Quais são as maneiras eficazes de negociar a duração da sessão de treinamento do cliente?

Definitely agree that understanding where your client is coming from, should be set as priority one. Rapport and trust are essential if you want to propose a different session length than they have in mind. However, personally I am always looking what my client's goal is when it comes down to training. Is it solely to inspire and learn from eachother in a different setting, or do they actually want an improvement in critical skills? Developing skills, which means actual TRAINING, requires time. Creating awareness of personal 'flaws' or shortcomings take time. Just as involving participants in new methodologies and skills. The embedding of these skills versus accustomed behavior cannot be achieved in half days.

In my experience as a personal trainer is that effective ways to negotiate client training session duration include understanding your client's needs ( a 20-minute session is better than no session at all ), explaining the benefits of different session lengths ( you can try HIIT training ), offering options and flexibility ( through online training), negotiating with confidence and respect, and following up and getting feedback.

At the very beginning of working with a private client, the most important thing is that they want to change something and find time for training and exercises. A 20-30 minute session is better than none at all. I suggest taking this into account that there is no obligation to start with a 60-minute session if someone lets you know that they have little time and a tight schedule. The length of the session is tailored to the client's capabilities, our task is to make people aware of the benefits of short or longer training sessions, but they priority is number one.

I agree that trainers first should listen to the client's needs and see what they want. If you want to train them longer but they don't feel comfortable you are doing them a disservice. Fitness should be enjoyable and having communication is key. An effective way to go over client session duration is to go over the current phase of the training program. Review exercises you think will benefit them and how going through all these exercise will strengthen and improve their body.

Efficient time and frequency management. First thing first if the client has limited time and have a specific goal to achieve then precision is the key. S.M.A.R.T goals based approach is the best in my view. Dividing the session into progressions related to the specific goal. Periodization is the best way to achieve it. We cannot waste time in thinking about what's next, but instead we should be ready with the agenda of the training session and to compensate we must tell our client the must to be done things when they get free time in order to not loose our track of goal we have decided. It's always about the best efforts. Hills and valleys are always a part of any process which is totally okay as long as we commit to our direction.

I started a new Sculpt Yoga class at 7am. My clients asked me if we could do an hour long session because they wanted to exercise more intensely. The session was intense, precisely because it only lasts half an hour. The clients were surprised that they could work so hard on the entire body in half an hour. Most people think that the longer the session/training lasts, the more effectively they exercise, our role is to show and make people aware that you can do an intense workout even in 15 minutes with great results.

Finding the balance between one’s training goals and their available training hours per week is key to a client’s success, and trainers should be able to effectively communicate to their clients what options are best suited for them. I personally only offer one-hour sessions, as I work one-on-one with individuals on strength training and mobility work vs partial sessions and group instruction settings that are often shorter sessions.

As a coach you need to be able to adapt and help the client achieve results in limited time frames. Can you adjust a 60 min workout to 30 minutes on the fly while still getting results and not destroying your client?

It is always easier to negotiate when we give the client reasons for our choices. And it is of course much more effective when we are able to link their goals to these reasons. When we are very clear about why the duration we suggest is the best suited to their goals, we will be able to convey it with confidence, and they will accept it more happily.

As a personal trainer, as the name suggests, personal, i.e. individually tailored to each client, the length of the session and its intensity depend on many factors, it is not that I come up with a training without asking the client what he/she will do the next day or 2 days after training. If he/she is, for example, a surgeon and will be performing an important operation in two days, I will not do intensive upper body training with them. It's the same with working with mothers who have many responsibilities after training. I won't train them to the 'max' because I know that after training they'll be on their feet all day and they can't afford to rest, so I adjust the intensity of training to their schedule.