8 Years in Fitness
Along with photo memories of cherry blossoms blooming, my Facebook “On This Day” feature notified me this week that I started my personal training career 8 years ago.
EIGHT. That’s close to a decade. That’s how old my niece will be soon. That’s how long I’ve had one of my favorite pairs of black mesh leggings that’s been discontinued from Target (and haven’t destroyed in the dryer from 600+ washes)!
I have enough memories and content to write a novel as long as the Outlander series or a script for a comedy show that I can save for another time, but upon reflection of the past several years, here are 8 things that I have learned from my time as a trainer.
Be your authentic self. In a gym setting, you may come across a trainer with the perfect bodybuilding physique that claims to stick to their strict diet and sell you on being really happy all the time when in reality they revolve their entire life around a feeding schedule and can’t go out. Clients are attracted to real people; if you speak in puns and have interesting analogies to explain a movement, the people that laugh at those jokes will be your clients. If your favorite hobbies have nothing to do with the gym, your clients will appreciate you more because you show them that you don’t have to live in the gym to get results.
Work smarter, not harder. When going from a corporate salary-based job to an hourly one, it’s hard to figure out what to do with the hours between clients. In an office, if you completed a task much quicker than anticipated you had to look busy for the rest of the day (after checking in with your supervisor of course) because deep 4-hour hyper-focused work is frowned upon when you have to be in the office for 8+ hours. As a trainer, you have some flexibility when you want to meet with clients, write out programs, and be able to make more money in less hours.
You’ll learn just as much as your clients. Although you’re essentially a strength and conditioning tutor, the conversations you have with your clients between sets or during their warmup will help you learn new things as well. Whether it’s travel tips, the ins-and-outs of home brewing, topics from their PhD thesis they’re working on, pet ownership, obscure hobbies and sports, investing, etc, clients will give you more insight into their industries and activities than a documentary on a subject. I put my journalism degree to use when “interviewing” clients to find out the who, what, where, when, why, and how of a particular topic.
Clients just want to live happier, healthier lives. A client may come into the gym with a weight loss goal, but not have a “why” in the initial session or aren’t ready to disclose the reason. Over the next couple of weeks you may find out that they want to be able to hike Mount Washington or that they need to lose weight for a better chance of having a baby. Some younger clients just want to eliminate their “text neck” from working their first 9-to-5, and older clients want to slow down the aging process before they get to enjoy their lives in retirement. Not all goals are aesthetic.
Progress is not linear. You could create a beautiful spreadsheet that maps out the number of miles or repetitions and loads, but if you or your client did not hit the goal that day, that does not mean that you failed in your training. If you strive for perfection every time, you are bound to fail. Every person’s fitness journey is unique and we should prioritize consistency over perfection.
Don’t sweat the small stuff. Clients may initially want the perfect personalized diet and training program, but if they’re not taking care of the big items, they will get lost in the minutiae. Obsessing over calories is unnecessary if a client (that doesn’t need to lose weight) needs to learn stress management for their inflammation. A weight loss client might think they have to go full speed ahead on a HIIT workout and delay any exercise because of it; in reality they need to be able to walk a mile comfortably first. An athlete might do everything you ask of them except they add in an extra workout during the week instead of taking a rest day when they need one. Clients need adequate sleep, nutrition, movement, and stress management. All the other stuff (8 repetitions vs 12 repetitions, etc) is just sand compared to the big rocks in a proverbial bucket.
A trainer is a teacher. A trainer cannot control the outcome of every aspect of a client’s life. Our clients are not our infants; we cannot control what clients eat or do at all hours of the day when we are not there. Most clients meet with their trainers 2-3 hours per week. Trainers coach and provide guidance on a healthier lifestyle, but they won’t be there to spoon-feed their clients vegetables or make sure they take naps to rest. We’re there to show you how to fish so you can feed yourself, not hand you sashimi on a platter. We want you to be able to work out on your own; you can continue training with us because you want to.
Fitness coaching is rewarding. Although we’re not your parents, every time a client succeeds at something, we feel a sense of pride. It could be as small as seeing a client go to the gym daily even if there are no scheduled sessions, a client accomplishing a deadlift after weeks of practice, or larger endeavors such as running their first half marathon. I love it when my female clients accomplish a pullup or strict pushups when they never thought they could. Or when a client PRs a heavy lift or a 5k. Even touching your toes in your 70s when you never had the flexibility before is a huge accomplishment. Finding your hidden potential brings us joy.