Personal Training | More than Physical Fitness

Being a personal trainer or fitness instructor is a very rewarding profession. You have the ability and skillset to help your clients regain or maintain control of their physical health through exercise and nutrition. You can see a client’s progress first-hand and experience a feeling of accomplishment for motivating them to achieve their goals.

Personal trainers know the importance of keeping your body in shape and healthy, but there’s a lot more to personal training than getting your client to the next weight goal or pushing them to go that extra step to becoming stronger.

Often when someone decides to hire a personal trainer or join a group fitness class, they have reached this decision because of a significant event or a serious need to make a change in their life. This event or need for change could be very positive like wanting to achieve a larger fitness goal such as completing a triathlon or a winning a competition, but for many people the decision to hire a personal trainer has come from a personal struggle such as mental illness or a significant loss in their life.

Society is becoming more aware and understanding of people who struggle with mental or emotional obstacles, such as depression, low self esteem and anxiety, and it is slowly becoming common knowledge that physical fitness can directly affect mental fitness.

Exercise can:

Improve self esteem
Ease the symptoms of anxiety
Can improve memory
Can reduce cravings associated with addiction
Reduce symptoms of depression
Improve motivation
Improve sleep
Reduce stress
Stabilise mood swings

As a personal trainer you are likely going to take on a client who has joined your class or signed up for one-on-one training because they are experiencing one or more of these mental obstacles and are looking to improve their life as a whole.

This situation is a wonderful opportunity to help someone in need on a higher level while still utilising the same experience and knowledge you have about physical fitness along with some key social skills:

Educate Yourself: Seek out information or ask questions about the illness or struggle of your client.
Set realistic Limits: Those struggling with mental obstacles are more likely to quit or regress if they become overwhelmed.
Utilise Positive Reinforcement: Mental obstacles can affect someone’s ability to take criticism well, so unlike someone with a healthy mental state who is motivated by criticism and pressure, a person struggling with mental health may lose motivation to continue.
Be Patient: Patience is really important when dealing with someone who is having a mental struggle as they may take longer to master a new skill and can have fluctuations in motivation and mood.

Enrolment at National Health and Fitness Academy will not only give you the tools and knowledge needed to achieve physical results in your clients, you will also practice a lot of the social skills that are needed to accommodate clients from all lifestyles, cultures and stages of life. Our instructors have invaluable real-life experience working in the fitness industry giving you the best possible start in your new career.

If you are interested in starting a rewarding career helping people achieve their health goals enrol with NHFA today.

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