Long Term Fitness Results (or lack thereof) With Personal Training Clients
Here’s a scenario I’m sure each of you has been through.
Client comes to you out of shape and a wreck.
You put him/her on a program, work together for 3-6+ months, and they get AWESOME results.
Lost a ton of body fat, gained lean muscle, and their confidence is through the roof.
They now have an UNBELIEVABLE transformation story and are a raving fan of you and how much you’ve changed their life.
Then over time, things start to change.
They don’t come into the gym as much as they used to.
They start missing workouts.
And before you know it they don’t renew their program with you.
They feel they’ve learned enough and want to go ‘do it on their own.’ Or they just don’t want the expense of having a personal trainer anymore.
Heck, it’s not cheap… and after several months of stroking a big check to you… well, they’re rather do something else with it.
Especially since they’re achieved the original goals they had when they signed up for your program.
Which is ok by you (even though you’ve formed a close relationship with them and are sad to see them go), because frankly you’ve been working with them for a long time, have had the same conversations over and over again for the past few months, and now you’re ready to move onto the next new group of clients.
That is simply part of this business.
You help people get from point A to point B, do some great work together, then everybody eventually kinda moves on.
Things change.
That’s life.
But here’s where things kinda go south for the client.
The client stops working out, doesn’t maintain any of the healthy habits you instilled in them while you were working together.
And then before you know it… 6 months go by and you run into them around town.
They’re back to where they started.
Overweight and out of shape.
Not an easy thing for you to see, and probably not an easy thing for them to be living with or see when they look in the mirror.
Frankly, it’s just sad.
But it’s very common.
Many people revert back to old patterns of behavior.
DESPITE what they ‘know’ and ‘understand’ to be true based on the work you did together.
They KNOW they need to stay consistent with their exercise.
They UNDERSTAND the importance of nutrition and the lessons you shared with them.
But… life, stress, all-kinds-of-baggage and mental-garbage get in the way of them controlling and managing their behavior to ‘the way’ you’ve shown them how to live.
One decision to skip a workout… have a cheat meal… led to another decision to take a week off workouts.. and then a week of eating NOTHING but cheat meals… and you know how the downward spiral goes.
“Balance” is not an easy thing for most to maintain on their own. Most people need a support network.
And if they don’t have a good one around them… or they ‘disconnect’ from that support network that got them into great shape in the first place… well, then it’s only a matter of time before the inevitable happens.
Guess that’s a great case for selling a client on the benefits of becoming a “lifer”, huh?
Here’s my questions for you today:
Have you ever had a client experience like this in your years of coaching?
If so, what are your thoughts about it?
How does it make you feel?
Who’s responsibility do you think it is for the client getting ‘long term’ results?
And who’s fault is it if they fall off the wagon and revert back to old patterns… and therefore old results?
Post comments to the blog
Sean
Here’s another health club marketing post you may enjoy.
I’ve never had this happen to me so I can’t comment from experience.
In a way I guess you could heap the blame on the trainer for not teaching the client life time habits for exercise and nutrition.
Conversly, you could equally put the blame on the client for not sticking to everything they have learned from the trainer. Sure we all have stresses etc but not all of us let them control our life decisions.
As a trainer if it happened to me I would ask where I failed the client but we cannot babysit them forever and sometimes you have to let them off the leash, if they get lost without our direction, if they can see that then maybe have them commit to a once a month consult to keep them on the straight and narrow is the answer.
That’s my two bobs worth.
Marc Kent
Personal Trainer
Sports Therapist
England
Great post! Here’s my take. I think the trainer needs to shoulder the responsibility of long term sustainable results. Here’s why…..our job is to inform and educate! Sure we need to make it fun, get results, change physique, etc. but for lasting results and life style changes to take place we MUST inform and educate every single session.
I have made this my focus for the past 10 years and guess what? I do not sell training at the table. I never need to deal with a single objective. I never spend a dime in advertising. I do spend money on education, referral programs, and tools to assist me in educating my clients.
I send them books, have an educational newsletter for them and so on.
If a client comes to you in a financial crisis, you should have several poles in the water and be able to offer a down graded version of training such as group training or less frequency or even on-line training. The goal is retention.
Here’s the best thing I have done in this economy. I replaced my marketing cost by making my clients that are struggling financially my marketers. I have three clients that are getting free training for referrals.
I changed nothing and gave away no more than usual. I just coach them to recruit and in turn they get the usual gift of two free sessions per new paid referral.
