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How to Deal with Funky, Weird and Creepy Personal Training Clients…
Hey there… hope you're doing awesome. I wanted to do this quick blog post and talk about some of the funky, weird, creepy, agitating and downright scary clients we can get sometimes as personal trainers… and I want to hear some of your stories as well…
I personally have had some CRAZY experiences as a personal trainer… for example…
One time I had a clients boob pop out after she got off the back extension, and she didn't even notice it… I mean the whole damn thing was hanging out… finally my wife, who was just a client at the time (; , went over and said something to her about it… after which she promptly put said boob away.
Another time I was training two girls at about 6 am. Well one of them starts telling me about she's been doing medical fetish porn for like the last ten years. (Now that's CREEPY… medical fetish porn… what the hell is that anyway??? … apparently it involves a lot of probing)
So what does the other client do?
…She pulls down her shirt to show me a bunch of bruises on her arm and shoulder where her boyfriends been beating her… I guess she didn't want medical fetish girl to get all the attention… didn't want to be upstaged.
Another time I was training this rock star ( super famous - you would know her but I can't disclose who it is ) at a recovery home for the super rich ( like 80k a MONTH to stay there and get off heroin)
During the workouts she would try to boss me around, telling me to get her coffee, take her calls, get her fruit… TOTAL pain in the ass… even though I made a few hundred an hour… NOT WORTH IT!
I was thinking about all this recently and I came up with a list of nightmare clients.
Before we jump in I want to say that 90% of clients are a joy to work with ( ok, maybe 80%)… it's the other 10-20% I'm talking about here.
Be sure and add a few of your own experiences in the comment section below…
1. The Know It All
Now sometimes the know-it-all is just a real insecure person who has to prove themselves right all the time by trying to prove you wrong or question your authority and knowledge ( as the trainer)
I have found that the worst combo of this is the ex-high school athlete / ex-personal trainer Know-it-all. They question everything when they need to just do the damn exercise.
2. Mr. "I'll have your check next week"
You know this guy. He owes you a check for training but conveniently forgot it AGAIN turning you into a bill collector.
He's one of the reasons in my business we only do auto-debit or upfront paid-in-full for the entire year. No more of this that monthly check or selling packages non-sense.
3. The Flirty Client That You Just Ain't Into
This is that client you ain't into all but he or she is really into you. You know the one, we all have em'
Smiling at you when you're telling them what to do. Asking you what you're doing this weekend.
Now if you're into em' that's cool, I actually met my wife when I was training, but when you ain't into em'… and they're still giving you those looks… well I don't know about you but it's a little a creepy to me.
Must be how hot chicks feel ALL THE TIME.
4. The BBO ( Beyond B.O) Guy
Nuff said… I friggin dry heave when I smell bad B.O. and it kinda makes a scene… can't help it, I have a weak stomach for B.O.
5. Halitosis Man
ughhhhhhhhhh…. duuuuuuuude
When this trait is combined with the B.B.O trait you're looking at a long hour
6. The Sweaty Guy
This guy sweats on everything. The floor, the equipment, YOU.
7. Ms. 20 Minutes Late "Can I make it up next hour?"
Now, we all have a whole bunch of clients who either flake or are late… that's life… 20 percent of any segment of the population are gonna be flakey.
These aren't the ones I'm talking about, their money, their hour, their loss. their problem, no big.
I'm talking about the one not only comes in late but asks to stay a little bit into the next hour to make up for the amount of time they were late.
This person obviously doens't value anyone elses time, ESPECIALLY not their personal trainers.
My answer was always a swift "No, but you can stay after and do some cardio on your own right over there on that treadmill"
8. The Alpha Male Entrepreneur Who Has Never Taken Shit From Anyone in His ENTIRE Life… Especially Not Some Dip Shit Trainer
You know this dude, in fact this is the guy who I am most similar to… if you own your own training business you might be a lot like him to.
Now he's actually a pretty cool dude. Makes a lot of money. Has a lot of girlfriends. Travels a lot. Tells a lot of funny jokes. Has a gnarly combo of OCD and ADD. Drives a cool Escalade and usually has a Porshe or Ferrari as a second ( or third ) car.
