As trainers, we can oftentimes get consumed by the latest biomechanical assessments, programming strategies, and equipment, as we are passionate about getting people jacked and strong. However, the new and shiny stuff can sometimes distract us from the things that make trainers valuable; our ability to communicate effectively with others, to make the best decisions about how to progress people into fitness, and to be a supportive guide. The bare minimum for personal training should never get lost in what we do - be kind and personable, make good decisions, and teach people how to sustainably exercise.

Let’s review some things that can lead us astray from the bare minimum requirements for a personal trainer...

#1 Don’t make your clients feel like sh*t about themselves.

A close friend, let’s call her Tatianna, recently shared her experience of being duped into a personal training session at a local gym. The trainer, let’s call him Dill, did an assessment on...

Gym Partners, Group Classes, Semi-Private Training, Tribes.

Each of these satisfy the human need for relatedness through socialization.

As humans we have a fundamental need to be connected with or able to relate to other humans.  Relatedness, how connected and secure we feel in our environment, is dictated by our personal relationships and past experiences to help to regulate and guide our behavior.  So, if we lack the sense of connection and security to our environment, we as humans may lose our motivation to act and dysregulated behavior may ensue.¹  This can take form as an elevation in heart rate, poor sleep quality, reduced work efficiency, or even social seclusion.  We have to have strategies to help us self-regulate.

A logical first step in regulating behavior in a new environment is to develop relationships to allow any threat perceived to be dampened.  Coaches are positioned to have a pivotal role in helping regulate their clients behavior....

“NOT BEING UNDERSTOOD MAY BE TAKEN AS A SIGN THAT THERE IS MUCH IN ONE TO UNDERSTAND” -ALAIN DE BOTTON, 2004

I’ve been thinking a lot about not what I want to be (position, title) but who I want to be (value system). Your value system may be conditional on your immediate environment, the people you interact with, and what you read and listen to. Confidence in who you want to be can be challenging in environments and cultures that condition us to value the pursuit of status (may be judged as success) or to desire the emotion of happiness. I desire the ability to responsibly use a position and establish meaning in self exploration.

We are susceptible to the influence of external voices about what we require to be satisfied and what to aim for so as to flourish as human beings (Alain de Botton, 2004). Do you know yourself enough to know what you want to become? Learning from others can be your greatest asset in understanding yourself.

Be observant of other...

LIFT heavy weight [and associate it with the appropriate emotional intensity].
The human organism requires struggle.

“An important part of the human experience is pushing past discomfort” (Sean Carroll). Life experiences can be enhanced based upon how you feel. You have to associate an emotion with a physical task via the brain (limbic system) which dictates the physiological response. Emotional context drives training adaptations. After all, most behavior is dictated by an emotion or feeling, not a thought. “People don’t forget any capacity that depends on feel rather than fact.” -Lewis, Amini, & Lannon, 2001.

The appropriate emotional intensity can be acquired by participating with your mind.
Often when people don’t like lifting heavy weights they have associated that activity with a negative feeling or experience (or lack of an experience can also be a negative emotional association). Females specifically have to battle the inertia of the...