About the Author

Andy is a personal trainer and strength coach based in Nashville, TN. He likes deadlifting, coffee, and BBQ. His clients range from college age to retirement, but the message is still the same: lift safely and progressively, then rule the world. You can find him on Facebook and Instagram, or on his website HERE.

Categoriescoaching personal training rant

Porcelain Post: Jedi Mind Trick Your Way to More Clients and Better Retention

NOTE: the term “Porcelain Post” was invented by Brian Patrick Murphy and Pete Dupuis. Without getting into the specifics, it describes a post that can be read in the same time it takes you to go #2.

Huh, I guess that was more specific than I thought.

Enjoy.

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Copyright: tuomaslehtinen / 123RF Stock Photo

While I know most mean well, I’m often amused by some of the posts and/or sponsored ads I come across on Facebook directed towards fitness professionals in an effort to teach them how to get more clients and better market themselves.

NOTE: For the record, I call BS on any person who says they’ve figured it all out and are willing to let me in on all their secrets for a mere $5000 weekend marketing bootcamp.3

The reality is, you don’t need to try to so hard. Well, you do…you just don’t need to overthink things and be a moron about it.

You Want More Clients or Wish the Ones You Have Would Work With You Longer?

1) Be Patient (and Be Good At What You Do)

Admittedly this is not a sexy answer. I might as well tell you the secret to getting better at deadlifts is to deadlift.

Success comes with experience. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but if you’re an incoming personal trainer or coach it’s going to take months, if not years to establish yourself as a credible professional. Yes, there are exceptions and examples of people who do very well very quickly (and build a client roster that anyone would be envious of).

Tragic as it may seem, the likelihood this will describe you and your ascent within this industry is slim.

Get good, unapologetically good, at what you do (as in coach your clients well) and over the course of time, people will take notice.

When I worked in commercial gyms early in my career I can’t tell you how many clients I picked up as a result of them observing me over the span of several weeks. They’d watch how I interacted with my clients – how I was hands on, paid more attention, sometimes wore pants – and how my approach was different than how many of my colleagues interacted with theirs.

You’re always being watched and judged by your actions. The secret to separating yourself from the masses is to be better than the masses.

The act of giving a shit is profound, and people know it when they see it. So be patient, do the work (like everyone else has done in the history of ever), and see what happens.

2) Don’t Be Afraid to Say “I Don’t Know.”

The ol’ saying “fake it till you make it” has a time and place…until it doesn’t. People can smell a fraud a mile away.

Like it or not, you are a profound resource for you clients with regards to health & fitness information. Often times you’re THE resource, or at least top three:

  1. Google
  2. Their doctor
  3. Their friend who read something on the internet.
  4. You

Okay, so maybe top four.

That said, I don’t understand why some trainers and coaches are afraid to say “I don’t know” when they don’t know the answer to a question…as if they’re going to somehow lose personal trainer demerit points or Alex Trebek is going to pop out of nowhere and laugh in their face.

Here, let me show you how easy it is to say:

Example #1

Client: “Tony, why does my knee hurt when I do lunges?”

Me: “Maybe you lack ankle or hip mobility, or maybe keeping a more vertical tibia will help. Lets take a look.”

Example #2

Client: “Tony, what does the rotator cuff even do?”

Me: “Well, every anatomy book will tell you it’s involved with actions like glenohumeral external and internal rotation, as well as abducting the humerus. However it’s real function is to center the humeral head in the glenoid fossa. Also it helps with ninjaing.”

Example #3

Client: “What’s the point of kipping pull-ups?”

Me: “I don’t know.”

Photo Credit: T-Nation.com

See, it’s easy.4

3) Along the Same Lines, Don’t Be Afraid to Refer Out

The obvious talking point here is to refer a client out to a physical or manual therapist within your network when he or she experiences discomfort or pain when exercising.

Unless you went to school for physical therapy stop pretending to be one.

Too, why not refer someone out if or when their goals or needs surpass your level of expertise and knowledge? Again, I feel this bodes in your favor. Knowing your limitations as a coach is not something to be ashamed of. You can’t expect to be a jack of all trades.

If someone is interested in Olympic lifting I refer out.

If someone is interested in contest prep for a stage show I refer out.

If someone is interested in taking their DL from 600 to 700 lbs I refer out.

If someone is interested in training for the Laser Tag World Championships I own that shit.

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When a client understands you have his or her’s best interests in mind, and are willing to refer them to someone who best fits their needs, I guarantee you nine times out of ten they’ll be back as a paying client or refer someone they know to you.

Win-win.

4) Practice Unrelenting Transparency

Here’s the Jedi Mind Trick of all Jedi Mind Tricks.

Be up front with clients that your goal is to make it so that they won’t need your services long-term.

 

One of my favorite books of all-time is Simon Sinek’s Start With Why. If you haven’t read it already, you should.

The idea is that instead of asking how or what or when, you should ask WHY? Everything begins with asking why and then you can hone on the how, what, and when.

Lately I’ve been starting each one of my speaking engagements by explaining my WHY behind what I do for a living. Coincidentally it’s the same message I relay to all new clients:

“There are any number of trainers and coaches out there you could hire. And like most of them, I too want to help you achieve your goals – whether it’s to get a little stronger, improve performance in your respective sport, shed some extra body fat, or help with a nagging injury.

I choose to do so with integrity and honesty, in addition to using equal parts evidence-based research and anecdotal “real-world” experience.”

