As career trainers, we find ourselves in a very “comfortable” situation. We have the benefit of usually knowing who our clients are because we have worked with them for awhile. We know their personality, work ethic and usually too much of their personal business.
But because of this familiarity, the comfort we subconsciously acquire becomes our enemy! We tend to lower the accountability factor and, in correlation, client results stagnate or even regress.
I challenge all of my career trainers to hold themselves accountable on multiple levels:
To your client, you have an obligation to do your job to the best of your ability each and every time you train with them. Your client is depending on you to provide a service that they do not have the knowledge to apply themselves. So many times I see trainers in the club with clients they have worked with for years. The trainer allows sloppy form. They are lounging on the nearby equipment and the whole time having a conversation about everything but their exercise and fitness. Imagine your doctor not giving you a thorough exam because you were the tenth patient he saw that day with appendicitis! They pay for results, and we are short-changing them if we give them anything but that which they have hired us to do.
To your club, you have an obligation to represent their training staff in the most professional manner possible. I know, as a career trainer, when I am out of town and work out at a new club, one of the first things I instinctively do is look for the training staff. I want to see how they conduct themselves, what exercise they are doing or how much they are focused on the task at hand. Maybe people touring the club will be doing the same thing. The representation we give as the "gurus" of the fitness floor, I believe, sets the standard of how professional that club is and how dedicated it is to its members.
To you, there is an obligation to be held in the highest respect. You are the career trainer. You are the one all of the new trainers should be looking up to. You may know more than everyone in the club combined when it comes to fitness. But get caught slacking and being lazy with your clients and their results, and you will lose credibility 10 times faster than you earned it.
At this point, you have paid your dues. You have walked the floor, hitting everyone up to use your services, rummaged through the clients that were not dependable and established yourself as long-term. So take pride in your accomplishments, and keep up a standard of excellence with each client you train.
Remember, your clients’ results are a direct reflection of your ability to inspire them, motivate them and keep their head in the game!
