How to Motivate Personal Training Clients for Home Workouts Online
28-07-2020
It's one thing motivating clients in the gym when you're face to face, but it's another thing trying to motivate them to workout at home.
Do you struggle to motivate your clients to do home workouts, or feel daunted doing Zoom PT calls?
Don't worry if you do.
Going from face to face sessions to online/home workouts is very different...
You're relying on clients to stick to their plans. You've got less equipment to work with, limited space, it's harder to pick up on subtle cues such as body language, and if you're doing virtual personal training...
...you rely on the internet, which could fail at any point.
But don't worry or let this put you off, there are lots of ways to coach your clients at home successfully.
This article will help you overcome the common issues all personal trainers face when it comes to motivating clients for home workouts.
We'll give you a bunch of actionable tips to get the most from your home workouts with clients, get head-turning results, and have tons of new customers lining up to do business with you.
Am I sure very few of your clients have a home gym? If you're lucky, they'll have a pair of dumbells and a skipping rope. While bodyweight workouts are useful, there's only so many, and a limited number of combinations you can use. It won't take long for your clients to lose interest and motivation.
Solution: You can encourage clients to pick up some reasonably priced gym equipment such as resistance bands. For less than £30, your clients will be able to pick up a set, which will open up hundreds of new exercises for you to do. Your clients will love the variety and be more likely to stay motivated.
Turning a relaxed home environment into a gym isn't the easiest thing for us coaches to do. There's a high likelihood that clients will get bored, or distracted (running off in between sets to make a cup of tea or checking emails). If you're not careful, clients will fall off track and lose motivation to workout from home.
Solution: Create a PDF document about setting up the perfect home training environment. For example, allocating a set time and space to train, the equipment needed, and creating a feel-good music playlist.
How about creating a 28 day home workout challenge? And what about offering a prize for the person who loses the most weight? The reward could be ten free sessions, or £100 in cash, protein powder, etc. Get your clients focused and excited, and they'll never get bored with training from home.
It's in our nature to want to connect with other humans, and physical touch and being face to face is something that's been severely lacking recently.
To give your clients a boost, make sure you connect with them on a personal level. Your clients need to know that you care and believe in them. Otherwise, they will lose motivation and fall off track.
Solution: While you have to keep your distance, you can still connect with your clients emotionally. The best way to do this is by 'listening' and looking out for them. Ask questions, take an interest in their personal life, and provide solutions to their problems.
Also, don't just speak to your clients when you train them, but reach out to them during the week. A single text message can cheer up your clients and motivate them to stay on track outside of sessions.
BONUS TIP - when you speak to your clients, ask questions that evoke a positive response such as:
Questions like the above will elicit positive answers, your clients will feel good, and they'll register their experience with you positively. They'll be more likely to follow your home training plans, and they'll keep coming back for more.
It isn't easy to compete with a gym environment. In a commercial gym, you've got hundreds of machines, TVs, feel-good music blasting from the speakers, and a stimulating atmosphere. It's hard to replicate this doing personal training in your local park or when doing virtual PT sessions.
Solution: While you won't be able to replicate a gym atmosphere, you can still wow your clients and create a feel-good experience. For example, you can play music in your sessions. If you want to stand out from the competition, why not create a custom music playlist for each client?
At your next session (if you don't know already), ask each client what music they like, their favourite artist, etc. Then go away, create a custom playlist for each client, and wow them in their next session. Be attentive to each of your clients' needs and make their experience stand out.
Even if your clients train with you 3x per week (3 hours), there's still 165 hours of the week remaining. If you want to motivate clients to progress outside of your sessions, you need to provide extra resources and set up systems to keep them on track.
Solution: Create ebooks, recipe guides, home workout plans, write blogs (relevant to your clients' needs), and regularly check in with your clients outside of sessions.
If your clients see that you are going above and beyond, they will return the favour by working hard. It's a team game, and both client and coach need to be fully invested for motivation to be at it's highest.
Personal Development = Business Growth
The more inspired and motivated you are, the more your clients will be. Don't be one of those trainers who can't be bothered and just in it for the paycheque. Instead, work on your mindset and personal development, and you'll be far more effective at motivating your clients.
Nicholas Screeton, the founder of LEP Fitness - believes that personal trainers should aim to spend between 30-60 minutes per day on personal development. Nick says "Your business grows as you grow." - meaning that the more you learn and the more value you can add to your client's lives, the more popular you will become, and the more you can charge.
The best ways to work on your personal development include:
5 Book Recommendations:
5 Podcast Recommendations:
We're confident that if you follow the tips outlined in this post that you'll be successful in motivating your clients at home, you'll get better results and a waiting list of clients in no time.
Thanks for reading, and let us know how you get on.