Why PT’s that look the part can get more business than those that don’t

Will people hire you just for looking like you train?

Yes, yes they will.

The opposite is true and you might find yourself being avoided for hire if you look like a potato.

How a fitness professional ought to look is quite a controversial subject.

In a world that is always trying to promote body positivity and shame anyone that might hold their own physical appearance to a different style.

Speaking form experience most people will buy with their eyes first.

Think about the last time you went shopping and actively sought to buy bruised or rotting veg.

Chances are it’s either for a rare occasion and a very specific reason or never.

Here are some benefits to looking the part:

• Proof you live by your own advice
• An opportunity to explain how you also ‘have fun’ while maintaining a specific physique
• Free advertising
• Symbol of authority in your field
• Your specific aesthetic will attract people that want to achieve similar

While there are benefits to be had, you must also remember that you’ll need the following skills too.

• Being personable
• Rapport building skills
• Understanding sales processes
• Physical & nutritional programming ability (delivering the goods)

Have what many consider to be a ‘good aesthetic’ will be subjective, however all you need to do is scroll through social media to see what is currently the most appealing for the demographic you’re trying to appeal to.

Arguably most general population want to achieve a look akin to that of one they had back in their early 20’s or whenever their glory years were.

You know, when everything came easy to them and people would be complimentary and validate them.

Chances are they’re still got clothes from those times they’re secretly desperate to wear once more.

This is usually very achievable, not to mention that you’ll be able to amass some solid testimonials from successful clients, if helping average people look a little less average is your target niche (it’s a very lucrative one).

A word of warning though, your own look doesn’t want to be the only aspect of your marketing & identity.

True it might help turn few heads and make it potentially easier to get hired, you’re going to need to also convey the message that you’re human as well.

Meaning you like cake, chocolate, a gin or two, etc.

Essentially talking to people on their level because many are put off by what they perceive to be required in terms of sacrifice to achieve a specific aesthetic, and this might be true for elite level competitors however for the average Joe/Jane there’s a high change they an train 3-4 days per week and still enjoy various foods they thought would be banished forever.

Of course you’ve go to educate them and instills habit change, however you can also help them see it’s not all about training 11 days a week eating only chicken & broccoli.

Above all else be honest with people.

Have various photo transformations (including your own) so that you can explain what lifestyle people lived or were/are living when the photo was taken.

This will allow you to ascertain just how far your new/potential clients want to go and the change they’re willing to make.

Finally, as a fitness profession train for you health first and foremost.

Then decide how you want to look because while many won’t admit it, we all want to look a certain way.

A way which will get us the attention we desire while also allowing us to live the life most sustainable to us.

Don’t accept the ‘fit shaming’ body positive crowds opinion, just know that you’re merely seeing the world differently and that if they are truly body positive then they’d accept you as you are too.

Be that someone that looks like them or someone with an ass so firm it can ricochet pennies into the ceiling.

One last thing before we go, ask yourself this – Would you trust a dentist with rotten teeth?

Enjoy,
Ross

What Clients Really Want From PT

Your goal as a Personal Trainer or fitness professional is to change someones life.

Chances are you’ve got your own ideas of how is best to accomplish this, and you’re probably right.

There’s only one problem them, your clients (and potential ones) don’t see it that way.

As such it can lead to many a frustration, breakdown in communication, stagnation of change and eventually contract/agreement termination.

This is roughly what most clients want based on their initial knowledge base of PT/exercise:

• Guidance that’s easy to follow
• To be told what they thought is correct
• Dramatic physical/health change without dramatic lifestyle change
• Feeling better in themselves (usually linked to a memory of a time in their youth when they were slimmer, fitter, could eat/drink anything and not have to make any effort to stay ‘in shape’)
• Paying once, maybe twice and getting all the results they desire

The truth is that most average people don’t really understand fitness or health.

Many think they’re the same thing, and they’re not as you know people can be very healthy (from a blood/hormonal/etc test standpoint) while not being very fit, and vice versa.

This is where in your initial consultation you want to explore what their expectation is.

How does it differ from the reality you know to be most probable?

In my experience I’ve found the dissonance to be quite large, and I’ve made the mistake of correcting people in this regard which didn’t do me any favours.

