As a personal trainer, when your client reveals to you his or her New Year’s fitness resolution, it is your job to help keep things on track. However, this is not always an easy task, as a very high percentage of resolutions are often abandoned quickly, never making it past the first month or two of the new year (if you’re lucky!). And most certainly, this can be quite frustrating both to you and your client because your relationship is built upon mutual trust and shared responsibility. But the fact of the matter is that YOU are the leader, and thus you are the one who must set the example and create a strategy that simply does not allow for failure to be an option. With that in mind, lets discuss 6 simple tips to help your clients meet their fitness goals in 2021!

How to Ensure Clients Keep Their New Year's Fitness Goals

1. Be there for Them – While it may take a little more time and effort on your part, try to keep in touch with your clients on a daily basis. On days you may not be meeting your client for a workout, let them know you are there to support them by sending a quick text with a motivational fitness mantra or uplifting message.
2. Keep Them Accountable – Check your client’s weight and measurements on a particular day every week so you know exactly how much progress (or lack of) is taking place. This will put a little more pressure on your clients when they know you are keeping close track of their results.
3. Set Small Goals – Creating lofty fitness goals can often be counterproductive because fitness and physique transformation occurs in small steps and not leaps. Instead, challenge your clients to shoot for small, reasonable goals each week that you as the trainer are confident they can achieve. Explain, for example, if they lose just 1 pound every week, they will end the year 52 pounds lighter than when they began. Attaining these smaller goals will help your clients stay on track.
4. Create a Reward System – Positive reinforcement is a powerful tool in keeping your clients excited, motivated and moving forward with confidence. Whenever your client successfully meets his or her goal for the week (as explained in #3), let them have a reasonable cheat meal made up whatever foods they may be craving (or some other similar reward).
5. Make the Workouts Fun and Interesting – Let’s face it, unless you are a true fitness fanatic, many people find working out to be boring and mundane. It’s important to make sure that your clients are not only working hard, but also having a bit of fun while in the gym. Make a concerted effort to be creative in your approach by constantly changing exercises and routines that will keep each client engaged and excited week after week.
6. Give them Homework – Even if you meet with your clients three days per week, their success also depends on what they may be doing the other four. Do not leave any of your clients hanging with nothing to do, especially if they will be hitting the gym 2-3 times per week without you at their side. Develop clear and easy to follow workouts that they can do on their own, because you do not want them to feel lost when they enter the gym. Write the workouts down, or email them, so your clients have something in hand at all times. You can take it one step further by also providing your clients a diet plan, since this is just as important as the training.

Use these 6 tips to keep your clients on track so their New Year’s Fitness Resolutions can go from just words to reality.