Are you feeling uninspired? Are you fresh out of training ideas for your clients? As personal trainers and fitness professionals, we can train clients for several hours a day, many hours a week, and end up feeling burnt out. If I don’t look to other resources to shake things up a bit, I fear I’ll run out of ideas! Most people can do the same boring workout on their own so by mixing things up for my clients, I find they stay engaged and motivated, which usually means better results. Over time, it’s totally normal to run out of new material!
Here’s how I seek motivation to keep both myself and my clients inspired.
Professional Resources
Fitness Journals
The first resource I turn to when I need inspiration is a fitness journal. The one that I use the most is FitPro magazine. I try to read monthly magazines as I get them so that I can keep up on the latest research and trends in the fitness industry. This gives me new ideas and information to pass onto my clients.
Conferences
Continuing education and conferences put you in with other fitness professionals to share ideas and learn new classes and techniques to use with your clients. I use these events as a place to “refill my cup.” As fitness professionals, we give away a lot of ourselves, and after awhile we need to be refilled by learning new techniques and chatting with other fitness professionals. During COVID times, why not check out some industry webinars or book in some virtual coffee chats with other trainers?
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Colleagues
For me, a great source of inspiration is collaboration with my colleagues at work! I work with other trainers and instructors and get ideas by taking their classes and experiencing different workouts for myself. We learn by doing, so by taking a class you can understand what it feels like to do different exercises before teaching them to my clients.
Websites
YouTube
Different types of workouts, post-rehab exercises, and stretching ideas are all awesome on YouTube. Like with any user-generated website, make sure the information you’re getting is from a credible source and use your own expertise when identifying if it’s something you can apply to your work. Two of my favourite fitness accounts on YouTube are Trainerize and Fitness Blender.
EXRX.net
Bookmark this site! It’s a great resource because it contains exercise libraries, reference articles, fitness assessment calculators, and other useful tools.
American Council on Exercise
This accredited non-profit organization helps fitness professionals stay current with certifications and science based publications. You can learn more about the fitness professional industry and get certified there!
Social media
Facebook Groups
I belong to a few groups on Facebook including Happy Plates Clean Eating Community, Kelsey Heenan, and one of the most inspirational guys I have ever heard, Todd Durkin.
I follow some of the same people for ideas and inspiration on both Facebook and Instagram, but here are some of my favourite Instagram profiles: @trainerize, @todddurkin, @thedailykelsey, @trainerkaitlin, and @afkettering.
I like to find workouts or challenge ideas on Pinterest. I created a workout board and pin any workouts or training exercises there as I scroll. Then, when I want inspiration, I can go straight to my profile!
There are endless places to find programming inspiration online, and changing it up will keep both you and your clients motivated. Check out a few of these profiles and websites and get re-inspired today. Keeping up your energy and knowledge will help you be the best trainer and mentor you can be.