Understanding the Benefits of a Personal Trainer

The use of a Personal Trainer is becoming more and more popular.

It is important that your client understands the advantages of working with a personal trainer, some of these include:

• Regular one-to-one contact helps to aid motivation and adherence
• Provides a more personal approach, and a more personalised and individual programme
• Programmes can be updated and progressed more regularly (e.g. every week)
• Informal reviews and on-going observation and assessment can be implemented with every session
• Formal reviews can be scheduled and agreed with the client to monitor progress
• Provides continuous ‘real-time’ feedback, ensuring safe and effective technique and leading to positive results
• Programmes designed to address functional capability, postural deviations and to reduce/ address risk of injury
• Goals are often achieved more quickly when working with a personal trainer, rather than training alone

The Importance of Long-Term Behaviour Change in Developing Fitness

For a client to achieve success in achieving their goals and ensure they maintain/ continue to improve requires long-term Behaviour change. Developing new, positive behaviour towards their health and fitness has to become a way of life that fits into their everyday routine (for example brushing your teeth in the morning and before you go to bed), rather than something that is forced and considered a chore. Clients that do not adopt long-term behaviour change are much more likely to relapse and lose any gains, with reversibility occurring. A perfect example of this is a ‘yo-yo’ dieter.

Client Commitment to Long-Term Change

In order to help a client commit to long term change there are a number of different systems and strategies that can be used.

These include:

• Reward systems
• Visualisation and self-belief
• Support networks
• Relapse strategies

Reward Systems

Reward systems may include offering reduced price, or free sessions as part of a loyalty scheme for regular clients. Rewards may also take the form of social events, challenges, prizes/treats, or other things that clients may enjoy.

Reward systems can help to:

• Encourage participation
• Encourage clients to sell you to other potential clients
• Keep clients motivated and on track
• Encourage the client to stay with your services
• Make clients feel better about themselves
• Encourage a lifestyle change

Visualisation and Self-belief

Visualisation helps clients to imagine in their minds what they want to have, and what they want to do or be. It helps them to master the techniques and body image ideas presented to them, and bring about positive changes in their life.

Visualisation and self-belief can help clients to feel:

• Comfortable facing new challenges
• At ease in social situations, and able to be themselves
• Excited about new
• A great sense of
• Confident about the way they feel and look
• A greater enjoyment of life in general
• Respected by other people
• Sure of themselves and what they want

Support Network

These are the various people that form an external support system to provide encouragement and motivation. Support networks may include family and friends, other facility users, and training partners. The support given to a client from their social network may take the form of advice and encouragement, relating personal Exercise experiences, listening to and accepting others’ experiences, and providing understanding and motivation.

Prochaska & Di Clemente Transtheoretical Model of Behavioural Change

The prevailing theories today regarding motivation and ability to change can be found in Prochaska and Di Clemente’s “Transtheoretical Model”. This model classifies how people make changes, and construes change as a process involving progress through a series of stages as shown below.

Maintenance

Change Adopted

Movement through the stages is thought to be cyclic as the diagram above shows, not linear. This is because many people do not succeed in their efforts in establishing and maintaining lifestyle changes, and therefore move in and out of the cycle at different stages and different times. This movement out of the cycle is known as a ‘relapse’.

Relapse                         Movement out of the circle

Loss of motivation and commitment. Barriers are presented [reasons for not continuing with change]

Exercising decreases or ceases due to an injury, job change, change in personal circumstances, or some other ‘barrier.

Pre-contemplation Stage

In this stage individuals have not even started to consider exercise or making any changes to their lifestyle. It is highly unlikely you will ever have a potential client ever come to you in this stage. Putting up posters, distributing leaflets, and just talking to potential clients can make an Individual really think about doing something about their fitness. The goal at this point should be to help the client recognise the existence of a problem. It sows the seed.

Contemplation Stage (thinking of starting exercising in the next 6 months)

During this stage individuals start to really think seriously about exercise, and begin weighing up the pros and cons. This could be for many reasons, for example weight loss, looking better, feeling less tired, and achieving a feeling of well-being. They actively seek more specific information on types of exercise and the associated health-related benefits, as this helps them to weigh up pros and cons. Giving clients specific articles, books, flyers, videotapes, and talking with them as to what they need to do and the options available, will all help them to move through this stage. The pros and cons are weighed up, and the balance starts to favour the pros, therefore motivation starts to rise.

Preparation Stage

This is the stage where the decision to change has been taken. During this stage a consultation with the individual should be conducted including health screening, informed consent, and personal profiling. Long, medium, and short-term goals should be agreed, and a fitness assessment completed. This information should then be used to design an exercise programme that will achieve the goals and needs of the individual. An induction may be necessary to get the programme started. The pros are clearly dominant, and motivation is very high.

