What’s the best excuse NOT to exercise you’ve heard from a client?
I’m too tired
I’m too busy
I’m really sore
It’s too cold
I’m sure if you’re currently training clients, you’ve probably heard all of these excuses before. If you’re new to Personal Training then I guarantee you’ll be hearing some of these at some point in your career.
What these excuses really end up being, are barriers to your client achieving their goals. When you are presented with a barrier, look at it as an opportunity for you to be a problem solver and come up with the solution. Most of the time when clients present you with excuses like these, it’s because they don’t feel like training or are unmotivated. But there is a reason why they hired you in the first place and that is to keep them on track, keep them motivated and keep them accountable. Sometimes all it takes is reminding a client of their original goal, other times it may take a bit more effort on your part.
Let’s take a look at some strategies that you as a Personal Trainer may be able to implement.
If a client says they are too busy and don’t have time to train, then perhaps you can assist them with scheduling in their exercise in their weekly planner. Essentially, this involves sitting down with them and finding the time in their schedule. You could offer shorter sessions or lunch break time slots. Providing them with flexibility or simple guidance may do the trick.
What can you do if the client is really sore or has an injury? In this situation, you may need to alter your planned session or change it all together. For the injured client, they may be able to still do a workout, just avoiding the injured area. For example, an upper body workout if the injury is a lower limb or vice versa.
If the client is really sore then you could offer a mobilization or recovery session, which will ultimately help the client recover quicker from the soreness. A little foam rolling, mobilization, active recovery or PNF stretching could be very beneficial to the client.
Of course, there are also going to be times that you will not be able to ride in on your horse and be the knight in shining armour to save the day. Some excuses will be quite genuine and others you just won’t have a solution for. That’s life! You can’t expect a 100% problem solver success rate.
So, as you can see, part of the role of being a Personal Trainer includes being a problem solver. The best thing you can do is to be prepared for the barriers your client’s may put up not to exercise and this includes having a list of solutions ready to go. Being prepared gives you every opportunity to keep your client on track and moving forward towards their goals.