He's a ruthless business man.
True, he's a great guy guy to hang out with and party with… and usually he's one of the coolest clients on your roster and can make for a fun hour.
The only problem with this dude is he don't like no one telling him shit. Ya see, he and his dad had a fall-out when he was about eleven. And since then his attitude is "F*ck authority, I'm doing it my own way!"
Which is cool, except when it's leg day and he tells you he don't wanna do legs, he wants to do biceps and chest again.
Like I said, in many ways this is a man of my own heart, but sometimes he's a pain in the ass.
9. The Complainer
You know em', for this person I just wanna buy the DVD "The Secret" and give it to em' with an eight ball of cocaine, three vicodins and tell them not to come back until they can think happy thoughts.
I've fired clients for being complainers. If they only knew that it's all their complaining that is making all this crappy stuff happen in their life maybe they'd stop… but I don't think most of em' will ever realize this simple truth.
( WEIRD moment of self awareness – Am I just complaining in this here blog post? Have I become that which I can't stand? Nahhhh…)
10. The Attention Whore
If you train groups this one is a real pain in the ass.
Usually it's a female who can't stand to see anyone else in your boot camp or group workout get any kind of attention from you… so they keep saying stupid things and doing stupid stuff to get your attention.
Daddy probably didn't give them much attention when they were young. ( There's a lesson here fathers)
11. The Arguing Couple
You train em' together. They usually workout hard.
But they don't get along. Either she's jealous thinking he's checking out other women in the gym… or he's a control freak and always giving her a hard time… OR…
Maybe their relationship has just run it's course… unfortunately usually this is about 3 months into a 24 month contract with you.
12. The Zero Personality Client
Never laughs… never jokes around… no energy… NO FUN.
I've spend hours trying to get one of these energy suckers to crack a smile. I've delivered one liners that would kill it at a comedy club against the best of em'… all to no avail…
These ones don't need personal training, they need prozac and a Chris Rock DVD
Sad thing is, Chris Rock probably can't even get through to them.
These ones are a sad case, if you can figure out how to get them to laugh and smile please let me know… cuz I'm ALL EARS
13. The Creepy Guy Client Who Looks Every Woman in The Gym Up and Down Like He's Ted Bundy
I've had to pull a few of these aside in my day and give em' the old talk.
They can't check out girls on the sly like a normal guy, no… they have to stare em' up and down like a f*cking serial killer.
Usually they can be straightened out with a quick talk.
14. The Talker
Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah
( many times this one has a lot in common with it's close ancestor the Attention Whore)
15. That Client You Slept With
Not even gonna go there, but you know you've done it and my friend, on this one you've created your own little jealous needy-clingy monster who now expects free training.
Time to either…
A. Dish out some free training
B. Move to a new gym and change your cell phone number
C. Kill em' ( not suggested but always an option)
16. The Client Who Blames You For Their Lack of Progress
Some people take no personal responsibility. They work out with you two days a week ( usually missing one of the two weekly scheduled workouts), NEVER do their cardio, eat whatever the hell they want and then blame you for their not getting results.
These ones give our industry a bad name because they go tell other people things like "Personal training doesn't work, I actually GAINED weight when I worked out with my trainer"
Of course you gained weight fatso, you used the excuse that you're working out with a trainer to inhale fettuccine alfredo and Ben and Jerry's like it were you're dying f*ckin' breaths
Ok, so now that I've listed a few problem clients… I guess I should get around to what can be done about this?
What can be done about the jealous, insecure, halitosis ridden, complaining, arguing, know-it-all clients that make the other 90% of your clientele base a real joy to work with?
The Solution -
Well, one of my first solutions is to train groups. That way no single one of these offenders can take up all your energy and focus for the full hour ( if you train for people an hour, that person is only 25% of your focus… unless YOU allow them to be more)
But the REAL solution is to get so many damn clients you can be VERY PICKY about who you choose to work with.
