{"id":30798,"date":"2021-09-24T09:59:08","date_gmt":"2021-09-24T16:59:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/medfitnetwork.org\/public\/?p=30798"},"modified":"2021-09-22T10:19:32","modified_gmt":"2021-09-22T17:19:32","slug":"flip-the-script-how-fitness-professionals-can-overcome-challenging-clients","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/medfitnetwork.org\/public\/all-mfn\/flip-the-script-how-fitness-professionals-can-overcome-challenging-clients\/","title":{"rendered":"Flip the Script: How Fitness Professionals Can Overcome Challenging Clients"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you are a fitness or medical fitness professional, there is a good chance you have heard one or more of the following statements at least once in your career. In fact, there is also a good chance you have heard these statements on a daily basis.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">1. <em><strong>I am a little tired and my muscles are a little sore from our last session, so I am going to cancel today and rest.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">2. <strong><em>I don\u2019t want to do \u201cthat exercise\u201d because I have never done it before. <\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">3.<strong><em> My doctor told me that I should not be squatting, bending, reaching, twisting, etc&#8230;\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Many of you reading this article can relate to at least one of the above and may have even let out a slight sigh of frustration when it comes to overcoming challenging clients. Overwhelming amounts of research show that <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">exercise can help to improve your health and fitness without hurting your joints.(1) With your current treatment program, exercise can:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Strengthen the muscles around your joints\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Help you maintain <a href=\"https:\/\/medfitnetwork.org\/public\/all-mfn\/bone-basics\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">bone strength\u00a0<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Give you more energy to get through the day\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Make it easier to get a good night&#8217;s sleep\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Help you control your weight\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Enhance your quality of life\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Improve your balance\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, many of our clients still believe that exercise will aggravate their joint pain and stiffness, but that is not the case. Lack of exercise actually can make your joints even more painful and stiff.(2) If the muscles and surrounding tissue are strong, it helps to maintain support for your bones. Choosing not to exercise weakens those supporting muscles, creating more stress on your joints.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-30799\" src=\"https:\/\/medfitnetwork.org\/public\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/female-trainer-senior-client-exercise-ball.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"700\" height=\"467\" srcset=\"https:\/\/medfitnetwork.org\/public\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/female-trainer-senior-client-exercise-ball.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/medfitnetwork.org\/public\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/female-trainer-senior-client-exercise-ball-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/medfitnetwork.org\/public\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/female-trainer-senior-client-exercise-ball-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/medfitnetwork.org\/public\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/female-trainer-senior-client-exercise-ball-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/medfitnetwork.org\/public\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/female-trainer-senior-client-exercise-ball-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/medfitnetwork.org\/public\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/female-trainer-senior-client-exercise-ball-400x266.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While fitness and medical fitness professionals understand the importance of exercise, the way we translate this to our clients is key. Oftentimes, clients receive misinformation along with mixed messages from doctors, family members, friends, and of course, social media. However, after decades of both academic and professional research working with special demographics, I have discovered a powerful technique to increase clients&#8217; willingness to improve their health through exercise. <strong>The answer lies not only in showing the client how each exercise emulates real-life situations, but also how it affects their independence.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For example, telling a client, \u201cToday we will be working on how to safely and effectively execute a squat,\u201d is a lot different than saying, \u201cToday we will be practicing our sit to stand movements so that you have the lower body strength and flexibility to rise from your favorite chair without assistance.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Most importantly, it is important to reiterate to your client that their lack of strength, mobility, and balance leads to a more sedentary lifestyle that will decrease their ability to function independently as time progresses. Additionally, muscle atrophy, joint immobility and poor flexibility are key indicators that functional movements, or movements that are required to perform everyday tasks, will soon be a thing of the past. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If a client is unwilling to perform various exercises, here are some conversation starters:<\/span><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Did you know that this is not just an exercise, but one of the foundational movements to support strength, balance and flexibility in your everyday life? <\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Do you know the definition of <a href=\"https:\/\/medfitnetwork.org\/public\/all-mfn\/after-a-fall-would-you-make-it-back-up-moves-for-functional-fitness\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">functional fitness<\/a>?