Source: http://www.theptdc.com/2016/01/6-tough-coaching-techniques-for-improving-client-experience-and-accountability/

Most of us preach moderation.

Fitness and diet needs to be a part of your lifestyle, not be a burden, or something that you run your whole life around.

Consistency and moderation over the long-term is far better than getting all hardcore and “engaging beastmode” for a short period, then falling completely off the wagon.

So why not use this mantra with clients?

There’s no need to get seriously strict, and there’s no reason to effectively be little more than a friend to your clients by not giving them any form of structure and accountability.

Here are 6 “tough” coaching techniques for nailing that balanced approach:

Alison about to kick some butt

1. Use the Compliment Sandwich

Sometimes referred to by a slightly ruder name (ahem, by PTDC head coach Jon Goodman in Ignite the Fire), the compliment sandwich works a treat with clients:

Give a compliment
Advise on what they could have done better
Finish on another compliment or a piece of positive advice

Here’s an example using my weight loss client Alan who went out for a meal a couple of Saturdays back. Our conversation went something along the lines of –

Alan: It was just supposed to be a meal with a few old school friends. I knew the restaurant we were going to, so decided I’d go …

Source: http://www.theptdc.com/2016/01/why-offering-custom-made-training-solutions-could-eventually-kill-your-business/

“Will build to suit.”

It’s an attractive headline on real estate signs that are promoting a space available for lease. In your fitness business, however, it’s detrimental.

I should know.

For a while, I sold myself to clients with the promise that I would build a customized package just for them. I spent an embarrassing amount of time with a spreadsheet that compiled various prices for different services offered. It didn’t take long before I had 20 different clients on 20 different programs and a scenario Urban Dictionary might refer to as a “hot mess.”

Every time I sat down to help a client, I had to madly sift through their contract papers to find out what I promised to deliver. This proved frustrating, and as a result, I often neglected something that they paid for, or provided a service that wasn’t included. In the end, what I got were wasted time, a poor customer experience, and lost revenue.

Perhaps you’re now where I once was: unable to see the chaos that ensues with the desire to please the masses. Take a page from my book before things get too out of hand and address it—unless your goal is to work more and earn less.

Here’re four reasons why a custom program for every client doesn’t work, and how to fix this model:

1. It’s ineffi…

Source: http://summertomato.com/foodist-approved-sweet-potato-salad-recipe/

Sweet Potato Succotash

With Spring right around the corner it’s time to bring back nourishing salads. And I’m not talking about uninspiring limp lettuce salads, but hearty, satisfying bowls of color. This creamy sweet potato salad stands on its own as a complete meal or pairs harmoniously with juicy burgers.

In our household we love to create side dishes whose leftovers can be transformed into work lunches. If you’re working 9-to-5, you need serious mid-day fuel to prevent that late afternoon slump (we all know that dreadful crash that leads to junk food snack attacks).

Thanks to the power combination of sweet potatoes, edamame, corn, and pepitas all tossed together in a rich yogurt-based dressing this salad will sustain you throughout the afternoon.

Sweet Potato Salad

Yield: serves 6

Ingredients

2 large (1.5 pounds) orange-fleshed sweet potatoes (yams), peeled, quartered
1 cup frozen, shelled edamame
1 cup frozen corn
1/2 cup plain whole milk yogurt
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 shallot, minced
1/2 cup chopped cilantro (or parsley)
1/3 cup pepitas (pumpk…

Source: http://www.fannetasticfood.com/2016/03/15/rock-n-roll-dc-half-marathon-2016-race-recap/

On Saturday, I ran the Rock ‘n’ Roll DC Half Marathon for the 5th time! This is one of my favorite races and this year was no exception – I had a blast out there.

For the past couple years, I’ve run this race “just for fun” at a casual pace with friends. I love racing but sometimes it’s fun to do races without worrying about pace and with your only goal to enjoy the views. This year, though, my usual RnR DC partners in crime weren’t feeling the race, so I was on my own. That left me wondering – should I try to race this or take it easy? I ran the Charleston Half Marathon about 2 months ago and attempted to race it, but my legs weren’t having it (which made sense, considering I really slacked on track workouts over the holidays). But my track workouts were on point the past couple months, and I was feeling strong on my long runs – so I started thinking, what the heck? Maybe I should go for it. I’m planning on racing the Cherry Blossom 10 Mil…

Source: http://www.theptdc.com/2016/03/how-to-build-long-lasting-client-relationships/

Building rapport with clients is essential to our long-term success. Anyone can run someone through an assessment or design a program — great trainers set themselves apart by cultivating long-lasting client relationships.

The key is establishing a foundation of understanding and meaningful interaction, ensuring that not only the clients’ needs are met, but that their training session represents an enjoyable experience they’re willing to come back for again and again.

Here are four expert strategies you can employ to develop rapport and build long-lasting client relationships…

1. Body Language 

Understanding body language is an important skill for any trainer. You need to know when clients are buying in to what you’re saying, or more importantly, when they’re not. Look for things like:

Eye contact
Arms – folded or by their side?
Where are their shoulders facing?
Are they subtly nodding or shaking their head as you speak?

Little cues like these can help you understand where a client’s head (figuratively) is at. If they aren’t making eye contact and their shoulders face away from you as you try to address them directly, they may not be into what you’re trying to say.

