Personal Trainers - The unsung heroes lifting mental wellbeing.

12 May 2021

Mental health awareness week - keeping bodies and minds strong.

As a personal trainer, you have the ability to empower people through exercise but most importantly their confidence and mental wellbeing. Mental health awareness week is a great time to talk about the positive impacts personal trainers have on their clients, and why exercise can and will continue to save lives.

Exercise can be the best form of therapy for those struggling silently, and in lots of cases, it is in fact their mighty personal trainer who they feel safe turning to as both a friend and confidant. And it makes sense why - personal trainers are positive and uplifting people who are invested in improving the life of each and every client they take on.

With Covid-19 having had a profound effect on mental health, more people may turn to their personal trainers for extra support coming out of the pandemic and here are three ways you can help them feel at ease.

1.Be reassuring

Someone coming back to the gym for the first time after lockdown might feel anxious and need to psych themselves up to even get through the doors. This also applies to people new to fitness who might feel insecure about their physique, which is why it’s important that trainers are mindful of how daunting the experience can be and reassure people who need it! Especially those with social anxiety or other anxiety issues.

2.Set goals

If you have a client who has spoken to you about their mental health, setting goals in place and helping them work towards them can be a great way to help them manage their condition and boost their confidence levels. Whether it’s to lose weight, improve their fitness levels or gain more muscle, learning to work towards these goals can help them manage goals in other areas of their life, too.

3.Be understanding

People suffering from depression typically find it harder to find motivation on those ‘lazy days’ that others find easier to push through. There are ways to boost motivation when feeling depressed, however, as a personal trainer it’s important to understand the amount of effort it takes for someone with depression to drag themselves to the gym on a particularly bad day. An intense lack of motivation already makes them feel guilty about things they don’t have the energy for, so instead of adding to any guilt make sure it’s nothing but praise and understanding!

Becoming a personal trainer is becoming a hero! Get in touch at PT Academy to find your course.