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Ace Personal Trainer Manual Chapter 3
Ace Personal Trainer Manual Chapter 3
Paraphrasing
– The personal trainer can demonstrate understanding by restating in a clear and
concise way the essence of what the client has been saying.
Questioning
– Open-ended questions provide an opportunity to demonstrate good listening
skills and encourage the client to share relevant information.
Reflecting
– The personal trainer can demonstrate understanding or seek clarification by
trying to restate the main points and feelings in the client’s communication.
Summarizing
– At appropriate points in the conversation, the personal trainer should try to
summarize key points that have a bearing on exercise program design.
Self-disclosure
Personal trainers can also use a limited amount of self-
disclosure.
These self-disclosures should be limited, keeping the
focus on the client.
For example, a personal trainer might say:
– “I think I know what you mean. When I moved to a new city last
year, I didn’t exercise for several weeks either. What did you do
then?”
Responding to Difficult Disclosures
Personal trainers are sometimes unsure of how to
respond when clients share sad information.
– Often, a short response is all that is required, such as “I’m so
sorry,” or “That must have been very hard.”
Resting heart rate: Clients new to exercise often experience a decrease in resting heart rate after a few months of exercise.
Heart rate for a given submaximal workload: Clients performing aerobic exercise are also likely to experience a decrease in
exercise heart rate during exercise performed at a standard workload.
Muscular strength and endurance: Gains in muscular strength and endurance occur fairly quickly during the first few months
of an exercise program and are easily measured.
Walking test: Measuring fitness improvement with some sort of timed walking test usually yields positive results if clients have
been walking as part of their exercise programs for several weeks.
Flexibility: Flexibility is very slow to improve and should only be included in the assessment if the exercise program includes
regular stretching.
Balance: Balance measures show the most improvement for adults participating in some sort of balance-training program.
Skill level: Clients participating in an activity that requires skill (e.g., rock climbing, tennis, golf) will see improvements in their
motor-skill levels.
Medical indicators, such as resting blood pressure, blood lipid levels, or blood sugar levels: If any of these are the
focus of the client’s exercise programs, clients should have these measured at regular intervals by their healthcare providers.
Body weight: Clients should work for slow and consistent weight loss, which is more likely to yield long-term weight loss.
Body size: Clients who are only slightly overweight may not see much change in scale weight. Lean tissue, because of its
greater density, takes up less space than fat tissue.
Body composition: If body composition is measured, the same test should be used consistently. Changes in these measures
may be indicative of fat loss or increase in muscle size.
Process Versus Product Goals
The personal trainer should be sure to include process goals
as well as product goals.
Process goal
– Something a client does, such as completes a certain number of
workouts per week
Product goal
– Something achieved, like weight loss
While people usually prefer one pathway over others, most people use a
combination of pathways.
All three techniques may be used to introduce a new skill, but a trainer
should emphasize the client’s preferred learning style.
The personal trainer can identify which pathway a client prefers by watching
for clues in language, as presented on the following slide.
Preferred Learning Style Indicators
“Tell, Show, Do”
Motor learning is the process of acquiring and improving
motor skills.
“Tell, show, do” illustrates a good way to introduce a new skill.
Allow clients the opportunity for focused practice.
Providing Feedback
Once a client has tried a skill, the personal trainer should give
helpful feedback.
Feedback should do three things:
– Provide reinforcement for what was done well
– Correct errors
– Motivate clients to continue practicing and improving
Associative
– Clients begin to master the basics and are ready for specific feedback.
– Personal trainers must find the balance between giving appropriate feedback and
giving too much feedback.
Autonomous
– Clients are performing motor skills effectively and naturally.
– The personal trainer is doing less teaching and more monitoring.
Once skills are learned, the personal trainer may decide to introduce
new exercises or routines.
Incorporating Effective Communication and Teaching