PTs: What to do in your first session?

Your first session with your client can always be tricky. You’ve gone through your paperwork in the consultation. Now you need to use your knowledge and experience to know what exercises to use and how hard to push your client.

Having a flexible range of exercises in the programme is key to making sure the session flows. Think of exercises that are easy to progress and regress to provide the necessary stimulus for your client.

Here is an example of a ViPR programme I used with a new client at Feel Good PT who was new to exercise with poor fitness levels. I created and downloaded the programme from www.ptonthenet.com.

Warm Up
Cardio Program
Activity Intensity Duration Comments VIPR 20 minutes
Summary Of Program
Activity Type Sets Reps Duration Tempo Intensity Rest Basic Squat Exercise 3 1 minute 1 minute Chest Press - On Bench With DB Exercise 3 1 minute 1 minute Shoulder Press - Standing With DB Exercise 3 1 minute 1 minute Deadlift - Dumbbells Exercise 3 1 minute 1 minute Rotatory, Step (Sagittal), Pivot Step Exercise 3 1 minute 1 minute Flip (outdoor sagittal), Run, Quick feet (180° turn) Exercise 3 1 minute 1 minute Tilt (Sagittal), Shuffle (Sagittal plane with Turn), Shuffle - 180° turn Exercise 3 1 minute 1 minute Lift / Shift (Posterior), Standing Hip Flexion to Extention, Staggered Stance Exercise 3 1 minute 1 minute
Cool Down
BASIC SQUAT Reps : Sets : 3  Intensity : Tempo : Rest : 1 minute  Duration : 1 minute  Preparation : Ensure the individual has strength in the posterior chain (glutes, hamstrings and erector spinae) before prescribing this exercise. Movement : Stand tall with the gaze straight ahead. Initiate a squat with a knee bend. As the knees bend past 10 degrees, push the hips back and keep bending the knees. Only descend into the squat half way as shown. Squat back up and repeat pattern.

 TIP

The reason I chose perform the exercise for 1 minute compare to giving a set rep range is that is allows your client to push themselves within their comfort zone. You can then increase the intensity by increasing the weights, changing tempo, time, or progressing the exercise. I use this with clients for the first session to give me more detail on their fitness and capability. 

One of the most important areas that I think is often overlooked when taking on a new client is their ability to be coached. This is why I have chosen the deadlift - it's a more complex lift, which allows me to see how responsive my clients are to learning new movement patterns

What do you do with your new clients?

PTs: make it professional

As a newly qualified personal trainer, what things do you put in place to keep your clients motivated and on-track to achieve their goals?

One of the key areas I concentrate on at Feel Good PT is to ensure that personal training is kept personal and professional. Because of this I create a personalised folder for my clients. It helps to keep my clients on track to reaching their health and fitness goals. My clients use it to store the programmes I send them during the week from ptonthenet.com. There is a notes section at the back with allows them to write down any questions they may have. Alternatively, they ask me questions via phone and use the notes section to write down anything that they weren’t clear on.

Have a look

These are the sections I use:

• programmes
• nutritional advice
• client assessments
• terms & conditions
• current promotions
• links to local businesses that can help my clients

It’s a great opportunity for you to use the folder to keep clients up-to-date with current promotions and to create a referral system with good nutritionist and psychotherapist in the local area (this is a whole other opportunity that I'll be blogging about soon).


It's also a nice visual present to give to new clients, and a signal to them of that we both take their goals seriously.


Do you do something similar with any of your clients?

Conversation starters

After having a very old scrappy pair of old trainers that I’d had for far too long, I thought it was time to get a new pair and improve my professional image. At Fitpro’s Spring Convention I treated myself to a pair of Vibram FiveFingers shoes. I really wasn’t sure what I thought about them, but decided to just go for it.

After training and wearing them I have found some interesting benefits. Leaving aside how they feel and the physiological implications, they are fantastic conversation starters.

From wearing them, having a branded personal training T-shirt and business cards I have gained two clients from conversations started in a supermarket and pub. I’ve found that they make a statement; people ask you questions about them and why you’re wearing them. This then gives you an opportunity to make a sneaky sales pitch.

I explain to them the benefits and then ask them questions about what shoes they currently wear for their training/sports. After you have found out how active they are (or not!) it gives you a great opportunity to provide them with some information about how they can improve their training and how you can benefit them as a personal trainer.

I always try to make sure I ask open questions and, importantly, leave them with a way to contact me by giving them one of my business cards. If anyone else has any interesting ways to get a conversation with potential clients going then let me know!  

Recovering after hard sessions

As a new personal trainer, one of the most important things I’ve learned is the need to judge is the recovery time of clients. If clients are suffering from delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) it will have two effects. Firstly, it will reduce the effectiveness of subsequent workouts due to fatigue and, secondly, it will negatively affect their motivation, as they are unlikely to enjoy the session if they’re sore before you even begin.

The three key areas to consider regarding recovery after a hard training session are nutrition, rest and your client’s programme/periodisation.

Nutrition provides our bodies with the fuel for exercise and the building blocks to repair micro-trauma after a hard session. Post-exercise, we should consume a high GI carbohydrate (CHO), as this replaces the glucose lost during exercise. A great high GI food post-exercise is fruit. During exercise micro-trauma is created within the muscle. Because of this, it is important to consume protein to repair the muscle and aid recovery. If our nutrition isn’t right, then we won’t recover as efficiently as we could.

Rest is an important factor in recovery. When working out, you’re trying to create new stimuli by putting the body under stress to create an adaption in the body. The adaption will take place when you’re resting. Because of this, rest becomes just as important as working hard during a workout.

Good periodisation is important for recovery. I always strive to ensure clients get enough rest between workouts to allow for recovery in the muscles they’re working. For example, if you see a client twice a week and perform a hard session on their legs on Monday and then ask them to perform 30 minutes of hard interval training on the rowing machine on Thursday, they are not going to perform as well as they could.

One of the last lessons I’ve learned is that sometimes the best thing you can do as a trainer is ensure that your client gets enough rest.

Hope this helps.

Dom