💪S.S. 59 What a new mom needs from you

1. What a new mom needs from you – Jonathan Goodman

I’ll never be pregnant.

I don’t pretend to understand the cascade of physical and emotional changes that occur when a woman gives birth.

And that’s a challenge.

Because the majority of personal trainers are male, and the majority of personal training clients are female, a lot of male coaches will end up working with female clients who have recently given birth.

If you’re one of them, your first job is to appreciate that she’s gone through a transformational experience. A first-time mom has a new body and a new life. And if she’s given birth before, she has new responsibilities and new complications.

Almost every mom puts herself last. It doesn’t matter if she has a newborn or if her youngest is packing up for college. The one thing almost every mom has in common is the fact they prioritize other people’s needs over their own.

Your training sessions may be the only time in her day when her needs come first. From the minute she walks in the door, she deserves your undivided attention. It doesn’t matter if she’s half asleep and spattered with baby puke. She’s the most important person in your world from the start of the session to the end.

Let her talk if she needs to talk, but avoid the temptation to offer glib solutions. You’re not a therapist. You just have to listen like one.

Your job is to improve her life as much as possible in the two or three hours a week you spend together, while staying within your scope of practice. She should never feel worse when she finishes a session than she did at the beginning.

Don’t try to be a hero. Just be the best trainer you can be, and the best human.

2. Mothers Week at the PTDC

If you had to guess the most common months for births in the U.S., you probably wouldn’t guess July, August, and September. Why would anyone want to be maximally pregnant during the hottest, sweatiest time of the year?

The most likely answer:

Nobody thinks about the weather nine months down the road when they’re getting busy under a nice warm comforter in late fall or early winter.

(A similar logic explains why April has one of the lowest birth rates. Copious perspiration may be sexy in romance novels, but in real life, summer is a good time for social distancing.)

So what does that mean for you?

If you train general-population clients, there’s a good chance you’ll have more opportunities to train moms in late summer and early fall than at other times of the year. Postpartum moms will want to get back into a fitness routine, and women with school-age kids will have a little more time to focus on their own needs.

That’s why we produced this all-new Mothers Week content package:

Today: Best Fitness Content Mothers Week Edition

Coming Monday: Exercise and Nutrition for Every Stage of a Mother’s Journey, From Conception to Menopause and Beyond

Coming Tuesday: What Your Female Clients Want You to Know About Postpartum Life

It all starts here:

--> The Best: Celebrating Tough Mothers

3. How to save time and money when building your business

Here’s what podcast cohosts Jonathan Goodman, Carolina Belmares, and Ren Jones talked about this week on the Online Trainer Show:

In Episode 13, Know When You Need a Course, a Coach, or a Mentor, Jon reveals the one food you should never buy from a happy person who has arm hair.

And then he shares an even more important tip: "A mentor is not somebody you pay." It isn’t an aggressive marketer who hard-sells you on a $5,000 or $10,000 program.

"It’s someone who deeply believes in you," and who agrees to help you because you’ve earned the chance to learn from this person. They have nothing to gain other than the satisfaction of helping someone who’s eager to learn and who has a lot to contribute.

Mentorship implies a true relationship, and it’s not something you can rush.

Check out the episode to hear Jon’s advice about when you should consider hiring a business coach, and when you’re better off taking a course.

In Episode 14, How to Save Tons of Time Overnight, Ren observes that, in at least one way, Jon resembles Batman (and it has nothing to do with the monochromatic wardrobe).

But before an aspiring superhero can make a dent in the local crime rate, they first have to find the time to pull it off. That means getting the Bruce Wayne part of their life under control.

It’s not as simple as hiring a personal assistant and expecting them to turn into Alfred. As Jon explains, you need to invest a little time each day, for weeks or even months, to document what you need the assistant to do—and, more important, how you want them to do it.

Looking at your business through a wider lens, Jon says, you need to decide when to spend money to save time, and when to spend time to save money.

You’ll find every episode here:

--> The Online Trainer Show

P.S. Whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways we can help you:

1. Grab a free copy of The Wealthy Fit Pro’s Guide to Online Training
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2. Join the Online Trainers Unite Group and connect with other online trainers
It’s our Facebook community where fitness and nutrition pros like you can share insights and advice about starting or running a successful coaching business online.
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3. Join the Online Trainer Academy
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