Each of us is different. This is a universal truth, and even though you hear it every day, it’s applicable to all walks of life. So, it’s equally true for exercising and regular trainings – you won’t find another human who is like you, and that’s why all of us have different mental and physical needs and capabilities.
As a trainer, you should be aware of the key things that help you build an ideal training plan for your clients. Furthermore, you should also know how to give them tips on how to lead a healthy life.
This post will show you some of the vital factors that impact your approach towards building training plans. It’s important to be aware of these factors as it each of your client require a different plan to successfully set off on their path towards developing.
The difference between individual and group trainings
Personal trainers’ main goal is to tend to their clients needs one-by-one. Their task is much easier – they can easily gauge their clients’ abilities, and based on their findings all they have to do is create a customised training plan and give some tips on how to lead a healthy life.
However, if you mainly teach groups, then your task is a little more difficult. You’ll have to pay attention to up to 10 people, and your training plans should reflect the level of the group so that the weakest and the strongest links can find a challenge for themselves.
This is why many people feel that group sessions aren’t going to help them to develop physically or to switch their lifestyle. However, just because a trainer is busy with several members of the group at the same time, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they ignore the progress and goals of an individual. The trainer uses different techniques to motivate and help their clients’ goals and limits.
Group sessions are good because – by using universal exercises – your clients can move every muscle in their bodies, which helps them make up for all the lost hours spent with sitting still. This is why trainers put together training plans that are flexible enough so that they can be modified according to individual needs.
You might wonder now – how do you decide what to put in your training plan? What should you know about your clients before you’d start the session? What else is there that can help you work out every little task that eventually leads to success?
Experience in exercising
As you’ve read it in the introduction, all of us are different with different goals related to exercising and different levels of skill. A really good trainer is aware of this, and does their utmost even in group classes to gauge newcomers’ skill level.
It might be wise to have a quick chat with them one by one. Naturally, if you don’t have enough time to discuss each newcomer’s experience in exercising, you can arrange a demo class. This can help you give an accurate estimate of your clients’ fitness, abilities, and devotion towards exercising.
Way of living
If you truly want to be thorough while getting to know your clients, there are couple of things that a simple placement test won’t be able to measure. You might want to find out about these things during the first time you meet, or after the first training session.
It’s worth knowing how stressful your clients’ routine is, how much time they have for exercising, and whether they eat healthy. The latter is actually as important as exercising on a weekly basis, so don’t ignore its significance.
Another thing to consider is recovery rate: some clients might take longer to recuperate after a more demanding training. If you’re in your early 20s, regeneration is much quicker and you perhaps want to exercise more often, while for older generations, it might be worth resting a little bit more or just scheduling less trainings in a week.
And one last thing you should consider is the sufficient amount and quality of sleep: this is just as important as regular exercising.
Time-management
Scheduling doesn’t necessarily require you sitting down individually with each of your clients. Once the first training is done, it’s enough to draw their attention to the importance of doing exercises at a high intensity level as frequently as possible.
All of us have chores and tasks to carry out during the week – these can often shrink the amount of time we have for exercising. Organising everything properly can help you to find a solution for any kind of problem.
Spomoco was created to make both trainers’ and their clients’ lives easier. The application itself is capable of much more than it you might think at first.
Spomoco isn’t a run-of-the-mil scheduling application. It’s as if you had your own digital assistant at your disposal. A companion that helps you organise your daily routine and live a life that is beneficial for both your physical and mental well-being.
Illness, injury, addiction
We’ve now arrived to the most sensitive subject – many people don’t dare or want to talk about it despite of its significance. There are certain circulatory diseases that make exercising unpleasant and dangerous at the same time. All of your future clients should be aware of potential illnesses they might have, and they should only exercise if their GP allowed them to do so.
Apart from serious, circulatory or neurological diseases, another harmful factor could be various injuries that have been haunting your client ever since it has happened (like an old sports injury or an accident).
Everyday addictions such as smoking or regular alcohol consumption greatly limit the progress that trainings can normally guarantee – furthermore, it can also thwart the realisation of long-term plans. If your clients are open-minded enough, try discussing the harmful effects of these addictions, and show them that while quitting is not easy, it can send them the right direction.
More things to consider while organising group trainings
Remember that your training plan isn’t carved into stone. You can change the order or the reps throughout the session depending on your clients’ skill level – the goal is to make your training as effective as possible. You can easily use the same training plan with minor modifications for different group sizes and age ranges as well.
Let’s not forget that since group trainings allow participants with various backgrounds to enter, it’s simply impossible to meet everyone’s expectation to. This is why you should strive to help the weakest links to catch up with the rest by doing extra exercises, so that they will enjoy your trainings as much as the other, more experienced participants do.
In order to expand your clientele and acquire loyal customers, it’s inevitable that you have the adaptability required. However, don’t forget that you create training plans, which means you’re also responsible for creating all the rules for your classes.
Organisational skills and discipline are just as important during group trainings as paying attention to your clients needs and progress – a truly good trainer always has time for all these.