During my 20-plus years as a personal trainer, I have become completely convinced that a person’s fitness level is primarily determined by how they see themselves in their own mind. Prior to studying Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP), I’d ask clients the old standard question, “Why didn’t you workout?” What always followed was their glamorous fabrication that would tug on my heart strings (my kids aren’t sleeping, work is very demanding, my wife doesn’t give me the time to workout, etc.). Then I would let them off the hook, try to be positive and encourage them to do better next week.
But I was not coaching behavior change and not getting clients to where they wanted to be. Here are a few NLP tips for your personal training department to explore and get started.
The Consult
In order to really build rapport you can start to practice mirroring and matching. This simply means that you take on their state by matching their tone of voice, the pace of their breathing and their postures, to name a few. Basically you will be copying them. It might feel unnatural at first, but when done with the right intentions it will build rapport at an unconscious level.
Goal Setting (ugh)!
Much of my initial consultation focuses on writing down their goals. Many people say they can’t be bothered to take the time to sit and write them out, preferring to keep them in their heads, but it only takes a few minutes. The real reasons they don’t want to write them are probably deeper, involving the fact that if they are kept in “the head,” it is easy to change, revise and ignore them. This avoids accountability issues.
So what to do? Have them become Spielberg and be the director of their own movie.
Here is an example of a visualized goal from a client: “I am lean at 15 percent body fat, I weigh 120 pounds and I look drop dead gorgeous in that red dress. I have enough energy to mountain bike up the mountains, Banff is so beautiful in the spring, with my husband by my side. We are having a great time. I can feel the crisp morning air fill my lungs and flow through my hair. We are admiring the beauty of the hillside, the trees are in bloom and the birds are singing. My husband tells me what a great idea this was and how great my legs look when I sprint up ahead of him.”
I don’t know about you, but I get shivers when I read this and you know what — she wrote this six months before actually reaching that goal!
In Session
Ask them to tell you their goals in as much detail as possible. It allows for them to formulate in their own mind and verbalize their goal. The key is to not jump in and do the work for them or give them the answers, although sometimes they will need you to prime the pump a bit (as they are not used to thinking about, seeing in their own mind, how amazing they look).
Pattern Interrupt
Sometimes your clients will get on a negative loop and fight really hard for their limitations and this is a good time to introduce a pattern interrupt by asking a question like, “What is your mother’s maiden name?” They will stop, look at you weird and answer. This gets them out of the loop of negative thinking they were in and then you can ask them to start again with their movie.
These are just a few techniques that will help your trainers become more engaged and hopefully improve their ability to coach clients to greater success.
Marc Lebert is the owner of Lebert Fitness Inc. For more information call 905-812-0555, visit www.LebertFitness.com or email marc@lebertfitness.com.
