TRAINING TIPS: "Gain Strentgh By Playing to Your Weakness ""

I must admit that in this business...I have been blessed beyond measure. Most of my clients have been with me for YEARS! We’re talking like 15 yrs. etc. That’s very unusual in the world of personal training and I DO NOT TAKE IT FOR GRANTED. Consequently, these dedicated ones have been consistent in their training and together, we’ve created and maintained a scary level of cardiovascular fitness and an incredible amount of muscular strength and muscular endurance. After all, let’s be real here. IF after 15 years of working with me, you didn’t resemble those remarks….you’d need a new trainer! I do believe in doing my job to the best of my ability. If I wake up one day and don’t feel the passion to do so, that’ll be the day I’LL QUIT. It’s just that simple. In the business of “PERSONAL” training, our clients deserve the very best from us and part of that is getting to know them and know them well. We need to know what makes them tick, both inside and out. We should know what they like, what they hate, what moves sets off their vertigo, what causes them to grab with their feet and cramp up….etc. We should KNOW THEM and in knowing them, we best know where their weaknesses are. There in lies the rub.

When I give a client exercises that they execute well, those are the ones they tend to like, period, it’s just that simple. Everyone likes it when they are good at something right? OF course, I do too. But if they’re always really good at it, it means we’re playing to their STRENGTHS. Either innate strengths or strengths that together, we have created. It’s a team effort to be sure. So the trick is for trainers to learn how to approach their clients with exercises that illuminate their weaknesses without making them recoil at the thought. These are the exercises that make them feel awkward, off balance, or “weak”, Right! “I don’t like this exercise Candace, I never have. I’m just not good at it and it just doesn’t feel natural to me”. I feel as though I've heard that sentence a thousand times and it’s my job, (our job in the industry), to help our clients understand that these are the exercises they MUST DO!

It’s BECAUSE they aren’t immediately efficient with certain exercises and movements that they NEED to do them. SO, it’s our job to gently encourage, and sometimes STRONGLY encourage them to do what makes them feel awkward, so that they will not become injured do to the imbalances that these weaknesses, (left unattended) can cause. SO, I usually tell them that I know it feels weird but if we only do what doesn’t, you’re gonna end up a twisted mess some day! No let’s do it shall we”? Never said my delivery was the best, but it get’s the job done and it get’s the job done because they know that I’m right and even more important…they know that I care.

SO, I challenge those of you who train alone and those of you who are trainers, to make February the month to focus on the exercises that will strengthen your weaknesses. Why NOT! Make it fun and challenge yourself to feel a little “off” when you do triceps kick backs with a resistance band while standing on one foot? I mean really…does that sound like it’s supposed to feel NATURAL? I think not. You and/or your clients, will come out stronger in the end.

Dig deep and don’t ever care who’s looking…

Power On,

Candace