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UNDERSTANDING
MUM GUILT
IN YOUR CLIENTS
By understanding that your ‘mum clients’ can’t give you 100% – and that this
is totally fine – you’ll be better placed to help them increase their strength,
function and confidence writes personal trainer Theresa Prior.
I
The guilt game
‘Mum guilt plays a nasty game’ says mum of
four Belinda*; ‘She whispers in your ear that
you should spend more time working and that
you’re selfish for taking time out to exercise.
You listen to her. She then whispers the exact
opposite to you. That you’re working too
much, are unfit and need to prioritise exercise
in order to be a better mother.’
Firstly, are her kids with her for the
session? If they are, great. But don’t
18 | NETWORK SPRING 2019
underestimate the tug of war her attention
is undergoing as she attempts to listen
to and understand your instructions and
conversation, alongside trying to listen out
for any discourse from her children that may
indicate that tyranny is about to break forth.
Understand that she will be feeling guilty
for being unable to give any of you all of her
attention.
And if they’re not with her? Where are
they? What strategies has she had to
implement, who has she had to rely upon,
just to get these 30 minutes to herself?
Has she had to leave a sick child with the
f you are training a mum, chances
are she’s had to sacrifice
something in her life to spend the
30-45 minutes with you. And extend that to
at least an hour if she’s had to travel to you.
She will be feeling guilty about this sacrifice,
despite knowing that it is for the best.
Urban Dictionary defines ‘mum guilt’ as
being: ‘Guilt a mother feels any time she
takes time to do something for herself,
outside of work, that does not involve her
children’ and provides this apt context for
its usage:
“After barely seeing my children all week
due to work, I had horrible ‘mom guilt’
when dropping them off at the sitter so I
could go to the gym.”
Understanding that your mum clients are
experiencing this – really understanding it
– will enable you to work with your client to
help her get the results that she is coming
to you for.
grandparents? Or is she missing her child
receiving a school award at assembly to be
with you? Understand that the welfare of her
children will be at the forefront of her mind
for the time she is with you, and that she
will be feeling guilty about leaving them with
someone else – even if it is someone who
loves her kids just as she does.
Mum of three Kate* says, ‘My kids are
resilient and are fine with me leaving them to
go and exercise. In fact, they expect it and
are used to it. But while they’re little I need to
rely on other people to help me out and I hate
that!’ So, even when her kids are fine with it,