Strategies for Working with Difficult Clients

We have all had to work with many difficult clients throughout our time spent as a personal trainer. Many of these clients are people who feel uncomfortable or bitter about their experience with a personal trainer, or with life in general, and it can often be hard to reason with them and really get through to them. As you build up a strong relationship with your client, here are a few things that you can keep in mind to help out those who are really struggling.

The first thing that you should do with any client, but clients who are really struggling in particular, is to discover what their motives are for being here. Some people may have been dragged along by a friend or partner, others may have been told by their doctors to come in. People can carry a lot of resentment towards their trainers if this is the case, so finding a reason for them to be there is often the first step in encouraging them to make positive changes.

Be sure to view the client as a person, with interests outside of the gym. If you are able to relate to the client on a level that they are more comfortable with, you are more likely to find common ground, and make your sessions a little bit easier to get through. You can often encourage your clients by finding correlations between the gym and other activities that they enjoy, or reward their progress with an activity-related gift.

For many people, the reactions that they give their trainers are based on the fact that they are afraid to make a mistake, or are unable to meet the expectations of the trainer. In order to make progress, be sure to start small, with challenges that you know they can accomplish and feel good about. As time moves on, acknowledge what they didn’t think they could do in the past, and celebrate when they are able to accomplish those tasks. As well, be sure to work at the comfort level of your client. Don’t be picky about the absolute correct way to do n exercise, if they weren’t happy about doing it in the first place. You’ll find that they will automatically shut down if they think they’re doing it totally wrong.

Finally, it’s important to realize that you alone, as a trainer, cannot make change happen for that person. The change will happen as they want it to. The best thing you can do as their trainer is give them the tools that they will need to succeed and create a welcoming and safe atmosphere for them to express themselves in.