I want to help you achieve your goals, but I also want to help you not have to rely on me long-term. I want to teach you, educate you, coach you. It’s my goal to make you your own best ally, asset, and advocate.”

A funny things happens: most tend to stay around for a while.

NOTE: Okay, so that was the opposite of a porcelain post and ended up being longer than expected. My bad.

CategoriesCorrective Exercise personal training Rehab/Prehab Strength Training

Bridging the Gap Between Physical Therapy and Strength and Conditioning. How Much of a Gap Is There?

Today’s guest post comes courtesy of Andrew Millett – a good friend of mine and brilliant physical therapist outside of Boston.

The term “bridging the gap” is always brought up when the discussion of physical therapy and strength and conditioning comes up. There’s no doubt a melding of the two when discussing the most successful outcomes for patients and athletes. However, in a day and age where more and more personal trainers are taking it upon themselves to play the role of “therapist” (and vice versa), it’s important to note that, while it behooves us to dip our toes in both ponds, there IS a distinction between the two.

And we need to respect that.

Enjoy.

Bridging the Gap Between Physical Therapy and Strength and Conditioning

In the fields of strength and conditioning, human performance, physical therapy, etc., we interact with people on a daily basis.  We learn about their family, their job, their goals, and what they want to get out of their training or rehab.  The majority of the people in this field did not get into their respective field for the money.

I am not saying that any of these fields can’t be lucrative.  The majority of us share a common bond:  the desire to help people.

Whether you are a physical therapist trying to help someone get rid of their pain and get back to doing what they want to be doing or a personal trainer trying to help someone lose some weight, most of us want to help people.

When we see a client who is in pain or has some type of movement dysfunction, most of us want to help them get out of pain, whether or not we are a healthcare practitioner.  Personal trainers, strength and conditioning coaches, etc. are well-qualified to assess and correct movement.

There are many schools of thought such as the Functional Movement Screen (FMS), Selective Functional Movement Assessment (SFMA), and Functional Range Conditioning (FRC) – to name a few – that teach trainers and coaches how to assess movement so that they can make their programming more effective based off of how their client presents on their assessment.

 

More often than not, a strength coach or trainer will see a movement fault they would like to fix in order to optimize their client’s training in order for their client’s to succeed.  There is nothing wrong with wanting more for your client and for your client to achieve their goals.  When assessing a client, if some type of movement limitation is present (I.e., decreased joint mobility and range of motion), then by all means, use the tools in your toolbox to attempt to correct it.

Tools such as a foam roller, lacrosse ball, or other self-myofascial release device, can be beneficial in attempting to increase soft tissue flexibility that could be limiting a client’s movement pattern.

 

Self-myofascial release can be very effective for improving movement quality and at reducing pain.  By doing something such as this, you are doing your due diligence in trying to help your client to the best of your abilities.

If you use an implement suggested above and someone moves or feels better, GREAT!

If someone doesn’t move or feel any better after something like that, then as Charlie Weingroff has said,

“4th and 10, you have to punt.”

As he described in his DVD, Training = Rehab, if you have a client who has some type of mobility limitation and they aren’t improving, “punt” them, not literally, to another provider…I.e., physical therapist, sports chiropractor, or a massage therapist.

If someone has pain, punt!  Per the Functional Movement Screen (FMS), if someone presents with pain, the test is over and they should be referred to a healthcare practitioner.

Now, if you referred all of your clients who are in pain to another healthcare practitioner, you would probably have a lot of free time on your hands.

Most clients have some type of ache or pain they are dealing with.

By “punting” them, this does not mean you have to get rid of them.  You can use a multi-disciplinary approach and continue to train them without worsening their pain or dysfunction while they are treated for whatever ails them.

Don’t try to be a jack of all trades and a master of none.  Don’t try to be the strength coach or personal trainer who trains their clients, but also attempts to treat their pain or soft tissue dysfunction by performing some form of manual therapy.

This is where you need to know what you are good at and what someone else may be able to do better.  If a patient or client presents to me and I know another practitioner that is better at it than me, they are definitely going to continue their care with that better clinician.

Keep the manual therapy to the physical therapists, sports chiropractors, etc.  These clinicians have hours upon hours of training on various manual therapy techniques to assist in improving movement, pain, and dysfunction.

By meeting with local PTs and chiropractors in your area and developing a network of providers you can refer to, you should have no problem sending a client to a colleague who can help improve their current state.  Your client will think the world of you for having the humility to refer them out to someone who can help them properly.

Even if the physical therapist helps decrease their pain, that client will always remember that you had their best interests at heart and you were thinking of them first.

Think of your client’s needs first, not your ego!

Now, just because I am a physical therapist, doesn’t mean I am not going to “bash” on personal trainers and strength coaches.  I have a background in physical therapy and strength and conditioning.  I consider myself a hybrid physical therapist, bridging the gap between rehab and strength training.

I know that I am not the smartest trainer or coach out there.  I have the confidence in my skill-set to start the programming process and teach and help clients squat, deadlift, lunge, carry, push/pull, etc.

There eventually comes a time where I can have a personal trainer or strength coach take over and continue the process.  My goal for my clients when they leave me is that they have some type of basic foundation of the various movements just mentioned so they can effectively and safely progress towards their health and fitness goals.

If you are a physical therapist, sports chiropractor, etc. and you either do not have the confidence in how to teach basic movements and program them OR you have not educated yourself on how to program and teach basic movements, then leave that to the strength and conditioning or personal training professionals.

