Personal Training Trends and Methods | BridgeAthletic

Everyone always thinks they have the latest and greatest trend or new tool for training. But in a field that is vastly growing it can be hard to cut through the noise. And while many of the trends are great, you need to be able to figure out what best matches your values, training style and clients aspirations. So, let's take a look at the different trends people are talking about right now so you can find what might best fit for you.

Wim Hof Method

There has been a lot of chatter around the Wim Hof method lately.

But what is the Wim Hof Method?

It is a way to voluntarily influence your Autonomic Nervous System.

It focuses on three pillars:

1. Cold therapy

2. Breathing

3. Commitment

"If you learn to control your mind, anything is possible"

Trainer, Jeremy Thiel adapted the Wim Hof Method as a way to recover his nervous system. Through focusing on breathing and exposing your body to the cold it triggers natural stimulation in the body that we don't frequently use anymore as we now turn to clothing and thermostats to keep our bodies warm.

Sound like a method you would be interested in?
Learn more about the Wim Hof Method.

Body Weight Workouts

Body weight workouts can be used as a way to take a break from a typical weight workout routine. This is also a great trend for building up your client's confidence to workout remotely. By going over simple, yet effective, exercises multiple times you can educate them on what to do when they are away from a gym or on vacation.

These can be turned into pretty difficult workouts to ramp up intensity. By adding in less rest it can be a simple way to get their heart rate up.

Body weight workouts are also a tool to utilize for clients that are coming off an injury or for new clients. This is the place where you get back to the fundamentals and really tune into doing the movements properly. Bring in the importance of body awareness when teaching these movements. Clients should be aware of how their whole body is working together. Often times, when we are surrounded by weights we have the instinct to keep doing more.

But more is not always better, especially if the quality of movement is lacking.

Key Tip: "All great coaches keep it simple." - Michael Cazayoux

Focus on mastering the basic fundamentals. It is easy to get caught up in the newest trends and trying to stay on the cutting edge. But the basics are the core to all the movement progressions your clients will be learning. So don't be eager to jump to the next new thing and neglect mastering the basics.

Put an emphasis on breathing - this connects to one of the Wim Hof Method pillars. Learning to control the breath and to be conscious of it are tools that your client will leverage beyond their time with you.

Body Awareness

Ditch the clock and use breathing as your metric.

This helps establish body awareness for your client. It brings attention to steadying their breath, rather than focusing on being tired. Having better body awareness will allow them to be conscious of their form as well. Instead of having them hold a plank for 30 seconds, have them hold it for 6 breaths. One full breath takes about 3-5 seconds from inhale to exhale. Once they start to do heavier breaths or break their form have them rest. This way you aren't stuck looking at a clock and can teach and work with your client on proper form and listen to the breaths they are taking. This will also help to monitor progress.

As they progress, the amount of controlled breaths they are able to do will also increase, making their improvement evident, even before physical results kick in.

Check out more tips from Smart Group Training.

Train from anywhere classes & how to compete

While many people are turning to group classes as a way to engage a like-minded and energetic community, a combination of online and group training is also trending. FlyWheel and Peloton have created at-home cycling classes that seek to resemble a lively studio class.

FlyWheel classes, "Fly Anywhere", link you up with a live instructor in the privacy and connivence of your own gym, home, or office. People can get the same motivation and benefits as going to an in-person class, with guided instruction from their own home. Equipped with live leaderboards and chat streams, Flywheel makes users feel like they're together in a studio.

Our own group-class guru, Joel Corpus, shares his thoughts on these classes expressing, "you can leave with concrete data of what you got out of that workout because everything is being tracked while you cycle." It measures your heart rate, RPE, calories burned, endurance, and miles biked, removing any of the wonder experienced after other in-person group training classes.

While you might not be keen to splurge on this new equipment only to have clients migrate towards tech-lead classes, it's important to understand what's driving these trends. As Joel mentions above, the data makes a difference. As performance enthusiasts and athletes now leverage wearable technologies to track their activity, they expect their environments to do the same. Look for software technologies that might support those looking for more data around their activities to compete with these self-training trends!

How to stay up to date with trends

Joel shared some insight he uses to stay up to date with new trends...

1. Like, share, post, repeat: Use social media to keep tabs on what other trainers are doing. See what classes they go to, exercises they advocate or new gyms they're working for. If a trainer is at a new gym or posting about a grand opening, researching more about it can be your inside peak into what's new. This is also a way to expand your network of who you interact with for new ideas and perspectives so you can continue to grow as a trainer.

2. Bite the bullet and walk through the door: Joel also tries to go to different classes whenever he travels. So next time you're in a new city, search for top classes around you to stumble onto a new type of workout or training style. Based on how much the realm of group training has be expanding, Joel doesn't think it will be slowing down anytime soon.