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4 steps in the ART of a Training Session

The ART of a Training Session

Some people may think training a client is just science but I believe it is an art. It is a show that you are putting on for the time they are with you.  In this blog I will give you the three 4 steps of a successful  training sessions. 

  1. The introduction (warm up) I see the warm up as the introduction to the show they are about to witness. Your warm up exercises should be preparing them for what they will endure during the session. It should not be a bunch of random exercises you picked out of a hat. If you plan on doing a shoulder dominate session, your warm up should be upper back, shoulder and pec drills. This not only gets the body ready but is also prepares the mind for the session they will have. Yes, the whole body is connected and therefore you must warm it up, but their should be some area of focus. You do not have time to waste. To me a wasted warm up is like introducing the background of a character who serves no purpose in a movie. This is where you highlight the main characters. 
  2. Meat and Potatoes (the heart of your program) This is the part that you focus on what the purpose of your session is. This is where you put your hard exercises that are the heart of the program i.e. power lifts, explosive exercises, hardest poses, ext. This is what keeps the audience on the edge of their seats. They live for this part of the workout. All your drama, action, suspense, etc is build during this part of the session.  
  3. Climax (FLOBATA) The climax for our sessions at FLO are what we call a FLOBATA. This could be a metabolic disturbance finisher or a crazy density set or anything else we make up. It is the super FUN and high intensity thing we do to  end the workout. This is where you empty the tank because you know you are done after this. For most clients and trainers this may be the most fun part of the workout. As a trainer it is your final scene to WOW your audience. They may forget some other things you did in your session but they won't forget this part. This is your twist in the story, your final touches to the masterpiece. 
  4. Conclusion (Cooldown) If the clients have given you their all during the session, they will welcome this part of the workout. EVERYTHING at this point changes from you. You speak softer, you congratulate them on a job well done, your body language is kinder, etc. You know this is the end and they have worked hard for you so they deserve to relax a little. Sometimes we go as far as changing the music at this point to something softer and more relaxing. This is the long kiss at the final scene of the movie. 

The bottom line here is that every session is an experience. Every session is a show that you are putting on. Your job is to make it an experience that the client will want to have again. Treat it as such. We are not training robots, we are training people and they want to be treated as such. 

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