People come to training in the gym to recharge, relieve stress, improve health and, of course, improve aesthetic performance. Unfortunately, no one in life is insured against injuries, especially not as an exception to the sports ground. How to avoid problems, who is responsible for such troubles, we will try to understand.
The recommendations of methodologists of “Fitness Academy – Ukraine”, practicing and competent instructors Olga Smelkova and Ivan Balan will help in this.
About class format and security
The instructor of group programs recommends not to forget about the format of the class and to start from their orientation in preparation for the classes.
Let’s start with the formats first. Sometimes:
- Cardio classes, where clients work more on fat burning, heart muscle function;
- Strength classes, where the main muscle groups of the body are studied more;
- Dance formats, where choreography is taught;
- Flexible strength classes, where you work on muscle stretching, on spinal stabilization.
Coach training should start with the right warm-up. Injuries happen exactly when the instructor gives it little time.
Olga emphasizes that each format has a special warm-up, aimed at a specific type of injury: “For example, in aerobics it should be simple basic steps with a good amplitude. Then we can talk about safety and warming up the whole body and feet, knees and legs.
If we take a warm-up on the tai-bo, it should be a specific blow, directly related to the format itself. If you take a functional training, it should be a general warm-up for joints, ligaments, hands, feet and, of course, all muscles.
Injuries often occur at the meeting if the coach does not observe the safety conditions of this class. For example, it gives complex elements, which are more connected with yoga or acrobatics. Then, of course, a client who does not have enough physical training will be traumatized. First of all, it will be the back, knee and cervical injuries.
If we don’t take specific directions,” continues Olga, “then the warm-up is standard for almost everyone. It includes 5-7 minutes of basic simple exercises, energy-intensive, with a good amplitude, technique to make a person feel fully warmed up.
Typical mistakes and how to fix them?
One: communication error and customer assessment error
The coach’s qualifications determine how clearly he or she is able to convey this or that information to the client. The instructor, first of all, must remember that the psycho-emotional component of the person who came to the training fully depends on him/her.
The trainer should observe the current state of the client, be able to properly smooth out sharp corners and bypass unpleasant situations. And the main thing is that even if they are 10, 15, 20 years old, it is necessary to give clear and precise instructions at each lesson.
Second, there is a regulatory error
Both group fitness classes and individual classes involve training regulations. Classes should consist of a warm-up, a training phase and a hitch.
During the warm-up, the coach warms up all the joints of the client as much as possible. In order to perform these exercises correctly, the coach must have the appropriate knowledge and skills.
Next comes the training phase. You need to feel when to finish the training, to catch this moment clearly. A person should leave completely satisfied, but a little hungry. It is very important that a person wants to train, so that he does not get too much exercise.
Third: the coach’s emotional state, or the rule of a whole/broken mirror
What do you mean, a whole mirror or a broken mirror? We must remember that the client always reflects the condition or emotion that the coach sets for him.
The behavior of the trainer himself, his attitude to training, sociability, politeness will also depend on the behavior of the latter. As in the mirror, the client sees the instructor’s condition in the client – funny, happy, joyful or aggressive, with cracks and misunderstandings.
The coach should not be self-confident – he knows everything, knows everything better than anyone else. He should clearly hear and understand what the person wants, and after that to build classes, giving a positive charge and the necessary exercises.
Four: back problems
What does it mean to have back problems? Often the gym starts out as follows: the coach, explaining an exercise, turns his back on his client. This is a serious mistake of the psychological plan, because every person feels disrespect.
At the same time, the instructor starts saying something, forgetting that the client does not see the expression of his face. Not only do we communicate with words, but we also read information from mimics. We do not see the face – we already feel uncomfortable, uncomfortable, then the discomfort state only worsens. This can also lead to serious injuries, as a person loses confidence.
And in the moment when he does not feel confident, he can simply not concentrate on it and make a mistake when doing this or that exercise.
Five: working with “ego”
The coach’s biggest mistake is to think: “I know everything, I know how to do it, I don’t need to study anything else. In general, all the scientists in the world who are now working on some of the latest innovations in sports life, they do not know anything at all. I (!) know better than anyone else.
This only shows that the coach’s qualifications are insufficient. An instructor must constantly learn, develop and move. And to accept – to accept information, to accept criticism.
The more they criticize, the better, because more information comes about what to look for, what qualities to improve, in what direction to develop further. If there is no criticism or a person does not perceive it, he stops developing, stops working, stops moving, and this is the way to nowhere, the first step towards degradation.
Therefore, the coach should pay attention to his own self-development, and the increase in knowledge will reduce errors in training and, as a consequence, will reduce the traumatic situation to zero.
Who’s to blame: Coach, client, or one for two?
It is necessary to look for the guilty after what has happened, but this way is not effective. Each fitness club tries to avoid traumatic situations on its own sites, but it is necessary to clarify whether the trainer is the only one who is to blame or whether the clients are also “accomplices”.
As with any work with people, there are no simple situations. Ivan Balan emphasises that this is the case: “The trainer should understand, be aware of and accept the fact that the client is always right. No matter what happens at the training, the client is always right.
But if the trainer shows excessive initiative, can the instructor influence it? Not always. Olga Smelkova says: “Often the responsibility is shared between the coach and the client.
Often, a person does not assess his or her abilities and takes, for example, the wrong weight for him or her at strength training sessions. The result is fast fatigue, loss of technique and traumatism.
Or the client does not count on their strength and goes on three quite intensive and stressful sessions in a row. Accordingly, in one day, he gets the maximum load and then does not come a week, because he can not recover from muscle pain, from the fact that the body is just over-trained.