Programs are Written on Paper, Training Happens on People
Your “system” is exactly why your clients don’t get (ideal) results, nor stick with you for the long-term. The stubborn commitment to what the textbook says, what worked for your fifth-cousin on your adopted sister’s side, or what you’ve always done shows a level of laziness and carelessness.
Marrying yourself to the strictness of your training program (and calling it dedication) highlights your ego and isolates your clients…
Ah, if I’ve heard it once, then I’ve heard it a thousand times. “My clients succeed because I have proven system for [insert the outcome desired]. Whether it’s fat loss, muscle-building, injury-rehab, or learning the mating habits of velociraptors in Tennessee - these trainers have the “secret”.
I once managed a trainer who swore he had the perfect plan for every…single…client he met. Now here is the thing - his prospects always said “yes” during consultations and would always purchase larger packages (commitments) than our standard KPI’s would suggest…
And yet, without fail - they wouldn’t re-sign and they’d have to be given any entirely new lead sheet from myself, membership advisors, or simply parade the floor talking their talk…
On one hand - you ask yourself as a manager - is this individual a shitty person?
No, I wouldn’t have hired them; empowered them, and supported them if they genuinely sucked at humanity.
Are they unlikable? A bit weird?
Well, yeah; they have some quirks and things that need to stay toned down, but in general they are just as weird and messed up as the rest of us…
Is it professionalism?
Nope, on time, every time…just a jug of water and a clipboard that’s seen better days. Full attention span and doesn’t allow what happens around them to impact their service quality.
Ah, so it must be the program…AKA…the ACTUAL JOB.
Ah, YES…this individual’s program focused on a very select, and celebrated in an exceptionally small circle, method of lifting weights utilizing machines. It worked for a few, but didn’t have enough personalization to be impactful to a larger population.
Because it is the perfect example of how a system can be effective for some, and completely miss the point for others. This individual’s specific methods were exceptionally safe and wouldn’t harm anyone - but they also didn’t leave much room for adaptation out of the specific thing that this method would produce.
(I apologize for the lack of detail, but I’m being non-specific to respect this individual)
You see this a lot with those who fall in love with bodybuilding methodology.
The 23 year old trainer who was inspired by Arnold, or I guess C-Bum in this generation, and fell in love with hypertrophy focused workouts. And so every person they meet on the floor of their Equinox, LifeTime, Crunch, or YMCA is being put through a higher volume, muscle-specific program.
Great for muscle-building, terrible for mobility, cardiac-rehab, general movement quality…and the list goes on. The specificity leads to specific adaptations…and slightly improves adjacent physical characteristics (Strength, fat loss, cardiovascular conditioning)…
But it’s specific to an outcome, and lacks specificity to the PERSON.
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See, elite PERSONAL trainers understand that their clients are real human beings who have life occurring outside of the gym. They recognize that their client might have shitty sleep, a history of injuries, mental-health battles, or an addiction to staying up too late wasting time on electronic hobbies.
They recognize that “training” is the conduit for which they deliver a caring service to an individual who is also someone’s mother, brother, sister, father, best-friend, co-worker, granddaughter, neighbor, wife, husband, or favorite Monopoly-Go partner.
They understand the importance of designing a thoughtful macrocycle that lightly scripts the next 6 months to a year. Or, as I love to call it…”the yellow brick road”.
They know a client must need less-scientific terminology and more focused blocks of effort in their mesocycles, and know the benefit of locking-in on a few movement patterns or physiological adaptations in each microcycle.
Glossary:
Macrocycle - 6 to 12 months of training programs that is less specific but charts the desired path between a client’s NOW and a client’s goals.
Mesocycle - a 8-12 week block (60-90 days) that locks in a specific adaptation or goal to hammer home until success or time to switch (lift a certain weight, gain/lose poundage)
Microcycle - a 1-8 week block of time that is maximally specific on the exercises/sets/reps/rest and everything in between. Successful execution of this phase makes the longer duration phases much more likely to succeed as well.
And still,
They know not to force a movement upon someone’s body that they aren’t ready for…
Barbell deadlifts when they barely can hinge with a kettlebell on a yoga block
Barbell squats when they can’t keep their feet on the ground or control depth
Heavy dumbbells when they barely understand the path of resistance
Integrated calisthenics and anaerobic conditioning when they can barely walk without losing breath.
Insane amounts of abs when they can’t even plank for a few seconds
They also know how to make “gameday” adjustments…
Client has a small head-cold - skip conditioning and avoid getting them too worked up
Client feels sore in their hips/lower back - change deadlifts to lower load, more top-down hip hinge (RDLs) and superset with core and adductors
Client has stiff shoulders - mobilize the thoracic spine, do more pulling work, and eliminate heavy pressing for the day (work it with rotation if you wanna get cute).
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The best write a program and coach the human. They have a bag of options ready if the initial plan doesn’t look like it is going to work out. Like a quarterback calling an audible at the line-of-scrimmage, every single training session is an assessment and opportunity to change the play.
And that is what separates the best from those who struggle to make an impact in people’s lives, and ultimately, build a sustainable career for themselves.
Ultimately, this isn’t to condemn young trainers who are simply learning the ropes. In fact, I’d say - fall in love with something until you get bored of training it with people. You’ll naturally find yourself taking certifications or researching for “what’s next”.
I’m also not calling out the person’s who do like to specialize in a single population or outcome. I know a lot of great powerlifting coaches, bodybuilding coaches, or injury-rehab/active-aging trainers who know how to stay in their lane (and don’t mind redundancy in their day-to-day).
It’s simply highlighting that after nearly 30,000 hours of in-gym time fulfilling a variety of roles - there is one type of trainer who struggles the most (besides the shitty narcissist)…
And it’s the one that only TRAINS the PROGRAM, but neglects to COACH the PERSON.
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