How To Make Your Personal Training Workouts More Fun

Motivating clients to work out remains one of your greatest challenges as a personal trainer. Because your clients are more likely to stick with an exercise regimen if it’s fun, consider these ways you can add fun to your workouts and make them more appealing and motivational to clients.

Introduce High-Intensity Interval Training

Sometimes, introducing a quick but intensive workout helps clients have fun. As a bonus, high-intensity interval training (HIIT) yields quick results, giving clients one more reason to choose you as their personal trainer.

Here are a few HIIT exercises you can include in your workout videos posted on your branded apps or in the individual workout routines you do with clients.

• Ball chest throws.
• Battle rope.
• Burpees.
• High knees.
• Jumping jacks.
• Kettlebell deadlifts.
• Mountain climbs.
• Plank.
• Pull-ups.
• Pushups.
• Renegade rows.
• Squat jumps.
• Sled training.

Change the Location

Your online clients can work out anywhere thanks to your videos. However, they may get stuck in a rut and choose the same location day after day. In this case, they could become bored and lose interest and motivation to exercise each day.

Challenge your clients to change their workout location occasionally to keep their workouts fresh, exciting and challenging. For example, instead of working out in their living room or basement, they can go outside to the deck or yard, hit a walking trail or visit the park.

Consider changing your location, too. During live sessions, show your clients how to use playground apparatuses to exercise, work out on the beach or get in some training at work. Your location changes are fun and show clients how to add exercise to their daily life as you help them improve their mobility, agility and flexibility.

You’ll also want to switch up the locations of your recorded sessions. Move to a different room in your home, go outside or record at a local gym. You don’t have to change your workout exercises, but changing your location gives your clients inspiration to mix up their workout location and experience more fun each day.

Move Outside

Spending time outside improves concentration, reduces stress and boosts happiness. You can also add fun and energy to workouts when you move outdoors.

Try taking your clients on a hike or show them how to work out on their deck. Even if you only ask your clients to do their normal routine in their lawn, the fresh air and sunshine enhance the fun of any workout session.

Wear Green

A study by the University of Essex reveals that the color green improves mood and reduces perceived exertion while exercising. Consider asking your clients to wear green, go outside in nature or add green accents to their workout room. They’ll feel more positive and happy about exercising and will work harder without feeling like they’ve done so.

Turn on the Tunes

Music can add a punch to workouts. It helps clients work harder without feeling like they’re working hard, and it can improve performance. Plus, music is fun!

When turning on the tunes, keep beats per minute (BPM) in mind. Songs with a high BPM go best with intense cardio workouts while songs with a low BPM accompany warmup and cool down exercises. Here are some guidelines.

• Warmup and cool down: 100 to 110 beats per minute
• Stretching: 90 to 100 beats per minute
• Strength training: 110 to 120 beats per minute
• Endurance, speed and agility exercises: 120 or more beats per minute

Ask your clients to share their music preferences, and make a playlist to match. You can also use presentation software as you set your videos to music, which allows you to customize workout routines based on the exercises you want your clients to do.

Share Positive Affirmations

Whether your clients are fitness newbies or professional athletes, they each have specific fitness goals they want to achieve while working with you. However, those goals may not be enough to keep them engaged and excited about exercising.

Give your clients a boost of motivation, morale and joy when you affirm their efforts with encouragement and praise. Did they stay positive when you added a new exercise to the routine? Have you seen progress in their form while doing planks? Can you tell they’ve worked out on their own between sessions? Notice these and other improvements, and share your observations with your clients. These positive affirmations act like little surprises and help your clients regain the attitude of fun and joy during each training session.

Smile Often

Often, working out is tough work, and your face may show the effort you put into each movement. Consider, though, the benefits of a genuine smile. When your clients see a happy face, they can overcome roadblocks and feel energized.

Review your workout videos and observe your facial expressions. If you spend most of the time with a grimace or frown on your face, make an effort to add more smiles. Your happy, positive and engaging smile will help your clients have fun and push beyond exhaustion as they achieve their workout goals.

Use the Barre

You typically think of the barre for ballet, but add it to workouts for an interesting and useful twist. This tool engages muscles, strengthens the core, improves posture, provides the benefits of cardio, and prevents injuries. Even better, your clients don’t need previous barre experience to do these exercises successfully. For the best results, add barre exercises to workouts at least twice a week or use them intermittently to increase excitement and engagement.

Work Out as a Group

Most of your clients prefer individual sessions. However, these solo sessions can grow boring and routine after a while. Add a few extra people to the workout, and you also bump up the fun.

Consider holding group workout sessions with more than one client at a time. Or record the videos you use for workouts and video monetization with a crew of friends in the background who know the routine and make the right moves as they model the exercises. While working out with you and a group, your clients take advantage of the change and enjoy extra fun.

Host a Contest

The competition of a contest may be exactly the motivation your clients need to work harder. After all, most people enjoy winning prizes.

The best workout contests include several factors.

1. Select a skill. Maybe you wish to challenge your clients to increase their plank time or run a faster mile. Start your contest with a skill.

2. Set a timeline. It can extend for a few days or weeks. Ideally, shorter contest times keep your clients engaged and motivated.

3. Create submission guidelines. Tell clients how to submit their results. For example, you may require them to videotape their 10-minute plank or have a witness document their improved running speed. Alternatively, host a live contest where clients demonstrate their new skill or achievement live to the group.

4. Offer a prize. Reward the winner with a free session, cash prize to a health food store or gift card to a sporting goods store. Whatever reward you offer, ensure it’s something valuable your clients will want to work hard to achieve.

5. Share the results. Be sure everyone who participated in the contest knows who won. You can calculate the results and show them off with a scatter plot maker, then offer consolation prizes for efforts or reward another prize to the most improved client.

Introduce New Exercises

Consider your current workouts. When was the last time you introduced a new exercise? Now might be a great time to add something unique to the routine. A change in exercises breaks up the monotony and gives clients something to anticipate. Plus, new exercises reduce muscle fatigue and can help your clients achieve their goals.

Evaluate each client’s goals and current routine. Look for exercises that boost a single muscle group or body part. You can also make tweaks to the order of the routines as you improve their workout and fun.

Sponsor a Seven-Day Challenge

Clients who have hit a slump in their enthusiasm or aren’t seeing results from their workouts may need a fun short-term challenge. It jump-starts their motivation and metabolism and reminds them of why they work out.

Use a variety of cardio, strength and agility exercises during your seven-day challenge. Encourage your clients to do the workout each day and report back on how they feel. In most cases, they’ll affirm that they had fun and are excited again about training.

Write a Chant

Boot camp and cheer chants motivate the team to stay focused and keep moving, so write your own chant. Reference specific exercises or your clients as you add a touch of fun to the workouts. You could even challenge your clients to write their own chant as they freshen their training sessions.

Participate Alongside Your Clients

While you must tell your client what exercises to do and how to move, consider joining in with them. Your personal participation can boost the fun and excitement of any workout.

Host live sessions as you workout with your clients. If you can only do workouts via recorded videos, re-record them often as you demonstrate that you’re staying current with your content. Together, you add fun to your clients’ workouts.

Your purpose as a personal trainer is to help your clients achieve their fitness goals, but exercise can be fun. Fun also keeps each client engaged and motivated. For these reasons, use these tips to add a bit of fun and excitement to each session and boost client satisfaction and your business.