http://www.thepersonaltraininginstitute.co.uk/courses/becoming-a-pt

The Personal Training Institute, London (2025)

04/05/2022

➡️ LETS TALK PERIODISATION ⬅️

There are two camps in the industry

You have the people who say periodisation is a must

And

Then you have the people who say periodisation isn't crucial as long as the person is making progress

So, who is right?

Well both!!!!

They both have valid points and it is up to us as coaches to make the best judgement call for the client that we are working with.

Me personally I create a periodised program taking them through different stages

However, I also at the same time don't stick to it religiously

I might push things back or pull things forward in the program all depending on what is happening with the client.

I ask myself a few questions and you can use these as well

➡️ Are they making progress?
➡️ Have they truly plateud?
➡️ Are they bored of the program?
➡️ Have they been consistent to it?

Just remember making changes does not need to be extravagant.

A simple tweak in rep ranges, technique, progressions, sets, reps, load, tempo, hand positioning, exercise choices etc can all be the difference that is needed to see further progress or make it more enjoyable for the client.

Some clients like the change and some don't and like to just know they are seeing progress.

This is a bit of a personality trait thing, but that is for another day.

Periodisation is important, but also is progress. They have to match one another!

My main thing I want to leave you on here is

DONT BE STUCK AND THINK YOU ALWAYS HAVE TO DO IT ONE WAY!!!

Make sure to give us a follow for advice on becoming a trainer 😁

17/03/2022

➡️ USE THOSE HANDS TO GOOD USE ⬅️

We have two camps at the moment in the industry!

You have to count calories camp

And

You have to intuitively eat camp

Both are awesome and both have their place in someone's program at different points in time!

However, let me introduce you to another method!

It's called portion control and to add on I mean using your hands

I add that part on as you can portion control with your eyes e.g. you see roughly how much and then go from there!

However, today let's just talk about palms.

You are going to meet a tonne of clients who just simply do not want to count calories.

You also will have client who just simply don't have the ability to intuitively eat because there signalling and control is all over the place

Which will most likely cause them to go nutty Nora when they do eat!

So, instead we have to find that happy medium.

Portion control via your hands is that method!

How does it look you ask? Check below!

✋ - 1 palm of protein for a female and 2 for a male

👍 - 1 thumb of fat for a female and 2 for a male

👊 - 1 fists of veggies for a female and 2 for a male (I personally say don't worry about this one and just load up on the veggies)

👊 - 1 fist (some say cupped hand) of carbohydrates for a female and 2 for a male

But James that isn't individualised!

Your right, so make it individualised.

Here is what I do.

I work out their calories and macronutrients.

I then turn that into portion sizes and advise them that way!

Does it take a little more work? Yes!

But it makes them consistent and well that leads to results 😁

This method was popularised by

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The Personal Training Institute

16/03/2022

➡️ LETS TACKLE VOLUME FIRST ⬅️

So let's address elephant in the room!

THEY ARE NOT MY FINGERS!!!

Now, let's get back to the point of this post!

We have variables that are in our program such as;
➡️Reps
➡️Sets
➡️Tempo
➡️Rest
➡️Exercise order

However, we then have variables over the top of that.

One of these variables is volume!

Volume simply means - The amount of work you done within the workout.

However, we can go deeper and look at it across the week, across that block and across that phase.

Volume has been highly linked with hypertrophy.

The higher the volume (within reason) the more hypertrophy.

The thing we need to understand though is that volume is different for everyone.

What would be high volume for newbie Jane, will not be anywhere near enough for oldie James (yes that's me)

So, we can't put a blanket statement over this.

We then need to know how do we figure out volume.

We have the total volume way e.g. reps x sets x weight =

We then have the reps way e.g. how many reps within the workout

Then we have the sets way e.g. how many sets within the workout

This can then be broken down to how much of that is on a specific muscle and how much of that is in total e.g. are you doing a chest day where all is pushed towards that muscle, but volume lower.

