For years, I have been joking with my longtime clients about how my role has changed, at least in part, from – pick one: exercise guru, task master, drill sergeant, meanie, masochist, etc – to more like a bartender. Monday night on the Marketplace show on NPR, I heard a story about faith and fitness which quoted a personal trainer saying that she was a cross between a therapist and a bartender. She said she often prayed with her clients about some problem. I have never done that, but I have prayed for clients.
In addition to supervising exercise, stimulating conversation, and providing witty repartee, I listen. Clients tell me about work, family, friends – their lives – and I tell them about mine. Joys and sorrows, hopes and dreams, likes and dislikes, all kinds of stuff. Occasionally, we tread on dicey territory, but not often, and I’ve never had to tell a client they were out of bounds. Nor have they had to tell me.
In some of my trade journals, we are told to keep things strictly professional, keep it about exercise, don’t get personal! How can you not get a little personal with someone whose sweaty feet you are holding while they do oblique crunches on a stability ball? Its PERSONAL training, after all. I think we have to provide a sympathetic ear, be a sounding board, empathize with our clients and rejoice with them. We all need connections in this world. There are some days that I spend more time with any one client than I do with my wife.
But, I limit my advice and counsel to exercise and nutrition matters. I don’t do parenting or marital therapy, I don’t solve problems, and I only occasionally make suggestions. And despite the temptation, I never smack a client upside the head, even if that is what they need. I stay within my scope of practice.
I regard listening as one of my more important professional skills, but it’s not covered in any certification or continuing education curriculum that I know of.
Set ‘em up, Trainer!
Tags: Fitness, personal training