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Group effort: group training sessions hold advantages for trainer and client

American Fitness, May-June, 1997 by Sharyn Pak

I first began holding group training sessions when a client's husband suddenly found himself without a trainer. They worked out at the same time and gym, so they asked me to fill in and train them together until someone else could be found. That was two years ago, and I now have many other group clients.

I quickly discovered advantages to working with several people during the same session, such as earning more income in the same hour while appealing to more clients. It is not uncommon for people to inquire about the services of a trainer, only to realize it is something out of their budget. A group session might be the solution for these people.

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A good rule of thumb on which to base your fee is your standard rate plus 50% for each additional client. For example, if you usually charge $50 per session, two clients during the same session would be $75, three clients $100, etc. Make sure you stipulate that although the price for two people is $75, if one person doesn't show up, the single person rate is $50 and not $37.50. All of this can be explained in a contract along with your usual cancellation policy.

To tailor a workout that encompasses all of your clients, assess individual goals and come up with a working plan. First, decide the maximum number of people you can work with at a time and still be effective. For example, two people for weight training may be the maximum you can safely train. However, in an aqua or aerobics formatted session you may find you can safely train groups of three or four.

As with any program outline, you need to listen not only to what your clients are telling you but also what they are not telling you. One way to bring all of these objectives together is to list individual goals on 3 x 5 cards or a computer. Then, find ways to intertwine goals for a workout that meets everyone's goals, incorporates camaraderie and is a lot of fun.

Realizing the motivating factors people use will make goal setting more effective. Study clients' objectives so you can refer to them throughout sessions to let them know, although they are sharing a session, you are 100% focused on their needs.

Convey to clients that they are not in an aerobics or group fitness class. If need be, make sessions 75 minutes instead of the usual 60 to ensure everyone gets a full workout. Keep in mind the importance of maintaining a separate relationship with each client. Don't fall into the trap of treating them as a group. Communicate with each client during the session. You might call each client after a tough workout to ask how they are feeling.

There are several benefits for clients in a group personal training session. Besides the financial savings, camaraderie comes with working out with friends. They may also be more motivated to change their lifestyles and make exercise a habit. Studies confirm people who start an exercise program with their spouse or a friend are more likely to stick with a training program than those who exercise alone. I've learned to make sure the clients are within proximity of each other. More times than not I've seen people encourage and push each other not to cancel or give up. When people talk, it makes the session more of a social event and less like a grueling workout.

It's easiest to conduct a group session with people of similar fitness levels. However, that is usually the exception and not the rule. When dealing with varying fitness levels, do exercises and activities that can be easily modified. For example, accommodate two or more people with the superset technique (working opposing muscle groups in succession). By doing supersets using a machine and free weights, you can spot one exercise while the unspotted exerciser has the safety of a machine's limitations.

One of my favorite superset pairs is a chest press and lateral pull-downs. You adjust the weight for the first client on the lateral pull-down machine and instruct him or her to do a certain number of repetitions. Spot a second client on a dumbbell chest press on a bench. When both are done, they switch stations. Again, set up and instruct one client on the lateral pull-down and spot the other client on the bench. This allows both clients to spend an equal amount of time with you while continually working out and not having to wait. Differences in strength are easily adjusted on the lateral pull-down machine, while dumbbells can be exchanged for the chest press. As you become more experienced, you can instruct the "bench client" to go for whatever dumbbell weight you want him or her to lift while you are setting up the "machine client."

The exercise varieties you can put together are endless. For example, try spotted bicep curls on a preacher bench and tricep pushdowns using an overhead pulley, hamstrings curls and spotted raised heel squats, leg extensions and manual resistance gluteal extensions or even spotted bench flyes with bent over rows that don't need a spotter for safety. The point to remember is you only want to have one spotted exercise and one low risk exercise per pair for safety. Getting sessions to flow with little to no down time takes practice, but is sure to keep your clients pumped up.

Group effort: group training sessions hold advantages for trainer and client

American Fitness, May-June, 1997 by Sharyn Pak

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