Creating new energy around your clients' programs for the spring season
by Gregory Florez
I hope by the time you read this you’ve adjusted to the time change. Most trainers have “crack of dawn” clients so the daylight savings switch can make waking up for your 6:00 a.m. client a workout! Spring, however, provides you with a timely opportunity to re-energize your clients and their programs as the weather grows warmer and the sun shines more abundantly each day.
The two most prominent opportunities during this time of the year include introducing some outdoor workouts for variety, and incorporating Spring/Summer specific sports, recreation and vacation programs into your practice.
Getting Outside
Conducting sessions outdoors provide a myriad of benefits such as fresh air and sunshine, and the ability to add variety to what can often become stale indoor-based workouts. Those who use outdoor sessions can testify to the fact that even some of the most routine oriented clients really appreciate it once you get them outside. The following are a few ideas for making the transition to outdoor exercise:
- Check with your professional liability insurer to see if you are covered for environments in which you will be training. This is critical. I also strongly suggest that you meet clients at pre-arranged venues. Driving them to a workout creates the likelihood of highly increased liability in the event of an accident.
- Consider purchasing a few portable exercise tools such as rubber tubing
, weighted balls, cones (for agility and balance drills) or a TRX to use in appropriate outdoor settings. Remember that most any green space can work, from a park to a backyard.
- Before starting anything new with your clients, visit outdoor venues that interest you and practice routines by yourself. Be alert for safety concerns and look for available outdoor features you can incorporate (such as park benches and stairs), and create a format for going through a session.
- Make sure that you have permission to use the area. I’ve often found that if you speak to a facility manager or parks and recreation supervisor in advance, they are often amenable to letting you use even private space in some cases.
- Review each clients’ goals and current workout routines, and make sure that if you are adding variety with outdoor training. Make the transition gradually and don’t add all new exercises at once. Instead duplicate some of the same ones you use indoors, while adding some new twists according to their fitness level and goals.
- Consider any environmental issues related to your particular clients and location. These can include anything from pollution, heat, humidity or heavy traffic. Adjust workout plans accordingly.
- Provide your clients with suggestions for proper attire, particularly footwear if you are exercising on grass, asphalt or sports tracks. Make sure that you always carry extra water for your clients and a towel, especially as spring turns into summer.
Enhancing Your Outdoor Workouts
Once your client is comfortable working outdoors, take this time to further tailor your exercise programs to make them even more exciting. Let’s face it; exercise simply for the sake of staying in shape, can become boring even for the most dedicated client.
- Discuss sports or recreational activities that your clients enjoy so you make their outdoor workouts sport or activity-specific.
- Consider attending a workshop on personal training for a particular sport. Golf is very popular and there are a variety of golf-related educational courses, workshops and seminars that will give you skills and tools for incorporating cross training into your workouts for these types of clients. There is also an expanding body of resources for any sport or other recreational activity.
- Aquatic workouts are extremely popular and effective if you have access to a pool. (See above for liability concerns and also considera specialty certificate or water-based exercise programming coursework).
- Consider purchasing sport-specific training tools from mini hurdles to speed parachutes - just about anything you can think of for any sport can really mix up your programs for the right clients.
- It is critical that you don’t “free form” sport-specific training, but gain the necessary expertise to make is safe and effective.
- Play! Remember that exercising outdoors can bring out the child in anyone. Make it fun.
This entire process starts with talking to your clients. Ask if they have upcoming hiking, biking or adventure trips, or other outdoor sports activities for which they’d like to train. Doing this and creating timelines and target dates will also help you in defining goals with deadlines that will increase their motivation.
There are few things more rejuvenating for trainers than getting outside and breaking up the monotony of indoor workouts. Bring the sunscreen and enjoy it…and tell us what other ideas you might be incorporating to mix up your workouts this Spring!
Mr. Florez is the founder and CEO of First Fitness, Inc., a personal training and fitness consulting company that has been in business since 1988. Read his full bio here.