top of page
Search

What is Self-Defense for Personal Trainers?

self-defense for corporate teams

What is empowerment focused self-defense for Personal Trainers?


First, self-defense is about more than physical skills!


Whether you're the trainer or the client, Personal Training relationships rely on trust, respect, consent, and communication. Personal Trainers care for and curate safe workout spaces for their clients. Safety for both the trainer and the client are essential which means understanding each other's boundaries and feeling confident in communicating them.


Self-defense training for personal trainers means offering realistic and compassionate verbal and physical strategies. These are skills for navigating solo sessions, public spaces, and one-on-one client interactions with safety, professionalism, and respect. Knowing your options of what to say and knowing how to use your body to protect yourself if necessary can elevate your self-efficacy and ability to work with clients anywhere and anytime!


In the world of personal trainers, sports, fitness classes, and wellness practices like pilates or yoga, you'll often encounter people are not comfortable with physical touch/corrections or personal conversations. Being empowered to speak up and handle situations like that from position of either the client or the trainer is part of self-defense!


I used to teach Mat Pilates and in my intro I would tell my class, "I will ask your permission before touching you or correcting your form". Then as I went around the room to observe the students while teaching, would ask before moving their foot, helping them lift their shoulders, or showing them which part of their arm to level out. Recently at a city networking event, I shared this story with a Pilates studio owner and he was shocked by the idea of asking for "touch consent". He said he would start including it in his practice and in his newsletters to new clients because he never thought that asking for consent for something like that was necessary.


By addressing "touch corrections" directly and offering your clients the option to opt out is a way of practicing self-defene, consent while supporting their boundaries and personal space without them having to ask. This also makes your training business more trauma informed since you may never know what a client has experienced in their past and they may not feel comfortable discussing it. The reverse is also true in that the trainer may not want physical touch from their clients (hugs, shoulder rubs, hand on shoulder, etc) and having the confidence and skills to address it from a place of authority instead of fear is mandatory in any customer service based business.


Check out all of my available programs HERE!








 
 
bottom of page