A huge part of being a successful trainer is getting to know your clients. Like any relationship, you should genuinely care about the person and have their best interest at heart.

A good trainer builds relationships with their clients by getting to know them. They ask about how their day went, what they did on the weekend, what their hobbies are, etc. By being interested in your client’s lives, asking questions, remembering their birthdays, this creates a strong bond between both of you. This will make it easier for the client to trust you with their weaknesses, their failures, their struggles and be willing to open up to you.

There is a fine line between a personal trainer who gets results and cares about you, and one who gives you a workout but spends most of the time chit chatting.

Do they engage with you during your session? Do they give you homework to do? Do they go over nutrition with you? Do they cue you on proper form? Are you getting results? This is how you can tell the difference between a personal trainer that gets results, as opposed to one that is only interested in the friendship aspect of the relationship.

Understand that your personal trainer is not your close friend. Texting your trainer about topics unrelated to your fitness goals may be crossing a line and make her uncomfortable.

95% of your session should be focused on your goals. It is fine if the rest is a sprinkling of non-exercise related topics, as long as it would not be perceived as oversharing by either party.