Worst of all: Explaining everything

I have had a lot of clients and experiences in my 23 years as a personal trainer. The pay depends on the clients and what you offer, if you are qualified and experienced it can be good. The hours depend on how much you need to work to get a good pay.

What doesn't depend on any of this is having a client that has no idea of what you are talking about. This can be quite difficult to imagine but its really exasperating, because you cannot leave a customer if he pays and you have no way to get rid of him. In addition, every single day you have to explain your exercises to your client, which takes extra time and decreases the effectivity of your work because your customer spends more time listening than exercising. All in all, you must find some way to politely cut your relation with the customers you "dislike".

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Arrogant young man
by: Anonymous

maybe the fact that they hired you in the first place is because they don't know what they are doing, and given you are the professional, they professional the are in fact paying for, they have a right and indeed for safety SHOULD ask you how to do things.. the longer they train with you, the lesser the questions would get.

I am afraid your age and lack of life experience has made you an arrogant young man who believes that just because he knows how to do exercise properly, so should everyone else.

With comments and behaviour like that you are indeed on your way to a failing business.

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...
by: Anonymous

I believe he said he has 23 years of experience as a PT, not that he is 23 years old. And I think I understand exactly what he means. I am an aspiring personal trainer, but am currently working in a completely different field. I find myself getting very frustrated when the same coworkers ask me the same questions over and over and over and never seem to retain anything I tell them, even when it is written down in baby steps for them to re-read when needed. This is what I interpreted his post to be stating - the client is not asking new questions, he or she is asking the same things over and over again without putting forth the effort required to LEARN it.

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Questions could mean continued employment
by: Anonymous

The catch is that once they learn it, they may no longer need a personal trainer!

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You need to be patient
by: LC

THAT'S WHY THEY NEED A PERSONAL TRAINER DUDE!!
THEY NEED SOMEONE TO EXPLAIN WHAT'S GOING BECAUSE A LOT OF PEOPLE HAVE NO CLUE OF WHAT THEY ARE DOING AND YOU NEED TO HELP OTHERWISE YOU SHOULD WORK AT A OFFICE WHERE YOU DON'T NEED TO DEAL WITH PEOPLE.

It's great that a client is interested about what you have to say. Tell the client that if they want an explanation of everything you do, you will need more time to meet because you need that time to finish the exercises.

LC

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For the the Arrogant people
by: LC

For the 23 year "experienced trainer"( doesn't seem like it) and the aspiring personal trainer.

Shame on you guys. You are there to guide the client, not to make them feel stupid.

PEOPLE PAY A LOT BECAUSE THEY WANT A PROFESSIONAL TO GUIDE THEM. IM SURE BOTH OF YOU ARE NOT CPT.
YOU NEED TO BE CPT. IM NOT TAKING ABOUT THE $100 ONE HOUR CERTIFICATION, IM TALKING ABOUT A UNIVERSITY OR COLLEGE DREGREE + GOOD CERTIFICATIONS.

LC

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Whoooa!
by: Blaze

Whooa! Seems like everyone is getting a little heated on this topic. I hear what everyone is saying and I believe that there is a happy medium. I have clients that I have to repeat things for and some that I don't. Just like we all have goods days and challenging days, rain and sun, hot and cold...you get the picture

The most important thing to remember is that a person earns the right to be heard when they truly care about people. So to the trainer, by the client asking questions it is a sign that they already respect your position as a fitness professional. Show that you truly care by sharing your years and words of knowledge when asked. Remember you gotta give to get!

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I agree
by: Sara

I am a CPT with a BS degree in exercise science; I can't believe some of the rude comments made to the author of this page.

I completely understand what it's like to have a client that continuously requires explanation. While I agree that the biggest part of a personal trainer's job is to explain, the client should make some effort on their part to listen to what I'm saying; repeating myself is a waste of their time and money. I give my clients some informational pamphlets I've created to take home with them and read, but I can tell which ones take it to heart and the others that throw it in the garbage on the way out. There's really nothing to do about these clients except treat them as you would any other client, just know that it is their time and money they're wasting.

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Learning
by: Anonymous

There is a saying. You say it once, then you repeat it again, and you tell them one more time. People need to learn and you are the teacher. Exercise is new for these people and they do not have 23 years. Yes, it must feel annoying to have to repeat yourself. Look at them as babies. They maybe have been on this earth for 50 or 69 years and they never have had this type of lifestyle. Your best bet is to have them repeat it to you what you just taught them. Have them do the exercise and repeat the safety measure. Then have them do the exercise by saying out loud what they are doing. Only for those clients and before you know it they will have knowledge and understanding. If not then just know they are really simple minded and take it for what it is:)

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It's not YOUR form of learning/exercise
by: Anonymous

Some people have taken their form of exercise in video form. Which explains the exercise to a degree. If the video is repeated so is the instruction. The method of learning the exercise, the repeated instruction is enforced and normal for them. Take into account different people = different forms of learning.

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