I recently injured myself and cannot demonstrate new exercises to my clients.  Do you have any suggestions for what to do when I can’t physically demonstrate what they should do?

The physical nature of personal training is one of the many appealing benefits for those of us who become trainers.  However, the downside of relying on our body as a primary tool to do our job is that we only have one, so if we break it (literally!), it could be out of commission for a bit.  Luckily, there are a few ways we can work around injuries that prevent us from being our typical physical selves and help us continue to provide value to our clients. 

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Just because we can’t demonstrate an exercise, doesn’t mean we can’t have someone else step in!  There are many quality videos and websites with exercise tutorials from established professionals that can be shared.  As you are programming your client’s session, have a few links to these videos pre-downloaded and ready to use as needed.

Back to Basics

This could be a good opportunity to simplify things, and maybe take out some of the bells and whistles in the program.  If you are a trainer with access to various fitness paraphernalia, put the focus back on tried and true exercises that your client is familiar with, and that you can coach them through verbally.  You can add in small modifications to keep it interesting (e.g. combination exercises like push-up shoulder taps or renegade row burpees).   Bodyweight and dumbbell exercises are my favorite to program into a workout and the combinations are endless.

Cue the Feedback

Although exercise demonstrations are an important aspect of training, providing real-time feedback to your client on their performance and execution is just as important.  Using descriptive coaching clues to remind them off form is huge when it comes to helping your client understand what you want them to do. Each client is different, so what works for one may have no impact on another; however, this is where effective communication with your client comes into play.

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Maureen Faherty

Moe oversees corporate wellness and fitness initiatives as a Wellness Specialist for a financial services company and all their U.S. locations.She is also a Personal Trainer at Harvard Business School and the creator of Fitness MoeJo, a blog in which she shares advice, personal experiences and inspiration on maintaining a healthy, fit lifestyle.

She has a B.S. in Business Administration from Framingham State University and a M.S. in Physical Education/ Strength & Conditioning from Bridgewater State University. She is certified through the National Strength and Conditioning Association as a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist and with USA Weightlifting as a Sports Performance Coach.

Moe lives in Boston where she keeps busy crossing things off her fitness bucket list.

Latest posts by Maureen Faherty

• How do I keep my clients on track in the New Year and maintain their motivation? - February 2, 2017
• How important is emotional fitness to gaining physical fitness? - October 5, 2016
• I recently injured myself and cannot demonstrate new exercises to my clients.  Do you have any suggestions for what to do when I can’t physically demonstrate what they should do? - June 28, 2016