Action Stage (exercising for less than 6 months)

This is the most difficult stage for most people. It is during this phase that about half of all new exercisers stop [Berg EdD], although the exact reason why is not clear. It could be that a barrier has developed, such as time constraints, family commitments, dislike of the programme, or lack of motivation and achievement. Whatever the reason, the weighing up of the pros and cons can alter its balance. Think about moving clients through this stage by encouraging self-evaluation, helping build and maintain relationships, providing exercise variety, and changing the programme as needed. The pros and cons may become more evenly balanced, and motivation can decline. The cons then start to become more dominant if intervention strategies are not implemented.

Maintenance Stage (exercising between 6 months and 3 years)

Once at this stage the individual has already demonstrated a high level of commitment. However this does not mean that relapse is unlikely as it can happen at any stage. It is therefore important to employ a variety of strategies to maintain interest and commitment. For example exercising with a friend, introducing rewards for achieving goals, and adding programme variety.

Termination Stage (exercising for more than 3 years)

The lifestyle changes have now become part of a normal day in the termination stage. Regular exercise and other health behaviours are carried out weekly without having to be forced or considered a chore. A relapse in this stage is highly unlikely, but still possible.

Relapse Stage

A relapse can happen for many reasons, for example a change in season, change of job or family commitments, physiological factors or injuries, low motivation and stress. It is important that the client understands that relapse is a natural part of the changing process and it is not the same as failure, but is simply a part of the learning process. Identifying possible ‘high-risk’ situations may reduce the likelihood of a relapse occurring in the first place. The goal of relapse prevention is to help individuals anticipate possible problems, and have strategies in place ready to cope when such high-risk situations occur. Establishing the reason for the relapse is an important feature in helping individuals to move back into the cycle.

Many studies have tried to establish what people perceive are the main reasons, or barriers, to beginning and maintaining a change in lifestyle and exercise habit. One such study (The National Dunbar Fitness Survey 1992) identified the following factors, in order of the largest to smallest reasons:

• Not enough time
• Not being the sporty type
• Work pressure
• I need to rest in my spare time
• Lack of support
• Not having enough energy
• An injury or other physical disability
• I would never be able to keep up

Because one stage typically progresses to the next, all steps are equally important. You are more likely to effectively assist individuals in making behavioural changes by developing strategies that are most effective in each stage. Matching treatment strategies to an individual’s stage of change will improve adherence and motivation, and reduce the possibility of failure to change.

The goal of relapse prevention is to help individuals anticipate possible problems, and have strategies in place ready to cope when such high-risk situations occur. Establishing the reason for the relapse is an

important feature in helping individuals to move back into the cycle. It is essential to work with the client to have strategies in place to keep them out of this phase.

Managing Change

There are a number of methods to help a client towards long-term behaviour change. The process of change depends on what stage of change an individual is currently in. Strategies employed within each of these stages are divided into two categories, cognitive and behavioural.

Cognition is the name given to ‘mental’ functions such as thinking, remembering, perception, and language. An individual’s thinking and perception about exercise can be a learned process, either from experience, or from listening, talking, and observing others actions towards exercise.

The cognitive processes for exercise are:

• Consciousness raising
• Dramatic relief
• Environmental re-evaluation
• Self-evaluation
• Social liberation

Use of the above cognitive processes tend to peak in the preparation stage.

Behaviour is an act, reaction, or function performed in a certain way or particular pattern. Often there is a need to change an individual’s action, reactions, and behaviour patterns towards exercise. The use of the following processes can be useful in this.

The behavioural processes for exercise are:

• Counter conditioning
• Helping relationships
• Reinforcement management
• Self liberation
• Stimulus control

Use of the above behavioural processes tend to peak in the action stage.

Summary Of Exercise Processes Of Change

Humanistic Process

This involves the importance of building a relationship between the personal trainer and the client, and achieving the goals of the exercise programme together. The humanistic theory of learning involves the concept of learning through watching the behaviour of others, and what results from that behaviour. Learning does not have to involve a behaviour change, but can also come about as a result of observation. According to the humanistic theory, the role of the personal trainer is to be a role

model. They must conduct appropriate behaviour, and make an effort not to replicate any inappropriate behaviour. They should also provide a reason and motivation for each session. The role of the participant is to explore and observe. They may use self-evaluation techniques to monitor and observe their own behaviours, and make necessary changes to the programme if required.

Strategies to Encourage Change

There are many different strategies that can be used to encourage change.

These include:

• Decision balance sheets
• Action Planning
• Promoting Autonomy and Interdependence
• Problem Solving Strategies to Identify Barriers
• Increasing Confidence
• SMART Goal-Setting

Decision Balance Sheet

This involves identifying and writing down the pros and cons of participating in an exercise session. It can be helpful in identifying barriers that will need to be taken into consideration.

The following provides an example:

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