The message goes both ways: as much as we encourage personal trainers not to be too “bridge gappy,” the same goes for physical therapists.

The major point of this post is not to bash either side of the health and performance spectrum.  The point is that we need to coexist and develop connections with various healthcare and performance disciplines so that we are in the position to help the most important person in this process:  the client or patient.

About the Author

 

Andrew Millett is a Metro-West (Boston) based physical therapist

Facebook: From The Ground Up

Twitter: @andrewmillettpt

Instagram: andrewmillettpt
Categoriescoaching personal training

Why Not Every Client Needs Perfect Form

Today’s post comes courtesy of Jonathan Hamilton-Potter, and it covers a topic I feel is an important one for many new and up-coming fitness professionals to consider. Heck, industry veterans too.

And that is…being too strict with exercise technique.

Enjoy.

Why Not Every Client Needs Perfect Form

My eyes narrowed in disgust as I scanned the gym, trying to take in what was going on.

  • There was fellow personal trainer James, whose client Kelly was performing upright rows with no scapula retraction.
  • I spied Denise, training two girls to bench press, but completely neglecting the fact that using a lower-back arch and utilizing leg drive would have made them far more efficient and given better leverages.
  •  And worst of all – Kevin, who had one of his guys squatting, but cutting reps short of parallel.

They were gym crimes of the highest order. As a personal trainer, I should have been furious.

But I was okay with it, and here’s why –

1) Not Everyone Can Perform Exercises 100% Correctly

This is basic biomechanics.

If you have a client who can’t squat to depth because they’ve experienced knee or back issues in the past, then having them squat slightly higher than what’s usually considered acceptable in order to prevent pain isn’t such a bad idea.

With slightly less depth the muscle will still be getting worked (albeit not as well as if full range was carried out, but worked all the same) and if this allows Dave, the 63-year old former fireman who’s had three knee surgeries to be able to do a greater selection of exercises then I don’t think it’s such a bad thing.

Photo Credit: EliteFTS

You can obviously try to fix the issues though flexibility work, mobility and stretching but it’s also ok to move away from a particular exercise or modify it if the client cannot perform the movement at any range of motion without pain.

It doesn’t matter what Internet ‘experts’ say – not every client needs to train like they’re going into a powerlifting meet.

If someone can’t do an exercise in a particular way, then don’t force it upon them.

2) If You Try to be a ‘Form Perfectionist’ Then Your Clients Won’t Progress.

If I was personally spending hours and hours and huge amounts of my clients hard earned cash (which they most likely gave me for physical results such as fat loss or muscle gain) and spent the whole time working on postural correction, making sure there was absolutely no momentum used in any exercise, breathing was perfect and every single lifting ‘cue’ was nailed then I would have zero results to show and one pissed off client.

It’s ok to allow for a little form breakdown when it comes to an exercise, as long as a client is still moving safely though a movement.

You can correct a client’s posture over time if needed, but let’s not forget what clients come to us for – to be happy.

They’ll get more happiness from seeing results in terms of fat loss and body composition changes, than from you barking orders at them and stopping a set every single time they don’t quite get the movement perfect.

Obviously this is a trade-off.

In an ideal world, you might see a client seven days a week, and spend one hour on postural correction and mobility and then another hour actually training, but this is the real world.

Clients have a limited amount of time, so get them working hard when they see you, and advise they visit a sports massage therapist, a chiropractor or physical therapist to iron out any postural issues, as well as giving them some home mobility drills to do.

3) Perfect Form Doesn’t Allow For Maximum Intensity.

When it comes to any form of strength training a certain amount of effort, intensity and overload is required to coax your body to want to get stronger and better.

As training experience develops it becomes harder and harder to progress without regimented periods of high intensity. This should be carried out through the use of heavy weights or sets taken close to muscular failure coupled with muscular overload.

Maintaining ‘perfect form’ throughout every rep and set of every exercise will result in an extreme lack of the muscular overload needed for the client to progress, get stronger and improve the way they look.

Once again: clients want results and without them feeling and looking better then they’ll eventually leave.

4) Constantly Drilling Form Can Confuse a New Client and Make Them Feel Like They’re Always Doing Something Wrong.

Imagine you were doing something completely new to you – perhaps learning the guitar, or trying to speak a foreign language.

 

How would you feel if your tutor gave you 25 different instructions and made you stop every time something lapsed slightly?

Probably pretty down and demotivated.

That’s how a client can potentially feel.

They’re already doing something new and scary by joining the gym and working out (possibly for the first time ever) so give them small, manageable, bite-size chunks of information and don’t pick up on every error all at once.

Certain cues do need to be in place initially in order to prevent injuring your client.

A mistake I see a lot of trainers make is that they throw numerous teaching points at a new client in a single session, often resulting in the person looking mentally exhausted and disheartened.

Look at teaching a client the basic cues first such as keeping a neutral lumbar spine, monitoring breathing and so on, then every week or two once the basics have been developed (along with confidence) you can then look at adding one or two more teaching point to the mix and repeat.

Gradually adding teaching points this way allows clients to feel they’re accomplishing something each session and doesn’t leave them overwhelmed.