Sadly you’re going to need to blend a little of telling people what they expect/want to hear, while setting up sign posts for the future that will enable them to become truly educated and make the changes that will benefit their life for the long run.

These three questions have helped me over the years:

1. Think of ‘one thing’ you MUST achieve from this training
2. Why is that ‘one thing’ beneficial to you?
3. How will it make you feel and improve your life?

This can help you create an anchor point to refer back to when instilling habit/lifestyle changes.

Now this isn’t to say their one thing might not change as they gain a deeper understanding of what truly matters to them, however you need a metaphorical ‘North Star’ to guide you.

Understanding that the average person merely wants to feel less shit than they currently do is key.

You see people rarely seek change to become a better version of themselves, despite what endless social media feeds say.

They seek change because they’ve reached a point where they feel terrible enough to do something about it.

People don’t move towards pleasure, they move away from pain.

Go and read back over what has preceded this with this perspective.

You’ll start to see that it all links to the emotional driver behind the wheel.

So in essence what a client really wants from PT is this – To be heard/understood & not feel alone.

As an average person (whatever that means) it’s pretty terrifying to approach a PT/fitness professional you know. They have an inherent fear of being judged, of not being good enough and as such will immediately put themselves down, to convince themselves it’s a mistake to change and that they don’t deserve to feel better.

Try to remember a time where you felt like this.

In fact think of what hold you back from asking for help from a professional above your current level.

Make a list of what you’d want from them.
What you’d expect/want/need to hear.
How they would make you feel.
Why you would Hire them over someone else (what would be the deciding factor).

This can help because a lot of PT’s forget to see things from the clients perspective.

Go back over the above again, and feel free to fire across any questions you may have.

Enjoy,
Ross

Want People to Hire You More?

As a PT/Fitness Professional you want people to pay for your services.

If like many this is a struggling area then you need what is below.

You’ll find a lot of tips, tricks and information on how to secure new clients in fitness.

All are viable and usually quite useful.

There is however one that trumps all the rest and without it you’ll always lose a potential client to someone that has it in spades.

You’d be be sat down for this.

Here is the one element crucial in securing an almost endless supply of clients:

Be likeable.

Seriously, you can be the best PT in the world, however if you’re a dick people won’t hire you.

Trust me.

I’m absolutely fucking brilliant (humble too) yet I’m a very acquired taste.

Or if we’re being blunt, a bit of a dick.

Some love this, most don’t and if you’re trying to build an impressive roster of clients then being nice, approachable, empathetic and likeable is the key.

Why?

People need to feel comfortable with you.

“People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” – Theodore Roosevelt

Try to offer genuine help and caring where you can because even if there is no immediate reward, your kindness will be paid back 10 fold in the future in some way.

Actually that’s a point worth touching on.

Wanting instant recognition, reward, compensation, and/or gratification.

^^ This is toxic and very indicative of our modern world.

It’s the attitude of I scratch your back and you buy me a 7 bedroom house.

Greed is one of the most prevalent sins in our current times, as is envy, however that’s a subject for another day.

Back to the main point, be likeable.

• Helps when and where you can
• Share content that is good, useful & true
• Offer kindness without the thought of rewards (because you can)
• Listen to what people have/want to say, people need to vent so stay quiet and just listen
• Smile genuinely
• Don’t be a dick

Please feel free to leave any questions you have below.

Enjoy,
Ross

Business, SWOT Time

Sitting down to tear your business apart is tough yet needed.

Ideally you’d want to do this at least once per quarter 

Good Morning,

The term SWOT is almost as old as the hills.

 Strengths
 Weaknesses (because everyone skips leg day)
 Opportunties
 Threats

To apply the above you’ll need to create a matrix grip, this is a large square that you can split into four smaller squares, much like the Eisenhower Matrix.Here are some key points/questions to help you fill in each box 

 Strengths

• What do you do well?
• Which unique resources/skills can you draw upon?
• What will other people say are your strengths (& why)?

 Weaknesses

• Where can you improve?
• Where do you have fewer resources than your competition?
• What would other people say are your weaknesses (& why)?

 Opportunties

• How many opportunities are available to you?
• How many trends can you use to benefit your business?
• How can you create new business/service opportunities?

 Threats

• Is anything that is an immediate threat to your business?
• How has your competition dealt/adapt to their threats?
• Do your weaknesses expose you to any threats?

