8 Tips for Being a Great Fitness Instructor

8 Tips for Being a Great Fitness Instructor

This post may contain affiliate content from which we earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. Read our full disclosure.

What Makes a Great Fitness Instructor?

A fitness instructor, also known as a personal trainer, offers individuals and groups training and fitness program instructions. They engage clients in weight loss programs and exercise routines, helping them achieve their individual goals.

Tips for Being a Great Fitness Instructor

A good fitness instructor should create personal diet plans and exercises, demonstrate the correct way to use equipment, keep the gym clean and free of health and safety hazards, and monitor equipment misuse.

As a fitness instructor, you should teach and motivate clients of all ages and backgrounds, have a positive attitude and an approachable personality, have good communication skills, have an excellent fitness level, and have a responsible attitude towards health and safety. Below are tips for being a great fitness instructor.

1. Get the necessary training

Personal trainers don’t always need certification to work, though most are increasingly opting for higher training. However, most employers prefer trainers to be certified.

Certification also comes in handy for freelance trainers as they depend on reputation and word of mouth to get new clients.

If you don’t have a degree in health and fitness, you can substitute it with nutrition, kinesiology, and exercise psychology courses. You may also want to enroll in ACLS classes in Seattle, WA, and learn rehabilitation techniques to assist clients with injury recovery.

You will also need to get certification from the relevant professional organizations such as the American Council on Exercise, the American College of Sports Medicine, and the International Sports Sciences Association (read our ISSA CPT review for more).

2. Be a strong communicator

Besides talking and listening, effective communication considers the situation and the person you’re conversing with. To build your fitness business and customer loyalty, focus on personalized communication for your clients.

This enables you to help them achieve their health and fitness goals. Observe each client’s personality type to understand how they communicate and how you should communicate with them. In addition, ensure that your message is always clear, concise, correct, complete, courteous, and complete.

3. The ability to motivate

Even if you’re a great communicator, not all of your clients may respond to your instructions with enthusiasm. You may come across clients with no self-confidence and others who take time to learn. Find strategies to make them feel valued and assure them all they’re doing is worthwhile.

Consider praising them even for the smallest achievements, show genuine interest in their progress, and keep reminding them that each exercise’s benefit is part of the learning process. The more you motivate your clients, the more positive they’ll feel, and the more likely they’ll keep returning for your classes.

8 Tips for Being a Great Fitness Instructor4. Prioritize safety

As a group fitness instructor, it’s your responsibility to look after your members and ensure they remain safe by avoiding accidental running drill collisions, people hitting one another with workout equipment, and more.

You can also keep them safe by ensuring they exercise in proper form while avoiding workout injuries. Additionally, handling group fitness requires you to pay attention to free weights, and other resistance exercises can be dangerous for your health.

For example, letting your clients perform weighted squats while in bad form can cause neck, back, and knee pain, leading to losing business.

5. Keep the sessions interesting

If you keep following the same workout routine almost all the time, your members might get bored and lose interest in your training.

You may consider having cardio on day one, weight training on day two, upper body on the day, and so on. Design your workout programs in a way that keeps your clients interested.

6. Lead by example

As a fitness instructor, your clients are always looking up to you, so lead by example. Your attitude and energy will directly impact your trainees.

If you are having a bad day, don’t let your clients notice and feel it will affect their overall performance, and they’ll feel less energized. When leading a training session, be 100% invested to reward the clients who chose you over other instructors.

7. Be accessible to your members

A great trainer always creates time for their clients. It might not be easy to talk before the training session begins, so give them some time once training is over. Let them tell you how they feel about the workouts, ask questions about exercising, nutrition, or motivate them.

This helps you build strong connections with your clients, boosts credibility, and may lead to more members signing up for your training.

8. Be punctual, prepared, and professional

Being late for your training sessions can demoralize your members and force them to shift to other trainers. Avoid keeping people waiting and always be prepared with exercises and choreography for the day.

Embrace professionalism in the way you interact with clients, your hygiene, and your dressing. Make the sessions enjoyable but don’t compromise their quality; ensure your clients get the best out of your training.

Wrap-Up

A great personal trainer keeps themselves updated with industry trends and continuously hones their skills to ensure their clients have the best experience possible.

Disclosure: In the spirit of full disclosure, DIYactive.com may be compensated in exchange for featured placement of certain reviews or links on this website. View our full disclosure.

8 Tips for Being a Great Fitness Instructor