Motivation and Fitness

What motivates your clients? What motivates you? Knowing what motivates a client, whether and athlete or not, can often make it easier to retain that client and get them the results they deserve.

Motivation is an essential concept to understand in terms of a client’s mindset. In sport psychology terms motivation is often more than just one’s desire to try hard or endure the discomfort of difficult training routines. To really understand motivation you have to delve a little deeper. Motivation can usually be divided into “intrinsic” and “extrinsic” types.

I know what motivates me. I have always been driven to train and even compete for the way it made me feel on the inside. I’ve won a few trophies in my life but I can say honestly that when I lost I felt terrible because I thought I could have done better, not because I didn’t get the first place medal. Understanding this about someone you work with, or yourself, can be incredibly helpful when coaching someone towards a “win” or through a “loss”.

Intrinsic Motivation

An individual that is intrinsically motivated is a self-starter because of a love for the game or activity. This type of client is not driven solely by awards, praise or attention but rather by increased feelings of self-worth, confidence and the competence that the activity provides. These feelings should be nurtured through the training process with less of an emphasis on the result, but rather an emphasis on the process in relation to a favorable result.

Extrinsic motivation

An individual that is extrinsically motivated is usually drawn to sports or weight training by awards, trophies, and external praise. Winning a fitness contest or getting a prize for reaching a specific fitness goal are both great motivators and will help keep this client committed. In other words, give this client something to ‘shoot for”. “If you lose 10 pounds by June 8th I’ll give you a free session” would be a great motivator.

While it may be common for the individual to display aspects of both motivational models, intrinsically motivated individuals are more likely to continue in a given activity long after the praise and awards disappear. For this reason, it would be a good idea to help increase one’s level of intrinsic motivation.

There are several ways in which to enhance intrinsic motivation.

The following are just a few suggestions.

1.Allow the individual to experience a certain amount of success each training session. This is an important one that I try to include as often as I can.

2. Allow the client to have a greater role in goal setting and decision-making. Although many clients choose to surrender responsibility for their own training to the personal trainer, this can enhance their commitment to the whole process.

3. Give praise for a job well done. First focus on what the client did correctly and then give suggestions for improvement. Some clients may like to be yelled at and bossed around. If you know someone like that and are comfortable with that approach I can’t stop you. It doesn’t usually work for me.

4. Keep things interesting. Vary the exercise program where and when appropriate so that the client does not feel stagnant. This is important for getting results, both physically and emotionally. Keep doing the same program for weeks on end and see how that goes for you. My guess is that you will be looking for new clients to fill the void.

Keeping things interesting also refers to your teaching style. Being upbeat, optimistic, positive and caring is a whole lot better than being self-absorbed, pessimistic and negative (I speak from experience).

Understanding your client’s motivational leaning may help you design a more effective program, keep him/her excited, get better results and ultimately retain a satisfied client. If you have never given these things much thought perhaps now is a good time to start.

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