You’ll also do well to establish what threats are perceived and which are actually prominent, this is due to people often focusing on a perceived threat (it’s not really a threat, it’s procrastination) so they can avoid dealing with the actual problem.

From here you’ll then be able to see how they can be turned into opportunities 

Since today will be quite for most I’d suggest taking perhaps 5min to work on each of the above in your own SWOT.

 That’s only 20min in total, no excuse not to do it

Write down what comes straight to your mind, once your 5min is up move on.

When you’ve completed each box, walk away from it 

Give yourself a few hours to let your sub-conscience ruminate 

I’d go for a walk by a river or something.

Take a pen & note pad with you as ideas & solutions will come through thick and fast when you’re not actively trying to think about them, that is the beauty of transcendent thought 

It would also be great for you to then share your findings below.

Remember you’ve essentially got a free resource of business mentorship here, so don’t hesitate to use if because of feeling as if you’d look stupid asking what might be an obvious question because a lot feel the same.I’m not being mean, just telling you the truth of the matter 

Now go fill out the above, it’s only 20min of your day and leave your findings below, then go for a walk by a river.

Enjoy,
Ross

P.S, you can always fire me a message if you feel a question is a little too sensitive for a public forum 

4 tips to catapult your clients to a great PT experience.

Delivering a satisfactory session is easy. 

Leaving the lasting impression of one is what separates the successful from the very successful.

A good question to ask yourself is this before starting any session:

What is the point of today & why?

Knowing this will help you get the logistical elements ticked off. 

Next you’ll want to keep this in mind:

How will this session make the client feel & why?

Do you want them to leave feeling strong, worked, happy, educated or something else, because knowing the emotional goal will help improve the effectiveness of the session. 

When you’ve got those nailed down you can start to see things through your clients eyes a little more by keeping this in mind:

How do they want to feel after this session, what is the goal of the session for them & does it match with the two elements from above?

The final piece of this small puzzle to catapult your session from okay yet forgotten within minutes, and instead have them lasting is this – humour.

Believe it or not some well timed jokes and general banter is appreciated by people, so long as it’s directly relatable for them. 

This means you’ll need to actually take some time to get t know your clients properly. 

All of the above can lead to people looking forwards to their sessions, this risky for sustained consistency, and that is key for progress. 

You can also use the above in your marketing.

Make sure people know why training is great & will be nothing other than a great benefit to their lives.

Enjoy,
Ross 

Fellow trainers, this ones for you.

How do you train your clients?

 

Is to improve them or merely to impress them….

 

There is an amazing difference between the results of the two.

 

You’ll also find that the majority opt for the latter.

 

Sadly we live in a world where people need to be kept constantly entertained and pandered to, as such it has caused training to devolve over the years.

 

This is one reason why group exercises is so popular.

 

It’s exciting, entertaining, fun and may produce results.

 

Now it is true not everyone trains because they want to get results or fortify their bodies for life, and this is fair enough.

 

If you’re the kind of trainer happy to provide that service then great, you’ll have quite a lucrative business, you just have to remember you need to keep adding in new things to keep people attention.

 

Perhaps that isn’t you, maybe you are the sort of trainer who has peoples best interest at heart and is just not sure how to go out programming for such a thing because we still have to keep people on side and while training might be what people need, it may not be what they want.

 

Once you understand what people want, you can create what they need based around their biases, preconceived ideas and understandings of what they think PT is.

 

To be fair you’ll see a lot of trainers/coaches share videos on social media that look epic, however the likelihood of their training produce sustainable results is slim.

 

One thing to remember is that as a trainer you’re in the service industry.

 

This being said, you need to decide what kind of service you want to offer.

 

One that seeks to impress clients.

 

Or

 

One that seeks to improve clients.

 

While you can indeed combine both, they’re not mutually exclusive.

 

Over the years I’ve found some consistent ways of provide both to clients that you can take and apply to your own.

 

Here is the structure for most of my classical sessions:

 

– Warm Up (clients need fulfilled)

– Skill (clients need fulfilled)

– Strength (clients need fulfilled)

– Conditioning (clients want fulfilled)

– Cool Down (clients need fulfilled)

 

The conditioning section will often confirm a bias or a preconceived idea of what they feel they need to be going to achieve the results they want.

