As a fitness trainer, you need a particular philosophy to influence your training methods and how you work with clients. When a fitness trainer refuses to apply the fitness program of another fitness trainer to their methods, despite its efficiency, they imply that they have a different philosophy.
How can you develop your philosophy? In this article, you’ll learn about the importance of a fitness philosophy and how you can develop one if you are selling personal training. Read on!
What Is a Fitness Philosophy?
Fitness philosophy refers to beliefs and attitudes toward fitness. It relates to how an individual sees fitness and their perception of physical activities that promote fitness. As a fitness trainer, your fitness philosophy is the WHY of what you do. It determines your methods and translates into how you help your clients to reach their fitness goals.
Generally, your fitness philosophy drives the whole process of your training style and your personality as a trainer. It is like going to a restaurant you regularly visit to get coffee, you know what you’ll get there and the coffee it serves. Similarly, your philosophy as a trainer readily helps potential clients recognize what you can offer them.
Why Your Physical Fitness and Training Philosophy Is Important as a Trainer
Knowing and figuring out your fitness philosophy gives you a sense of direction and purpose as a personal trainer. It ensures you know what you’re about and what you can offer to potential clients. It has to be clear-cut and devoid of ambiguity.
You wouldn’t want a client who gets enthralled after seeing an ad containing your training services and promptly decides to give you a shot but ends up not getting what they expect, resulting in disappointment and frustration. This is a terrible way to go. As a fitness trainer, you need to be loyal to your standards, stick to them no matter what, and let them be part of your personality as a trainer.
See yourself as a principled trainer and be convinced that your training style will yield favorable results. As a fitness trainer, your philosophy will shape your coaching style, attracting clients best suited to your ideologies. Your views towards fitness are powerful because they can have a rub-off effect on potential and existing clients. For instance, someone whose many attempts towards attaining fitness and a healthy body have been futile may be encouraged to try again because of the strong feelings your training philosophy elicits.
Identifying Your Fitness Philosophy
You now know the importance of a fitness philosophy, but how do you discover yours? To identify your unique fitness philosophy, you have to consider the following:
- Your Idea of What Fitness Is
Words mean different things to different people. The word ‘fire’ won’t have the same effect it has on someone that has experienced a fire outbreak on a person who hasn’t. The experience associated with the word makes it more personal and relatable. That is the same way you need to develop your unique idea of fitness based on your experience with the word.
- Your Value for Fitness
As a fitness trainer, you can’t give what you don’t have. You cannot help your clients value their fitness beyond how you value it. Why should anyone value physical exercise and keeping fit? What’s the essence of a fitness program? Why should people care? Your answer to these questions can be used to conceive your fitness philosophy.
- Your Strategy for Fitness
Your methodology or training approach depicts your fitness philosophy. What’s your training program objective? What do you prioritize in your training method? Do you focus on the physiology of getting fit or adopt the psychological approach? Your fitness strategy defines your training philosophy and highlights what you’ve tested and proven effective.
If you implement the following factors, it’ll be easy to develop a unique philosophy that potential clients will gravitate towards because what they’ll get from your program and personal training style is already evident. Your fitness philosophy can be considered your value proposition to potential clients.
Developing Your Unique Fitness Philosophy
Developing your fitness philosophy can be likened to preparing a meal. You’ll need different ingredients to get it done; every ingredient is vital to attaining the final product. You must merge your values, methods, story, and experience like ingredients. The goal is to encapsulate your uniqueness and strengths as a fitness trainer. The following should feature in your fitness philosophy:
- Your Values
What are the values that you bring to your training program? How would it meet the fitness needs of your clients? Potential clients should readily see what you’re offering them via your fitness philosophy. Let them know your core values as a fitness trainer and your goals and objectives.
- Your Methods
Your fitness philosophy should accentuate your teaching and coaching style. Your methods should be clients centered, focus on their needs, and focus on helping them feel better about themselves. It should also highlight how you relate to them and the atmosphere of the training environment.
- Your Story
Be real! Don’t exaggerate your methods. Your story helps potential clients relate to you. It establishes a connection with them. Make them the main characters of your story. They are the heroes, and your story should be built around them.
- Your Experience
This helps potential clients trust you, as they can draw inspiration and strength from your accomplishments. Your experience makes you attractive to potential clients searching for a personal fitness trainer with your skill set.
Pulling all these together will assist you in formulating a fitness philosophy that represents and captures what you think about fitness. It can be tricky to figure out the best way to blend these different elements into a powerful fitness philosophy but keeping it authentic matters the most. It doesn’t have to be perfect.
Using Your Philosophy To Help Clients in Their Fitness Journey
Remember, the objective of a fitness philosophy is to help potential clients know you care about their fitness needs and how you can help them achieve them. During consultations with clients, communicate with them in a way that portrays empathy, let them know you care, and embody your fitness philosophy as you engage them. For example, let them know and understand your views and methods in dieting or drafting an exercise plan upfront, as this will help them make sense of your decisions and attitude in the long run. Don’t feel bad when some clients don’t buy into your philosophy. Others will. Your philosophy sets the tone for your work and who you can work with.
Embrace your fitness philosophy and physical exercise program with pride, publicize it on social media platforms, feature it on your business website if you have one, and be vocal about your beliefs and approach to fitness. Doing this helps you stand out from others in your field and attracts clients your philosophy resonates with.
Improving Your Fitness Training Process
To stop learning is to stop growing, and to stop growing is to stop living. As a personal fitness trainer, you have to keep improving yourself. This shows that you’re passionate about what you do. Improving yourself as a personal fitness trainer will reflect on your training methods, making you serve clients better. You must stay updated and deliberately avoid being laid-back because it can be subtle. You might wonder how certain personal fitness trainers you regard as veterans have managed to stay on top of their game with sustained relevance for so long. The truth is, the secret is in constant education.
A practical way to improve your fitness philosophy is by staying flexible in terms of its workability; you can tweak it from time to time to suit clients’ distinct needs. No two clients have exactly the same needs. You can adapt your philosophy to their different needs to ensure its continued efficiency.
Be intentional about improving yourself so your training program will produce exceptional results. Be thorough and know what you know well. Be so grounded that you know how to help every client on their fitness journey. Don’t be a jack of all trades and master of none. Know your onions!
Conclusion
As you’ve learned in this article, a fitness philosophy is necessary if you are selling personal training. You’ve learned that it is a powerful tool in connecting with the ideal clients, as it attracts those that subscribe to your fitness school of thought to your fitness program.
Furthermore, I’d strongly advise you to maximize your knowledge from this article and keep developing yourself as a fitness trainer. You can also evaluate and tweak your current philosophy (if you already have one) to better convey your thoughts about fitness to potential clients.
Knowledge without corresponding application is not good, and be wary of falling into the complacency trap. Don’t feel you’re the best out there. Having a good sense of worth for your fitness philosophy and what you offer your clients is essential, but constantly improve and educate yourself and learn other ways to make your training methods more efficient and exciting.
