When clients struggle, professionals often feel they need to do more: say more, explain more, motivate more. In health and fitness, that instinct makes sense. We are trained to educate, cue, correct and encourage. When progress stalls or challenges arise, it feels natural to respond by increasing our own efforts.

But more isn’t always what’s most needed. Sometimes, the most effective response is also the least visible one. Active listening may not be the flashiest skill we bring to our work, but it plays an important role in making meaningful change possible.

Whether you’re supporting clients as a personal trainer or health coach or leading group fitness classes, communication is central to your role. Each role works in different ways across settings, but they share a common goal: helping people feel supported, capable and motivated to change. Active listening rarely takes center stage, but it quietly supports nearly everything that does. 

Reframing Active Listening 

Active listening is not a personality trait or a natural talent—it’s a professional skill. This means it can be learned, practiced and strengthened over time. True, some may use this skill more naturally or intuitively than others, but no one is ever finished developing or honing it. 

Active listening goes beyond simply hearing words and observing body language. It’s a mode of listening in which the listener is concerned about the content, intent and feelings of the message and involves being fully present, being aware of verbal and nonverbal cues, and demonstrating understanding through a practice called “reflecting” to the other person.

In other words, the listener is listening with the intent of understanding the meaning behind what is being said. At its core, it communicates: I’m trying to understand your experience.

Why Active Listening Matters in the Health and Exercise Professions

Many people who are working to improve their health and well-being already have a general sense of what would help. Information is necessary, but it’s rarely the whole picture. Progress often depends on alignment among goals, readiness, confidence and real-life interruptions.

Active listening helps professionals reveal that alignment. It allows us to better understand:

• Why making a change is important
• What motivates someone to start or continue
• What obstacles may be getting in the way
• How confident they feel about their ability to change
• What support they really need in the moment

For health coaches, this is the foundation of behavior-change work. For trainers and instructors, it directly affects engagement, consistency and trust. When people feel understood, they are more likely to stay, to try and (importantly) to return.

Listening as an Active Intervention

Listening is easy to overlook because it doesn’t look like action.

Active listening is an intentional intervention. It shapes trust, signals respect and increases psychological safety, which are all conditions that support engagement and readiness for change. When people feel understood, they are more likely to reflect honestly, stay engaged, take ownership and stay involved in the process.

Across roles, active listening helps surface motivations, uncertainties and barriers. For health coaches, this may look like a dialogue rich in reflective statements and open-ended questions to help clients articulate their motivation and barriers. For trainers and instructors, it may show up as noticing hesitation before increasing intensity, adapting cues mid-session or acknowledging feedback.

The context varies, but the function remains the same: understanding before guiding.

Practicing the Skill: Getting Your “Reps” In

Like any professional skill, active listening improves with practice. It doesn’t require perfectly curated interactions or expertly crafted questions. It’s built through repeated, everyday moments of presence.

Every time you pause before responding, reflect what you heard or ask a clarifying question before offering advice or guidance, you’re getting a “rep” in. Like any new or underdeveloped skill, it may feel awkward or unnatural initially, but over time these small practices become more natural and effective.

While it can be tempting to save these practices for ideal conditions, resist that urge. Practicing it consistently, across settings and roles, is the best way to strengthen this skill. Consider the following strategies:

• Begin by adding one reflection to each conversation. When this feels natural, add more reflections when appropriate.
• Follow open questions with at least one reflective response or, better yet, use multiple reflective statements between open questions. A greater ratio of reflections to questions may have a positive impact on client outcomes.
• Repeat key words or phrases from the speaker.
• Practice naming emotions in your reflections (e.g., hopeful, conflicted, discouraged).
• Practice reflecting while watching TV or listening to a podcast. Pause the show when appropriate and offer a reflection.

When in Doubt, Listen

In moments of uncertainty, when progress stalls, motivation wavers or communication falters, listening is often the most effective next step.

Listening creates space in challenging moments. It surfaces important information that might otherwise remain hidden. And it helps professionals respond in ways that are better aligned with the person in front of them.

When in doubt, listening is rarely the wrong choice.

A Skill That Extends Beyond the Profession

Active listening supports better outcomes and relationships across health coaching, personal training and group fitness, but its value does not end there. It’s also a life skill that can strengthen relationships, deepen understanding and improve communication far beyond professional settings.

Within health and exercise professions, active listening helps align the theories and programming with the individuals and their goals.

Across life, it helps people feel seen. And often it’s that underlying sense of feeling understood that makes change possible in the first place.

If you’re interested in learning more about active listening and other behavior-change skills, check out Behavior Coaching Skills That Turn Knowledge into Action (worth 0.1 ACE CECs). This course explores evidence-based skills that help clients turn intentions into habits, build self-efficacy and create sustainable lifestyle changes.