You have just been certified to provide your services as a personal trainer. What next? How do you progress and help your clients’ progress in their fitness journey? Even if you are certified, things aren’t yet sorted. So, what are you supposed to do? The first thing you need to do is look for reliable personal trainer software. While you do that, the next thing you need to do is hone your existing skills.
With time, you will realize that you need to add something more to the toolbox. Of course, your certification and education will give you a strapping foundation. But, the key is to refine some basics throughout your career because learning never stops.
But, before we note down the personal training skills, let us understand who a personal trainer is.
Who is a personal trainer?
You might have visited your gym and consulted a common gym trainer. But, the fitness experience delivered by a personal trainer is top-notch. These trainers create a one-on-one fitness training program that adheres to the client’s custom needs. For example, your client might wish to gain muscle or lose weight. With the aid of their experience, personal trainers will create specific workout plans to help achieve this.
Clients might not get access to a personalized training experience with a regular gym trainer. So, the journey to achieving fitness goals might be slower than expected. However, the fitness journey is smooth and streamlined when guided by a personal trainer. The results are better with no negative consequences.
Now that you know the basics of who a personal trainer is, let us check out some secondary skills. Honing these skills help personal trainers deliver a better training experience. In addition, the training becomes more streamlined with personal training software.
Important Personal Training Skills For Better Client Experience
1. Business Skills:
Achieving success as a personal trainer is tough. This is especially true in the connected market via the fast-paced internet. The competition is stiff, and being an experienced/educated trainer doesn’t always translate into success.
Apart from being a certified personal trainer, you need to have the following skills:
- Social Media Presence
- Marketing Skills
- Networking Capabilities
- Business Acumen
With these skills and the added benefit of free personal trainer software, you can create a lasting career for yourself.
2. Sales & Marketing:
For a personal trainer entering the fitness sector, enrolling on a sales & marketing class can be helpful. This will help you learn how to sell your services to potential clients. To succeed in any domain, we need to be responsible and sell our services to the best potential. So, before you get yourself a client, the key is to determine the right sales pitch.
Give your client a sense of value and perception for your service or product. Here, you are the product as a trainer. And the services you provide are personal training. If your client places their trust in you or your services, you will succeed.
No one would want to purchase when you can’t sell your services or yourself. Marketing & sales are skills only a few can master. Another great skill is to know the best ways to package and price your services. This should be done in a way that ensures you profit in the short and long run.
Plus, with COVID-19 restrictions in place, in-person personal training is hampered. To mitigate the issues, you can use online personal training software. This software will help you connect with the clients even when you are far apart. In addition, remote training will help guide the clients and maintain their fitness cycle.
3. Time Management/Organization:
Time management is a skill everyone should have. Remember the age-old saying, “Time and Tide Waits For None”?
This applies to a personal trainer as well. Every trainer should be structured and organized regarding their client’s workout routine. When paired with reliable personal trainer management software, you can also ensure:
- Performance Tracking
- Time Organizing
Being skilled at these aspects help maximize the training schedule for clients. It also helps personal trainers stay on top of the appointments.
4. Understand the Technology:
To stay on top and surpass other trainers in the market, you need to understand the latest technology. First, however, you need to get to the basics with several software technologies in the market. When you understand the technology faster, it is easier to implement it for your clients.
Software such as the one provided by The Workout Coach helps personal trainers and clients with:
- Workout Routine
- Client Success
- Scheduling
- Nutrition Tracking
This will help the personal trainer and the client connect remotely. Today, the need to embrace data-tracking platforms and wearables has increased. When incorporated into your client’s daily workout routine, it helps enhance the performance tenfold.
5. Glitch-Free Communication:
This, by far, is the most important aspect of succeeding as a personal trainer. You need to have excelling written and verbal communication skills that will help in:
- Writing Blogs
- Meeting Clients
- Giving Presentation
- Social Media Posting
- Email Communication with New, Old, and Current Clients
Communication is basic for any profession. When you communicate with your client daily, it helps you track the success or failure of your client. It will also aid in the improvement of the current workout strategy and implement a new one.
6. People Skills:
Most veteran personal trainers mention that it is crucial to interact with the clients. Most personal trainers know the best ways to teach plank or squat to their clients. So, as a personal trainer, what is something new you will provide?
When you relate to the clients, you can create a strong and reliable rapport. When you add to this personal trainer software, trust in you as a trainer increases.