 

If it’s fat loss, this section will be hot death and leaving them a smouldering mess on the floor because that’s what they feel they need to be doing for fat loss.

 

Say they are looking to add muscle, it will be some disgustingly high rep pump driven super-ultra-mega-drop set that blows them up and gives them DOMS the next day, because that’s what they feel they need to be doing to achieve their result.

 

I’m sure you get the idea.

 

People come to us as trainers/coaches with ideas already formulated or how they think it will go.

 

Now you have a few options here.

 

Do what they want and potentially get results (more likely a no result outcome).

 

Do what they need and definitely get results (which may oppose a belief/bias and even if they get results they will not enjoy training and stop, madness).

 

Do what they need at the start and finish with what they want, subsequently getting them results and confirming the ideas they had in their head, then over time educate them as to why what they thought was incorrect.

 

^^ Never tell them straight tout they’re wrong, unless you’ve sold yourself as that style of ‘non-nonsense’ trainer who won’t tell people what they want to hear.

 

Many people don’t like being told their wrong, even if they are.

 

It’s the classic – “The customer is always right, even when they are wrong, which is all the time.”

 

You need to be clever because you’re running a business after all.

 

Now it might be common sense that you’d not hire an electrician and then proceed to tell them how to rewire your house, yet in fitness people will hire you to train them and always tell you how it needs to go, I know, I know.

 

Everyone thinks they know how to train, as such it’s best for you to go along with them and aim to educate each client over time.

 

This can be in the form of work shops, nutritional meetings, client Q&A’s, that way you can set out from he start that in each there will be objective discussion about how things actually work.

 

In this way you can question peoples misconceptions without causing them to be offended because they chose to come to said event.

 

Honestly if you run 2-3 weekly discussion/Q&A sessions you’d be surprised how many people will come to them.

 

That said, you’d do well to do some gym floor walking and subtly ask people what burning topics of curiosity regarding fitness they have, that way the talks will ‘feel right’ for them and something they can’t miss.

 

Okay, I’ve gone off on a tangent, again.

 

Simply you need to remember this; work with your clients to improve them, not merely to impress them.

 

If you have any questions please leave them below.

 

Enjoy,

Ross

Infinity Wars, Methods in Madness & More.

Morning All,

 

Given it was the release on the new Avengers film a mere two days ago, I trust a few of you will be venturing to see it, i know I certainly will be.

 

You might be wondering what that has to do with the above – ‘Methods in Madness’.

 

Well, you might be surprised to learn that it is in regard to social gatherings with members of your gym, or even your clients.

 

Yep, you all go out, perhaps on a sesh, or even just somewhere fun.

 

You’ll see why it seems made shortly.

 

I’m sure some of you have already twigged it the little sweetener to each get together.

 

You cover the costs.

 

Yep, you.

 

I shall wait for some to pick up their jaws from the floor.

 

Now this isn’t just a random altruistic act, there is a scientific reason behind it and that my friends is the principle of reciprocity.

 

– It means you give before you seek to gain.

 

Doing this will achieve the following:

 

– Improved Rapport

– Boosted Brand Awareness (people will talk)

– Repeated Client Investment (£££££££, cash monies 👍)

– A Nice Tax Write Off 😂

 

The same is true for having a welcome pack for all new clients and continued investment in your current ones.

 

Simply things like getting them personalised training diaries (based on information you’ve gathered), a HR Monitor of sorts to improve their CV training, Birthday cards and everything in-between.

 

It may seem like you’re trying to buys peoples loyalty, this is not the case, you are instead rewarding it because even though you can then ask for something in return and due to the governing psychological affect this principle holds, you won’t.

 

That’s right, you don’t do these things for something in return, nor should you want to, even though you can (it’s logical from a business standpoint).

 

You do things like this because you want to, perhaps even because it’s the right or the nice thing to do.

 

While it may be one large BBQ or Outing a year that are of course enjoyable and messy, dear god the alcohol I’ve consumed at these events 🤭, it’s been colossal.

 

It is the little things you can do for people, monthly, weekly, even daily that will make the big difference because when all is said & done, and the time to reflect comes around, you’ll see that the little things were in actual fact the ones that meant the most.

 

Always look to give back more than you’ve ever received, just because you can.

 

Enjoy your weekend and please leave your plans/adventures or questions down below.

