Horsham-based female personal trainer, Becky, works one-to-one with a range of clients via an independent gym. She specialises in helping those who struggle with confidence in the gym and, although she uses social media, she doesn’t share suggested workouts – here’s why…
There are a lot of strategies and tactics involved when marketing your business. I knew this before I even set up my own – my background is in events management, and my degree and career have seen me cover a variety of marketing techniques, learning more as I’ve evolved.
With the growth of social media – and particularly during the lockdown stages of the COVID-19 pandemic – many in the fitness industry took to sharing suggested workouts, either as a way of staying connected to their audience, or keeping their business going.
It’s something that I’ve actively chosen not to do – I don’t share the details of my own training programme, or offer suggested sessions for others – and there are a few reasons behind that choice…
Personal training: the clue is in the job title
For me, the key element of my job is the first word – personal. I don’t use template sessions that I run with multiple clients, each workout is planned individually (more on how I go about that via another post). To be a little clearer – I don’t think there’s such a thing as one workout fitting all people. And yes, that is a sweeping statement, but I’ll apply some further context.
It’s perfectly valid for a group of people to go through the same workout as part of a class. Group sessions are a great way to train if you enjoy them, but remember that you turn up, do that session… and then do something different next time. Because the instructor will plan something else.
I don’t get the impression that people use suggested workouts from social media in the same way. My sense is that people save and repeat them, and whilst that’s not a terrible idea in the short term, you’ll quickly adapt to that session, and possibly start to get bored. Most importantly, it’s not been tailored to your goals, so isn’t going to target the specific muscles you want to train.
Should you do a suggested workout?
We’ve all heard the phrase “just because you can…” and, in fact, this might also be a case of “you can’t… but you don’t realise until it’s too late”.
I screen my clients for injuries and health conditions, as well as individual barriers to certain movements. And that’s not just because I specialise in working with those who have cancer. I do that with every client, because almost all of them will say something along the lines of, “I have this knee thing…”. Whilst, most of the time, the knee thing gives me very little to worry about, I’d rather know, and be cautious, double-checking someone’s form and adapting a workout as necessary.
None of which is done prior to you following a workout you find online.
My time is worth paying for
This statement is bolder. And, actually, this one is about my existing – and paying – clients as much as it is about me being worth the money.
Between my basic certification and two specialist ones, I’ve spent a solid year studying the technical sides of my job. I’ve also now been training clients for over three years, improving along the way. Whilst I wish I had the capacity to offer discounts, or pay what you can services, I just am not able to at the moment.
So in addition to giving away freebies online devaluing the services I provide – and charge for – I’d also be sending a message to my paying clients (and it’s not one I wish to).
If you are going to follow a workout you find online…
I do get that some people want to make the most of online resources. If that’s what you’d like or need to do, please make sure that the person you choose to copy is qualified to programme workouts, and is demonstrating with correct form that’s appropriate for your body.
If you are in doubt about their credentials, read their bio and website, Google them, or ask in the comments. Those with certificates will be only too happy to share the details. If that information isn’t forthcoming, it may be a sign to look elsewhere.
In terms of form, this can be trickier to spot, but if someone is only showing an exercise from one angle (and DEFINITELY if they’re showing ALL exercises from the same particular angle), you may not be able to properly understand how to perform it.
The internet is a brilliant resource, and like all things, it works best when you use it mindfully.