FEATURE ARTICLE
TEACHING FOCUS: A PERSONAL PERSPECTIVE
JOHNNY GILLESPIE, CSCS, NSCA-CPT
T
he human mind has a tendency to wander quickly.
Nowadays, constantly checking texts, emails, Twitter,
Facebook, etc. is normal behavior. Technology has become
an itch that we constantly want to scratch. It seems as though life
in the 21st century is inadvertently training our minds to be in a
constant state of reactivity and unease. Technology is certainly
not going to be slowing down anytime soon, it will only grow over
time. It is important for personal trainers to recognize how much
of this technology has already crept into the training room and
how it affects our ability to work with people in a meaningful way.
technology and a lack of focus by your clients can ultimately affect
your ability to do your job. It can be hard to expect organization
and structure from your training without established principles
and/or rules. Below are some recommended ground rules for
personal trainers to implement with their clients:
1.
Memorize the maxim, “where your attention goes,
energy flows.”
2.
Both the personal trainer and the client should leave their
digital devices in the locker room, if possible. This will
provide your clients with your undivided attention and vice
versa. This may prove to be healthy for them as well as
beneficial in your trainer-client relationship.
3.
Use a mirror when teaching a movement initially. In our
company, we teach 10 fundamental movements to help
clients cultivate awareness of their bodies, and
demonstrate how their bodies are designed to function.
We stress that there are two coaches in the room—I am
one and the other is in the mirror. The ability to focus on
the feedback received by the mirror may help develop
kinesthetic awareness, mental focus, and responsibility for
their movement.
4.
One of these 10 movements mentioned previously involves
breathing diaphragmatically through the nose and exhaling
through the mouth while bracing the core. Clients should
be reminded to breathe like this while performing certain
exercises, but it is important to remember that this
breathing may not be applicable to clients lifting
heavy weight.
For this reason, teaching the concept of focus while training
to improve performance is one of the most important training
aspects in the field of personal training today.
For the first six years of my career as a personal trainer, I did not
teach the importance of focus. Instead, I examined the connection
between a person’s level of athleticism and his or her ability to
focus. It was apparent to me that clients who made the greatest
progress were those who could focus on their training, and the
clients who did not want to focus on exercise were actually
draining my energy. These clients were looking for a friend, a
therapist, and sometimes just a shoulder to cry on. Even though I
realize that empathy and communication are vital aspects of the
personal training industry, I wanted to spend as much time as I
could coaching, rather than talking. Additionally, I have found that
many other trainers share my experience.
From this experience, I developed some ground rules to help
teach the concept of focus to clients. For personal trainers, it
is important to consider that without ground rules in place,
16
PTQ 1.1 | NSCA.COM