Take Home Points 

  • As long as a client isn’t risking injury then let them do the exercise.
  • Let clients lift sufficient load with enough intensity to cause progression.
  • 90% of your clients pay you for aesthetic improvements and fat loss, not to correct their form for a whole hour.
  • Don’t throw 100 teaching points at a new client and overwhelm them, add a new cue in every couple of weeks until each are mastered.
  • You don’t NEED to do any one exercise with a client.

About the Author

Jonathon Potter is a personal trainer, bodybuilder and is the owner of JHP fitness online coaching company.

You can check out his website HERE, and his Facebook Page HERE.

Categoriescoaching personal training Program Design

“How Much Weight Should I Be Using?”

As a fitness professional part of the job description is the ability to answer questions. Specifically those questions posed by your athletes and clients.

This makes sense given, outside of their primary care practitioner, you’re the person your clients are trusting with their health and well-being.

Granted, you’re not curing cancer or writing prescriptions for irritable bowel syndrome or anything5. But it stands to reason that as a personal trainer or strength coach you’re numero Uno when it comes to being most people’s resource for health & fitness information.

You’re it.

You’re the go to.

And like or not…You’re “the guy (or girl)” whenever someone says “I gotta a guy (or girl)” whenever they’re asked a fitness or health related question.

Stuff like:

“Does putting a stick of butter in my coffee make it healthier?”

“Will intermittent fasting help me lose 20 lbs of fat while also increasing my squat by 55 lbs AND give me x-ray vision?”

“Is it normal not to be able to feel the left side of my face after performing last night’s WOD? Also, it stings when I pee.”

I don’t know about you, but it’s a “challenge” I don’t take lightly.

I want to be a reliable and valuable source of information for my clients. They have (a lot of) questions, and I want to be able to answer them to the best of my ability.

I don’t know everything.6 I’m not a pompous a-hole who’s afraid to say “I don’t know.”

It’s rare when I get stumped with a question, but when I do I’m fortunate to have a long-list of people I can reach out to to get the answer(s).

I know when to stay in my lane and refer out when needed. You want to train for a figure competition? Not my strong suit. You need some manual therapy? Definitely not my strong suit. That irritable bowel problem mentioned above? Don’t worry, I gotta guy.

Most questions I receive are generally un-original in nature and something I can handle on the spot.

One question I get on an almost weekly basis, while inert and mundane (but altogether apropos), is this:

“How much weight should I be using?”

It’s a very relevant question to ask. And one that, unfortunately, takes a little time to answer.

To be honest whenever I’m asked this question two things inevitably happen:

1) The theme music from Jaws reverberates in my head.7

2) The smart aleck in me wants nothing more than to respond with “all of it.”

That would be the dick move, though.

Like I said: it’s a very relevant question and one that many, many people have a hard time figuring out on their own.

As it happens I was asked this question last week by a client of mine during his training session. It wasn’t asked with regards to that particular session per se. Rather, he was curious about how much weight he should be using on the days he wasn’t working with me in person.

NOTE: the bulk of my clients train with me “x” days per week at the studio and also “x” number of days per week on their own at their regular gym. I write full programming that they follow whether they’re working with me in person or not. Because I’m awesome.

When working with people in person I have this handy protocol I like to call “coaching” where I’m able to give them instant feedback on a set-by-set basis.

I’ll tell them to increase/decrease/or maintain weight on any given exercise as I see fit.

Sometimes I even give them a sense of autonomy and allow them to choose how much weight to use.

The idea is to give them a maximal training effect using the minimum effective dose without causing harm or pain.

Challenge people, encourage progressive overload, but not to the point where they feel like they’re going to shit a kidney.

Pretty self-explanatory stuff.

Where things get tricky is when people are on their own and don’t have someone telling them what to do.

What then?

Here Are Some Options/Suggestions/Insights/WhatHaveYou

1) Write That Shit Down

In the case of my client above, when he asked “how much weight should I be using?” I responded with “how much weight did you use last week?”

[Crickets chirping]

He hadn’t been keeping track of anything.

He’d simply been putting a check-mark when he completed a set, and then moved on.

I, of course, was like “nooooooooooooo.”

I can’t blame him. It was on ME for not being clearer on the importance of writing things down and being more meticulous with tracking everything.

But the fix was/is easy: write down what you did, and try to do “more work” the following week.

I realize we like to overcomplicate things, but that’s part of the problem.

Write shit down. Really, it’s that simple.

2) What Is “Do More Work?”

What does that even mean? Do more work?

It means that in order for the body to adapt, you need to give it a stimulus and then nudge it, over time, to do more work. There are numerous ways to do this in the weight room, but for the sake of simplicity we can think of “more work” as more sets/reps or load.

Do the math. If you’re keeping track of things take your total sets and reps (and the weight you lifted) and figure out your total tonnage.

Try to increase that number week by week.

One strategy I like is something I call the 2-Rep Window.

If I prescribe 10 repetitions for a given exercise, what I really mean is 8-10 repetitions.

If someone picks a weight and they can easily perform more than 10 on every set, they’re going too light. If they can’t perform at least 8, they’re going too heavy.

The idea is to fall within the 2-Rep Window with each set and to STAY WITH THE SAME WEIGHT until the highest number within the range is hit for ALL sets.

**I’d rather someone cut a set short a rep or two rather than perform technically flawed reps or worse, miss reps.

If I have someone performing a bench press for 3 sets of 10 repetitions it may look something like this:

Week 1:

Set 1: 10 reps

Set 2: 8 reps

Set 3: 8 reps

Week 2:

Set 1: 10 reps

Set 2: 10 reps

Set 3: 9 reps

Once they’re able to hit ALL reps on ALL sets, they’re then given the green light to increase the weight and the process starts all over again.