Or are you doing full body where volume is higher, but not on a specific muscle!

When it comes to preferred method you have to find your own, but for us it has always been the sets route that we found the best!

There is of course other factors we need to look at, but let's leave it at that!

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15/03/2022

➡️ TRAIN THEM EFFECTIVELY ⬅️

Now you know there are 3 deltoids it is time to see where they attach!

Remember attachment points are critical to you being able to effectively train these muscles.

So, let's have a little lookie at the

1️⃣ Anterior/Front deltoid ⬇️

Origin - Runs onto the clavicle area

And

Insertion - Into the upper arm

This should get your mind thinking about what sort of actions it can perform then and what muscles do we have to be aware of that might be recruited depending on set up!

2️⃣ Medial/Lateral deltoid ⬇️

Origin - End of clavicle

And

Insertion - Into the upper arm

Start thinking about set up for this and how a simple rotation of the humerus can shift the load being put on the medial/lateral deltoid. This is huge!!

3️⃣ Posterior/Rear deltoid ⬇️

Origin - Into the scapula

And

Insertion - Into the upper arm

Now, start to think about how this muscle can be isolated and also how distance in back exercises might actually be more rear delt than actual back!!

Remember your origin and insertion are important,

But

Understanding how this relates to exercise is going to be crucial for you when working with clients!

WE ENSURE OUR LEARNERS FULLY UNDERSTAND THIS!

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The Personal Training Institute

14/03/2022

➡️ DON'T BE AFRAID. TRUST ME! ⬅️

Let me be honest with you....

Majority of people won't use the advice on their own anyways!

I love a good seminar.

Hey why do you think I love getting on the calls with our learner

I love just getting up there and educating and helping.

You should do the same!

You want to pick up clients then take all the advice we have already given e.g.
➡️ Be second circle (coined by my coach Ewa)
➡️ Know the lifelong value of a customer

And then hold a seminar!

You not to sure what on?

Think of all the conversations you have had and what has been one of the biggest issues people have!

Do it on that!

Be the solution.

Give them the education on it.

It only has to be 20-30mins and add on a little Q&A at the end.

Alongside this hand out notes with where they contact you as well down the bottom!

Scared that they will go off and use it without you?

Most won't I promise you.

And the people that do. Eyyyy cool well done you've helped them in some small way.

However, I know for certain that some might no sign up with you then, but after trying to work all the information out and put it in place, they will end up coming to you, whether that be a day or a year down the line!

Just make sure you know what your talking about and it's good advice

OHHH WE CAN HELP WITH THAT!

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13/03/2022

➡️ YOU WILL LOSE YOURSELF IN THIS INDUSTRY ⬅️

If you don't find who you are and what you are about!!

It is so easy for us as trainers to become a person who we aren't.

We try to do things so a tonne of people like us as we think that is going to approve our hopes of picking up clients.

And yeah I guess in a way it might help

But will you be happy and will you be working with the people you want to?

Majority of you possibly said no there!

You need in a way to become unapologetically you!

That means finding out who you are as a person and what you stand for.

It will change overtime, but it is so crucial to be aware of it.

I remember when I first started off and I would do things to make sure everyone in the gym liked me

But it was honestly not the way I was!

I had to come to a realisation that just not everyone is going to like me or like my approaches

And funnily enough that is fine!

I found who I was and how I done things and when I did I worked with so many awesome people

And they were people who really achieved results.

Why?

Because we aligned with one another.

They understood me and how I done things

And I understood them and how they done things.

We ultimately knew who each other were and it made a great team!!!

So never be afraid to show who you are as a trainer, but ultimately as a person!

TO FIND OUT HOW WE CAN MAKE YOU THAT TRAINER!

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12/03/2022

➡️ DO YOU KNOW HOW TO APPLY ⬅️

Welcome to principle number ✌️

Application. Application. APPLICATION!

Everything that we do is about our ability to apply!

What do I mean?

