How to Make Strength Training Workouts More Fun and Less Work
For most people who seek a personal trainer, the idea is to get a better, individualized workout. Clients want to get fit in a way that will make them look good. Most of them know that strength training will be a major part of their workouts and they are okay with that. Sometimes, however, there is that certain client who complains about everything and doesn’t want to do all the hard work of building muscles. They will do their cardio exercises until the sun sets, but when it comes to the effort of making their muscles the beautifully sculpted pieces of art they can be, these clients will tell you that it’s just too hard.
As a trainer, what do you do with these people? Sigh, get exasperated and throw up your hands? You’re a personal trainer, not a babysitter and no client pays you enough to put up with this, right? Wrong. The next time you encounter a client who just cannot see the importance of good strength training workouts, there are a few things you can do to encourage them on their way.
Explain, explain, explain
The fact is that so many people just are not educated about the importance of strong muscles, so it’s up to you to educate them on the value of strength training workouts. For instance, if your client is a woman, show her pictures of how she could look when she gets older and has osteoporosis. Anyone who wants to look good now probably wants to look great forever, so pictures of a humped back won’t be appealing to her.
Also, if your client wants to lose weight, it’s likely that they falsely believe that more cardio equals quicker weight loss, so it’s up to you to make sure that your client understands that calorie burn equals weight loss and good, strong muscles will not only help your client to look sculpted, but they also help to increase the overall calorie burn, so ultimately, with strength training workouts, your client will be burning more calories even when they are sitting still and that means that they will have better weight loss results.
Have a plan B
If you have a client who just doesn’t like to do any kind of strength training workouts at all, it’s time to mix it up so they don’t feel like they are actually building their overall strength. You know that many people love Pilates and maybe you use it in your workout planning, but this type of exercise might be something that you need to use more than you anticipated for that stubborn client who doesn’t want to get all kinds of “bulky” from strength training exercises. At least at first, you can help your clients to tighten their muscles and improve their overall tone, while encouraging the values of building muscles.
You might also want to consider incorporating activities such as rock climbing, which will build and strengthen muscles your client didn’t know they had. Now, you don’t have to take them to cliffs to do this and it’s likely that you know of a climbing wall where your clients can get started. Give them homework if you want and send them out to start their climbing adventure.
The next time you have a client who just doesn’t like strength training workouts, don’t give up on them. Chances are that they just don’t know how good they could feel and how many benefits there really are to building their muscles. With a little patience and creativity, you will find that your client will soon want to be strong and sculpted and you’ll be able to move on to more traditional strength training workouts.
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