As a personal trainer, you take great pride in your work and want to give 110% to your clients. Going above and beyond your personal training requirements is something that you would be used to, so sending your clients to get treatment for an injury or body related problem doesn’t seem like a problem or is it?
Time and time again having spoken with many personal trainers, strength and conditioning coaches, martial arts instructors etc. who are absolutely frustrated and angered that they are betrayed. Why? They did they right thing, referred their client to get treatment only to be told that they no longer can train. So the client either puts their membership on hold or completely cancels it. The other flip side is that the therapist takes it upon themselves to do the rehab solely and not work with the trainer, again leaving them out of the equation.
As a health professional this is one of my main pet hates. First things first the exercise/exercise discipline did not cause the injury itself, more so the individual did not know how to control or execute it correctly at the right moment. So to tell someone to stop training altogether is ridiculous. A more appropriate approach would be to scale back the exercise or recommend an alternate. Avoiding the issue simply does not solve it.
So from practitioner to personal trainer, here are some tips to find the right person for your clients.
1. Does he/she train or has trained in your sport/training style? This will help them understand the movements or exercise and what they can recommend to your client for alternative exercises.
2. Do they have an understanding of rehabilitation. This is important, so that the two of you can work together.
3. Does the practitioner contact you and advise you what they found with your client (diagnosis) and the action plan to get them fixed. This is really important, as a lack of communication may imply a lack of cohesion with you.
Don’t be put off by a previous sour experience you may have had referring on your clients to get treatment. I can guarantee you that when you find a practitioner that is ethical, communicative and bloody good at what they do, your clients will love you for it and your business will thrive with the increased client retention rate.