Think about your best male coaching client.
Picture him in your head.
Can you see his face in your mind?
Good.
Now, think about his life.
What responsibilities does he have?
How busy is he?
What’s his attitude towards training?
Now, picture his face and how he might react if you asked him to spend some of his training time just sitting still and breathing.
Would it go down well?
The social and cultural pressures on men these days are immense (which is sadly reflected in the rapidly increasing rates of suicide).
Men are just people, trying to be the best versions of themselves and the last thing they need is their fitness coach trying to force them into being something that they’re not, or at the very least making them spend time on something they really don’t want to.
Mobility is one of those things.
You can pick any method you like: foam rolling, stretching, Yoga
Regardless of which you pick, if it has to be done IN ADDITION to their training, or they have to SACRIFICE some training time to accomodate it, there’s a very large chance that it won’t go down well…until they experience pain – THAT changes everything!
But that’s the thing with injury prevention.
It has to happen BEFORE there’s a problem.
And that means making it as EASY as possible for our clients to get it done.
Especially men
Why?
Because they are less likely to mention problems they’re having (which means that you have to be some kind of mind reader). They are also less likely to tolerate doing things they don’t like (which means that they’ll just change coaches if they don’t like your approach).
Most coaches think of mobility as something that needs to be done separately (if they’re even thinking about it at all), but that creates additional time pressures on our clients in a society that has a shorter attention span and less spare time than ever.
It means focusing attention on our clients problems and forces them to think at a time when our brains are full to bursting of everything else that’s happening in life.
It’s seen as a “necessary evil” – you know, that thing that we know must be done but we’d rather be doing anything else, which rarely inspires excitement or positivity.
But you…
You’re different (I know that because you’ve read this far!).
You can see that putting the responsibility on your client to do mobility on their own time or spending their precious training time on it is a road to nowhere.
You know that there’s a better way.
You know that simply by spending a minute or two of your own time (and a sprinkling of that brain power of yours) you can take that strain off your clients and make them feel amazing.
How?
By blending powerful injury prevention strategies into the session that they already know and love.
Your clients can just get on with the training (without all the fiddling about or extra thinking) and you know that you did everything you could to help them stay healthy.
Working this way means that your client doesn’t have to focus on his problems while he’s training (which lifts his spirits and creates positivity) and shows him that you’re willing to step up and do the heavy-lifting FOR him (which builds deep trust and respect).
This simple change can transform your male clients’ mental attitude towards themselves, their own capabilities and the power of your contribution (which helps them stick to the plan and take the actions you recommend).
So how do you even start blending these strategies into your sessions?
Well, first you need to know what the strategies are!
You’ll find them outlined in my FREE book “The Coaches Guide to Long-Term Injury Prevention Success”. If you haven’t got your copy yet, you really should! It’ll help you stand head and shoulders above the rest of the crowd of sports and fitness coaches out there (and there’s plenty more landing every day since many people have decided to use the COVID lockdown or redundancy to change career and finally get the qualification they didn’t have time to study for before).
Oh, and this book is already making waves in the industry! It’s been picked up by a leading business coach over in the US, who is recommending it and my training to thousands of his personal trainers who are trying to put their businesses online.
So, don’t get left behind! Grab your copy and start making a real difference to your clients’ lives today!