Then you can either flat out say "No" to the ones you don't like… or give em' the kibosh right when they start demonstrating bad behavior ( or after a couple of chances)…
OR you can outsource them to other trainers ( my favorite choice because you still get to make the money and help get them in shape… you just don't have to DEAL WITH THEM)
How do you get so many clients you can be picky?
It's simple….
Market, market, market.
Pretty soon you'll have more clients than you'll know what to do with.
Along with referral marketing my favorite way to get tons of clients is to let all my websites do all the work for me.
It's really pretty simple… have websites that get a lot of traffic from people searching for personal training, boot camps and weight loss in your local area,
And then have that website set up in a way that converts a helluva lot of visitors into paying clients using scientifically tested and PROVEN conversion strategies.
It's a simple formula that works like magic. Unfortunately, most trainers have no idea how to do this and are stuck training insane clients they don't like because they're willing to take whatever they can get. ( They NEED these clients so they don't go broke)
Well, if that's you and you'd like to get so many clients you can literally pick and choose who you want to work with, then do yourself a GIANT FAVOR and check out my Market Annihilator Program, you deserve it.
Check out the Market Annihilator here
Be sure to share any of your experiences with weird, funky or creepy personal training clients by leaving a comment
Comments on How to Deal with Funky, Weird and Creepy Personal Training Clients…
Chris,
Awesome post dude…
Our buddy Bedros did a post recent about Firing Crappy clients. I work with a guy who HATED … literally wanted to mame 2 girls he was training… I was like.. Dude… PISS THEM OFF… Get rid of them… and he goes, I'd love to man but they come 3 times a week and i need the cash… Mind you this is a Corporate Gym and the cash he talk sof is like 90 bucks for the 3 sessions in total. 3 hours a week of his life he will never get back for a measly 90 bucks and he cannot stand these girls.. FIRE them… hand them on to someone else and find another 2 girls you LOVE to train.. can't be that hard.
Quality as always Chris… and dude.. your fotos.. are you getting them from istock? flickr? or some secret jedi area?
Cheers
Adam Toohey
Great Post Chris!
Funny I have a client right now that is #4,5,6 combined. Its absoutly torture but at the same time hes been one of my biggest success stories. I wanted to get him a box full of tic tac's and soap but then I wouldn't be making a profit (yeah thats how bad he is).
As for the complainers and the attention whores I have them in my classes but they are the most loyal and love the torture. Usally after 150 pushups they shut up. I guess you can say my market is sadistic/ sadist women in their mid 20s-30s. Thank god they are all good to look at but other then that I feel bad for their bf's.
I actually want my clients to hate me, in fact I have a policy where if they ain't cursing me out then I havn't done my job. I guess thats why they call me the sadistic trainer now lol
Oh my god dude this is classic (especially the 3rd option for the client you've slept with), I'm forwarding this to all the Trainers I know.
I'd say this post covers everything, except for:
1. The Diva – that gorgeous girl who acts like she's Maria Carey and does everything in hew power to not make ugly faces when lifting weights.
2. The 'Dazed & Confused' client – that client with her head in the clouds. You tell her to squat and she starts doing abs…
HA HA HA LOL! Funny shit bro!!!!
Watch out for tht FLIRTY client OOOOH!
Chris,
You are hilarious man!
I'm glad I took the time to come a read this post.
How about this one – The client that has a new credit card every month because her old one expired.
Donovan "DFitnessguy" Owens
Oh boy, oh boy, where do I start, Chris?
I've had most of what you encountered – i.e. 'accidental' boob slippage, "make me coffee," ugly betty that's into me, b.o., zero personality, etc., etc.
Yeah, the solution is to hustle and set things up so that you are in a position to fire them…
@Michael – yeah the Diva is up there too lol
- Yavor
Awesome stuff, Chris.
While it's funny, it's also very true. Keep it up!
Bob
http://totalcyclingperformance.com/blog/
Chris,
that is Hilarious! I think I have had all of those creepy clients, and then some! How about the "married" chick who asks you to "train" her at her house! Takes the flirty client to a whole different Level!
My fellow Trainers, I feel your pain! I have all of the above! What it comes down to is, "I'm the Trainer, this is what you hired me for! If you complain you will be punished with more! So just get it done!" This is esier said than done, as long as you do it with a friendly approach. Keep up the good work guys!
