Here we are at week 4 of our 5 week series on Overcoming Obstacles & Excuses.
Remember, knowing how to get your clients or potential clients past these road blocks will keep them coming back for more. It is your job to ensure that they stick to the plan!
My knees hurt so I can’t exercise
The health benefits of exercise often outweigh the risks. Certain conditions may make exercise more difficult but a good trainer can work around most problems. Consult with a health professional who can help you design a program that addresses your client’s specific concerns. For example, if a client is suffering from a knee injury, there is no reason why you can’t work on their upper body and abdominals while they are rehabilitating their knees.
I can’t see any results
One of the biggest hurdles new exercisers face is that the effort often does not match the result. They have been exercising for five weeks and jump up on the scale. Ugh, no change! They feel the program must not be working and give up. Unrealistic expectations can be a real downer. Convince your clients to stay off the scale. Monitor how many more repetitions your clients can do of a particular exercise. Keep track of how many more minutes your clients can do of a given activity. Your clients are making more progress than they think you just need to regularly point it out to them
All or nothing
Your clients are scheduled for a 90-minute workout but something comes up and they cannot get to the gym for the allocated time. They scrap the workout and decide they will try to fit it in tomorrow. Your client has decided to eat healthier but one day they slip a bit at lunch and have a chocolate bar. They decide that since they have already failed for the day, they might as well throw in the towel and indulge in a few cookies, a bowl of ice cream and a bag of chips. Tomorrow is another day. Can you see how this “all or nothing” approach works against your clients? Wouldn’t a 30-minute workout have been better than no exercise at all? Wouldn’t a single chocolate bar have been better than an all-out binge? Sometimes, striving for perfection is what leads to failure. The trick in trying to stick to a long-term plan is to helping your clients learn to compromise. When it comes to nutrition, for example, focus on the 80/20 rule – 80 percent of the time they eat really well and 20 percent of the time they indulge a little. When it comes to exercise, remember that any activity is better than nothing.
Stay tuned for more next week!
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