<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Do you know that this isn\u2019t just an exercise, but will help you walk up and down the stairs, get up from a seat, carry your groceries, and pick up a grandchild?<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Are you ready to give up your independence?\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<hr \/>\n<p><em>Christine M. Conti, BA, M.Ed, is an international fitness educator and presenter. She currently serves as the Director of Membership for MedFit Network, sits on the MedFit Education Advisory Board and is a course author for MedFit Classroom. She is also CEO and founder of <a href=\"http:\/\/contifit.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">ContiFit.com<\/a> and Let\u2019s FACE It Together\u2122 Facial Fitness &amp; Rehabilitation and co-host of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.twofitcrazies.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Two Fit Crazies &amp; A Microphone Podcast<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Check out Christine&#8217;s online course with MedFit Classroom, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.medfitclassroom.org\/product\/arthritis-fitness-specialist\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Arthritis Fitness Specialist<\/a>:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.medfitclassroom.org\/product\/arthritis-fitness-specialist\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-28427 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/medfitnetwork.org\/public\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Arthritis-Course-ad.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1185\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https:\/\/medfitnetwork.org\/public\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Arthritis-Course-ad.png 1185w, https:\/\/medfitnetwork.org\/public\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Arthritis-Course-ad-300x114.png 300w, https:\/\/medfitnetwork.org\/public\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Arthritis-Course-ad-1024x389.png 1024w, https:\/\/medfitnetwork.org\/public\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Arthritis-Course-ad-768x292.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1185px) 100vw, 1185px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>References<\/strong><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">CDC: Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. (2021, April 5). <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Benefits of Physical Activity<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved September 10, 2021, from <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/physicalactivity\/basics\/pa-health\/index.htm<\/span><\/li>\n<li>Mayo Clinic. (2021). <i>Exercising With Arthritis: Improve Your Joint Pain and Stiffness<\/i>. Mayo Clinic. Retrieved September 9, 2021, from https:\/\/www.mayoclinic.org\/diseases-conditions\/arthritis\/in-depth\/arthritis\/art-20047971<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you are a fitness or medical fitness professional, there is a good chance you have heard one or more of the following statements at least once in your career. In fact, there is also a good chance you have heard these statements on a daily basis.\u00a0 1. I am a little tired and my muscles are a little sore from our last session, so I am going to cancel today and rest.\u00a0 2. I don\u2019t want to do \u201cthat exercise\u201d because I have never done it before. 3. My doctor told me that I should not be squatting, bending, reaching, twisting, etc&#8230;\u00a0 Many of you reading this article can relate to at least one of the above and may have even let out a slight sigh of frustration when it comes to overcoming challenging clients. Overwhelming amounts of research show that exercise can help to improve your health and fitness without hurting your joints.(1) With your current treatment program, exercise can:\u00a0 Strengthen the muscles around your joints\u00a0 Help you maintain bone strength\u00a0 Give you more energy to get through the day\u00a0 Make it easier to get a good night&#8217;s sleep\u00a0 Help you control your weight\u00a0 Enhance your quality of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":327,"featured_media":30799,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[68,54,198,193],"class_list":["post-30798","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-mfn","tag-arthritis","tag-exercise","tag-fitness-professionals","tag-healthy-aging"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/medfitnetwork.org\/public\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30798","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/medfitnetwork.org\/public\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/medfitnetwork.org\/public\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medfitnetwork.org\/public\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/327"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medfitnetwork.org\/public\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30798"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/medfitnetwork.org\/public\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30798\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30803,"href":"https:\/\/medfitnetwork.org\/public\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30798\/revisions\/30803"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medfitnetwork.org\/public\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30799"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/medfitnetwork.org\/public\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30798"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medfitnetwork.org\/public\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30798"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medfitnetwork.org\/public\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30798"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}