The First Time!
What does that mean to you? I was talking about my first client and my first training session. Which I'm sure is exactly what you were thinking as well.
My first training session wasn't my first client. My first training gig was at Ballys and the trainers did orientations. Meaning, the first couple "free" workouts members get when they sign up for a health club. I was taking this nice lady around on the circuit that we were supposed to use for orientations, when she asked me a question I would hear many times throughout the years. One of those all-important questions when it comes to health and fitness.
"Will I sweat during this workout?"
I'm not kidding when I say, I get this question a lot. I have several stock answers that I give to this question now and I really can't remember what I told this lady that day, but I'm sure it was a sign of good things to come. And it was...
I never saw her again after that session.
My first paying client lasted all of 4 days. She wanted to come in and train with me Monday through Thursday at 6am for a half hour each day. Alright, I'll make the sacrifice for my first client.
I'll never forget that first session. We were doing dumbbell lunges. I thought I picked a weight she could handle, but I think I was wrong. It was a little crowded in the weight room that morning so I was standing inbetween a leg press and a hack squat to do the lunges. She did them all on one leg first and handled them, not easily, but alright. The second leg she told me felt a little weak. She did one lunge and as she went for the second lunge, her leg basically gave out and she started spinning out of control. It looked very much like a helicopter spinning around and around right before it crashes. As she was narrowly missing hitting either machine beside her, I basically had to wrap my arms around her as I came in for a big bear hug to stop her momentum.
Needless to say, after that day, each day she gave me more snippets of her life as to how hectic it was. What she was doing was getting all the ducks in a row, when after the first 4 days she had to stop training and she still had 10 sessions left (it couldn't possibly have been the fact, I told her to do an exercise when she was spinning so wildly she almost clocked her head). And that was the finish to my first client.
So, what did I learn from that?
1. You have to work with an intensity when you workout and if you happen to sweat, then so be it. I do know a place where they keep the temperature at 62 degrees so that the sweat can be eliminated. I don't know if it works, but they seem to stay in business.
2. There is a progression you must follow as you continue to workout. You are building upon layers. It is not my job to work you like a dog each session so you can crawl out of my facility. I progress you so your body can safely adapt to a workout routine, yet continue to see results. Yes, there might be some soreness and yes, sometimes there is an inherent risk with certain exercises, but if I were to work that lady out again, I would not do lunges with her until I felt her legs can handle it. And even then it would be bodyweight lunges at a low volume.
I wonder what those two people are doing today? I wish I could remember their names, but I'm sure they forgot about me a long time ago. Hopefully, I've grown as a trainer so that you won't ever forget about me.
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