Tips for Avoiding Personal Trainer Burnout

Personal training is a busy business. We occasionally see clients experience burnout, so why shouldn’t we grant ourselves grace when we experience the same thing? Here are 7 tips for avoiding feeling as if you’re at the end of your rapidly fraying rope.

1) Schedule Your Time

If you’re like most successful trainers, you’re verging on being overbooked. This is a good problem to have, but it can be overwhelming. Schedule anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour each day that’s reserved for just you and that allows you to choose how you spend that time. You can read, write, get a massage, or just take a quiet break somewhere away from work.

2) Meditate

Meditating has enormous mental benefits. It can lower blood pressure, reduce stress, and improve cognitive focus and attention. Even 15-minutes each day can turn a stressful week around in short order. Find someplace quiet to close your eyes and focus inhaling and exhaling. Inhale and think “let”; exhale and think “go”.

3) Get Social

If you’re an extroverted person who thrives in social situations, schedule weekly (or monthly) social time with friends. This might take the shape of a game night, a movie date, dinner out, or a game of volleyball in a local park.

4) Minimize

Doing your best doesn’t mean doing it all. What can you take off your plate? Take some time to assess the value of your time and if you have too many things you committed yourself to, try to remove a couple of things from your lengthy to-do list. Or, simply say “thank you, but I do not have the time in my schedule to commit to this endeavour, but please approach me again in a few months.” “No” is a complete sentence.

5) Get a Hobby

Do you have something you’ve always wanted to try or something you’re passionate about outside of the day to day responsibilities of training clients? Then, do that. Explore a new hobby or reconnect with an old one. Kick back with a good book, take an art class, or try a new sport.

6) Learn

If you feel like you’re in a rut and want to add an edge to your training capabilities, explore obtaining another credential that allows you to spread your wings and enhances your existing skillset.

7)Take a Vacation

Clients take vacations. You should, too! Plan a yearly vacation with friends or solo – whatever your preference. You can set your clients up for success while you’re away by having another trustworthy trainer step in for you for a week or give your clients on-their-own workouts and activities do perform in your absence (depending on their level of skill, motivation, and experience). A large part of finding success in a career is making sure our personal lives are balanced. This is hard to do if the focus is always on work. For the health of your career and your mental sanity, don’t forget to make yourself a priority right along with your clients.