First Workouts, Relatively Speaking

First workouts are like first impressions, you want to make a great one! So after pouring your heart into a first workout with a potential client for an hour only to have them say, "Thanks for the workout, I am just going to go do some abs and a little cardio." is a humbling experience that many new certified personal trainers unnececcisarily go through.

If a client has that much energy left over at the end an hour workout with a personal trainer, the intensity of the workout is too low. The best way to gage this intensity is with fancy gadgetry found in universities and colleges. The best way to gauge it is to simply ask (and ask often); On a scale of 1-10, how do you gauge the intensity of this exercise?

Intensity is relative, so on a scale of 1 to 10, a intensity of ten feels the same to everyone. Whether it is a college athlete or a 49 year-old mother of three, an intensity level of a ten is a ten. By gauging intensity, you can figure out how far you can safely push an individual without over training them, and be sure you are not under-training. No one can maintain an intensity of ten throughout an entire workout, so be sure to pace your workouts accordingly.

Over working your client is bad, but under working them is even worse.Prospects usually equate a great First workout with three things;

1. Sweat, usually followed by phrases such as,", I have never sweat so much in my life."
2. Elevated heart beat, usually followed by phrases such as, "My heart has never beaten so fast.
3. 2nd Day Muscle soreness, usually followed by phrases like," Oh my G-d, I couldn't even raise my arms to wash my hair."

Keeping these 3 points in mind and you will sell a lot more first workouts. It also allows us to ask How am I doing, instead of how do I do? How am I doing means you can change up what ever you are doing to meet the expectations of the prospect

If you are interested in selling more personal training and making more money, read the whole "Selling Personal Training Chapter. It makes selling PT easy, /like paint by #'s'.