Another simple approach is one I stole from strength coach Paul Carter.

Simply prescribe an exercise and say the objective is to perform 3×10 or 15 (30-45 total reps) with “x” amount of weight. The idea is to overshoot their ability-level and force them to go heavier, but within reason.

They stay with the same weight until they’re able to hit the upper rep scheme within the prescribed number of sets.

It’s boring, but it works.

Another layer to consider is something brought up by Cincinnati-based coach, PJ Striet:

“I’ve went over and above in my program notes to explain this subject. I used to just give 2 rep brackets, and, like you pointed out here, told clients to increase weight when they could achieve the high end of the range on all sets, and then drop back down to the lower end of the bracket and build back up again.

The problem though, as I soon figured out, was that people were doing say, 4 sets of 8 (bracket being 6-8) with a weight they could have probably gotten 15 reps with on their 4th set. This isn’t doing anything/isn’t enough of a stimulus. This isn’t meaningful progression. Feasibly, one could run a 12+ week cycle in the scenario above before the 4 sets of 8 actually became challenging. And this was on me because I should have realized most people will take the path of least resistance (literally).

Now, in my notes, I tell clients to do as many AMRAP on the final set of to gauge how much to progress. If the bracket is 4×6-8, and they get 8-8-8-9, weight selection is pretty good and a 2-5% increase and dropping back down to 6 reps is going to be a good play and productive. If they get 8-8-8-20, there is a problem and I should either stab myself in the eye for being a crap coach or schedule a lobotomy for the client.”

Brilliant.

3) Challenging Is Subjective

I feel much of the confusion, though, is people understanding what’s a challenging weight and what should count as a set.

Many people “waste” sets where they’re counting their warm-up/build-ups sets as actual sets, and thus stagnating their progress.

A few ideas on this matter:

  • I like to say something to the effect of “If your last rep on your last set feels the same as your first rep on your first set, you’re going too light.”
  • Using a Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE) scale is useful here. Give them some criteria using a scale of 1-10. A “1” being “super easy” and “10” being “who do you think I am, Wolverine?” Ask them to be in the 7-8 RPE range for ALL sets.

And That’s It

There’s a ton of trial-and-error involved here, but it’s your job as the fitness professional and coach to educate your clients on the matter.

It’s important to consider context and everyone’s starting point, of course…comfort level, ability, past/current injury history, goals, etc.

However, beginners are typically going to have a much harder time differentiating “how much weight to use” compared to advanced lifters. There’s definitely a degree of responsibility on the trainer and coach to take the reigns on this matter.

But the sooner they realize it’s not rocket science, that there are some simple strategies that can be implemented to make things less cumbersome (and maybe even more importantly, that there’s a degree of personal accountability involved), the sooner things will start to click.

Categoriescoaching Motivational personal training

Doing Your Time: The Value of a Good Strength and Conditioning Internship

I never quite understand the infatuation some fitness professionals have with telling the world how much they’re “grinding” or hustling.” As if to imply their work ethic deserves more praise than the thousands of other coaches and trainers getting up early to, you know, go to work.

What’s more, those who continuously gloat about their grinding prowess and how “busy” they are sure do have a lot of extra time to post 37 different reminders on social media about it.

Of course, this isn’t to insinuate that people don’t actually work their butts off and have a right to brag about it. Someone like Eric Cressey or Joe Dowdell or David Dellanave or Molly Galbraith or Mike Reinold or Mike Robertson or Cassandra Forsythe or any number of fitness pros I know8 who have built a successful fitness business (and have unmatched work ethic) can do whatever the heck they want!

Here’s the kicker, though: they’re not the ones on Twitter and Instagram belaboring over the grind.

In my experience, those who do go out of their way to routinely market to the world about their hustling ways, are generally working exponentially harder to maintain the facade.

A facade that does nothing but mask what’s really going on.

He or she gets up like everyone else, trains people 4-5x per week like everyone else, and takes weekends off like everyone else.

In short: nothing special.

Nevertheless, all of this is to say that hard work – REAL hard work – does enter the conversation and matters. The fitness industry is one super saturated mess and everyone is vying for a piece of the pie.

Everyone is trying to separate themselves from the masses by worrying, first, how to market themselves or “build a brand” before gaining any experience and skills that will actually make themselves marketable.

Most often without understanding that – and please forgive the cliche – there’s a degree of “paying your dues and putting in the time” that’s involved.

“Putting in the time” is not referring to setting up twelve different social media platforms and posting videos of yourself talking to the camera about “time saving hacks” or what you had for breakfast while you’re driving down the highway.

Come on! You’re not that busy that you can’t sit down and talk without risking the lives of other drivers.

Don’t get me wrong: I understand that in today’s world part of running a successful business is staying on task with technology and understanding how to utilize it to build a brand. I’m not a hypocrite.

However, I’m referring to real work.

Real interactions with real people during real training sessions.

Basically, building real skills.

It’s a lesson many up and coming fitness pros need to understand.

It’s not sexy, but it’s what works and helps builds integrity, resiliency, and character. Annnnnd, I’m getting a bit too ranty and taking away the spotlight from today’s guest post.

Recent Cressey Sports Performance coach (and intern), Ricky Kompf, had a similar message to say on the matter. I encourage all young fitness professionals to give it a read below.

