The personal trainer reviewed her list of clients from the previous week. Six new faces. She had asked the same question of each: "What brought you into training?" Each one had responded with a different answer.

"I’m just tired of feeling tired. I think exercising will give me more energy," Jill had said. Brock answered, "I know I should do it (exercise) but I don’t. So, I figured if I paid you to motivate me, I’d show up." Cindy shared her husband’s comment that drove her to a trainer; "Honey, are your jeans getting tighter or are my eyes stretching?"

Mike offered, "Since a car accident two years ago, I’ve been slowly working my way back into an active lifestyle. I need to continue to stretch and move." Katherine received a personal trainer package from her family as a birthday gift. Finally, Dan said, "Work will pay for 50% of the costs, so I’d be stupid not to work with a trainer."

The common denominator among these clients was that each person had experienced some change in their lives that led them into personal training. Change is the key force that brings people to you for training. Helping clients manage, embrace and even enjoy change is your challenge--and the gift you give clients.

Physical well-being is part of overall well-being. Training from an integrated, mind-body perspective increases your ability to help clients manage change physically and emotionally. When you recognize there is more to your clients than just muscles and moves, you adopt an approach to training that incorporates the mind, body and heart. The changes that bring clients to you--and the ones that keep them from signing on again-- are not just about physiology or "getting active." They involve a wide range of human concerns and circumstances.

Encouraging your clients to continue to change and grow is a challenge that stretches them and you. It shows you care, not just about their fit bodies or weight loss, but about what’s in their hearts--about the quality of life issues which matter most to them.

Many clients who sign on to work with you, don’t do it to get fit. They turn to you to relieve stress, find support, get educated and receive encouragement. They want individual attention. They need to be heard and seen.

In our busy, rushed world, many people do not get "heard" and consequently they turn to other coping behaviors to relieve stress. These behaviors are the ones that lead clients to you. Smoking, overeating, overdrinking and overmedicating are some of the coping behaviors people choose for temporary relief of the stress that can result from change. While these habits are negative and offer only short-term relief followed by damaging long-term consequences, they are generally cheap, easy and available. They are habits that need to be replaced with positive behaviors, such as exercise.

What kind(s) of change can you help your clients with? Think of each client mentioned earlier. The changes they were experiencing were:

A change in attitude or perspective

Changes in commitment level

An accident that changed someone’s lifestyle

A financial change

Some clients will come to you because they’re new to the area and have had a trainer before. They know the benefits of the partnership. Some may come with a questionable commitment level because their training time was a gift. Your goal is to become a strong partner for successfully managing change.

The change grid depicts four types of change. Each quadrant of the grid represents changes that occur in people’s lives – changes your clients are dealing with when they begin or continue training with you. Changes in life affect us physically and/or emotionally, and occur internally or externally. (By the way, a non-client will frequently become a loyal client when they recognize you can help them manage these change circumstances or attitudes in their life.)

Physical Changes.

These changes force people to relate to their bodies differently, either temporarily or permanently. The changes are physical in nature and internal (although they have a definite impact on the emotional aspect of the self).

Your role:

Most personal trainers are aware of the need to create exercise profiles that reflect the limitations of the client, such as knee or back injuries. Injuries or illnesses create new boundaries within which people can move their bodies. Do you know how to create a program and coach an individual with fibromyalgia? What do you know about perimenopause? How about a cancer survivor or AIDS patient? If you aren’t familiar with the limitations these conditions create for an individual, start to read and ask questions, so you may better help your clients deal with these changes as they exercise with you.

Clients with a "hard-body" mentality may need help redefining why and how they work out. They may need you to encourage them to try new forms of exercise, like walking, yoga, aquatics, or martial arts. Massage or nutrition education classes are some of the outside resources you can direct clients toward to round out their understanding of fitness as it relates to wellness.

Encourage your clients to listen to their bodies and be aware that the signals from their bodies may change with age. With one more baby boomer reaching 50 every eight seconds, it’s guaranteed that their bodies will be talking to them. You can teach clients the inspiring, hope-filled message that change is normal but does not have to be negative.

Offer your clients variety in their training. I have seen trainers that do almost the exact same routine with every client, regardless of individual differences. Learn how to use the cable cross over machines, the medicine and stability balls, balance board, jump rope, tubes and bands. Purposeful variety will help your clients enjoy the change in their exercise routines.

2. Environmental Changes

These changes involve actual physical movement. A local or regional move literally takes people out of their physical (and emotional) comfort zones. So much of our culture is transient that this type of change is probably affecting a great number of your clients, members or neighbors. Reach out as a friend and coach to new residents or members.

Your role:

Eight years ago, we moved out of state. A number of facilities in the new neighborhood offered similar programs and many of the personal trainers had comparable qualifications, but we joined the club that made us feel most "cared for and cared about." For months, the only people who greeted us like old friends were the staff and trainers at that club. The sense of "belonging" sold us.

