In the world of fitness, there are certain comments & promises a Personal Trainer should never make! Here are our top five statements that are guaranteed to offend clients and leave any PT looking foolish.
1. “You’re just being lazy today”
If a client is not lifting the weights that they usually do or if they seem a little off form, we will always consider the reason why, rather than assuming that they are just holding back and being lazy.
At our gym in Crawley, we look at the number of factors that could potentially affect a client’s performance in a session such as:
- Having a bad week
- Poor sleep
- Time of the month for female clients
- Feeling stressed
- Not eating before a session
If we can understand the reason why a client is feeling a little tired we can discuss strategies to help in the future.
2. “No pain no gain”
You should be working hard in your training sessions and maybe even feeling a little bit uncomfortable but if your PT is telling you “no pain no gain” it’s time to get a new personal trainer! You should never push through actual pain or injury.
Imagine you are performing a squat. If your legs and glutes burn at the end of a set, the pain usually means the working muscles are getting tired. That’s fine and to be expected. What’s not ok is when you feel pain at the start of a set or a rep.
If this happens you should stop as it could be a sign of injury. Of course you will need to leave your comfort zone to get results, but pain? No!
3. “You’re doing that wrong”
Most of our clients are completely new to exercise and have never picked up a dumbbell before in their life. If they knew exactly what to do then they wouldn’t need to come to us in the first place.
When they have made the difficult first step of walking into our Crawley gym we are not going to criticise their every move when we 100% expect them not to know what they are doing.
Our job here is to show them how to do the exercise, talk them through it and make progressions and regressions where needed.
4. “You have to take protein shakes to see results”
Protein shakes are not magic powders. They will not get you results any quicker than eating another form of protein, and they will not get you results if you don’t train with weights.
Sure, for some people they offer convenience, but you do not HAVE to take protein shakes to see results. This is something we discuss on an individual basis with our members.
5. “This exercise will get rid of tummy fat”
The spot reduction myth makes people believe that training a specific muscle will result in fat loss in that area of the body. Let’s look at a common example – most people would love a flatter tummy and crunch away like there is no tomorrow. If you can feel the burn, then the fat must be melting, right?
Wrong!
No amount of sit ups or crunches will get rid of excess fat on your tummy. We are all unique and as much as you may not want to hear it you can’t chose where you lose fat from first.
To lose fat you need to be in calorie deficit. If you are consistently sticking to your calories, strength training at least 2-3 times a week and getting your steps in you will see results.
As always, if you have any questions please feel free to send us a message to either [email protected] or [email protected]
Or if you need more help and support with finding an exercise and nutrition programme that works for you, give our 30 day trial a go and let us help you get in the best of shape you’ve ever been in. And not just for the short term, but for life.
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