7. Empathy:
To be a good personal trainer, you need to be able to understand the client’s perspective. You need to understand why there aren’t any results despite so much effort. The problem could be emotional, physical, situational, or simply a weight loss plateau. Regardless, it would help if you thought as your clients do.
This is where empathy comes in. It is understood that one cannot be naturally empathetic. However, the skill can be developed. This skill is critical to gaining, growing, and keeping your existing clients. When your clients relate to you personally, they put their trust in you.
Regardless of the knowledge, if you cannot connect with the client, it isn’t going to work out for you. Unfortunately, most new personal trainers do not have enough life experience. This is mostly because they fall in the 20 to 30 age group category. So, not much can be expected in this context.
Sure, there are exceptions, but the general purview is this. A glaring area in this context is the absence of self-awareness. Even if you lack empathy as a personal trainer, you need to learn the basics from an experienced professional. Try to spend some time role-playing & practising some motivational skills. Be a leader with whom your clients can connect and share their issues.
For example, if your client is dealing with pain when performing a set, you can directly ask them. Or make sure they are comfortable enough to share the same with you. If they are uncomfortable sharing their experience, they might hamper their health. Pushing through the pain is fine if it doesn’t physically hurt you beyond repair.
Some pain is expected during the exercise routine. However, if the pain becomes unbearable, make sure the client shares this with you.
8. Mental Flexibility:
Another skill you need to pack in as a personal trainer is mental flexibility. Trainers must adapt to different client personalities while still being themselves. This will help reduce any personality clashes and ensure a smooth training experience.
9. Behavior and Nutrition Change:
A nutritionist and a personal trainer are quite different but are two important parts of one’s fitness journey. Exercise and nutrition go hand-in-hand. But, they are two different sections of expertise and knowledge. In this context, personal trainers must educate themselves regarding the client’s nutritional requirements.
You should also understand the need for a personalized client diet, not just general information. You can provide basic information, but you need to have the right credentials for diet chart preparation. The basic nutritional understanding helps you be comfortable in providing the clients with a general recommendation.
Apart from nutritional knowledge, it would help if you also focused on behavioral modification. It might be difficult for you to communicate with clients given the social distancing norms. To mitigate this issue, you can make use of personal trainer software. This will allow you to communicate with the clients and focus on their nutritional needs. The results can be disappointing if you fail to guide the clients nutritionally and physically.
Can You Be An Ideal Personal Trainer?
The skills noted above can help you and your clients thrive. So, make sure you obtain these educational necessities and skills to become successful in your career graph. Moreover, the implementation of the latest technologies is always recommended. So, ensure that you have the best free personal trainer software to help your business succeed.
Your journey as an ideal personal trainer starts with education and certification. But, this is only the start. Remember, learning never stops. This is why a doctor is always in the “Practice” mode. The same is also applicable to a personal trainer. With different clients, you deal with different personalities. So, you always learn something new in the process. While doing so normally can be a long process, things can be simpler with personal training software.
So, there is no such thing as an ideal personal trainer. But, you can be an ideal choice for your clients. So, please provide them with the services they seek in the best possible manner. But, in the end, your efforts should be genuine and fulfilling for the clients.
You can have all the qualifications to be a great fitness trainer. But, if your intention & effort isn’t up to the mark, you can never be an ideal trainer. Each trainer attracts clients drawn to different techniques or styles.
Transition As A Successful Personal Trainer
When you enter the fitness industry, you might not realize its potential initially. As a personal trainer, you can keep training your clients or transition into a different branch as you go. In addition, you can specialize in the niche population you feel confident in. For example, specialising is the key if you plan to be a trainer for people with physical restrictions.
Most of all, implementing online personal training software will help you transition better. You can even educate other new personal trainers. Additionally, you can write for certain fitness publications, be a mentor, or own a fitness chain. Your choices are endless.
Conclusion
Fitness is subjective to one’s perception. You can look heavy but still be fit or look too thin and lift heavy loads. The need for fitness varies depending on the age group, gender, or existing height/weight. Your client roster shall increase when you practice the right fitness essentials as a personal trainer. You can also expand your existing employment opportunities. In the end, your goal is to cater to the client’s requirements. The easier you make it for your client, the better are your chances to succeed.
Are you looking for top-notch personal training software to streamline your training sessions? Then, head over to The Workout Coach and double your clients without burnout. Using this software makes your work effortless and streamlined as a personal trainer. Best yet, you can register 5 clients for free on your account. To know more about our personal training software, write to us at support@theworkout.coach or give us a call at 020-7871-0900.
