Tricks of the Trade to Help Clients Improve Body Image

Whenever I conduct fitness assessments I always start out my line of questioning with “what would you like to accomplish with a regular exercise routine?” And the answer is pretty much the same no matter who you are talking to. Most clients in my experience want what everyone else wants. They want to lose weight and look thin. Or they want to get ripped and look cut up. Simply put most people want to change something superficial about their body. The dangerous thing about focusing primarily on the physical though is that it can lead to body image issues especially when people try to measure their physical appearance in relation to someone else whom they are striving to be. So, as a fitness professional my job is mainly a behavioral strategy based job if you think about it. I must help clients change their perceptions their own body image.

An article in the 2002 IDEA Personal Trainer journal titled “How Can Trainers Help Clients with Body Image: Tricks of the Trade,” does an effective job of detailing how to change a client’s negative perception of their own body image. One of the stronger pieces of advice to fitness trainers is to not invalidate clients’ body image goals or concerns. Rather the article suggests that you work with those goals or concerns by redirecting clients through attainable and achievable amounts of exercise. Additionally, track both perceived progress and actual progress. I really like how the article presents this information because it is easy to want to tell clients that what they believe should happen is not right. Instead it is much better to acknowledge the behavior and the perception that they have and then try to slowly shape their behavior towards a healthier outlook of exercise and their body. Overall, this article was really excellent in how it presented behavioral change for clients.


http://www.fitness-health-wellness.com/lifestyle-management/behavioral-strategies/articles/how-can-trainers-help-clients-body-image-tricks-

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