Helping Your Clients Adhere to a Lifelong Exercise Habit
By Hervé Bensabat

(Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3)

Part 4

6. Give Your Clients Wings

There are tons of DVDs, CDs, e-books, articles, and 'systems' on how to hold on to your clients to keep your business thriving.

I don’t subscribe to this business philosophy. I fail to see how the latest, increasingly aggressive techniques to retain clients can be in the clients' best interest. On the contrary, I believe their interests are better served the moment they become independent and learn to live the fitness lifestyle for themselves.

Sure, there are clients who will always want to train with a trainer year after year because it suits them and that is their wish. This is perfectly fine. Most clients you first meet, however, do not have the intention of hiring you indefinitely. Nor would it be reasonable to expect otherwise.

Give your clients wings. From the very first day, prepare them to leave you.

Make certain they have mastered exercise technique and correct form. Build their repertoire of exercise selection. Enrich their training vocabulary. Expose them to a wide gamut of training systems. Instill in them the discipline to perform. Educate them about their bodies, about the mind-muscle connection, about motion, about posture, about safety, about a healthy heart. Teach them the rudimentary principles of fitness training and arm them with the knowledge they will need once they are on their own – so that they may truly live the fitness lifestyle.

Naturally, I am not suggesting we turn our clients into prospective fitness trainers. Of course, the art of fitness training will always remain the domain of the fitness professional. But surely we can do better than what late night infomercials, consumer fitness magazines, or the current popular best-seller professes to deliver.

If we fail to adequately prepare our clients for that ultimate day, we almost guarantee they will have no choice but to turn to other sources for their fitness information. If the sources they turn to are second-rate, the chances of injury and the likelihood of dropping out increase.

The notion here is that sooner or later, our clients will be on their own. They will need to know how to properly exercise and stay fit over the course of a lifetime. Prepare your clients for that eventuality. Prepare them early on, and prepare them well.

7. Generalizations

In the realm of human behavioural principles there is a concept called “generalization training.” This is where the desired behaviour is expanded to a different setting to link the behaviour with stimuli in the new setting. The notion is to facilitate 'ongoing' adherence.

Applied to fitness training, the concept may best be used a little before our clients leave us. Suppose they were training with us in a gym. We might use a few of our remaining sessions together training in a new setting such as their home, or another gym, or the place they have indicated they are most likely to pursue physical activity. In this way, we can 'generalize' the exercise habit to the new environment.

By doing so, we help our client adhere to exercise by alleviating some of the anxiety they may feel or by familiarizing them to the new setting. We 'transfer' some of the positive experiences and associations about fitness they may have made with us to the new setting.

In no small way, we essentially act as a catalyst to facilitate the upcoming transition to a new environment and ease them into a new pattern of physical activity.

If any of you have ever felt intimidated by a new environment, then you already know how serious a deterrent it can be. Furthermore, many of us who are accustomed to training in well-equipped fitness facilities cannot conceive the possibility of training at home or at work in a confined space with little to no equipment.

Demonstrating to our clients how this can be accomplished renders the impossible, possible. Consequently, the likelihood of ongoing adherence from one setting to another increases substantially.

Generalization training can be a very powerful strategy to use, especially with those clients who express doubt or some form of apprehension toward training in a new environment. Exploiting this principle requires very little additional effort or resources on our part, yet confers immeasurable dividends for our clients.

Excellence travels. As it's often said, “Under promise, over deliver.”

So, these are just some of the things we can do to inspire our clients to live the fitness lifestyle. To truly make a difference and have a lasting impact on the lives of those around us, we need to service our clients beyond the traditional exercise training program. We ought to prepare them well for when they will no longer be training with us.

Remember that every training session is an opportunity to promote adherence.

Teach them also, the paramount notion that physical activity is a lifelong endeavour. Impart the knowledge that they should anticipate lapses along the way and that the most useful skill to hone is the ability to start again. Continually provide reminders about the physical, social, and psychological benefits of physical activity. Point to evidence of the positive outcomes of living the fitness lifestyle.

Repeat the message. Exercise is beneficial for lifelong health.

References

1. American Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation. Guidelines for Cardiac Rehabilitation and Secondary Prevention Programs. 4th ed. Champaign, IL. Human Kinetics. 2003
2. Ferketich AK, Schwartzbaum JA, Frid DJ, et al. Depression as an antecedent to heart disease among women and men in the NHANES I study. Arch Intern Med 160 (2000):1261-1268.
3. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Physical Activity and Health: A Report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, 1996.
4. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Healthy People 2010: Understanding and Improving Health. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2000.
5. Canadian Fitness and Lifestyle Research Institute (CFLRI). 1997 Physical Activity Monitor.
6. Ades PA, Waldmann ML, McCann WJ, et al. Predictors of cardiac rehabilitation participation in older coronary patients. Arch Intern Med 152 (1992):1033-1035.
7. Petrella RJ, Koval JJ, Cunningham DA, et al. Can primary care doctors prescribe exercise to improve fitness? The Step Test Exercise Prescription (STEP) project. Am J Prev Med 24 (2003): 316-322.
8. Dishman R. Exercise Adherence: Its Impact on Public Health. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics, 1988.
9. Vuori I. Perspectives on Health and Exercise. Edited by Mckenna J, Riddoch C. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 1997.
10. Powell KE, Heath GW, Kresnow MJ, et al. Injury rates from walking, gardening, weightlifting, outdoor bicycling and aerobics. Med Sci Sports Exerc 30 (1998): 1246-1249.

Herve Bensabat, CFT, CSCS, NASM-CPT is a strength and conditioning specialist and personal trainer. He is also certified in post-rehabilitation fitness therapy and performance nutrition with the International Sports Sciences Association.

Visit Herve online at www.workout-from-home.com