 

Ross

Some variety is good, too much isn’t.

I’m sure you’ve all heard the classic line of “You need to change up your training to keep the body guessing” or something along those lines.

While having some changes in your training program is good for novelty and staving off the boredom, too much change too often will leave you without any real progress due to a lack of suitable adaptation.

Look at is this way; if you want to get better at a certain skill you practice that skill over and over and over again, the same is true fro lifting weights/training, you need repeated and sustained efforts to adapt and progress, chopping and changing every session won’t provide too much in the way of progress.

While you might not like that fact is it very much the case.

Take a look at people who do an ever changing amount of classes, they shift their excess fat and build some small amount of muscle (this is great btw), however past that point they end up looking no better because they don’t want to buckle down and stay with a training program for longer than a couple of weeks.

It’s a common issue that everyone falls victim to.

Now it is worth noting that some people do indeed need change every 2 weeks in there training, however those people are usually genetically gifted and 9/10 times you’re not that person, you’re the one who needs to stay consistent to a program for at least 12-16 weeks, sorry, that’s how it is.

When all that is said and done these words are only simple bits of advice, you can do what ever the hell you want, in the end it makes no different to me personally. If you’re happy with your training and your results then fill your boots, however if you’re not then you’d do well to take this on board.

You will often find the most successful training programs are often the most boring.

Enjoy,
Ross

Lift, Lift, LIFT!

“I want to be big and strong”

 

^^ A sentence many a man has said over the years and continues to say to this day.

 

“I want to be lean and strong”

 

^^ Something I’m pleased to announce more women are saying, it seems there has been a shift in them saying ‘I just want to be skinny’ to now learning the benefit of being lean and strong, it’s great to see.

 

While it is only my opinion, I feel everybody should be strong.

 

I’m not talking about record breaking strong, just strong enough to stay healthy and stave off the effects of ageing on the body.

 

These sports all centre around lifting:

 

– Weightlifting (olympic lifting)

– Body Building

– Powerlifting

– Strongman

– CrossFit (some may not like this one)

 

Did you know lifting weights can have the following positive effects on the body:

 

– Improved bone density

– Ligament/tendon health

– Delayed sarcopenia

– Hormonal benefits: Higher testosterone, better insulin regulation, more growth hormone, lower cortisol to name a few

– Lowers body fat (great for improving health)

– A higher TDEE (total daily energy expenditure, more calories burnt in a day)

– Increased strength for sport/daily life

– A boost in confidence

– Looking better naked (the most important benefit, obviously)

 

Those are only some of the benefits, there are numerous more.

 

Personally I’d say the mental improvement is the pivotal one as this can have the biggest impact on a persons life in a very positive way.

 

However….

 

If you’re not an athlete and lift for health/confidence you should do it because you enjoy it, not because you feel you have to, that’s the secret to balance and long term sustainability.

 

Don’t eat yourself up if you miss a session, chalk it up to life and sue it as a rest day, that way you’ll be more motivated when you get to go in, excited to train in fact. Keep this in mind and you’ll find you don’t fall out of love with training.

 

What if lifting isn’t for you?

 

That’s cool, find soothing you do enjoy, here are some other options for improving strength and all achieving all the other benefits mentioned above:

 

– Calisthenics: bodyweight/movement training, loads of fun

– Martial Arts

– Gym Classes

– Track & field

– Kettlebells (sport or hard style)

– Climbing/outdoor sports

 

There are almost endless options.

 

Find something you enjoy, training shouldn’t be a chore.

 

Now go, have fun and make progress.

 

Ross.

The Tricksters Pages…

With all the fitness magazines, best selling books and other such things floating around it can be quite hard to know what to believe.

 

If we look at a standard fitness magazine you will find that the workout you read on page 27 is completely different from the one on page 62, yet they both claim to work. This does no favours and ends up leaving you more confused than when you first picked it up.

 

It’s maddening, isn’t it.

 

While I advice people read and expand their knowledge I would highly suggest getting a coach/trainer to put together your workouts, this is because you will have something that is individually made for YOU and caters to all your needs and not just a flashy headline to sell copies of this weeks latest print.

 

It’s better to spend a pretty penny on something that will get you the results you need than waste it on information that will only take you in circles.

 

Enjoy,

Ross