Always try to re-position yourself if you feel this may be happening. Body language is innately tied to emotion, and one can influence the other. Helping a client change their body language to be more open can help make them feel better and more …

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/tinybuddha/~3/uvrKR7PF6Hc/

“Grief is like the ocean; it comes on waves ebbing and flowing. Sometimes the water is calm, and sometimes it is overwhelming. All we can do is learn to swim.” ~Vicki Harrison

I’m no stranger to grief. When I was twenty-three I lost my mum and then eight years later I lost my second daughter, Grace, when she was only one day old.

Soon after Grace died, my husband and I saw a grief counselor. He said something about other people’s reaction to grief that turned out to be one of the truest statements anyone has ever made to me.

He said, “There will be at least one friend you never hear from again because they don’t know what to say. At least one person will tell you not to worry because you can have another baby. And there will be one shining star—someone who you didn’t consider to be that close a friend—who will be there for you more forcefully and consistently than anyone else.”

All three of his predictions came true.

If you have a friend who is grieving, I know you will want to be their shining star. Grief is awkward and difficult; it’s something we tend to shy away from if we can help it. If you have never experienced grief, you may be at a loss to know what to say or do.

You Don’t Need to Say the Right Thing

In fact, you …

Source: http://greatist.com/eat/sausage-party-trailer-is-like-toy-story-but-with-food?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=feed_http–greatistcom-

The slightly NSFW trailer for Sausage Party, an animated movie with a star-studded cast (Seth Rogen, Kristen Wiig, and James Franco, to name a few), made us chuckle but also left us a little confused. The clip starts off like Toy Story, but instead of action figures coming to life, it’s food. And these groceries are in for a rude awakening when they find out what happens in the kitchen.

We were somewhat horrified by the ridiculous scene in which fruits and veggies watch their potato friend (with an Irish accent, of course) get pared. But the trailer also made us think a little more about what we eat. (Watching anthropomorphized produce being peeled, boiled, and munched on isn’t exactly appetizing.) We’re not totally sure how groceries rising up against evil home chefs is a feature-length film, but we’re excited to find out.

…

Source: http://romanfitnesssystems.com/articles/chicken-legs-training/

Over my years in the gym, I’ve developed a penchant for absolutely brutalizing my legs during training and as a result, I’ve built a set of wheels that attract second glances on the streets and reflections of awe in the gym. 

You should see the looks I get when I tell people that I train my legs 3-4 times a week. From curing myself and my clients of having chicken legs, I’ve learned that leg training all comes down to three very important things. 

1. Exercise Sequencing

The sequencing of how you approach your individual training sessions, especially your legs, will make a massive difference on multiple levels.

This is a trick I picked up from John Meadows and is something I’ve found to be impactful across all body parts. It will make your workouts more enjoyable, but perhaps more importantly, your strength levels will be greater when proper sequencing is used.

Proper sequencing will ensure that your legs are flooded with blood before you tackle any back, front, split, or hack squats. This is done by doing isolation movements, ideally hamstring-focused movements before moving onto quads.

ACTION STEP: Start each leg session with isolated hamstring work. This will warm up your pe…

Source: http://www.sonima.com/food/eating-clean-recipes/

Amie Valpone put on 40 pounds over the course of five days. The 22-year-old’s small 5-foot-2 frame was suddenly retaining buckets of water in her legs for no clear reason. The bubbly blonde had also lost her trademark pep, and her immune system seemed to have shut down. In the emergency room, she discovered that her white blood cell count had dropped critically low. Doctors speculated she might have leukemia, but when she tested negative, they were at a loss.

For the next seven years, Valpone would receive a long list of other false diagnoses and incorrect medical treatments that seem to make her mysterious condition worse. Along the way, she was called many names (from hypochondriac to anorexic to bulimic), quit her corporate job, went on disability, turned her small Manhattan apartment into a makeshift medical center, and contracted a near-fatal bacterial infection called C. difficile colitis during one of her many hospital visits. At age 28, Valpone was given 24 hours to live.

“After surviving C. difficile colitis, I decided I was done with Western medicine. It kept making me so sick,” says Valpone, who was already in the process of getting her integrative nutrition degree at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, which, at the time, was affiliated with Columbia University. That’s when she decided to open up to her readers on TheHealthyApple.com—then her year-old recipe blog—about her health struggles and was surprised…

Source: http://www.niashanks.com/9-fat-loss-mistakes/

Rest assured, this isn’t the typical listicle article filled with overdone, regurgitated tips you see splashed on magazines. That’s why the title is appropriately 9 Fat Loss Mistakes You Don’t Realize You’re Making.    

Can you attest to this: trying to lose fat is a miserable process.

Embarking on a fat loss journey falls on a scale somewhere between this sucks and screw this my life is miserable because, let’s face it, no one claims to be having the time of their life when on a fat loss mission.

You go on a diet, avoid foods or entire food groups, end up dreaming about cheeseburgers (veggie burgers, for you vegetarians) and subsequently wake up gnawing on your pillow in the middle of the night. You focus on the things you can’t eat, and when you do give in to temptation (you know it happens!) you experience guilt and shame afterward.

This is usually followed by a commitment to “get more serious” and diet harder going forward. Heck, many times it means doing an extra or more grueling workout because you ate that gooey, chocolaty brownie or a sleeve of Girl Scout Cookies (I’ve devoured my share of Thin Mints).

And so the cycle — diet, avoid certain foods, resis…