Doing Your Time: The Value of a Good Internship

Have you ever heard of the phrase….

“If you’re good at something never do it for free”?

When it comes to being good at your future career (especially in the fitness industry) the phrase should really go…

“If you’re good at something never do it for free and the road to being good at something is paved with a whole lot of free labor.”

Not as catchy but a lot more accurate.

When you begin your career in the fitness industry it’s hard to get a whole lot of hours of experience right away. Most of the time you’ll be in a situation where you are in a commercial gym and you’ll have to build up your clientele in order to get more experience.

Depending on where you are it can take a while to build up the hours you need in order to be a good coach.

With internships you have those hours right away and you’ll be able to hone your craft, become a great coach and build up confidence within yourself…all while under the mentorship of more experienced individuals.

I am a better coach now than I was seven months ago, and I owe that to my internship experience.

The value of a good internship will help you make leaps and bounds in your career as an up and coming fitness professional. Internships give you the opportunity to gain experience, be mentored by some of the top professionals in your field, work with the population you want to work with and expand your network.

I’ve been a personal trainer for two and a half years and have been lucky enough to have some influential people guide me along the way. This led me to take part in two internships that have been the greatest learning experience in my young career.

My first internship was at a successful training facility in Rockland New York called Rockland Peak Performance (RPP).

For three months I worked close to 40 hours a week with a wide variety of clientele that I had previously never been exposed to. This included youth, collegiate, and professional athletes all the way to general population clients of all ages and backgrounds.

As soon as I finished at RPP, I went directly to Massachusetts to start my second internship at Cressey Sports Performance.

For the next four months I honed my craft 32 hours a week coaching on the floor of CSP and worked alongside arguably some of the best strength and conditioning coaches in the country.

Tallying up close to 1,000 hours of experience right off the bat after graduating.

Not too shabby I’d say!

Never under estimate the value a good mentor.

The people you surround yourself with will have huge impact on who you are and who you will become as a person and a professional. When you place yourself in a situation where you are surrounded by people who are successful and good at what they do you have a better understanding as to how you can get there too.

Working with others who have a strong desire to learn and become better is a major benefit to a good internship.

A good coach’s commitment to become better may have a positive impact on you. You may find yourself picking up on the behaviors and habits they have that make them successful. I’ve always seen myself as a hard worker, but throughout my internship experience the phrase work ethic has taken on a new meaning to me. The habits I’ve developed over the past seven months have made me better and more efficient at coaching and communicating with others.

One of the least talked about advantages of pursuing an internship of your liking, is that you can choose the population you want to work with.

In the beginning of your career you have to build up your clientele…meaning you can’t choose who you want to work with; not when bills need to be paid.

By going through an internship you have the opportunity to work with the population you might want to specialize in.

Note From TG: Conversely, it opens up the possibility you may dislike it and realize what you thought you liked, you don’t. In their book, Decisive, Chip and Dan Heath calls this an “ooch,” or, a way to test one’s hypothesis or experience a small sample size.

You may in turn use that as a way to market yourself in the future.

Baseball players come to Cressey Performance because CSP is known for being the go to place to train if you are a baseball player. When you have experience with a certain population that population is more likely to pay for your services.

Finally an internship is a great networking opportunity.

Building a good network in the fitness industry gets you jobs and more clients. Knowing people who know people opens the door to where you want to be.

For example, as a previous Cressey Performance intern, you are a part of a CSP alumni intern page where job opportunities are posted regularly. This is because people in the fitness field know how good of an internship process CSP has and come to Pete and Eric asking if they know anyone good to fill a position at their facility (chances are, they do).

If you have an internship opportunity and are hesitant because it is unpaid, I highly encourage you to consider the opportunities that will open up from the experience.

If you are required to go through an internship as part of your undergraduate degree I encourage you to look at it as an investment in yourself.

Go for the internship that you will be challenged the most from.

This will give you the foundation that you need in order to become successful in this field.

About the Author

Rick Kompf is a SUNY Cortland Graduate with a degree in Kinesiology and a concentration in fitness Development. After completing his degree he went on to perform seven months of unpaid internships and is currently a Personal Trainer for Trillium Personal fitness in Syracuse New York.

Also the Founder of GainzTheoryFitness.com.

Categoriespersonal training

Why Training In a Group Gives You Leverage

Today’s guest post comes with impeccable timing.

Since I left Cressey Sports Performance a few weeks ago and started arm wrestling tanks working with people out of a small studio space in Boston (Run Strong Studio), I’ve switched gears a bit professionally reverting back to my roots focusing on semi-private training.

CSP has used the semi-private model from its inception back in 2007, and I’m very familiar with it, but it’s been a while since I’ve attempted to utilize it in a solo fashion.

There are several large commercial gyms in the area where I live (and now work) and none – to my knowledge – offer semi-private training to a high degree. Well, a few offer some low brow “conditioning classes” which, lets be honest, is code speak for “lets see how many burpees we can do in 30 minutes before your spine tells you to go fuck yourself.”

1-2 gyms offer semi-private strength training – one trainer, several clients, glitter paint, shit gets crazy – but because people in this area have been conditioned to think one-on-one training is the only way to do things (and that it’s safer9), it’s a novelty that hasn’t gained much traction.

Which is unfortunate because – while a bit biased – I feel it’s one of the best ways to introduce people into fitness, serving as a metaphorical festoon to improved health and overall sense of badassery.