For what it’s worth….There’s my 2 cents.
As you can see my methods are taught by NPE!
Not experienced this myself.
As for responsiblity. Responsiblity lies with the client. Sure, while a client is working with me it’s my job to be the best communicator, coach, and influence that I can. I can come up with the best programme and strategies, hold the client accountable but the client must take responsiblity for themselves. Actually, I think it’s my job to make sure clients don’t become dependant on me. I’ve no problem with a client using my professional services for years on end (i use other professionals like my accountant, lawyer, etc on an ongoing basis) but it’s not a good situation to have a client who’s life falls apart when they stop working with you.
Besides, in that situstion a former client wouldn’t be a strong referral source.
I can see the need to keep the channels of communication open though with former clients. As the wheel goes round, they’ll very likely want to get back on the wagon and I’d want to be there at the ready to get them re-started and back in shape.
Who has never experienced this before? Of course nearly every client who stops training cannot maintain the levels of intensity that we found together in our sessions – heck, without my training partners, neither can I! I have clients I’ve been training both steadily and on / off for over 15 years because of this natural undulation of fitness variables. Why? Because no matter how much you know, or how much you’ve achieved in the past, sometimes Life gets in the way. I just adopted a little boy from Thailand, and my wife (a marathoner) and I are exhausted. I’ve lost 15 pounds of muscle. Until I get more sleep, it ain’t gonna happen. So I accept this transition, do what I can, and wait til things lighten up. Now I understand what so many of my moms experience when they come to me exhausted, burned out, etc. The thing is, they always return to me over time, so I have a constant supply of business!
I agree 100% with Conner. In the end the responsibility lies on the shoulders of the client. My job as a coach is to do exactly that…coach. As a coach I educate, encourage, design programs to address the clients needs and implement them, but the client has to have the desire to achieve and maintain their goals. I have never had to deal with this problem, but on a regular basis (for twelve years) I have dealt with clients not sticking to my recommendations on nutrition and lifestyle habits outside of the 3 hours I spend with them a week. No matter how much I encourage, educate, and hold their hands I can’t MAKE them do anything they don’t want to do. So if they don’t have the willpower to do what needs to be done I can’t do anything about that. If this were to happen to me I would be disappointed in the client not myself. My job is to do everything in MY power to help each client reach and maintain their goals, but in the end it’s up to them! This reminds me of a great quote by the great Vince Lombardi:
The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of WILL.
That’s my two cents.
It’s happened to me. Unfortunatley we can’t hold our clients by the hand 24-7. I’ve as always have given my clients everything to be successful.
There is a whole mental approach to fitness, just like running a buisness. If our clients self image is less than optimal they will always self sabotage themselves.
Its a very small percentage, but unless you live with your clients and cook all there meals for them,brought them up from childhood, controlled all their stresses etc.. then you’re not responsible for their lack of effort and dedication.
We as trainers poor our hearts into our clients success, some just don’t get the whole life committment thing, or just can’t dedicate their lives to health, sometimes it’s just not as important as their vices.
I give books like psyhocybergenics and I’m available unconditionally for them to call and email me for support to help them with the mental approach to achieving and maintaining goals. The take action and to continue to take action is 90% on their shoulders if not more.
Again this is a very small percentage and some do come back because they realize they just can’t do it on their own. The ones that don’t, probably just don’t want it bad enough yet or maybe never.
Every week I put a great inspirational quote on the board where the members come in. In the gym and office (they have to pass through the office to get into the gym)I have bulletin boards filled with information on healthy lifestyles. In my circuit training area every week I write a new short blurb that targets something specific about their health. I’ve found short form of information is more easily remembered. Throughout the gym are posters on the body, exercises and training ideas. When I teach I always make sure they understand the message I’m teaching them. I email them the most current information on health issues. Life sometimes has a way of interrupting our good intentions but I’m sure they do remember what I’ve taught them. By keeping in touch with all of my current and past clients through emails it helps them to stay connected. When they are ready they’ll hopefully come back to the trainer who hasn’t given up on them. For some people it takes more time to instill this lifestyle such as trying to stop a bad habit i.e. smoking. For those who don’t succeed, we can only hope the teachings will stay with them and eventually guide them back on track. A cheer for all those hard working Personal Trainers!
Ginette
I’ve had “lifers” for years! Most of them are seniors, and their fitness goals run the gamut just like the rest of us. The difference between the “lifers” and the others that just come and go, I think, is two-fold: they recognize their need for accountability, and they enjoy the social reinforcement of seeing their friends (and me!) at the gym.
