I'm getting muscles lately dragging out my soap box and climbing onto my high horse. I hadn't expected to pull out the soap box again so soon, but I don't do so well when I try to mask my thoughts, so here goes...
A fellow personal trainer recently put it out there on the interwebs that he told a couple of potential clients who were unsure about joining his gym to "Come back when you're ready". I'm not sure if that's fact, or if it was to evoke response and discussion, but it certainly did just that. As much as I'd like to say I was surprised at some of the responses, well, I'm not really. Some of my response is below.
In PT Land, we know what's right, we know the correct exercises to do, we all eat perfectly, exercise constantly, donate to charity, help nuns across the road, save puppies and small children from burning buildings and all live happy, pure existences. Blah blah. Yeah, right. We can be (as a collective) a patronising, judgmental bunch. "Everyone knows you have to eat right and move your body to lose weight, be healthy, look good. It's so simple and you're fat simply because you're lazy."
In Reality Land, normal people have fears, insecurities and barriers hindering their journey to that sometimes seemingly unattainable 'perfect body'. Of course, what's 'perfect'? It's so very subjective that even if you got there, someone's always going to say, "Not quite...".
If you're 'fat' or 'not ready' we sometimes have a tendency to look down on you and patronise you for not being ready to help yourself. (And I must also say here it's not just personal trainers who do this; society as a whole should take some responsibility for its lack of compassion.)
But....how do you know a person is ready or not if you do not ask? What aren't you sure about? How long have you been considering...? Why don't you think you're ready...? Sometimes people don't know they don't know these things till they're asked. And if you don't ask, you probably just lost a client...or a little respect from that person who's appeared wanting you to guide them to make the decision that is best for them. I certainly wouldn't join the first gym I talked to and I'd never join a gym where I didn't feel a connection with the trainers. **PTs often forget clients are interviewing US as much as we're interviewing them.**
As a PT who is currently having trouble losing weight through no fault of my own (with a multitude of doctors trying to figure out why), I'd find it offensive for someone to basically turn me away without finding out a bit more about my circumstances, how I got there, what I expect from myself, my training and my trainer, and if there might be a possible solution I had not yet thought of myself.
It's all well and good for PTs who've never walked a mile or two in heavier shoes to patronise and condescend those who aren't so perfectly set in mind and body, but we should be about health and wellness as a whole, not just the exercise. If you can't relate to your clients, you probably won't keep the ones who'll be your best clients...the ones who are most thankful for you changing their lives, because they had a longer, harder road to travel. Fitness is not just about what we look like on the outside. If we're doing our job to the best of our ability, fitness is a package that includes the mind and the body...inside and out.
I get so fired up about things like this, because I have my own health issues, I have auto-immune issues and I don't look like the 'ideal' PT. But so freakin what! I relate to and empathise with my clients and I get results for my clients, because I listen and I try to understand and I'll do what it takes for anyone who's prepared to do what it takes.
The bottom line is we're all a client of somebody, somehow, every single day, so if we want to be treated well as a client, we need to show respect to those people who are our clients, past, current and potential. If we don't, we're not doing our job. Not just as personal trainers, but as decent human beings.
Eve
