With so many articles on how to choose a good personal trainer, how about a short rant on how a good client should and should not behave? Training clients with positive traits, as elaborated below, definitely makes an enjoyable job even more enjoyable. In my humble opinion, every client who takes up personal training should read this. Enjoy.
Overview of Ideal Personal Training TraitsSuccess in personal training requires more than just hiring a professional; it demands that the client adopt specific behaviors to maximize results. This post outlines five key traits of an ideal client: setting realistic expectations regarding weight loss speed, maintaining consistency in both gym attendance and diet, and completing “homework” such as food logging. It also emphasizes the importance of respecting the trainer’s expertise, as illustrated by the success story of Aimee Hantan, and the willingness to make necessary lifestyle changes regarding sleep and stress. Adopting these traits ensures a more effective and enjoyable training relationship. |
What are the Traits of an Ideal Personal Training Client
1) Sets Reasonable Expectations
It’s great to have goals, but it is very important to keep them realistic. Nowadays, people are just too impatient, and it’s common to hear people wanting to lose 50 lbs in 2 months! Trying to lose weight too quickly is unhealthy. To achieve healthy fat loss, results should come gradually and consistently.
Also, it is important to preserve as much muscle mass as possible when on a diet. This is where strength training plays a crucial role. So what’s a reasonable rate of fat loss? Depending on the size of the person, on average, 1 lb per week of weight loss is highly achievable and healthy as well.
2) Understands the Importance of Consistency
In many areas of life, consistency plays an important role in ensuring success. Trying to lose weight and gain muscle is no different. 2 important aspects to this are training and your diet. Once you start a training program with a certain frequency per week, try your best to stick to it in order reap the benefits. Skipping sessions will not only slow down your rate of fat loss but will also halt your progress in the gym as your body becomes deconditioned again once the training effects fade off with missed sessions.
Diet is another area where discipline is of utmost importance. Eating close to nothing one day and binging the next day does nothing for your weight loss efforts at all. Not only do you have to eat less, but you also need to do so consistently in order to be able to track progress and make changes when you hit a plateau.
3) Does Homework
Your personal trainer may see you 3-4 times a week, but he certainly is not there for you 24/7. Smart trainers will thus assign homework to their clients so that they are able to achieve their goals faster, even in the absence of their trainers. This homework can include additional cardiovascular activities such as swimming and running, or they can be as simple as asking the client to do a food log so that the diet can be analyzed and changes can be made to facilitate faster fat loss. Homework is really for your own good, so please, stop saying that your dog ate your food log!
4) Respects the Trainer
Although it’s good to have your own opinion on things and even better, to read widely and share with your trainer fitness knowledge that you possess, you can really piss your trainer off by insisting that your friend said that muscles turn into fat when you stop working out. By the way, muscles do not turn into fat, just in case you’re wondering. A personal trainer is an expert in the field of fitness so please give him the respect that he deserves.
The next time you come across something doubtful that he says, do this. Listen carefully to what he says, go home, and do your own research. If you come up with something that is scientifically proven and contradicts what he says, show the material to him, and I’m sure he will be glad to have learnt something useful from you.
5) Is Willing to Change His/Her Lifestyle
Other than training and diet, lifestyle is probably the other most important factor in determining weight loss success. It affects your ability to recover from your workouts, alters your hormonal levels, and many other things, on top of directly adding calories to your diet or blunting your ability to burn fat (when consuming alcohol). Common culprits include smoking, alcohol consumption, not getting enough rest, and getting too stressed out.
All these will not only affect your health negatively, but when you make a resolution to lose weight, these bad habits come in the way to halt your progress. Thus, when your personal trainer makes a sincere request for you to break a habit, don’t just shrug him off; instead, think about how much more important health and appearance are to you compared to __________________ (insert bad habit here).
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
How much weight can I realistically lose in a month with a personal trainer?
While this varies by individual starting weight, a safe and sustainable rate of fat loss is typically 1 lb to 2 lbs per week. Losing 4-8 lbs in a month is a great target that ensures you are losing fat rather than muscle.
Do I really need to track my food?
If you want guaranteed results, yes. Most people underestimate how much they eat. Tracking your food provides your trainer with the data needed to adjust your plan. It doesn’t have to be forever, but it is crucial in the beginning to learn portion control.
Why is consistency more important than intensity?
Consistency prevents “deconditioning.” If you work out intensely but only once every two weeks, your body loses the adaptation it gained. Moderate effort applied consistently over months will always outperform sporadic high-intensity effort.
Can I drink alcohol and still lose weight?
Alcohol effectively pauses your metabolism because your body prioritizes breaking down the alcohol over burning fat. While you don’t have to give it up entirely, significantly reducing intake is often necessary to see serious weight loss results.
