“The person who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.” - Confucius.

Hopefully, the headline grabbed your attention...albeit in a corny (crap) kind of way... a bit like draping an off-white bedsheet over a bridge on the M1 with 'Happy Birthday Moira' scrawled over it in bright red lipstick...However, I came across this famous saying a week or so ago, and it really got me thinking in terms of training and goal setting with my clients.

There are hundreds and thousands (still the best cake ingredient ever)  of reasons as to why clients approach personal trainers, all of them thinking that they have their goals or ambitions firmly planted in their heads. Some wish to increase general fitness, others to lose a little weight before a specific occasion, the list would go on and on. However, it's only when a (decent) personal trainer really drills down with specific questioning during the consultation phase that a client's 'real' goals or ambitions tend to surface and present themselves.

It's relatively obvious that (most) people would like to get 'a little fitter and healthier'...after all, surely only a 'daft punk' wouldn't benefit from being a little: harder, better, faster, stronger?! However, the real reasons behind these ambitions are often the most motivating: not just for the client, but also the trainer as well. For example, a client may indeed wish to 'improve their fitness' or 'shed a few pounds' and, therefore, the trainer would set off immediately to slave away over a generic training programme geared towards improving general cardio-vascular fitness. A standard 'copy & paste' exercise would result in the same old 12-16 week programme, which would, to an extent, benefit the client and (barring injuries) lead to a fitter, healthier individual. However, if the PT really were to 'drill down' (apologies if I'm starting to sound like an evil dentist from a dodgy 80s horror flick!) then perhaps the goals would become a little more specific...and a lot more interesting! For example, what if this particular client actually wanted to get a little fitter simply because they're sick to the teeth of "John from the office constantly boasting about having the fastest Parkrun PB in the company" (we all know a 'John'!), and they long to even up the score?! Or, what if the client has just received the dreaded E-vite for the nerve-wrecking 'school-reunion' taking place in 3 months time, and the thought of stepping through those double doors simply fills them with fear? All of a sudden, the goalposts have changed slightly. All of a sudden, a hugely real and incredibly motivating ambition has emerged. The honesty and specificity of this kind of goal allows the PT to carve out a much more tailor-made programme. Yes, it would inevitably take a little longer to create (apologies for stitching up any time-reluctant trainers here!) but, from experience, it's truly worth the extra time and effort. At the end of the day, who doesn't want to help somebody to finally get their own back on John from accounts...you know, the guy who always struts into work on a Monday morning combing his suit with worn-out Asics trainers and dangling his laminated Parkrun key-ring in the hope that Mary from reception will break first and ask about his weekend!! And who wouldn't want to assist a client to get out of that Uber on a Saturday evening, stroll confidently up to entrance to 'The Fox & Hound' and be showered with comments such as: 'Wow - how fantastic do you look these days?!' and 'Christ, 'Chubby Chester's changed since waddling around the science corridors in Year 11!!'.

On a serious note, it's absolutely reasons and outcomes such as these that attracted me into the fitness industry in the first place: helping individual people to achieve individual goals, no matter how weird, whacky and wonderful they may sound. Every single client is unique and different, with their own hopes, dreams, anxieties and fears. It is only through digging a little deeper during that initial consultation phase that I can truly uncover exactly what motivates a client to push themselves hard during sessions and (if relevant) to stick to a specific nutrition plan...especially when bubbly Brenda from Finance brings in a box of Crispy Kremes to celebrate her divorce!! (classic Brenda). 

So, to sum up for this week, there you have it: my reasons and rationale behind a consultation session that may take a little longer than most trainers; one that could require you to answer one or two additional questions (other than those that a standard trainer clearly Googled outside the door to Cafe Nero before meeting you with a painted-on grin!). However, to finish with a quote from Dr Kelso (yep, I'm genuinely referring to that witty legend from 'Scrubs'!): "nothing in this world worth having comes easy".