Part 2: Common Blunders Personal Trainers Make

Despite their best intentions, personal trainers often make mistakes when it comes to working with their clients. From lack of communication to setting unrealistic goals, these blunders can have serious implications for the client's health and well-being.

In Part Two of this blog series (read Part One here!), we'll explore some of the most common pitfalls that personal trainers should avoid in order to ensure their client's success. We will also provide practical tips on how to identify and address these issues before they become problematic. By understanding what not to do, personal trainers can better serve their clients and enhance their professional reputation within the industry.

So let’s dive back into the common blunders that personal trainers make.

Lack of Communication and Feedback

Poor communication and feedback are major blunders that personal trainers should avoid when working with clients. Without effective communication, it's almost impossible to accurately gauge the progress of a client's fitness journey or provide them with adequate support.

It is important for personal trainers to take the time to listen to their client's needs and discuss their physical abilities and limitations. Furthermore, providing timely feedback ensures that the client can make adjustments to their routine if needed, while also providing motivation and a sense of accomplishment as they reach milestones in their training.

Furthermore, feedback on how you are doing is essential, and your clients need to feel secure enough to be honest. Humility is often one of the toughest parts of any job — and if someone doesn’t understand how you’re conveying value, then that’s important information for you to have. Don’t use client feedback to you as personal. If their needs aren’t being met, it’s important to know. Then, something can change, whether it’s educating the client on your role and responsibilities, or it’s tailoring your practice to what the client needs.

By establishing open lines of communication between themselves and their clients, personal trainers can cultivate meaningful relationships and help promote healthy lifestyles in a safe and sustainable way.

Not Spending Time Teaching Behavior Change at Home

Behavior change is a key component of effective personal training and can have a huge impact on the success of a client's fitness journey.

By teaching clients healthy habits and focusing on long-term goals, personal trainers can equip their clients with the necessary skills to maintain their results even after they are no longer working together. Additionally, behavior change strategies enable clients to adopt healthier lifestyles by providing them with the support and guidance they need to make lasting lifestyle changes.

Alternatively, if a personal trainer focuses solely on physical exercises without taking into account behavior change strategies, their clients may struggle to achieve sustainable results in the long term.

Without being taught healthy habits that can be maintained beyond the confines of a training session, patients will find it difficult to stick with any progress or improvements made during a training program.

Moreover, if not addressed properly, this could result in an increased risk for injury or relapse into unhealthy behaviors due to lack of motivation and accountability.

Making Unrealistic Promises

Making unrealistic promises is a major mistake that personal trainers should take extra care to avoid.

Unfortunately, it can be easy to overpromise results or underestimate the amount of effort required to achieve those goals. But this ultimately leads to disappointment and discouragement when the client doesn't reach their desired level of success.

This not only undermines trust between trainer and client, but it also makes it more difficult for the client to remain motivated and inspired throughout their journey. Rather than making false promises, personal trainers should focus on providing realistic expectations and building a solid foundation of healthy habits in order for their clients to reach their full potential over time.

Not Teaching to Manage Expectations

Setting the right expectations from the beginning is an integral part of successful personal training. Not only does this help ensure realistic goal-setting, it also enables clients to have a greater understanding of the process their body will go through as they begin their fitness journey. 

By teaching clients how to manage expectations, personal trainers can ensure that their clients are aware of the time and effort required for results as well as any potential setbacks or roadblocks that may arise throughout their training.

Furthermore, having reasonable expectations helps make sure that clients stay motivated and on track towards achieving their goals in a safe and effective manner.

Don’t worry, you’ll do great!

With this, you can ensure that your clients remain inspired and motivated while they work towards achieving their fitness goals in a safe, efficient, and enjoyable way. Not only will this lead to better results and higher levels of client satisfaction, but it will also make your job as a trainer much easier and more rewarding overall.