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As a fitness coach or trainer, you recognize the importance of cardiovascular exercise.
Unfortunately, getting your clients to do cardio isn’t always as easy as telling them, “Do 45 minutes of incline treadmill walking today.”
But what can you do? How do you convince clients that cardio is good for them and make them more consistent?
Let’s review.
But First: What Is Cardio?
Cardio, short for cardiovascular exercise, is a type of low to moderate-intensity physical activity that aims to elevate your heart rate and keep it up for a specific period.
The three popular forms of cardio are:Low-intensity steady state (LISS) cardio
- Moderate-intensity steady state (MISS) cardio
- High-intensity interval training (HIIT)
LISS is generally best for complete beginners, whereas MISS and HIIT provide more variety and an adequate challenge to more experienced trainees.
Four Ways to Get Your Clients To Do Cardio
Explain The Positive Impact of Cardio
Some people trust that their coach knows better and follow their advice without a second thought. Unfortunately, most of your clients aren’t like that and need to understand why they should do something.
In the case of cardio, one way to motivate your clients is to explain some of the profound positive benefits:
- Improved energy levels and well-being
- A stronger heart and a lower resting heart rate
- Potentially lower risk of cardiovascular disease down the road
- Caloric expenditure and potential weight loss
- Resilience and improved functional fitness
How you present the information is up to you, but remember that people want to know what is in it for them.
Provide Fun Cardio Gym Workouts
Doing 45 minutes of incline treadmill walking can undoubtedly get the job done, but it gets old after a while.
People must enjoy their workouts and look forward to them to stay consistent with their training. One good tactic is to provide fun cardio gym workouts for clients.
For example, instead of only prescribing straight sets (do a set ⇒ rest ⇒ do a set ⇒ rest), you can include some intensity techniques: drop sets, super sets, giant sets, etc.
In addition, you can put together some fun Tabata-style workouts or circuits.
Share Tips To Do Proper Cardio
People enjoy things they are good at. One way to make cardio fun for your clients is to help them improve.
Providing tips on duration, intensity, technique, and other related details can help your clients do better, enjoy their workouts more, and stay more consistent.
Set Attainable Goals For Cardio
People are more likely to enjoy a process if they are working toward an objective. Otherwise, it gets challenging to stay motivated.
As a coach, you should examine each client and set realistic and attainable monthly goals. For example, you can have a 6-month goal for them and break it down into monthly objectives.
Here is how it might look:
- Starting point – can jog for 5 minutes at a time
- 6-month goal – can jog for 35 minutes at a time
- Month 1 – 10 minutes
- Month 2 – 15 minutes
- Month 3 – 20 minutes
- Month 4 – 25 minutes
- Month 5 – 30 minutes
- Month 6 – 35 minutes
Final Words
Not everyone loves cardio, but the exercise modality offers many benefits.
As a coach, your job is to explain the benefits behind cardio and find creative ways to ignite their interest.