Walt
Incredible run-down on the classic creep-type clients!
My biggest pet peeve is the one who pays and shows up for training just to refer to you as, "My Trainer". Right? As though, they are now among the elite for having a personal trainer. They want to tell their husband, boyfriend, socialites, that they have their own Personal Trainer. They gawk around the room to see who they can gossip with while making you wait until they are ready for you to tell them what to do next–so it can look like they are serious when they aren't. Fortunately, I have learned to recognize this type and avoid them as clients. Their goal is to make you feel like their personal a**wipe, not to get in shape. They go to Lipo for that:-)
The client that says their husband or wife is fat and out of shape. When the truth is they are fat and out of shape. It pisses me off when I hear my wife needs this or my husband needs this and they are fat, out of shape, unhealthy, have high blood pressure, and talk they are some fitness god.
Great Post by they way.
I like the know it all who actually knows nothing (about fitness, that is).
I've had about all on that list and one that isn't…the absolutely CRAZY individual. I'm talking about the truly unstable who would be better off trading your time for psychiatric help.
As far as having sex with a client…almost. I'm glad I didn't.
Chris,
Funny stuff. Pretty scary that I have experienced just about every type of person on here.
The only one I would add is the Negotiator / Cheap Bastard Client. This is the guy who brings in the latest promotional coupon and tries to get credit for a free session or promotion every time a new one comes out. Constantly working the angles and always trying to negotiate a better deal. The worst part is that they are usually the people who need the discounts the least!
Keep up the good work.
Craig
The best way to avoid having to fire clients is to not take them in the first place…i have a really great way to weed through them and pick great clients…I have a consultation form that gets filled out on the website first….you guys can feel free to copy it…and use it…it tells you alot about someone right away, and just from the info you get or dont get, you already know who you're dealing with.
If you work for yourself, there's absolutely NO reason to put up with assholes all day. May as well work for someone else if yu're gonna do that!
jejeje! Laughed lots reading this one…so true..I think I have had most of these in my roster of clients.
But not any more, my focus is now on training groups and doing classes with Kettlebells!
Some more to add:
1) The client one who wears "wrong" training gear…too tight, too clingy or just too much lycra!
2) The client who talks to everyone else in the gym whilst training.
3) The client who tries to haggle on price all the time
4) The client who doesn't do what you tell him! Especially regarding diet! urgh!
5) The client who cancels all the time! Or tries to re-schdule! 3 strike rule for this one!
Thanks for allowing me to vent! jejeje!
Now I know I'm not alone.
Man, the first time I fired a client was one of the best days of my life.
Great stuff Chris
by the way, it was a "know it all" client
OMG I have a running client right now who is a combination attention whore, whiner. I coach new runners to their first race (5k, half marathon, marathon) and my format includes a short seminar. Every time I start my seminar, "Penelope" (she reminds me of that character on SNL) starts in. "I don't like Gu. It's messy. I like this instead."
"Um, okay. That's certainly an option, as is carrying a baggy to dispose of the packet. Anyhow…"
"Yeah but then I have to carry a baggie…"
Seriously? Call Jerry Lewis. Maybe he'll hold a Telethon for you. Wouldn't want you to have to carry a baggie. STFU.
No one will run with her. As another client put it, "If I want to hear whining, I'll bring along my 5 year old. This is MY time." So every week, I go out and pick her up. Here is last week's litany:
My knee hurts.
I couldn't run the track because it was muddy. (Hasn't rained in weeks, track is clay.)
I didn't like the route. (…and I care why?)
I liked the route. (You just said you didn't like the route.)
It's not fair that on races they count it in your time if you have to go to the bathroom. (Okayy..you're right. Totally unfair.)
I don't like Sunday races. (Sorry, they're almost all on Sundays, except the one we're training for.)
I don't want to run that one, though. (Well, I'm sorry but I don't know what to tell you.)
E* (other client) ran the wrong way. I called out after her (as she ran screaming from me) and she kept running. You should tell her she has to stay with me.
