Hello Warriors! I’ve been unpacking some ways that fitness/exercise/health/wellness practitioners can gatekeep true, whole person wellness. You can check out the intro here and the first post here. I’d like to talk about something that is detrimental for both practitioners and purchasers this week: the one size fits all program.
Every single time I’ve worked in a gym setting, each member of the training staff gets a label. You know how I feel about those, in general. This is the trainer that is best if you want to get jacked. That is the trainer that will get you to shed those unwanted lbs. As a trainer and teacher, I understand why this happens from a business standpoint. When you are starting out and trying to distinguish yourself in a crowded marketplace, you feel as though you need to find your hook. And as soon as you do, you become the go-to person for that thing.
Now, I’m not saying it is a bad thing to be an expert in a niche area. I proudly proclaim myself as a jack of all trades, but that often means I confuse gym goers because they can’t put me in one box. But there have been many times during my career that I wonder if it wouldn’t have been better for me to specialize. Being an expert means that people will take notice of you and what you say.
That also means as experts, we have a responsibility. We must make sure that we are disseminating accurate and appropriate information. We are obligated to correct errors, those that clients come to us with from previous experience and those that we may make ourselves. We are also required to make the best recommendations for the client in front of us.
That last one involves treating each and every client as the individual that they are. Again, from a business perspective, it is easier to have a base program that you can sell and market. But there is a real potential for seeing clients as interchangeable. It is a trap of our own making that just because the program is (hopefully) science backed and works for most, it will work or be appropriate for all.
These one-size-fits-all programs are obviously detrimental to clients. Nobody wants to feel as though they are just a number, a cog in a money-making machine, or just like everyone else. The whole point of seeking out a personal trainer is the personal part of the equation.
Clients are different, each with their own unique set of needs, wants, and starting points. The best trainers I’ve worked with have recognized that and adapted accordingly. Sometimes that is something as simple as swapping out certain exercises to accommodate injuries or mobility differences. Sometimes it is as big as knowing what they are best at and their scope of practice and choosing to refer out because it is what’s best for the client.
But I believe that one-size-fits-all programs can be detrimental to us as practitioners as well. Frankly, it is easier to view clients as the same when you are marketing one program and attracting similar types of clients. But then we tend to make the same changes each time. And over time, we lose our creativity, one of the things that makes the job fun.
One-size-fits-all programming can cause us to be more myopic. We can’t see outside the gym. Even when many of our clients have similar goals, they most likely live very different lives. Each will have a unique set of circumstances to manage. Pain points that they need to get through. Or seasons of life. When we fail to see these things, we fail to help our clients find the solutions that work for them as individuals.
It is the creativity and the individual solutions that form the art of prescription. Yes, most of us are trained in physiology and know, for example, that aerobic exercise past fifteen or so minutes relies on fatty acid breakdown to provide the ATP necessary for muscle contraction. But not every client is going to want to walk or run on a treadmill for that amount of time to induce that physiological response.
By recognizing that there is more than one way to skin a cat and applying the appropriate tweaks, clients are happier with their program. When clients are happier, they are more likely to be consistent. This includes speaking up when something needs to be adapted and being active participants in seeking solutions to their own problems. This is the spiral we want to create. The buy in as it is.
When clients buy in because they know we see them as individuals who are worthy of our time and full creative energy, well, that’s when magic happens. Sessions are fun (even with the work). There is give and take. Clients start smashing goals. And as a trainer, there is no better feeling.
So, while it might be good business practice to offer standardized programs, I’d caution anyone to make sure that they don’t forget to individualize. For your own benefit as much as your clients. Next month, I want to tackle the idea of balance, so stay tuned!
