Future Fit Training’s PT Skills Gap Course
My Big Takeaways: Part 1
I was really looking forward to getting stuck into the course, as it covered two topics I take a huge interest in when it comes to my fitness business.
The first topic I got my teeth into was Behaviour Change Coaching. For me, this is an area that our industry seems to be losing touch with. You just have to look on platforms like Instagram and Facebook and they littered with fitness extremism…trainers wanting to overhaul their client’s lifestyles in super quick time in order to get the best and fastest results. It seems that so many trainers are fixated with creating huge AND permanent change in a matter of weeks.
The reality is that the vast majority of clients simply can’t achieve this extremism and as a result they become disheartened. They experience a sense of failure firstly because they ‘fell off the wagon’ and secondly because they didn’t achieve the big results in a super short space of time.
Now correct me if I’m wrong, but last time I checked, one of our jobs as a trainer is to build our clients up and help them achieve success, not knock them down.
I throughly enjoyed the online module on behaviour change, not only because it was user-friendly in terms of the website functionality and the face you could do it at your own pace, but mostly because it was very detailed and informative and it really demonstrated how you take theory and apply it to real life situations with clients.
So with that in mind, here are my three big takeaways that I took away from the Future Fit Training course…
1. The course really cemented for me something I’ve always believed…there is no such thing as a ‘one size fits all’ approach. Clients will all be ready to make varying degrees of change at different times, and by respecting this we will help our clients get the best results that most importantly are long lasting.
2. I’ve always placed huge importance on the initial consultation with clients and since completing the course have made several changes to the questions I’m using and also the way in which I’m asking. This has helped me dig even deeper into what motivates my clients, what their goals are and where they are in terms of readiness to change. It’s also helped me to tease out more information about my clients, which has helped me build stronger relationships with them and as a result support them more effectively in their adherence to their new lifestyle changes, whether that be related to nutrition or exercise. My now updated questioning has also helped me to better identify those who are not quite ready to change and as such are not ready to become a PT client.
3. The education in the module has also helped me to create some new tools and resources to help aid and support my client’s adherence. I’ve created new lifestyle journals to help my clients log they positive changes they’ve made on a daily basis, which they can keep with them and bring to their sessions with me so that we can celebrate their achievements together and also address any areas that require some work. My clients have found this very beneficial and it has certainly has a positive impact on adherence and motivation.
If you want to become a better coach, understand your clients more and be more than just the average personal trainer then this Future Fit Training course is a must.