3. Internal and Emotional Changes

These changes occur when your head (knowledge) and heart (commitment) agree to agree and act. This is where your clients shift from, "I know I should but…" to "I know I should and I will!" This is the most critical change of all. (This is also the "dream client!")

Unless clients/members make a personal commitment to exercise, as a part of personal self-care, you will lose them. This internal change solidifies the attitude that they need to train with you to help nurture and care for themselves. Some people just need a kick in the seat of the pants and know it!

The internal, emotional quadrant is the one area in which individuals have the most control over changes. There is so much change in our lives that we can’t control--it is encouraging to know that we can control how we respond to change.

Your role:

You can help clients deal with change by educating them on what fitness as a part of wellness means. Many of your clients will believe that fitness is about sweating and pushing themselves to do what is uncomfortable and difficult. You can teach them about the importance of balancing workouts and movement, from weight work to yoga to massage. You can encourage clients to further their knowledge of nutrition by reading articles and attending workshops.

You can work with clients to rethink their past attitudes about exercise, changing their ideas about what exercises is or "should be" to a healthier, more positive perspective. Here are some suggested ways you can help clients with emotional change:

Be available. Do you show up earlier than two minutes before your first scheduled client? When you say you’re available to talk outside of sessions, do you mean it? If you do in-home sessions, do you quickly pack up and scurry out the door to the next client? In a club environment, do you exhibit body language that says it’s okay to walk up and ask you questions? Does your body language match your words? (Standing behind the fitness floor desk chatting with other trainers does not send the signal that you’re available or interested in business.)

Listen. Pause long enough for clients or members to complete their thought(s). People need two things from you: information and encouragement.

Ask. Assuming clients are happy with your services is a big mistake. After three sessions with a personal trainer, a friend told me, "The trainer still hasn’t asked me what my goals are." Clearly, the trainer wasn’t asking the right questions. I suggested the client directly tell the trainer his goals sooner rather than later, so neither was disappointed with the outcome of the training.

Ask if your clients are feeling successful in their attempts to incorporate training/lifestyle information between sessions. Also, ask if exercising is helping them deal better with the changes in their lives. (This is a subtle reminder of how helpful training is.)

Talk with clients about their self-talk. Negative self-talk will sabotage their best intentions. In a fun, yet serious way, ask clients, "What do you find your exercise gremlin saying to you during these sessions? What does your gremlin say between sessions, such as when you’re trying to eat better or get more sleep?" (Their gremlin voice is that voice that says, You can’t do this, it’s never worked before, you’re uncoordinated, too old, too young, too strapped for money, etc.)

It’s a guarantee that every client will have a gremlin voice trying to defeat them while training with you. Find out what that voice says and help the client create an internal response that encourages them to remain committed. This voice sets the internal tone for your clients’ success or failure. Your greatest gift may be helping them identify this voice and counter-attack it. Never forget: gremlins hate change.

Changes from Others

People who have an emotional impact on us elicit these changes as well. Remember Cindy who got into training because of a comment her husband made? Katherine started training because of a gift received. Many people sign up because of the urging and pushing of doctors, family or friends. Like New Year’s resolutions, however, these external motivators keep people coming back for only a short time.

When you get clients due to a change that is external and emotional in nature, you need to help them choose to change their motivation from pleasing other people to a desire to enhance the vitality of their lives. Only an internal, emotional change (as in the third quadrant) will give clients a strong enough reason to sign up in the first place or continue training with you. They must make an attitude shift and commitment to personal self-care and nurturing, and they must also make a commitment to you as their partner and coach.

One way to turn potential clients into active clients (and active ones into ongoing clients) is to look at how well you are helping your existing clients successfully incorporate change into their lives. What’s working? Why do they continue to sign up with you? Don’t assume you know. If potential clients aren’t finding you or approaching you, find out why. Small changes in demeanor or habit may open a wealth of opportunity to you. All kinds of change bring clients to you--but a personal connection keeps them coming back.

Technical skills are only half the equation for success in training. The concepts of compassion, love, acceptance and forgiveness make up the other half. These are not romantic notions separate from your training career; they are truly the key elements of wellness. Many highly competent personal trainers do not have the client base they desire because they neglect the opportunity to help people manage change.

Teach your clients that when they train their bodies to accept and appreciate change, their hearts will follow. They will transfer the physical strength experienced in training to the emotional strength they need to deal with change. As you look over your client list this coming week, view it from a new perspective. Consider the changes that each client is experiencing, and plan how you can help them respond to it and manage it. With your help, your clients can become strengthened inside, as well as out.

CALL US: 888.LIF.WALK

Kate is a senior partner with CLC, Inc.