Enjoyable interval training – setting clients up for success

Keith Smith explores some salient factors that contribute to creating enjoyable interval training

Over the past few years, interval training has become a go-to training approach for many PTs when supporting clients in achieving their short-, medium and long-term outcomes. For the purposes of this article, we will define ‘enjoyable intervals’ as being safe, effective and individualised sessions that hopefully lead to consistency of behaviour for clients who lead busy lives and have family, work and other interests, and can commit to attending a facility for some structured training twice a week. This, for me, is the general population. A fundamental ingredient in a client achieving success is consistency of behaviour.

Enjoyment and fun can sometimes be used interchangeably in conversation; however, for this article, we’ll consult the Oxford English Dictionary and define ‘enjoyment’ as the state of taking pleasure (a feeling) in something; ‘state’ as a particular mood that someone is in at a specific time; and ‘fun’ as amusing, light-hearted, entertaining or a joke.

There is no denying that fun is a vital component of any client/PT relationship; however, this article will focus on the most powerful driver of human behaviour – the feelings – and ‘enjoyment’ being how we define some of our feelings.

As PTs we often, but not all the time, see our only worth as supporting clients in achieving their long-term goals. This is what I like to call ‘the over there’ – the three-, six- or nine-month goal and the content that supports the achievement of that long-term goal.

Enjoyment is an experience that is defined by the exerciser; it is unique to them and no one else. It happens in the moment, as well as being a reflection at the end of a session or series of sessions. Enjoyment (or the moment, which I like to call ‘the here, the now’) could be defined as the value. Value is subjective – it is the client’s perception; however, what we need to understand is that clients pay more for what they perceive as value and worth, than they do for just worth alone.

Enjoyment is fundamental to consistency of behaviour, adherence and retention. As well as the PT’s session fee, a client pays for the service that a PT offers if they see both the worth and the value.

Completing the planned interval session is key to building confidence, competence and self-belief

As PTs we are paid to provide a service (defined as an act of help) – the detailed offering of information, guidance and support to take clients on their unique journey of discovery towards their outcomes (‘the over there’). This being our worth, it is very difficult to differentiate ourselves as PTs by our worth alone; however, if a PT can ensure that every single session has a feeling of success related to it, no matter how small, feelings of success could be referred to as enjoyment (‘the here, the now’), adding value to what we offer.

The two most important responsibilities a PT has towards their clients are: to ensure that what we deliver in a session, every session, is safe, effective, individualised and can be justified against where the client is right now regarding their individual fitness and skill level and linked to their short-, medium- and long-term outcomes; and to ensure it is being delivered within an environment that has been created to make the individual client feel safe/ comfortable, confident and loved, as well as having a sense of purpose, building trust and competence and, of course, enjoyment!

When it comes to successful personal training, ‘the over there’ and ‘the here, the now’ matter.

In the Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning, interval training is defined as, theoretically, properly spaced work-to-rest intervals that allow more work to be accomplished at higher exercise intensities with the same or less fatigue than during continuous training at the same relative intensity.

Interval training is often utilised/justified with/to clients as a way to burn more calories, which is fine if it is in line with what a client wants; however, PTs cannot forget the long-term physiological adaptations that support the client in achieving their outcomes, as well as contributing to health, wellness and longevity.

What follows are suggestions, considerations, ideas and examples to ensure that enjoyable interval sessions are planned and delivered safely, effectively and individualised.

Level of skill

Skill is defined as the ability to do something well². To ensure that the planned interval session is enjoyable, the client needs to feel confident and competent (enjoyment). I agree that the responsibility of a PT is to develop a client’s skill over time; however, this should happen away from a structured interval session that is aiming to be completed successfully, so that there is a high possibility of the session contributing to the long-term physiological adaptations. If as PTs we choose exercises for an interval session that make the client feel anxious, awkward or uncomfortable, then there is a high chance they will not complete the session and not come back.

Just because an exercise is popular, trendy, sexy or even naughty does not mean it has to be utilised – think about the client and their enjoyment.

Level of fitness

Fitness is defined as the ability to perform work². For the planned interval session to be safe, effective and enjoyable, it needs to be realistic yet slightly challenging. This is linked to skill level and those feelings of both confidence and competence that were mentioned earlier; however, it is also about intensity. If fitness is defined as the ability to perform work, then the intensity of each interval (both work and rest) and the timings of each interval (both work and rest) are major considerations, not forgetting the number of intervals performed.

