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Being married to a psychologist has its downsides:
- I need to talk about my feelings.
- All
- of
- The
- year
However, there are some perks. Most of what “drains” me as a coach isn’t so much the x’s and o’s of writing programs or being able to figure out what might be the root cause of someone’s shoulder pain. These are pretty much second nature at this point in my career.
No, what bothers me the most is figuring it out People.
Specifically, what motivates one person to exercise (and stick with it) as opposed to what makes the next person do the same?
It’s a quagmire to say the least, and often requires too much mental gymnastics for my liking.
Copyright: Seventyfour74 / 123RF Stock Photo
Autonomy = The ‘Is’ factor for getting results
here is my wife Dr. Lisa LewisIt comes to.
Before we met, whenever I worked with someone who seemingly didn’t have the discipline or “chutzpah” to follow through with them at the gym…I often resorted to some tough love.
I would assume he didn’t want it enough and my default was to question their work ethic. I wouldn’t be a fan or anything, but I also didn’t go out of my way to show a lot of compassion or empathy.
When my wife and I first started dating, I often talked about work with her and tried to forgive how This The client would not work hard during the session or how that The customer just didn’t seem to care about the results or how I really, really screwed up he had to wear pants.
I’d be like “what the hell!?!” and then throw a chair through a window or something, and then it would be like…
and then say something like:
…“You know, maybe you just need to do a better job of learning what really motivates people?”
And that’s when I was first introduced to Self-Determination Theory.
You don’t have to go very far into the weeds. All you need to know about SDT is that it was popularized by psychologists Edward Deci and Richard Ryan and revolves around…
“a macrotheory of human motivation and personality that addresses people’s inherent developmental tendencies and inherent psychological needs. It is about the motivation behind the choices people make without outside influence and interference. SDT focuses on the extent to which a person’s behavior is self-motivated and self-determined.’
The three main components are:
- Adequacy
- Autonomy
- Relevance
For the sake of brevity I am going to sharpen autonomy or the power of choice.
In short, people don’t like being told what to do.
In the fitness industry this seems a bit absurd considering that is exactly why most people hire us in the first place.
However, one of the biggest changes I’ve made to my coaching philosophy – in part due to my wife’s push over the years – is to work on autonomy and give clients more choice in their programming.
Not only does it make a big difference in helping clients stay motivated to workout, but it also helps accelerate their results and progress.
Here are some suggestions and examples.
1. Allowing them to choose the main lift of the day
I live in a power and conditioning bubble. Most people who start working with me already know what they are getting themselves into.
They will lift heavy things and listen to some EDM while doing it.
A “trick” I will use – especially with beginners – is to let them choose their main lift of the day. If doing some squats fills their workout love tank that day, that’s what we’ll do.
Likewise, if they want to deadlift, we’ll deadlift.
The only exercise I will say a hard no to is pull-ups.
I’d rather they jump into a shark’s mouth.
But can you see the inherent advantage this approach provides? If you have a client who struggles with motivation or just doesn’t seem to be “struck” for a particular session, maybe all you need to do is give them more options.
Assuming, of course, that you factor in their goals, injury history, and skill level.
2. Choosing the variation of a specific exercise
It’s occupation day.
[Cue the cacophony of moans]
Admittedly, few people – except the truly masochistic – derive a sense of butterfly kisses and rainbows from squat day.
That said, another trick to use is to allow clients to choose which variation of a particular exercise to perform that day.
Squat
- Box Squat
- Back Squat
- Front Squat
- Squat Cup
- Seizure of land mines
- Front Squat 2 KB
There are many options. and we haven’t even discussed things like ladder sets, drop sets, rest/pause sets, or even modifications that can be done with stance, pace, or even using special bars (SSB, Duffalo, Cambered, etc.).
Giving clients some say in what variation they are going to run that day is a game changer in terms of generating more “buys” in that session.
3. Free time
Another tactic I often use to increase motivation is to give clients a 5-10 minute “window” at the end of their session to do whatever they want.
Most of my male clients choose to do some additional guns or “Gun Show” work.
Most of my female clients choose to do some extra buttock or “badonkadonk” work.
And, not coincidentally, most of the magicians I work with prefer to use their time to specialize their faces.
Science.
#dumbledoreisswole
Overall, this approach serves as a nice compromise. As long as the client completes what’s on their schedule – and does what I want them to do – I’m more than happy to give them some free time and choose their fate at the end of the session.
If they leave with a bicep or glute pump and are happy, I have no problem.
There’s obviously a lot more that could be said here, but I’ll defer to the motivational expert, my wife!, at this point. Her popular course, Mental skills for fitness professionals now offering open enrollment for $60 off the regular price.
There is a degree of bias here, so take that as you will…
…but THAT is the crap most fitness professionals have to train on. Yes, it is important to know the anatomy, evaluation and intricacies of effective program design. But what really separates the good from the great is understanding People and how to navigate the human psyche.
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