Volo Innovations

There are many things that can make a trainer great but two that are at opposite ends are an extensive knowledge of the human body -book smarts or a phenomenal personality and the ability to relate to people- street smarts, rarely does a trainer have both.

Book smarts you gain over time with education, street smarts cannot be taught and this is where a lot of highly educated trainers fail. You can teach someone the anatomy, physiology and exercises needed to be a trainer but you cannot teach personality and in personal fitness this characteristic is critical in order for your business to succeed.

Some trainers at our gym were trying to figure out what credentials Jillian Michaels from the biggest loser has. Her website lists nothing from a university or any certification based organization, just that she did some martial arts when she was 14 years old. Yet she is a very successful trainer and one that many would love to be.

So how did she get there? Simple her personality and the fact that her knowledge is enough that a novice or beginner exerciser will perceive her as an expert, she speaks in an easy to understand terminology and she simplifies things by relating them to real life issues. 

Most highly educated trainers are not able to simplify their instructions instead they speak at such a high level that even other experienced fitness professionals are lost in a sea of lingo and terminology. For some academics this is an ego thing, see how smart I am, see my credentials and listen to me, but for others they just do not know how else to speak. The people that just don't know how else to speak there is hope; you can learn how to break it down. The first group is probable a lost cause because you can't compete with an ego, the ego always wins, lose the ego then you can succeed. 

For the record this is not a defense of Jillian Michaels whom has seen a wrath of negative reviews from trainer's blogs and fitness forms about her bad training style, lack of knowledge and unrealistic goal setting, and these posts just reinforce the fact that a personality is a strong way to overcome lack of experience and knowledge. For the record I have never seen the biggest loser I learned everything about Jillian and her message from her website and You Tube. 

So what do the book smart trainers need to do?

1. Develop a story: 

This will need to be a true story and it needs to show a vulnerability or obstacle, basically a personal triumph where you had to overcome a common problem. For Jillian it was being a fat kid with no friend, a self described loser, but she found martial arts and an instructor with a no excuses attitude that she tries to emulate today. This is a fantastic story it does two things one creates a sense of I know what you are going through and two it describes her training style as no nonsense so the client knows what to expect. I love this story. 

 

2. Speak at a low level:

The other day a friend did a nutrition seminar at our gym and he lost me when he started in on how the food breaks down into this chemical that then does this to prevent that from happening, needless to say our clients were even more lost. So dumb it down for your clients instead of quads and hamstrings use front and back of the leg. When asked how to build muscle don't go into how muscle fibers, myosin and actin and how it all breaks down and rebuilds instead talk about consistency, working to fatigue and patience.

 

3. Use analogies:

You need to be able to relate to you client to do this, you need to understand what they do for work and their interests from this you can make comparisons. For anyone who watches or does home renovations it could be ‘becoming fit is like building a new home it starts with a foundation and then we add the frame followed by the design we want' or for the gardener it can be ‘your muscles draw on nutrients much like the roots of plants draw out nutrients from soil the richer more fertile the soil the bigger and healthier the plant, it is the same for us and our food the more nutritious and healthy it is the better to build and grow muscle.

Keep these three simple easy tips close at hand remember to use them every day to recap:

• Talk to your clients as an equals not as children even when they act like it. 
• Share your story 
• Dumb down your answers to simple questions add to those answers an analogy or two and you will find a more receptive client.