What do you think about training groups?

[USAWchamp]

Honestly, I usually don't like it that much. Sometimes I have to do groups of 6 or larger and it makes me feel more like a group fitness instructor. I like to measure volume in reps rather than time so I really feel I can't give clients a workout for any specific goal which is what I'm good at since if I assign reps there will always be clients sitting around bored while others struggle to finish. Plus at peak hours there can be a lack of space and equipment and when doing a group it seems I'll always have one or two clients who complain about an exercise where I'll have to stop and explain things or show a modification, and then I'll have to instruct them individually which makes it harder to keep track of how the other members are doing.

I just think it's overwhelming and I wish I didn't have to do it. I think part of the problem is the gym I work in just doesn't seem well equipped for groups.

[popupwindow]

Life is full of compromises, of course group PT sacrifices the individuality (in terms of programming and attention) of 1-on-1, but if means you can help more people, get more referrals, you earn more, they pay less, and you're less effected by turnover, 1-2 people come, 1-2 people go, the wheels keep turning, if someone doesn't show up 1-on-1 or quits, you're stuck. Not to mention teaching 10 people will make coaching 1-on-1 or 2-on-1 something you can do with your eyes closed, teaching 20 or 30 people will make teaching 10 people a relief, so embrace the challenge and you will grow dramatically. Having some sense of 'community' greatly improves retention and results (especially with women) which you can't get with 1-on-1, so still offer 1-on-1s, but don't discount the value of group work for your own development and the benefit of clients.


Some pointers:

1. Stick to bodyweight, DB, kettlebell, medball, skipping rope and so on stuff, benches, barbells and all that doesn't work in a group setting unless you have an empty gym or PT studio.

2. Logistics are crucial, with the above equipment all you need is some space in the gym, but on top of that have some sort of structure to the sessions, 10 minute warmup, 15 minute strength-ish stuff, 15 minute circuit/cardio/running stuff, especially if you have an outdoor area, oval, basketball court or something, 5 minute core/prehab stuff, 10 minute stretching, cool down and discussion, if it's an hour session, allows 5 minutes for transitions too, if it's 30-45 mins do less on each. Keep the warm up and cool down the same, vary the other stuff to keep it interesting. Also drill the basics in the warmup, squats, lunges, pushups, rows, planks, kb swings and so on, 2-3 x 10-15 of each in the warmup, 2-3x/week will save you a lot of problems in the circuit part. Also have everyone do stuff together in the warmup, so everyone is in circle (so they can see each others form), you say 'squat', everyone squats down, holds it there for a few seconds, tell someone to lift their chest up, someone else to widen their stance, then say 'stand' so they all stand up. Repeat 10 times etc, giving some simple cues each rep, even if you only tell one person to get their chest up or to look straight ahead, everyone will do it.

3. Be loud and fun, most group class people are more interested in fun and community that squatting 100kg, so focus on that, if they eat well and move better they will improve. It's easy to worry about perfect technique, volume, progression, recovery and all that, learn to 'let go' and if you can teach 10 overweight women and men to deep squat well 3x/week you'll have made a big improvement, keep things fun and simple, but do allow for progression and scalability (below point).

4. Hardest part beyond logistics is managing different fitness levels. Few things around this, do partner drills and pair the weakest and most unfit with the strongest and fittest, so say one person has to do a plank while the other person does 25 air squats then swap, the fit person will do 25 squats very quickly, so the unfit person won't die in the plank, the unfit person will take a while to do 25 squats, so the fit guy gets challenged for longer in the plank and so on. Doing stuff for time also works, as many pushups as possible in a minute, unfit person does 10 knee pushups, fit guy does 30 feet elevated pushups, both are finished at the same time. A final gem on this is say you're doing a 10-1 superset, where you do say 10 kb swings, 1 pushups, 9 kb swings, 2 pushups, 8 kb swings, 3 pushups and so on until you've done 55 of each, set it up so when the first person finishes, they have to find the person next closest to finishing say who's on 2 swings and 9 pushups, and copy what they're doing, then number 1 and 2 finish at the same time, then they find number 3 and do the same thing, until eventually people 1-5 are all copying what #6 (slowest) is doing, and everyone finishes at the same time, but the fit people did maybe 140 swings and pushups, unfit did 55 and 55, but everyone is worked to their capacity, everyone starts and finishes together, everyone progresses.

5. Have some basic fitness test you repeat every 8-12 weeks to track progress, maybe max rep pushups in a minute, plank, side planks, max rep situps, tabata squats or something, 1k run if possible, plus perhaps a few basic girth measurements, to give people something tangible they're improving on (and to track your own programming).

Good luck.

[JohnSmeton]

I personally like training one on one. at the most two or three people in the same session since everyone has different goals and might have certain bodyparts they want to improve more than others. it takes a good eye to see where there weak and strong points are and to back off the strong points and have them out intensity into their weak bodyparts

[USAWchamp]

That's some good advice, especially like your idea about having clients pair up into groups. Still, I'm the kind of trainer who likes to sit down and talk with clients between sessions. Go over their specific programming, ask them what they're doing, talk about diet, their individual goals. I guess maybe I'm not experienced enough yet as everything I've studied and learned has been about 1 on 1 training. Turning someone into an athlete is like an artform to me and training groups makes me feel like a zumba instructor.

It's why I'm hoping I get accepted for this strength and conditioning internship I applied for.