At the end of the run while I'm running her through stretches, she proceeds to tell me how wrong I am to advise ice for her running injury because it ISN'T swollen (yes, if it is injured, there is inflammation), and that she would use HEAT (then you will slow the healing, unless you follow it up with ice) because she doesn't LIKE ice (can someone hand me a gun please?)
This is a 46 year old person. This is NOT (despite the behavior) a petulant 11 year old.
God help me there is 16 weeks left in training.
LMAO! This post is on point. I'm trying really hard to get out of one on one training. People really do suck all of the energy out of you in one on one type situations. My worst client was an overweight stay at home mom. She was evil and miserable. On one particular occasion she actually intentionally tried to injure herself. She threw herself onto the floor while putting her legs on the stability ball for a pushup. She had done this exercise many times before but she hated it. She hated anything that was challenging. She accused me of having her exercise on the "guys" side of the gym. The gym I was training her at was a regular old co-ed type gym. Because of her i'm very picky about who I'll train now. Like the other poster said a lot of these clients need a good psychiatrist before any personal trainer can help them.
Very nice Chris!
The client who is the total BULL SHIT ARTIST!
Dude, great post. I feel compelled to add this…
He was a client/friend and one day we were going to workout together. I did my set of shoulder presses, then he sat down to do his.
Just as I was about to sit down to do my next set… I SAW IT. He has sharted himself and I almost sat in it!
Funny thing was that he kept refusing to check himself… until the smell got so bad and I refused to sit on that bench.
I even refused to train clients on that bench even years later…
true story.
Bedros
P.S. It was very theraputic sharing that
Chris, Always enjoy reading your blog but what I'm really impressed with is the photos you use. May I ask where you get'em. Thanks
By the sounds of it you have meet my clients .
Chris,
I had this client who never washed his gym clothes and smelled like a cross between sour milk and a sack of rotting a–holes.
To top it off he'd walk out of the gym after his session with his tighty-whity's in his hand.
I sent him packing after 2 sessions.
I'm not a personal trainer — I teach Karate — I can tell you after those clients above leave you Personal Trainers they must all head to Karate — please take them back..!!!!
Hi Chris,
I think I've experienced most of them…although I have never slept with any of my clients!
Probably the scariest occasion was when I was training this young 14 year old girl – her nickname in the gym was 'Jail Bait!'
We once started the session with some warm-up and boxing in the gym studio which was empty, but had big glass doors so I felt fairly safe!
That was until I noticed she kept rubbing her low back – top of her glutes. I asked her if she was ok to which she proceeded to turn around bend over and tell me my “check was in the back of her cycling shorts, did I want to get it as she had her gloves on”.
I tell you I have never removed a pair of gloves so quickly from a client…. I promptly told her to fetch it her self whilst nervously looking over my shoulder to see if anyone was watching, just then one of the sales team was showing a young family around pointing out the studio facilities – can you imagine what would of happened if I had done as she asked…oh my god it doesn’t bare thinking about.
It gets worse….in the next session I notice some scratches and cuts on her thighs to which she raises the leg of her shorts and shows me some pretty serious lacerations…she tells me she's self harming and begged me not to tell her mum….man, I'm not trained to deal with that kind of shit!
I told her to tell a friends mother and that if I didn’t hear from that child’s mother in 3 days I was going to tell her mother.
Man, what a nightmare client, I didn’t want to further damage a seriously troubled young girl so fazed her out over a few weeks.
Anyway thanks for the great posts.
Alex
http://www.fitnessrant.com
Hey Chris, yeah we can all laugh and remember our experiences here.
All of the above but also-
The client that sh*ts themselves, no not a bowel prob just too much pressure in an exercise!(that was a toughy)
The client whos activated the pelvic muscles so well that little billy aint so little and wont go away. Could of doubled as a plate rack.(very tough not to laugh, jst sat him down and gave some science on what a good thing this is, BUT out of gym)
Client ripped his shorts in a squat and had no undies on, and insisted on finishing his set!( This was the know all guy)
great post Chris,
had a few but the best way to get the whiners and whingers is to give em (or threaten) to give them a princess card. Like a red card but instead of sitting out give em penalty exercises.
