We’ve put together a series of insightful articles to help you navigate this challenging season and to help your fitness professionals feel confident as they shape or reshape their future in fitness. Our second article will give you an idea of how to lead your staff in ensuring a safe and professional environment.

Now more than ever, the complete skill set of the fitness professional will be tested. From scientific and functional knowledge to soft skills, fit pros will be required to use every tool in the toolbox and be agile enough to continue adapting as the future unfolds.

Skills

As an operator, you must ensure your fitness professionals are trained on the new demands on their roles and personalities. They will need to adhere to all CDC guidelines regarding physical distancing and sanitization, as well as understand the impact of appropriate body language and conversation during this time. Below are examples of what new environmental aspects must be considered and mastered by your fit pros:

• Workout space
• Equipment
• Cleaning of equipment and machines
• Communication
• Technique demonstration and cueing

Facility Setting

The reopening of your facility most likely required an overhaul of equipment spacing and selection. For example, cardiovascular and strength equipment may have been moved to better accommodate physical distancing. You also may have chosen to remove specific equipment items from the fitness setting that are more difficult to clean or keep clean, such as foam-based items (foam rollers or resistance tubing with foam covered handles) or large mats that are highly trafficked.

While these were positive changes for client perception and safety, the changes have interrupted trainers’ programming preferences. It will be extremely helpful to band your team together to think through new and creative options to mobilize, activate, and help achieve client goals during this time. You also may step in to reiterate and coach how trainers can “sell” their new efforts to provide the same high-level experience for the client.

Cleaning has become a new hobby, and this act, both seen and unseen, is essential to keep clients and members comfortable in the fitness setting. Your trainers are a distinct part of this. You have to ensure their buy-in continues to stay strong, as well as keep them trained on the current information related to your own facility procedures and CDC guidelines. This effort must take several forms to keep the message strong and consistent, such as posting information in the trainers’ breakroom space, addressing at each team meeting, and in-person quick and positive check-ins with each fitness pro on a weekly basis.

Customer Service

If your facility is back to offering 1:1 training with your fitness professional staff your trainers’ soft skills (or lack thereof) can help make or break your training rebound from COVID-19. Communication has dramatically changed since all mouths are now covered by a mask! It is imperative to help your fitness professional be cognizant of their verbal communication and body language when communicating with a client via text or phone or in-person meetings. All of this will impact the client experience, and in this new world, may determine the comfort level and retention of a client.

Below are several strategies to encourage your trainers to apply to maintain professionalism and ensure client satisfaction:

Text or phone

• Always accept and understand the client perspective even if it’s different from self-perspective.
• Do not pressure the client to return to the fitness setting; the client will return when he/she feels ready. Suggest other options to support the client while they are away from facility, such as virtual training, training outdoors with physical distancing, or emailed or filmed workouts.
• Continue to stay in touch with the client even though he/she may not be returning to the facility. A weekly or bi-weekly text or phone call can go a long way to show care and garner the relationship.
• Stay positive! Avoid heavy conversations regarding politics and personal opinions regarding mask wearing and COVID-19.

In-person meetings

• Incorporate positive hand signals, such as a “thumbs up” or clapping, to encourage the client during the workout.
• Speak louder and more slowly so the client can understand.
• Rely heavily on physical demonstration of exercise selection – even after the client starts the first rep.
• Avoid physical cueing in order to be respectful of physical distancing.
• Perform warm-up, mobility, or activation exercises with the client in order to provide a mirror of technique.
• Assessment/Re-assessment: This obviously must look different from a tactile and physical distancing capacity. However, assessment is vital to the client experience and will need to be adapted to remain a part of the new client or re-assessment process. Engage your fitness pro team to brainstorm how to position their own body and eyes to gather the necessary info, but keep the client safe and comfortable. You also may adapt some of the current assessment protocols in order to uphold safety of both client and trainer. For those fitness professionals that provide manual therapy like Muscle Activation Techniques (MAT), Active Release Techniques (ART), or Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation (PNF) Stretching,, or are obtaining anthropometric data, you may have the client sign a waiver prior to the session.  

It is imperative to highlight and discuss a variety of these scenarios with your fitness professionals during team and 1:1 meetings whether these are in person or via phone or Zoom. This will increase fitness professional confidence and provide coaching opportunities for you.

Special thanks to Hayley Hollander, a fellow Precor Master Coach, for contributing her thoughts on this important topic.

Stay well-informed and help your fitness professionals adapt to the changing climate brought on by COVID. Read our other articles in this series.

Supporting Fitness Professionals During COVID: Mindset

Supporting Fitness Professionals During COVID: Education