Become a Personal Trainer
What To Say To A Client During A Set, And The Level 2 Course Gives You Five Things
From the FASTER syllabus: this article is taught in full in the honest route from scratch to qualified, no sales calls and free lifetime return access →
In short: The Level 2 gym unit of FASTER's personal training course (H/617/8593, criterion 5.3) teaches that feedback during a session helps the client understand what they are doing well and keeps them motivated as they train. The course lists five things to do: keep feedback positive, highlight and praise good movement, highlight and praise good effort, encourage them to complete the reps, sets, interval or time, and use coaching points to reinforce movements and fill quiet time. It adds a habit: if you go quiet, move, because a new angle gives you something new to say.
What To Say To A Client During A Set
The short version
A common worry for anyone training to become a personal trainer is the silence: the client is mid-set and nothing useful comes to mind. One of the things you learn on our CIMSPA-recognised personal training course is a short list for exactly that moment. Keep it positive, praise what is going well, help them finish, and use coaching points to fill the gaps.
Key Takeaways
- Feedback during a set helps the client see what they are doing well and keeps them motivated.
- The course gives five things to say, all of them positive.
- If you go quiet, move. A new angle gives you something new to say.
- PT Manager opens when you sign up, with a Live Analyser to practise watching from.
What the course says
The Level 2 gym unit (H/617/8593, criterion 5.3) asks for feedback that is timely, clear and motivational. The course gives the reason: feedback helps the client understand the parts of the movement they are doing well, and it helps them feel motivated as they train.
The five things
- Keep the feedback positive.
- Highlight and praise good movement.
- Highlight and praise good effort.
- Encourage them to complete the reps, sets, interval or time.
- Use coaching points to reinforce the movement and to fill quiet time.
Notice that four of the five are about what is going right. The industry likes trainers who shout corrections across the gym floor. The course asks for the opposite, and clients notice the difference by the second session.
Move if you are quiet
My favourite line in the unit is the last one: it is a good habit to move if you are quiet, because the new angle will give you a new inspiration for comments. Walk round to the side and the squat looks different. Stand behind and the row looks different. You are never stuck for something to say for long once you change where you are standing.
Why the course is built this way
Learning on FASTER is visual, interactive and multi-modal: read it, listen to it, write your answers or dictate them from your phone. The practical units ask you to coach a real person in front of an assessor, so the five things become habits before your first paying client. PT Manager is free for students and opens the moment you sign up. Adding real clients unlocks once you pass.
What to do next
If you are weighing up becoming a trainer, the honest route from scratch shows what the course covers and what it costs, with no sales calls. The Certified PT Bundle covers Level 2 and Level 3 together for £1,500.
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Also worth a look: the Certified PT Bundle, Level 2 and Level 3 together for £1,500.
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Frequently asked
Do I need to talk all the way through a set?
The course says to use coaching points to fill quiet time, and to move if you go quiet, because a new angle gives you something new to notice.
What should most of the feedback be?
Positive. The course lists praising good movement and good effort, and encouraging the client to finish the reps, sets, interval or time.
Does PT Manager help with this?
Yes. PT Manager opens the moment you sign up, and its Live Analyser shows a skeleton over a client from wherever the phone is mounted. Adding real clients unlocks once you pass the course.
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