Had a bunch of whingers the other day then when the princess card threat came out – nothing!
keep em coming mate
I was coaching a world ranked Junior tennis player. He was fine to work with, but a movie could have been made about his psycho parents. Gosh, I have dealt with a bunch of them. The parents were from Korea and basically believed in no pain no gain to the fullest. Heck, the father was some kind of martial arts expert and he used to beat the heck out of the kid when he lost. Fortunately, the kid was #4 in the world and he did not lose or get beaten that often. He always yelled at the kid while I trained him. "Run faster and work harder!" Heck, the kid would be limping and doubled over and the father would be screaming at him to do more. Anyways, one day I had the kid pulling a tire up a hill a few too many times and the kid started puking up a lung. I thought that the father was going to beat me for hurting his kid. He walked up to me, patted me on the back, and told me that I was finally training him correctly. The relationship did not last much longer. Crazy and weird!
I reckon I have had 80% of these over the course of my PT career… Thankfully I do not have them and are wise enough to spot them out and handball them on to someone else… or give them a serious reality check with some jedi mind tricks…
The question that seems to be on everyones lips… and has us all drooling for an answer is… Where does Chris get these pictures from?
Again this is an awesome post..
Bedros… dude that is a Nasty story.. I'll take Diet Coke and Tuna over that any day
Adam Toohey
Great post Chris
I must say that you have some of the funniest content and also, hands down, the best pictures for your blog entries!
Awsome post. Where do you come up with these pictures? This had me laughing and is hilarious. Nice work
Hey thanks for all the awesome comment guys
Believe it or not sometimes I'll spend over an hour just searching down pics for the posts
Feel's like it's a $6 an hour job, but it can make a big impact
Awesome post man!! Everyone of those client profiles are too true.
Finding those pictures would have to be an $8.55 an hour job here in WA. The highest minimum wage in the nation.
Did anyone else send their clients to read this page?
I did, they thought it was hilarious though some are acting a bit self-conscious all of a sudden…
Funny post love the pic, the one with ben stiller is gold.
Hi…good point. It's generous to offer a copy of your questionaire. I'd be interested in looking at it. What's your website? Thanks!
Hey, i love the pitures some i can relate to LOL
I had a horrible personal training experience…The guy was dumb, an alcoholic, pill popper, and tried to get with me. And this is just the tip of the iceberg…Trained with him for a 9 month mind fucking rollercoaster because he was free. I lost alot of weight…but I worked really hard. He was an attention seeking manwhore and has extremely low self-esteem. Believe it or not he is the Boss and is Married. Boy, I feel sorry for his wife. I have so FIRED him!!!
Uh, dude… this was so familiar. Thank God I started filtering out about 80% of that crap in the last 5 years or I would jumped off a bridge for a craft I thought I loved. And even with 10 years under my belt before I put up my "filter" I still got about 10-15 % popping in under the radar- ESPECIALLY the CRAZY bitches. Damn!!
Awesome post..this should be in every certification manual….in the beginning, or at least the back as resources or in a section titled "MUST READ".
A while ago when I was new to the industry, I used to train a female friend of mine. She was overweight and asked for me to help her. I said for sure. BIG MISTAKE Not only did she pike on me quite a bit, when she did turn up, all she would do was tell me personal stuff about her lovelife and would ask me to give her advice during our sessions. Also she would give up during exercises because they were too hard. She also had the nerve to ask for group training prices for one on one training. Not to mention after each session I would ask her to keep a food diary and she would never stick to it. NEVER AGAIN!
Hilarious! From my personal hall of shame: the client who would actually turn down the intensity of cardio machines if I turned away to sneeze and would stop MID-LIFT requiring me to pick up where she left off lest the leg press fall on her. She went on vacation for a month, and when she returned, I had dropped some body fat (was training for a marathon.) The woman looked me up and down, scowled, and asked why I wasn't delivering HER the same kinds of results!
I pawned her off on a trainer who was as lazy as she was – happy to simply collect her check and watch the clock.