0.42 hours out of 24 hours in a day
3.00 hours out of 168 hours in a week
12.00 hours out of 720 hours in a month
156.00 hours out of 8760 hours per year
A personal trainer is lucky to spend 1.78% of a clients time in a year training them and in that time we are expected to influence and help change their entire life. It seems as though the odds are stacked against us. So what is it we need to do to become successful in changing our client’s lives?
No matter who we are or what we pursue in our lives there is always a breaking point. A breaking point where you go from struggling to simply move towards success, fighting every inch along the way to where you start barreling down on it like an earth rattling locomotive. Some describe it as a tipping point in life but it is not. There is no slow ease up and over the horizon where you can look over and see your future successes. No point where you get to anticipate the riches, both tangible and intangible, as you tip towards your goals. In reality it is a breaking point. It’s that point where the ground suddenly gives way beneath you unexpectedly after a steep uphill climb It’s that point where you are so focused on the task at hand that you do not even see yourself reach the edge then suddenly you find yourself tumbling almost uncontrollably towards your goal.
Hi, my name is Kurtis McDermid.I am a dedicated personal trainer and own my own private training business. Business is doing great, I love my clients, the skies are bright blue, sun is shining and Stevie Wonder is singing in the background. Everything is coming up daisies but, deep down inside I have a dirty little secret, something I have come to hide to avoid ridicule and reputation shattering from my peers and industry professionals. It is something I need to get off my chest, I need to stop hiding in the shadows and stand up for what I do and what I believe in. It’s time for a confession.
So here goes everything…
Rich Client Syndrome: is one of the fastest growing conditions in the world of personal training and healthcare. Though commonly left undiagnosed RCS can lead to a sub standard level of care and results for those who suffer from it. Precursors of RCS can be noticed within a wide variety of clientele but, is named as such due to its origins within the upper class. Continue reading
(The following is a summary of my training to date with Linda Benedetti. Recently I have begun keeping seasonal journals about my experiences with each client. For my long term clients I have written summaries to recap our training prior to this year)
(I have yet to upload an up to date photo of Linda, one will follow soon)
Linda came to be a client of mine by chance about 4 years ago. She was signed up for a package of 10 sessions from a trainer and was never called to set them up and begin training. When she finally came in to complain in person it was months later and that trainer no longer worked for the company. She was understandably upset and asking to be set up with a trainer and the wrongs to be righted. This is the moment I walked by with a clear look on my face that said I was just burning time. I was asked by my manager to take Linda on as a client and fix things.
I recently have started following Jon Goodman, a personal trainer from Toronto and creator of ‘The Personal Trainer Development Centre’ (www.theptdc.com). His site is filled with helpful articles and information for trainers, everything from running the business, networking, training, marketing and psychology of training.
One of the first posts I read of his I could really relate to. It was called ‘What’s In My Desk?’ (http://www.theptdc.com/2012/02/whats-in-my-desk/). In the article Jon goes through how he manages to train 8-11 clients in a row all because his desk is filled with everything he needs to overcome the distractions and setbacks of a typical day.
After reading his article I thought a lot about how many people always wonder how I train so much in a day as well. The difference between myself and Jon however is that Jon works in a commercial gym where as I am mobile. I train in client’s private gyms, outdoors at various locations, In client’s homes with no gyms, at a local gym that rents space to me and in my own private studio I have renovated my basement into. I travel over 250km everyday training clients all over southwestern Ontario. I can leave the home at 5am and not get back till 10pm. Jon and I may be very different in the everyday workings of our careers but, one thing is true throughout. Being well prepared helps both of us work efficiently and provide the best service we can.
Jon has a desk, I have a truck.
(Client’s name and some personal details may have been changed or withheld due to confidentiality)
I could hear him come running down the stairs with minutes to spare. First I could see his tattered old running shoes and between the gap of them and his far too short, far too hiked up, dark blue jogging pants I could see his black dress socks. As he got down further I could see his polo shirt with glasses case in the pocket tucked into his pants over his still large belly. When he reached the bottom of the stairs you could see a welcoming smile on his round, mostly bald head. Large wire framed glasses all fogged up from the cold during his 2 block walk to the gym.
This was 67 year old Dave. He looked like what everyone pictures when you say grandpa. This was not just Dave though. This is what I referred to as “The Pinnacle of Dave.” This was Dave at his best, 2 years of hard training, commitment and the best attitude anyone could ever had brought this man to where he was this day.
I reached over in the dark of the night searching for it. Half dazed and still asleep I felt across the cold floor with my hand. A box of Kleenex….no, glass of water….no. There it was, my phone, alarm on it beeping away, no sign of the sun out my window but it was time to get up, 3:30am. My roommate was just heading to bed after a long night at the bar.
“Hey Kurt, g’night” I hate being called Kurt,
I stepped into a steaming hot shower, let the water massage my sore back and took a moment to myself. It had felt like I just got home and it was time to go again. It was 12:30am the night before when I finally got back home from working a long night shift at a job I hated. I was working the line at a local Montana’s Grill to help make ends meet having just moved to London, Ontario a couple months prior, fresh from highschool graduation. I stepped out of the shower and finished getting my bag packed to work at the gym personal training.
(Client’s name and some personal details may have been changed or withheld due to confidentiality) (Session from 2009)
Sometimes you just can’t win. It’s plain and simple. We have all had arguments, clients, situations etc. that we just can’t win. There is always that person that just won’t listen or you cannot convince they are wrong. Sometimes it’s you and sometimes it’s them, the important thing is that you know when and where to draw the line. How hard do you try? How many resources do you commit to it? Is it even worth it? Here is a story of the most memorable time in my years as a trainer where I just couldn’t win.
(Note: This story is from 2007)
I stumbled to the showers, pale white (more so than usual), feeling ill, exhausted and all out done. I sat down on a wet bench but didn’t care, took a minute to think about what just happened and thought to myself.
“So this is what it feels like, no wonder they all hate me.”
I had just finished my first personal training session. The only thing is, this was my first session as a client and not as a trainer.
Let me back track, I’ll start from the beginning.
