As fitness professionals, we’ve been taught, told, and re-told countless times how important it is to initially assess our clients before starting a training program, or at least we hope that you have!
However, what happens after your original assessment?
Should you even bother re-assessing to track progress?
A good trainer could get you out of a plateau, but a great trainer can prevent one! As a fitness professional one of the most frustrating things you can experience with your clients is hitting a wall and not seeing any results.
Want to avoid plateaus and become a great trainer? Then re-assess your clients.
Avoiding plateaus requires minor, and sometimes major, changes in a client program and the only way to really do so is to re-assess your clients and track progress.
Regardless of what you coach, whether it’s S&C, CrossFit, Physique Comps or fitness for general health etc, you must re-assess.
Not only does this allow you to provide a better service to your clients which increases your client retention, but it also allows you to level up your game. You’ll be able to prevent plateaus and be known as a great trainer rather than just a good trainer.
Outside of the obvious reasons of tracking progress to make adjustments in your client programs, there are other mental, emotional and psychological benefits to reassessing your clients. And they are:
1. Better adherence to fitness programming
When your clients are under the expectation of being re-assessed, they will be more likely to adhere to your programs. Just like in school when we were expected to take tests and quizzes, your clients should be aware that they will be held accountable for their success.
As a great trainer, you share the responsibility of helping your client achieve their goals. This is why you are hired in the first place. So, if you do not take initiative and set the expectation that your client’s progress does matter, what’s the point of even training?
2. Increase client retention
When your clients feel that you actually care about their goals and their progress, and can actually see tangible proof that your programs are working, they are more likely to continue buying training from you and hopefully, sending you client referrals.
By establishing that re-assessments are a part of your training protocol, not just a side thing that you may do every now and then, you ensure that your clients stick around long enough to see their results and see that your training is actually working.
The best way to get client retention? Deliver results. And the only way to show results is through re-assessing.
3. Increase client participation
The relationship between client and trainer should be mutually synergistic in which both parties actively contribute. By re-assessing your clients, you automatically put responsibility on your client to stick to their programs and nutrition guidelines.
There is nothing worse than apathetic clients who don’t take accountability for their goals, and enforcing scheduled re-assessments helps prevent this.
4. Levelling up your professionalism
Re-assessing your clients levels up your professionalism because it displays a level of care and detail that is often missing from most training programs.
Show your client that you care about their progress, and that you actually take training seriously and others will begin to take notice.
Again, why settle for good when you can be great.
by Sirena Bernal, Ptonthenet.com