[popupwindow]

That's perfectly fine, but most average clients aren't going to be athletes and need more general habits and accountability for diet that macro ratios etc, and just general mastery of some basic movements done consistently versus a periodised plan 12-24 weeks into the future. Until you can teach 20 people how to squat at once, you don't truly know how to teach the squat. It forces you to keep things simple, throw out what doesn't work and evaluate how you do things.

S&C is often done in groups too, so you need to learn how to manage them. If you can handle a dozen sedentary adults each with their own individual issues in a group format, handling motivated and athletic people will be a breeze. Learn to do well when things are hard (low motivation, minimal athletic background, movement issues and so on), and you will be pleasantly surprised when you handle the easier cases.

[SFT]

From an economics standpoint, group fitness is a more efficient way to allocate trainers. If a trainer can get 80% of the results, for 15 people, that they could if they trained someone individually, then you have made a much larger impact on the population as a whole. In terms of money, the same applies. There is more money in group training than personal training, except perhaps in very affluent areas. If you build a really good system including nutrition information, consultation, and a client education component, then you could probably get better results in a group setting than the average personal trainer does in a 1 on 1 setting.

For example, a busy Bootcamp class I used to teach would average about 15-25 people. Assuming $7 per class average, that is $105 - $175 the hour. My alternative would be a personal training session that would bring in $45-65 for the hour.

I know other people in here swear by personal training and won't touch group fitness. More power to them.

[WoofieNugget]

The reason you feel like you're a group exercise instructor is because you are.

It makes people feel better to call themselves a personal trainer, but then the personal side of it just doesn't apply. You have people with different joints, weights, ability levels, nutrition patterns, sleep levels and stress levels all doing the same thing. I agree that it makes more money and is a good revenue generator for a lot of group exercise instructors - I just wish they would call themselves that.

Until you can teach 20 people how to squat at once, you don't truly know how to teach the squat.

Sorry, but this is garbage. If you can't teach one person how to squat, then you can't teach the squat - and what business do you have trying to teach more than one simultaneously? Many trainers struggle with this alone and have no business trying to show twenty people anything. Every person you are teaching is going to do a squat differently based on a myriad of factors that you can't control unless you are watching them all at the same time. This is where the personal side comes into it. I know if Bob has a hamstring that wont allow proper knee flexion on one side without rotating so can cue him one way based on the notes I have taken during our time together. I know if Suzie has a bad ankle from years of figure skating and won't be able to dorsiflex enough to move the way I want her to move so I can modify her movement.

Case in point - one of my coworkers holds a boot camp twice a week for 15 women. Last night one of her participants vanished during a circuit. Thinking she was in the bathroom, she ignored it until ten minutes passed, only to find out the woman had gone outside, thrown up and almost passed out and was in a lot of distress. This woman had taken something earlier in the day that caused her heart rate to spike. One on one you can ask those questions and also be aware of everything that is going on. In a group you can't. Financially it makes sense both for the trainer and the participant - if they want to take on the potential risk involved.

I'm all for more activity with people, and if they need a group setting in order to do so, then fine - just call it what it is.

[USAWchamp]

I think when it comes to teaching the squat it certainly is a lot easier to teach it to some people than others. That can be said for any exercise really. For some all I need to say is just push your hips out and drive up through your hips and they get it with perfect form. A lot of people just don't know how to communicate very well with their body initially and I feel like during a 30 minute session I really feel compromised.

I have heard there are gyms which specialize in one on one training and I think I may look into one in case I don't get accepted for this internship. I wouldn't mind group training with athletes because they usually already understand basic movements.

[cjogro]

Good advice, popupwindow!

I'm being pressured by my gym to do group trainings and have never done one before... these are good ways to keep everyone working that is a step above group fitness.

Thank you!

[popupwindow]

Sorry, but this is garbage. If you can't teach one person how to squat, then you can't teach the squat - and what business do you have trying to teach more than one simultaneously? Many trainers struggle with this alone and have no business trying to show twenty people anything.

I think you might have missed my point on this. If you can't teach someone to squat one-on-one you should definitely work to improve that until you can and not instruct groups yet, my point is that if you can teach people to squat one-on-one well, but can't teach a group, you have work to do. And once you can teach a group, your ability to do one-on-one will be greatly enhanced. If people have severe issues, they may need more attention that a group format will provide, compromises compromises.

[Simmo0508]

I personally like training one on one. at the most two or three people in the same session since everyone has different goals and might have certain bodyparts they want to improve more than others. it takes a good eye to see where there weak and strong points are and to back off the strong points and have them out intensity into their weak bodyparts

Most people doing group classes don't care about "bringing up weak body parts", generally (if you're talking aesthetics and bodybuilding). That's how you and me talk for instance, but the average joe group class attendee generally want full body style / endurance / cardio workouts. They're not in it for the specifics and technicalities mostly.

If someone wants a personal service, something purely for their needs, then they have to purchase 1-on-1 sessions.

As long as people are aware of all expectations and know what they're buying, that's their perogative. Don't treat it like a 1-on-1 session when it isn't. It's actually a selling point if someone (mid-class) says such and such, because then you can offer them a future 1-on-1 session for that exact problem they want solved. If they're paying what $5 a session for a group class with 20 or so other people, they can't expect a 100% perfect workout designed solely for them. They can expect a great session, but it's for everyone, not just them.