Why?

1. Affordability – not many people can routinely afford paying a personal trainer for one-on-one services. Of course this is contingent on where someone lives. What you pay a trainer in NYC (a metric shit load) is much less to what you pay a trainer in Des Moines, Iowa (less than a metric shit load). I forget where I saw the statistic, but something only like 6-8% of the population can afford paying for personal training. With semi-private training – where rates are often reduced as high as 25% (some more, some less) – that statistic increases by a large margin.

2. Accountability – this comes into play with one-on-one training too. It’s amazing what the threat of losing out on $70-$100 by not showing up will do to someone’s motivation to get their butt to the gym. Moreover, I’ve found that people who gravitate towards semi-private training hold themselves more accountable to their peers whom they train alongside with.

3. Culture – something amazing happens once someone is finally around other like-minded individuals who want to train hard (yet intelligently). It’s as if a switch is flipped and their inner-Wolverine (or Xena) comes out.

Moreover, speaking as a coach, I find the semi-private (group) format has it’s advantages. For starters it allows me to be more efficient and provides better leverage to monetize my time.

It’s simple math10.

Second, and I’d argue most important, it keeps me fresh.

I find I’m more energized and alert as a coach when I’m managing several clients at once compared to working with someone one-on-one. While they’re few and far between, I’ve had some clients in the past where I’d rather wash my face with broken glass than listen to another minute of them whining about doing another set of Goblet squats or how their life sucks because their Lexus is in the garage again.

With the semi-private format I can just feign a little compassion then just turn up the music and coach someone else up. No two days, let alone hours are the same and I love it.

Annnnnnd, I’m getting a bit long winded. Stevan Freeborn – who wrote THIS excellent article on diet vs. habit based nutrition tactics on the site not too long ago – returns with this gem below discussing more advantages the semi-private or group training protocol.

Enjoy!

Why Training In a Group Gives You Leverage

Change is sucks!”

 -Anyone who has ever given up ice cream

Anyone who has tried to change a behavior can probably agree with the quote above. Trying to change a long standing habit that has become part of your daily routine takes a lot of discipline, concentration, and preparation.

As a trainer I see my job not about counting reps and screaming a lot (okay sometimes it is about screaming, but just a little bit), but rather my job is to help my clients in any way shape or form so that their transition to a healthier way of life is as manageable and sustainable as possible.

Sometimes this means I spend a little extra time after class talking about meal planning and food preparation. Sometimes it means I make a short video of me performing a bodyweight circuit that they can do at home. Either way the purpose is to take a bit of the work off of them.

Like this “quickie” by Neghar Fonooni from Lift Weights Faster.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfG8nXTBHU4

 

Over the last couple years I have come to believe that a group of people working towards similar goals can use each other in a similar capacity. The nature of the group allows each group member to share their difficulties and challenges with the group.

This is why I think people will always have more success working in a small group atmosphere when it comes to training and trying to eat better.

I believe this is largely due to three main effects that small groups have.

I want to talk about each one a bit today in hopes of persuading you to find a gym that will allow you to create a small group of training partners.

1. Power of “Peer Pressure”

The term “peer pressure” is something we have all heard before typically in the context of a don’t-do-drugs lecture from our parents or in a public service announcement involving the shaving of a young boy’s head to demonstrate how others can push you into doing drugs.

Both scenarios provide a context where the idea of “peer pressure” is one where there’s a negative connotation; as something that should be avoided or fought at any cost.

But I think this is a flawed understanding of “peer pressure.”

I prefer to term this phenomenon social reinforcement because I think it better identifies the actually process a bit more accurately.

Simply put social reinforcement is the positive or negative regard you receive from others by performing or not performing a particular behavior or taking on a specific set of beliefs and values.

In the context discussed earlier regarding drugs this would be the sudden coolness and likability you gain in the eyes of those who do drugs when you yourself start doing drugs.

But you see social reinforcement or “peer pressure” is nothing more than that…it is reinforcement either positive or negative in relation to a behavior or cognitive process.

This means that it is not “peer pressure” or the social reinforcement that is a bad thing…it is the behavior that it is reinforcing that is negative in the context of doing drugs.

Which logically means that if we can use social reinforcement to get people to engage in rather destructive and negative behaviors we can use this same powerful force to engage people in healthy and productive behaviors.

This is one of the benefits of training in a small group of people whom you know and trust.

If this small group is all about exercise chances are you will feel the need to exercise as well in order to receive that positive regard that we humans crave so much.

Social reinforcement gives you leverage over yourself.

It means that instead of going to the gym or being trained by yourself – which is typically the same environment you find yourself quitting time and time again – you will be in a group of people who believe exercise is important and necessary, and thus more than likely you will feel the need to take on this point of view as well.

This allows the change from being sedentary to being active much easier and sustainable.

2. The Gift of Social Support

Having a small group who you train with means that this small group cannot only play the role of training partners, but also the role of support group.

These people in your group are going through or have been through the same challenges and hardships you are facing or will face.

This means they make the perfect people to share your journey with.

 They can provide you reassurance in times of doubt, motivation when feelings of despair creep up, and advice when trying to solve a problem.

This is an extremely important part of making change long lasting.

Some people get this support system from their family and friends which is great, but I have seen many clients who constantly struggle through their change process because everyone else in their life does not see their healthy lifestyle change as a priority and because of social reinforcement (which we talked about earlier) this means my client often compromise their own priorities for others around them.

