Last week we discussed the importance of taking out all the scientific jargon when talking with your clients. It is easier for them to understand, remember and apply what you say. Don’t make your words a puzzle they need to figure out. Speak plainly with them. I wanted to give you a couple scenarios to help get you in the habit of making analogies.
In this first scenario, you are convincing a fat loss client not to starve himself. Comparing fat loss dietary needs to a hypothetical trip in a car is one good way to get the point across. It could go something like this: “Not eating enough food to meet exercise demands is like trying to go on a 500 mile car trip with only one tank of gas and no money in your pocket. The trip represents the exercise session, the gas represents available energy and the money, of course, representing food.”
Here’s another example. This time you are expressing to the general fitness client that diminished need for expensive dietary supplements. “Liken your body to a car. The better the fitness level, the greater the car’s performance. At your current fitness level, we will compare your body to a Volkswagen. Who, in their right mind, would pay the big bucks to have Mario Andrett’s pit crew tune up their Volkswagen?”
Consider this analogy likening a muscle fiber cell to a factory. “Not unlike a factory, your muscle fiber has a warehouse storing energy. An assembly line where tissue is built, employees like ribosomes and enzymes performing vital functions, waste treatment sites, fuel burning engines, etc…”
I hope these few analogies will be enough to get you thinking about some of your own. There are few fitness facts that cannot be explained using different forms of creative analogies. How rewarding it is when a client grows more and more enthusiastic with each consultation? Their faces filled with the type of confidence that comes only through true understanding. That true understanding leads not only to results but also to a lifetime of health and fitness enhancement.
Ron Clark is the Founder of National Federation of Professional Trainers, NFPT. From U.S. Marine Staff Sergeant to Competitive BodyBuilder, then Firefighter and Certified Personal Trainer - he founded NFPT in 1988 with a mission to make fitness training careers accessible to every day fitness enthusiasts who want to turn their passion into their livelihood. Ron has always led with a heart of service, and, in that spirit, he helps people to achieve real and practical career goals that serve a greater good in changing people's lives. He lives and leads by example, being a personal trainer himself for more than 10 years before setting out to develop a certification program that is real-world and foundational to the goals of personal trainers and their clients. Click Here to learn more about Ron's story and NFPT's inception.
