Many new trainers will plan their workouts based on exercises rather than the client. Perhaps these are exercises they are confident in, or prefer performing in their own training.
While it is true that many of the same exercises can be used for a wide range of clients with varying goals, you should always adapt the exercises to the client. Someone may prefer squats over lunges, have a goal that requires more emphasis on posture, or need to strengthen specific movement patterns for a specific sport.
As we mentioned in the last article, a good layout to use for most clients is something like this:
- Upper-body push
- Upper-body pull
- Lower-body knee-dominant
- Lower-body hip-dominant
Add isolation, core or rehabilitation exercises as you see fit.
If you have gotten to know the client thoroughly, you should have a good idea of their goal. Many clients will have multiple goals. Here you need to be straightforward and emphasize fewer goals rather than more. Why? The more you spread out, the lower the chance of the client hitting any of the goals.
Don't be afraid to have your clients really reflect on their goals. Why do they want to get stronger, lose weight or run faster? Is there anything specific they want to be able to do? Then that should be the goal — not the means to get there.
Most people who hire a Personal Trainer have, or have had, issues with getting to the gym. If not, why come to you in the first place?
Therefore, we need to set the bar low. I usually have my clients imagine their absolute worst week. Work is crazy, the kids are sick and their loved one is lazier than usual. What number is realistic then?
If it's two 30-minute sessions, that's way better than zero!
The risk is setting the bar too high, and having clients drop out because they can never reach the agreed number of sessions, which makes them feel bad.
For beginners, the actual training parameters of the programme shouldn't be your main focus. What matters is having them enjoy the training, build a strong habit and see progression.
A good starting point for the average Joe would be 1–3 sets and 8–15 reps per exercise. The load should correspond to around 60–70% of their estimated 1RM. The effort should be high enough that the last few reps are somewhat of a struggle, but without reaching failure.
You can also aim for around 1–3 exercises for the major muscle groups per week.
A good rule of thumb is to start by increasing volume rather than intensity. That means increasing the number of repetitions performed over time.
For example, a client could perform 2 × 8 reps at a given weight and gradually increase the repetitions until they hit 12. Once they reach 12 reps, increase the weight and drop back down to 8 reps again.
So the progression could look something like this:
2 × 8 → 2 × 10 → 2 × 12 → increase the weight → 2 × 8
Every programme is eventually going to need some adjusting. Therefore, it should not be planned too far in advance.
For most people, 4–6 weeks is a good starting point. More advanced clients may need longer-term planning, but that's a different story.
After 4–6 weeks, it is smart to sit down with the client and go over their progression and enjoyment.
Is it easy to follow? Are there any exercises the client doesn't like? Have their goals or lifestyle changed?
There's no need to change everything just for the sake of variation, but changing some exercises here and there can usually increase motivation and adherence.
The example below uses three training days, but the same principles can easily be adapted to two sessions if that is more realistic for the client.
Day 1
Goblet Squat – 2 × 8–12
Machine Chest Press – 2 × 8–12
Seated Cable Row – 2 × 8–12
Romanian Deadlift – 2 × 8–12
Plank – 2 × 20–40 sec
Day 2
Reverse Lunge – 2 × 8–12 per leg
Lat Pulldown – 2 × 8–12
Dumbbell Shoulder Press – 2 × 8–12
Hip Thrust – 2 × 8–12
Dead Bug – 2 × 8–12 per side
Day 3
Leg Press – 2 × 8–12
Incline Push-Up – 2 × 8–12
Cable Row – 2 × 8–12
Kettlebell Deadlift – 2 × 8–12
Farmer's Carry – 2 × 20–40 m
As a summary, here are a couple of things new trainers should avoid and look out for:
- Programming around exercises instead of the client. Exercises should be selected based on the client's goals, preferences, experience and needs — not simply because they are exercises the trainer likes or feels confident teaching.
- Trying to target too many goals at once. The more goals you spread the programme across, the harder it becomes to make meaningful progress towards any of them.
- Setting an unrealistic training frequency. Planning four sessions per week is pointless if the client realistically only has time for two. A sustainable programme is better than an ambitious one that is rarely followed.
- Overcomplicating training parameters for beginners. For a new client, enjoyment, consistency and visible progression are often more important than creating an overly sophisticated programme.
- Programming too far ahead or changing too much. For most beginners, 4–6 weeks is a useful starting point before reviewing progress, enjoyment and lifestyle changes. There is no need to change exercises simply for the sake of variation.
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