Completing the planned interval session is key to building confidence, competence and self-belief, as well as knowing that there is a high possibility of the session contributing to long-term physiological adaptation, and having purpose and enjoyment!

Planning optimal interval sessions is a fine balance between intensity (fitness related) and complexity (skill related), ensuring that what is planned and delivered is challenging enough to ensure that the physiological adaptations can take place, and also ensuring that the session can be completed with a little effort and enjoyment!

Exercise likes

The vast majority of clients participate in structured exercise at a facility because they like it. There are always little things that we as PTs need to do to ensure safety and effectiveness; however, on the whole, it is about participation in the things the client likes to do.

As mentioned previously, interval training is defined as a training approach that allows the individual to achieve a higher volume of high-intensity training. We have known for years that intensity can be off-putting to some people, especially those new to exercise. If, at this moment in time in their journey, they don’t like higher intensity work and there are feelings related to high-intensity work that are unpleasant in the moment, as PTs we need to respect this and utilise other training approaches that, right now, are more enjoyable for the client.

Exercise likes can also be related to equipment choice within a session. We all have pieces of equipment that we like to utilise more often and equipment choice is fundamental to client enjoyment.

Clients don’t care what we know – they care how we make them feel

Mentioned earlier was the fine balance between complexity and intensity, but there is also a balance to be found around a client’s wants and needs. There will always be elements of fitness that we PTs need to work on with our clients; however, they should never take priority within a session for the general population. Instead, we should focus on the client’s wants (their likes). The wants are enjoyable and the likes contribute to the creation of moments – they drive behaviour. Filter the needs in slowly, unless what the client is doing/performing is unsafe and will cause injury.

We cannot investigate the contributory factors linked to enjoyable intervals and the feelings created in the moment without exploring the behaviour of the PT when delivering a training session.

An enjoyable interval training session is about creating environments that place the client at the centre of the process – it is about the client feeling a sense of purpose and focus; it is about the joy of ‘just doing’ and getting lost in the moment, and a PT’s delivery is a huge part of this.

How a PT delivers has a lot to do with emotional intelligence (EQ), which is framed within five components by Daniel Goleman, an American psychologist.

• Self-awareness is about recognising our own emotions and how our emotions and subsequent behaviours/actions affect others around us. As PTs we could be having a bad day – we need to recognise that we are not at our best, but also need to be mindful that the feelings we are currently experiencing have nothing to do with the client and should not affect the session. We need to remember that personal training success is about creating positive moments that drive positive behaviour.
• Self-regulation/control is about being able to control our feelings and communicate to others in a constructive, effective and positive manner. Our use of praise and how we correct and enhance a client’s performance, and our use of questioning to check/confirm the intensity and effectiveness of an exercise, is fundamental to the creation of moments (‘the here, the now’) and an enjoyable session. How we feel should not affect how we verbally communicate – it is all about the client.
• Non-verbal communication is our positioning to effectively interact with the client via the use of eye contact, our use of demonstrations to assist in the building of confidence and exercise understanding and performance.
• Motivation is about being self-motivated by our goals/outcomes and not by the rewards such as social status, kudos, money and prestige. Motivation is also about possessing the skills, behaviours and ability to motivate others to achieve their goals.
• When motivating others, this could be within a consultation or a client review and the use of motivational interviewing, or within a session via verbal or visual communication, saying or doing the right thing at the right time to maintain or develop the client’s drive to succeed.
• Empathy is generally described as an ability to see and feel another’s perspective – to understand, feel and respond to their situation/current experience, so that we may be able to act with compassion. What does it feel like to be a complete beginner exercising at a facility? What does it feel like to be an advanced exerciser who has reached a plateau and is not moving forward? Or a member of three months whose motivational bubble has burst and is asking for support and guidance?
• Having the ability to empathise allows the PT to understand where the client is right now and to plan and deliver at the most optimal starting point, as well as progress accordingly.
• Social skills are about how we develop and maintain relationships and communicate effectively. This is fundamental to enjoyable intervals and to creating ‘the here, the now’.

Personal training success with enjoyable interval training is about how we make the client feel. Clients don’t care what we know – they care how we make them feel (enjoyment). As PTs, we need to know a lot and ensure we apply our knowledge in a way that creates moments of enjoyment, that drives positive behaviour, leading to adherence, retention and, most importantly, success for the client.

Read more from Keith Smith on the PT experience, on the FitPro blog

References

1. Beachle T, Earle R (2008), Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning, NSAC 3^rd
2. Quinney PhD HA, Gauvin PhD L, Wall PhD AET (1994), Towards Active Living, Human Kinetics.