Great Trainer but feeling very pressured

[Anonymous]

After several years of no exercise, I have started working with a personal trainer and it was been helpful and I can definitely see/feel improvements. However, I can only work with her once per week because of my schedule (young kids, long commute, full time work, etc), and because it’s expensive. I usually work out on my own one additional day during the week. Every week, she tells me how much better it would be if I trained with her twice per week. I have explained the reasons but feeling very pressured because she brings this up every week and tells me I have an opening on this and that date/time, would you like to add another session. She’s a GREAT trainer so I’d rather not find someone else. How would you deal with this situation?

[Anonymous]

"I understand that, however, because I have many other priorities in my life, more than once a week is just not possible for me. I appreciate your offers, but please understand and respect that I just can't do it." No need to even get into the money aspect.

[Simon123]

How annoying, she must not be that "great" if she feels the need to keep pressuring you. I would be stern about it and look her in the eyes when saying no, hopefully she'll get the message.

[Anonymous]

present_tense wrote:I think previous posters already have answered how to handle the situation, but I thought it might be useful to offer a trainer's perspective on this.

Most trainers, myself included, don't like training people once a week--especially if they are relatively new to fitness and have a lot to learn.

Getting stronger is a bit of a learning process. So if I take you on as a new client and you don't know how to squat, it's going to take a long time to get you to learn how to squat only seeing you once a week. If I get to see you twice a week, then we'll be able to build upon what we learned just a few days ago and build more momentum.

Clients look at the expense of training and say, well, I'd rather stretch these 12 sessions out over 12 weeks than burn through them in 6 weeks. But I think you'd be better off training twice per week with your trainer for a shorter amount of time than you would training with them once a week over a longer period of time.

If the trainer is as good as you say, she should be able to fill your tool belt full of great tools that you can take with you when you're done with your package. But accruing those tools will be much more difficult if you're only seeing her once per week.

This is not to discount your very real scheduling commitments. However, I've found even with these commitments people can find two hours in their week to devote to their lifelong fitness. We trainers tend to have a somewhat distorted view of the world and believe that one's wellness ought to be THE priority in one's life.

I write none of this to say that you're wrong. I'm just giving you a trainer's perspective. If she's making you feel uncomfortable, you have to say so and hope she's professional enough to stop. Just know that her motives might actually be both substantive and altruistic.

Jason

Np here.

I see your side of the story. I'm a health professional also (nutrition). And when I sign clients, I tell them the minimum expectations for what I believe to maximize their success.

If the OPs trainer believes that 2xs a week is really they only way for OP to be successful, then she should say that when signing her client. If she accepts a paying client for once a week, besides an occasional "if you ever want to sign up for twice a week session, let me know" she should keep her mouth shut. She lacks serious professionalism if she's constantly "hounding" her client.

[Anonymous]

"She lacks serious professionalism if she's constantly "hounding" her client." Agreed. And hounding is never an effective coaching strategy anyway. --J