Best Exercises and Program Type for Newbie Strength Training Clients
As a personal trainer, you will see many many newbie's to strength
training.
So how will you train them? What exercises will you select? What habits will you instill in them?
Training an inexperienced client can be challenging but also very rewarding. You have the opportunity to teach your new client all the good training habits and avoid the bad ones.
If you can master the process of training beginner clients and build a reputation on it, your client roster will always be full for the rest of your personal training career.
Training Program
When building a training program for a new client it's very important to monitor their movement patterns, this is when the PAR-Q (Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire) and the initial fitness test becomes very important. The information you gather from this fitness test will help you design a custom training program for your new client.
Exercise selection
Keep it simple. Make sure to pick exercises that are simple to teach and do. One of the mistakes trainers sometimes make is teaching the new exercise they just learned or are excited about to newbie clients. Be patient, your new client will one day be ready for the kettlebell swings, box jumps, and clapping push-ups.
Foundational exercises can be simple to teach and are very effective. Here are some of my favorites. Rep range depends on the weight and difficulty of the exercise to your client but anywhere between 10-20 reps for 3 sets is usually good.
Start with the biggest movements first like deadlifts, squats, chest press, and lat pulldown and work your way down to planks and shoulder presses.
Enjoy the Process
The end of the workout is when you get to have a little fun and get your client excited about their next training session. This is the time to work on biceps and triceps, abs, and cardio.
I would add biceps and triceps for the guys and cardio and abs for the client that are looking to lose body fat.
Beginner client's biggest obstacle is not the workout, it's just getting to the gym. Instill consistency to your clients and help them enjoy the journey of living a healthy lifestyle.
It's your job to encourage, have fun, and build up their confidence at the gym.
The Training Notebook Founder
So how will you train them? What exercises will you select? What habits will you instill in them?
Training an inexperienced client can be challenging but also very rewarding. You have the opportunity to teach your new client all the good training habits and avoid the bad ones.
If you can master the process of training beginner clients and build a reputation on it, your client roster will always be full for the rest of your personal training career.
Training Program
When building a training program for a new client it's very important to monitor their movement patterns, this is when the PAR-Q (Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire) and the initial fitness test becomes very important. The information you gather from this fitness test will help you design a custom training program for your new client.
Exercise selection
Keep it simple. Make sure to pick exercises that are simple to teach and do. One of the mistakes trainers sometimes make is teaching the new exercise they just learned or are excited about to newbie clients. Be patient, your new client will one day be ready for the kettlebell swings, box jumps, and clapping push-ups.
Foundational exercises can be simple to teach and are very effective. Here are some of my favorites. Rep range depends on the weight and difficulty of the exercise to your client but anywhere between 10-20 reps for 3 sets is usually good.
- Goblet squat
- Back lunges
- Step-ups
- Kettlebell deadlift
- Dumbbell chest press
- Dumbbell shoulder press
- Push-ups
- Cable lat pulldown
- Bench single arm row
- Seated cable row
- Plank, crunches
- Concept rower
- Incline walk on a treadmill
Start with the biggest movements first like deadlifts, squats, chest press, and lat pulldown and work your way down to planks and shoulder presses.
Enjoy the Process
The end of the workout is when you get to have a little fun and get your client excited about their next training session. This is the time to work on biceps and triceps, abs, and cardio.
I would add biceps and triceps for the guys and cardio and abs for the client that are looking to lose body fat.
Beginner client's biggest obstacle is not the workout, it's just getting to the gym. Instill consistency to your clients and help them enjoy the journey of living a healthy lifestyle.
It's your job to encourage, have fun, and build up their confidence at the gym.
The Training Notebook Founder
Hector Sanchez
