intimidating clients?

[John Prophet]

I keep hearing how easy it is to intimidate clients. I dont really get it?

Like some of them would rather damn near work with a fat trainer??

I just dont understand it at all.

[Ethereal]

I use to work with this guy who was 270+ and competed in the superheavies for USAPL and he was one of the more popular trainers.

[jules_d1]

Some people look are kinda narrow minded when they assess personal trainers. If they look at someone who is big and muscular, they sometimes think thats how they train people...

I've had potential clients decide not to train with me becuase they have seen me lifting at the gym and see i train hard and heaven forbid i might grunt once or twice so they are afraid of it. At the end of the day, i guess these are the clients you dont want as they tend not to be as motivated

on the other hand, i have had people come to me becuase they know i train hard and i will train them hard. These are the clients you want as they are motivated and want to sweat it out.

just my perception.

[EMISGOD]

This concept sort of baffles me...some people actively want to be yelled at (which I wouldn't do as I would want to kill the person yelling instead of actually completing the exercise) and some people want cheerleading (also wouldn't do that nor would I want it -- annoying and unnecessary). I don't think anyone I was training was ever intimidated by me during training or after they met me, but quite a few said they were prior to speaking with me, which is historically somewhat normal by and large and unrelated to training.

I've never seen a trainer that made me feel intimidated and none of the others I've spoken with have ever mentioned this phenomenon towards them from clients or potential clients...then again, a lot of the current crop of trainers I notice are trying very hard to be "buddy-buddy" with their clients, which I personally feel is a mistake and which was not the case back when I was doing it...however, I didn't hear of it back then, either, but also there weren't very many trainers around at that time...

It would be interesting to hear some more people comment on this...

[John Prophet]

"gee, id go to that dentist..but his teeth are TOO white...id rather go to the dentist with yellow teeth since he doesnt intimidate me"

[jules_d1]

"gee, id go to that dentist..but his teeth are TOO white...id rather go to the dentist with yellow teeth since he doesnt intimidate me"

its just the perception of being big and strong.....some people might be scared of a big muscular dentist as they think they are going to hurt them

[db2012]

I have gotten that before, I hear it from a lot of people about me. I used to accept any one to train, and my style if a no non-sense approach. I know the best training sessions will be your hardest. So usually a 40yr old house wife is just not the right client for me. I need some one that has deep drive and dedication, that just needs direction. Right now I wouldn't ever work in person again with a client unless I approved of them. This is only side work for me though, so I know that may not be the best business decision for some one who trains full time. At that point an extremely adaptable, positive, motivated, friendly attitude will win you the trust and rid and intimidation from clients.

[SS424]

I keep hearing how easy it is to intimidate clients. I dont really get it?

Like some of them would rather damn near work with a fat trainer??

I just dont understand it at all.

yeah when i got a trainer, i requested an older female... its intimidating working out with a super hot trainer whose staring at your body for an hour...

[jules_d1]

yeah when i got a trainer, i requested an older female... its intimidating working out with a super hot trainer whose staring at your body for an hour...

i can understand that but this is where you need to get out of the comfort zone. Obviously you want to improve your phsyique/ become healthier so dont you think it would be better to go to someone who shows that they know how to get you there?

No disrespect to the other lady, she may be very good but you specifically asked for someone who is older and by the sounds of it, does not look as good as the younger one. Wouldnt someone who has a body you want and is closer to your age provide you with better potential for results? The "hot" one is not there to judge you but to help you.

I feel this is just an example of placing up your own barriers to use as an excuse if you fail.

[billy]

Some people look are kinda narrow minded when they assess personal trainers. If they look at someone who is big and muscular, they sometimes think thats how they train people...

I've had potential clients decide not to train with me becuase they have seen me lifting at the gym and see i train hard and heaven forbid i might grunt once or twice so they are afraid of it. At the end of the day, i guess these are the clients you dont want as they tend not to be as motivated

on the other hand, i have had people come to me becuase they know i train hard and i will train them hard. These are the clients you want as they are motivated and want to sweat it out.

just my perception.

Totally agree with you on this.

[FreddyKrueger]

I am actually going to work out with a 'master' trainer at 24hr fitness (he is the one who will either hire me or not). I was kinda suprised that he was shorter than me and he was fit and all but not that big. So, this was actually my first time being trained so I understand how some people can be intimidated. However, look at it this way. Its like going to the doctor. You let him/her know your weaknesses and in return they help you out. In my eyes you should have the same trust with the trainer.

[ctgblue]

Well, realize this, MOST of the people in our gym are looking for a personal trainer to 'make them workout' so they 'don't get any fatter'.
The head trainer is short and muscular, competed years back, but not heavily jacked.
There is maybe one guy my size on staff. There are some decent sized trainers, but nobody that reeks of "competitiveness".
Now this will vary from gym to gym, but some of the busiest trainers are in 'good shape' but not ripped.
Many people still think the only way to get "muscular" is to use steroids, so they don't want anything to do with a trainer who is "too muscular" because they must use steroids.

[Gorilla34]

keep in mind alot of people are COMPLETELY uncomfortable in a gym, and would rather train with a 'normal' looking person than someone cut to shreds. This of course varies for the person and the gender. I personally would love a hot female trainer, would get me stoked to workout hard, but if I were way overweight and had no clue what I was doing I would feel like I was in high school again....like she was the popular, head cheerleader and I was some guy who played dungeons and dragons with my other dork friends on friday night rather than going to the football game. Not a real big self esteem booster. The most important hurdle is making your client comfortable enough to do things in front of you that they have never done before, and are quite frankly awkard and embarrassed to do.

[PrisonerDilemma]

Well, realize this, MOST of the people in our gym are looking for a personal trainer to 'make them workout' so they 'don't get any fatter'.
The head trainer is short and muscular, competed years back, but not heavily jacked.
There is maybe one guy my size on staff. There are some decent sized trainers, but nobody that reeks of "competitiveness".
Now this will vary from gym to gym, but some of the busiest trainers are in 'good shape' but not ripped.
Many people still think the only way to get "muscular" is to use steroids, so they don't want anything to do with a trainer who is "too muscular" because they must use steroids.
Very true

[FreddyKrueger]

Of course there is that misconseption (mostly with female clients) where they "don't want to build muscle, just lose fat and TONE". I've spent a lot of time explaining what "Toning" really is. People generally don't want to look "jacked" or very muscular (more women than men IMO), but they don't understand that, it takes a long time to get to that (the correct way without steroids).

[BlondeAmazon]

I get the "shes big and scary" thing all the time- My friends always tell me I would be an excellent bouncer if I simply did not open my mouth. The first time I speak to people the scary thing goes right out the window. As a competitive female bber at 6 foot and 190 ripped I tend to freak people out a bit when I work out or run around in a tank top. But I work in a very small gym and people watch me with my clients and eventualy approach me. I also get the "I dont want to get big" thing alot which I have learned to deal with. People are just ignorant and afraid- its new and scary and they are uneducated in training and think 'working out" is the same as training which we all know is not the case. I try to laugh most of it off- makes for less headaches. ;)

[HardGainer82]

A lot of them look at a super-fit (or super-big) trainer and say "he/she is gonna try to make me look like that" and they either don't think it's possible, or they fear the workout intensity of a person who looks like that.

I think it's less about being intimidated by the person, but more the stigma that it takes inhuman amounts of work to get in shape.

[Al Shades]

I use to work with this guy who was 270+ and competed in the superheavies for USAPL and he was one of the more popular trainers.

Where was this? It must not have been a very mainstream gym. That look simply doesn't go over well with the masses.