The PT Roadmap

The weekly newsletter for personal trainers who want to build and run a great business.

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If you enjoy the weekly PT Roadmap newsletter, I’ve been emailing a group of 200 of you on a different list, and I’d love for you to join.

These emails are shorter (300-500 words) and more story-based. They are sent daily and always include a lesson, tip, or piece of education related to face-to-face Personal Training.

I’ll be sending one on Monday all about why my Mum just joined a new gym and what we can learn about:

• how she chose it and

• her first-session experience.

Hit this link, and I’ll know to add you 🙂

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6 Things I’d Tell My Younger Self About Delivering PT Sessions

Imagine this…

You’ve signed up for Personal Training.

You’re excited.

You’ve never had a PT before, and you’re looking forward to getting some help and support in the gym.

You show up for your first official paid session.

You’re anxious, but your trainer makes you feel at ease.

They give you a workout that aligns with your goals and current fitness level.

They are attentive and engaged and remember some of the little things you mentioned in your consultation.

Your husband’s name was John.

You’ve got a dodgy left ankle.

You want to work on your core but hate planks.

You walk out feeling great.

And you can’t wait for your next one.

You tell a group of friends about how good it was, and over the next 12 months, you fall in love with the gym.

This short story underlines the power of great sessions.

For a Personal Trainer, they are our product, and we want to make them as good as we can.

A better-delivered session = better sign-up, retention and referral rates.

Nothing else comes close to affecting everything you do like improving the quality of your sessions.

So, with that in mind, here are 6 things I’d tell my younger self about delivering them:

1. They Matter

I got so focussed on other things: outside support, my onboarding processes, building marketing systems etc

That I forgot how important the actual sessions are.

They are the thing your clients pay for. Sure, they pay for a result, but they also pay for you to take them through well-run exercise sessions.

I wish I’d considered this more when I was building up my business.

Your sessions matter. Make sure they are a priority.

2. Check-In The Day After

This is especially important with new clients, but old ones appreciate the occasional check-in too.

Give them a text and see how their body is feeling.

I make a point of doing this for the first 4-5 sessions with new clients.

It also acts as a helpful tool for you to learn what parts of your programming cause the most next day soreness, so you can get better at telling clients what to expect. This is one of those things clients are always amazed by. “You told me I’d be sore here, and I am! How did you know that??”

3. Active vs Passive Coaching

I used to spend a lot of time in session with my arms folded, standing up against a squat rack.

It was my comfortable coaching spot.

It wasn’t until a client called it out one day and asked if I wanted to go home that I realised it was an issue.

If you saw another PT standing like that, you can see how easily it could be taken as disinterest.

So, I try my best to coach actively. This means I take in different angles, stay mindful of my posture (arms folded is my natural stance), and get down to their level if they are doing floor work.

I try to stay active and move around.

Interestingly, I also find this helps my energy levels. If I barely move, I get tired. If I maintain activity, I feel more energetic.

5. Continuous Improvement.

I am better at taking clients through PT sessions than I was in session number one.

There is more to this than just experience, though.

It’s been a combination of:

• Education—covering things like coaching, injuries, programming, communication and psychology. Nick Winkelman’s book on The Language of Coaching and Gregg Slaters’ Movement Solutions course at Lift the Bar are both great examples of education that helped me deliver better sessions.

• Feedback—comes from both my clients and occasionally another, more experienced PT who I’d ask to watch one of my sessions.

• Reflection—I don’t do this often anymore, but I did it religiously for a couple of years. I’d take 5-10 minutes at the end of my sessions to reflect on how it went. What went well? What didn’t? Is there anything I need to get better at? This podcast episode is helpful if you’re interested in developing a reflective practice.

• Reps—The more you do, the better you typically get. As long as you do the above stuff (educate, get feedback and reflect), you’ll ensure you’re not living the same year repeatedly.

6. Know How to Work Around Common Ailments

Right now, I have clients who regularly need modified sessions due to:

• low back pain

• knee issues

• elbow tendonitis

• ankle issues

• neck issues

Clients show up to sessions with all manner of pain, and it is important that you can effectively work around whatever they show up with.

Low back feeling triggered? RDLs can be swapped out for swiss ball leg extensions.

Elbow not feeling great? Barbell bench press can be swapped out for dumbbell floor press.

The better you get at this, the more likely they’ll show up when they next have a flare-up or injury.

I’ve found improving my understanding of pain science and general injuries from people like Adam Meakins, Ben Cormack and Aaron Kubal to be incredibly helpful here.

Social Post

Speaking of Aaron Kubal…

Here’s one of his recent posts talking about why fixing muscle imbalances is a bad idea.

I don’t about you, but if you’d shown me this video back in 2015/2016, I’d have told you that you HAVE to fix muscle imbalances.

But nowadays, I don’t pay them much attention.

I’ll try to strengthen weaker sides and add specific work if a client wants something brought up. But I don’t label or consider things like a kyphotic posture anywhere near as much as I used to.

Thanks so much for reading.

— Stuart.

Whenever you’re ready, here are two ways I can help you:

1. One-to-One Mentoring. Do you wish you had someone to talk to every week to direct, guide and keep you accountable? My 1-1 mentoring service is perfect for PTs with an already solid business (making at least 2.5K a month) but feeling a bit stuck with what to do next to grow and improve. Just hit reply if you’re interested, and we’ll set up a time to talk. No hard selling here, just a chance for you to talk about your business, it’s problems and whether my help might make sense 👍

2. The Lead Gen Roadmap. This course is for you if you need clients or want to develop a systemised approach to consistently getting leads. It is everything I have learned in my 11 years of Personal Training about getting clients. I've tested every strategy, script, playbook and tactic myself and with 100s of other trainers. Start it today for as little as £58.