Personal training clients don’t tell you everything. But if they could, this podcast might describe it best. Allan Misner was your client. At one time he topped the scales at 250. He’d tried and failed many times. Today, he is a National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) Certified Personal Trainer and a Functional Aging Institute (FAI) Certified Functional Aging Specialist. He is the creator of the thriving 40+ Fitness Community, providing one-on-one and group fitness coaching, nutritional guidance, and personal training for clients over the age of 40. I asked Allan for insight only someone who has been that client and now creates solutions for them could know. Insights from this episode: Know that: Anyone asking for help is being incredibly vulnerable and you want to respect that. You haven’t heard it before from that client even if you’ve heard it before. Learn their language and use it. If they use slang, you use slang. If they’re more proper, you be more proper. Your personal training clients are each different. You may have a method but it only works if you can relate to them. Be able to justify every exercise that you recommend. You should have  a reason why they do every move that is tied to their ultimate goal. Why are you having them sit or stand? Why are you having them do it on a machine or using free weights? Why standing on an unstable surface? Get them in an area where they are comfortable. When they’re feeling vulnerable they aren’t feeling safe with you. Who wants to return to a place they don’t feel safe over and over again? Your personal training clients give you their trust, for a short time, and you can earn it for longer.  Explain why they’re doing the things they’re doing. They (as well as you) need to know. When they can connect the dots between where they are and where they want to go and the steps you’re giving them being the solution to closing the gap your personal training clients will keep coming back and stay motivated.  Be interested AND interesting. Show interest in them. You are a part of their lives. For you it may seem like one of dozens of clients. But for them you are their only personal trainer. They want a connection with you that feels like a friend or family. It’s possible to do that without breaching professional boundaries. “Conversational is the new professional.” Be one of the five people they most want in their lives. Be one of them that lifts them up. In your personal training clients lives you are in a unique place of influence. Where else can you leave every single customer feeling better when they walk out the door than when they walk in. Have fun. When you’re having fun your personal training clients have fun. That’s something we all want to rinse and repeat. Allan’s new book: The Wellness Roadmap Available at Amazon in hardbound, paperback, ebook, or audiobook.  40plusfitnesspodcast.com/flipping Social Media:  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/40plusfitnesspodcast/ Twitter: @40plusFitnessPodcast