“I don’t feel as excited about training with her anymore.”
The other day, a confidant named Becca* made this statement to me after having a negative exchange with her personal trainer, Amy*. Becca had just started training with Amy a few weeks ago, and was making slow, but steady, progress. Becca was happy with her progress. Amy, however, was not.
Becca explained that she works a full-time and part-time job, in addition to being a single parent. As a result, she struggles to workout outside of the three sessions she does with Amy. She does eat well, however, her sessions with Amy are her main form of exercise. Although this is the case, Becca has lost weight and toned up, and was happy with how her training with Amy was going.
Amy, however, expressed at their last training session that she was not happy with Becca’s progress, and explained that Becca wasn’t doing enough outside of their sessions. Amy said that if Becca didn’t start doing more, she was going to quit training Becca. This hurt Becca’s feelings.
“I go there because I need an escape,” Becca told me. “I want to focus on my body for an hour, without being made to feel bad. I don’t want someone pressuring me.”
Because I’m not a personal trainer, I wasn’t sure how to advise Becca on what to do. So I turned to Lindsey Johnson, a personal training consultant at Gainesville Health and Fitness, for advice.
“It’s an interesting situation that you pose,” said Johnson. “With a new client, it is so important for the trainer to gain and maintain trust and rapport with their client. If [Becca] has just started training and is told by her trainer that she is not doing enough, that is so defeating.”
Johnson continued: “The second thought it led me to was — this ultimatum may be that trainer’s way of trying to motivate [Becca] to do more. While this may be their way to push results, if [Becca] doesn’t like that, then this may not be the trainer for her. I work with almost 50 trainers at Gainesville Health and Fitness, and feel that a big part of my job is matching clients with the right trainer — almost like eHarmony for the gym. Personality plays a huge part in that.”
Zak Bietila, one of the personal trainers at Gainesville Health and Fitness who works with Johnson, agreed that the situation was a tricky one. “Every trainer is going to be a little bit different,” said Bietila. “For me, I like to see results, but that is relative to everyone. Not everyone is going to make a 180-degree shift in their lifestyle. Sometimes, small changes are fine as well.”
As a personal trainer, Bietila said he would have approached the situation differently. “Progress is measured on an individual basis,” he said. “It seems like [Amy] is very strict and demanding about what she wants out of her clients. I look at things like this — everyone’s going to progress at a different speed, and as long as you’re moving in the right direction, you’re doing well.”
Johnson’s final advice: “Have [Becca] talk to her trainer and tell the trainer that her ultimatum is really hurtful and de-motivating. If the trainer doesn’t know that it bothers [Becca], then they cannot change. I would give the trainer a chance to change. If that doesn’t work, then I would have [Becca] work with another trainer — one who may be more understanding and can set realistic expectations for both [Becca] and themselves.”
What do you think? As a personal trainer or personal training director, how would you feel about the situation detailed, and how would you address it?
*names have been changed.
Rachel Zabonick is the assistant editor for Club Solutions Magazine. She can be reached at rachel@clubsolutionsmagazine.com. Reach out to her about exciting events or programs your club has implemented, or to share the amazing accomplishments of a member.
I would encourage the client to “try out” or train with another trainer in the same gym. (That happens all the time.) then the client is able to compair 2 or more trainers. I worked with several trainers before I found one that knock my socks off. All the trainers were skilled. There are personalities or chemistry to consider. Some were a level beyon me at the time, one I just followed around for about a year – did not learn a thing. So I have a fantastic trainer now and making all kind of progress both real and perceived – I feel much better. The client should experiment with other trainer(s). On the end the customer is always right.