A reversion to old habits means that something made those old habits more acceptable to thye client. I agree that as Trainers we need to educate and inform. We need to teach our clients how to become their own trainer…it should never be about you.
If the goal is achieved over the 3 to 6+ months, that is a celebration event. So celebrate it with a “gift” to the client of a whole new exercise program specifically designed for maintenance of the achieved goals. This new program should shorter – it should take about 2/3 of the time per session as the earlier series of sessions, it should always have a feel good stretch period at the end of the session, and it needs to be presented as a ‘parting gift’ that will work only if it is monitored and updated periodically (every 3-4 weeks).
This “gift” program should thus give you, the Trainer, another couple of training session revenue appointments, and a potential for ongoing maintenance appointments. Sounds like a win-win.
The “showing up” part – where the client comes to the gym with the same regularity as before – is something we need to stress. I say each client get 50 “points” for showing up, and what they do with the other 50 “points” is up to them.
I liked the post & the comments. I think their all valid & communicating is key, even if payment isn’t in hand. E-mails & phone calls to let clients know we care, counts!
Most of my clients train because they know they need the accountability. They will not do what needs to be done on their own, even if hey know what to do and how to do it, they just don’t do it on their own. Even if they’ve gotten great results, maintaining on their own is difficult without that regular guidance. That’s why I like to keep in touch with previous clients. Many of them have returned after backsliding on their own.
I have been thinking a lot about this same issue recently- and I think the answer is keeping the clients in touch with their “why”. Losing a few kgs or keeping the same fitness is not so much a motivator as being aware of what that fitness allows them to do, how it makes them feel and how it impacts their life.
It would be great to hear other peoples experiences on how to implement this- especially for long term clients who have come through a transformation program who are now in small group programs.
Obviously regular focus sessions, goal setting (a new bhag is much more compelling than just maintaining) what time/cost efficient implementation formats have been giving you success?
Responsibility is the key word here,it is not the trainers responsibility to hold the clients hand ever waken moment of the day. Yea… we all want to see that client through to success forever, but at some point even the mother Eagle will kick the baby eagles out the nest. Everyone and I do mean everyone at some point will have to spread their wings and fly solo. Think about it… if Sean and Eric gave us a marketing tool, a tool which they constantly teach,and preach to us lead generation and direct response marketing. Something that they have been doing with me since 2007. If they drill the facts,proven and tested applications behind it, with the end result being that it works. Now,on the other hand lets say I went out as a small business owner and decided to do brand marketing or some s***. Something totally opposite of what they have been drilling me with for the last 24 months. As a end result I fail horrible on the marketing side of my business. I waist lots of money because I choose not to use the education,teaching and systems that was provided to me before hand. Would I blame Sean and Eric for my failures? I think not the responsibility soley falls in my hands as the business owner. You see Ladies and Gents we provide the client with the tools and systems to live a healther life style. Now I agree as trainers we should lead them back to the waters that gave them new life. In the end it is the clients choice. As one of my great comedians once said, “you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make them drank”
Wow, I find it amazing some trainers haven’t experienced this before. I can only think 1) They haven’t been a trainer for very long 2) once their client leaves they never come back 3) the trainer is delusional. I’m sure all the trainers on this blog provide their clients with a tremendous amount of information and tools about living a healthy lifestyle. You can provide the most awesome tools in the world but if the client doesn’t take advantage of them it is not the responsibility of the trainer. However trainers are not completely innocent. We as personal trainers need to be aware of this, and take action by having options/services in place that address it. It is also a trainer’s responsibility to keep communicating with your ex-clients letting them know you are still there if they fall off the wagon. The VIP Exit Campaign is really awesome. Lifelong fitness results is such a complex, complicated process and unles we all get Phd’s in psychology it will continue to be a factor in all of our businesses. It is our job to inspire and motivate, but we have limitations as with any profession. In summary I believe it is 90% a clients responsibility and 10% a trainers responsibility. I love all the posts.
Maybe the answer here is a “maintenance” program. We could offer a package where we can meet with them every two months to offer a fresh set of measurements and some guidance on program updates, review nutrition principles, find out what isn’t working, etc. We could include it in a package for $XX.00, you get the “stick with it” (I”m sure you’ll come up with a spiffier name than that…) program; we meet once every two months for the next 12 months to help insure progress.