But by training in a small group you ensure that this role is fulfilled and that you are going to be more likely to be successful. Plus if you get social support from both people in the gym and outside of it I will bet changing your habits feels that much easier.

People need other people.

It is that simple.

Training in a small group gives you those people who you can lean on and who can lean on you.

Having a group that both plays the role of training partners and support group gives you leverage over your elephant which would much rather drag your rider to the local ice cream pallor.

3. Being Part of an “In-Group”

If you have ever taken a class in psychology or sociology then the term “in-group” is probably familiar to you.

But for those of you wondering: an in-group refers to a group that an individual psychologically identifies with.

The idea was popularized by Henri Tajfel while developing his Theory of Social Identity.

The idea here is that by having a group of people who share the same interest and priorities as you do, allows you to find a sense of identity in training and eating well.

It in essence becomes a part of you. You join and help create a culture specific to your group that will help hold you to your change process without even thinking about it.

You will find eating well and exercising regularly less demanding and chore-like. Rather you will begin seeing it as part of your daily routine and life.

I am not trying to promote the formation of a cult or anything here (; D), but I am encouraging you to get involved with a gym that has a culture to which you can assimilate with because it will make being consistent with training and eating well so much easier.

An added benefit you’ll also find is that your training will take off when you find a great group of people to train with because their habits will rub off on you.

If they use perfect technique, lots of intensity, and smile a lot while working out then you will soon be doing the same both because you identify yourself as part of the group and also because you want the positive regard of the people around you.

The Final Say

As you can see small group training offers a great number of benefits, but most importantly it gives you better leverage over any change your are trying to make. It allows you to save energy for other things in life than trying to force yourself to get to the gym or not purchase that carton of cookies you get every week at the grocery store.

Plus there is nothing more exciting and enjoyable than sharing in the victory of others and having people excited for you when you yourself succeed!

I hope this persuades you to seek out a group of people to train alongside!

About the Author

Stevan Freeborn B.Sc. ACSM-CPT is a trainer from Joplin, MO. He trains clients both in person and online. When he isn’t, he enjoys picking up heavy things, crushing trail mix, and being a coffee snob. He would love it if you would connect with him onInstagram, Facebook, or Twitter and spend a few minutes getting inside his head at Freeborn Training Systems.

Categoriespersonal training

Become a Superhero Trainer

SURPRISE. Bonus weekend edition post today from San Antonio based personal trainer, Jonathan Acosta. Jonathan has written a handful of posts on this site, most notably his popular Carbohydrate Rotation Revamped article.

Today he discusses what “superpower” is most beneficial for every trainer to be successful.11

Enjoy!

Like any other guy I’m a bit of a comic buff. I don’t know if its just the whole concept of superheroes or my addiction to trying to be superhuman. But since I was a kid Ive always been fascinated by superheres

I would put a plastic grocery bag on my back like a backpack and jump off the roof in attempts to fly or at least float down.

I learned about physics and gravity that day, so I had to look for another method. Towels tied to your neck to make a cape didn’t cut it either.

Bear with me, I’m getting close to my point.

Out of all the superheroes Deadpool is my favorite. Followed by Superman.

I know I’m gonna get a lot of heat with this but I’m not much of a Batman fan. Mostly because one of my BFF’s secretly thinks hes Batman. Batdad is pretty cool though.

 

Superman is one of my favorites not because of his superhuman capabilities but because of what he represents. which is his true super power. The invincibility and flying is cool, but it’s not his best super power.

The cool thing about this super power is that as a trainer, we have that super power too…………….

Ok let me rephrase that.

Great trainers have this super power.

If you saw the movie Superman with a jacked Henry Canvil, you’d see what the S on his chest really means. In krypton it means hope. That’s Superman’s greatest super power.

His ability to give people hope.

As a GREAT trainer, this too is your greatest super power. The ability to give people hope. The ability to give them hope and provide them with a solution. You see, what seperates a good trainer and a great trainer is just that.

Hope.

That’s cool that you can name every piece of the human anatomy. That’s cool that you know the best and most effective strength training or fat loss methods. But none of that will do you “Justice” (see what I did there?) like the ability to give your client hope.

If you’ve ever really sat down with a client and heard them out completely (which you should), you’d hear their pain and their struggle with whatever problem they bring forward to you.

It might be health reasons or performance. I know pain is subjective, but pain is still pain. And nothing alleviates pain like hope and action. Hope knowing that you are being provided with a proven path and are being guided by a “superhero”.

Followed by a plan of action to get to that superhuman version of you.

If men are from mars and women are from venus, then great trainers are from Krypton and CrossFit trainers are from Uranus.

I JOKE! I JOKE!

There are some great CrossFit coaches out there. I just like busting your chops 😉

If this article teaches you anything it’d be to hone your super power.

Trust me, you’ll see some amazing things happen when a client is ignited with hope and with your guidance they will become their own version of superhuman.

“Ignite the Fire”, so to speak.

 

So now that you know that you’re from Krypton and possess a superpower that can benefit all mankind…………

……………….What will you do with it?

About the Author

Jonathan Acosta is the founder of Underground Performance Center and head trainer at Get Sexy San Antonio and is a certified personal trainer though both ISSA and the NCEP, as well as Precision Nutrition Level I certified.

He likes lifting heavy things, reading books with big words in them, his steaks rare, funny stuff, writing stuff, hanging out with friends, and laughing.