We can teach you about the heart, we can teach you about the digestive system, we can teach you about the different programs, but if you do not know when or how to apply it is pointless information.

I remember the first time a client was put in front of me.

I bricked it!!!

You see I had all this knowledge that I had gained through my qualification, but I was never taught how that gets applied in real life scenarios.

I winged it (that poor person)!

I said to myself from that day that I would never be in that position again!

So, I made it a mission that everything I read or learnt I knew how to at least put it into place and why and for who.

It has taken time, don't get me wrong and admittedly I am still learning, but I am better. A whole lot better!

It our duty as your course provider to teach you how this all applies when you get out on that floor.

Every single week you get 2 calls with myself going through application of 2 topics per call (4 in total per week) and then providing you with case studies from my experience and how I used that information I am teaching you about on someone in the gym environment!

This is key to your growth as you can see how it important to know how to apply it and why we need to apply it if it is needed!

SO, DO YOU WANT TO BE THAT TRAINER?

YES! DROP US A DM AND LETS HAVE A CHAT AND SEE HOW WE CAN HELP WITH THAT 😁
The Personal Training Institute

10/03/2022

➡️ UNPOPULAR OPINION ⬅️

Dieting has slowly been deemed as a bad thing,

But I personally don't agree completely with it!

You could say I am boring and I sit in the middle of it, but that is fine by me 😂

There is a time and a place for someone to move more and eat less.

The problem I find is just like human nature we think of the extremes

Example - person is eating 1000cals and hitting 20,000 steps and training 6x per week with 4 session of cardio!

Now, don't get me wrong some people do that wild wild west stuff either through their own choice or from advice!

However, eating less and moving more really doesn't need to be this.

It can be conservative and still follow this approach.

Example - bring cals down by 20% and increase activity slightly e.g. more movement outside of gym or just simply adding exercise in

This is a method you can use at the start of someone's journey to get things moving and then you slow it down by adjusting things!

Trust me it is a method that gets a lot of buy in from the client and you will see them do really well for a long period of time due to those initial movements.

We then have the extreme levels of getting lean!

If you want that six pack, popping abs and roadmap veins then guess what.....

You gonna have to make sacrifices and you will have to put your body through the ringer for a small period of time!

Funnily enough not as long as you think if you do things properly!

So, look stop looking at it and going ohhhh that is bad and instead go

Ahhhh another tool within my toolbox that I can use when I need or have to use 😁

EVER THOUGHT ABOUT BECOMING A TRAINER AND BUILDING A TOOLBOX?

YES!!!

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The Personal Training Institute

09/03/2022

We have a lot of different programs at our disposal, so we need to know them!

Enter GBC!

GBC stands for German Body Composition and was popularised by the late Charles Poliquin (as a trainer you should definitely go look into his methods especially from a programming point of view).

Why have I started with GBC and not any others like GVT, splits, upper/lower etc. Well because for the vast majority of your clients that you will train GBC is going to be a program that you are going to use.

So, how does GBC look? GBC is where a lower body exercise is paired with an upper body exercise (why this is important will be explained over the next few weeks). Most of the time and the proper way of doing it, you will have a anterior lower body exercise paired with a posterior upper body exercise and then a anterior lower body exercise and an anterior upper body exercise. Now, it can be done the other way e.g. posterior lower and anterior upper first and then anterior lower and posterior upper. This might mean one day will have one way and the next day the other way. Example of this

Day 1 -
Anterior lower - squat
Posterior upper - lat pulldown
Posterior lower - lying leg curl
Anterior upper - neutral grip shoulder press

Day 2 -
Posterior lower - deadlift
Anterior upper - bench press
Anterior lower - split squats
Posterior upper - cable row

Again these are just examples in terms of exercise.

From there you can either push a more metabolic C series or add in additional work like arms or even add more work on the lower and upper body again e.g. another lower/upper series. This will all depend goal.

GBC can work across all the strength qualities really.

I have found it works brilliant with people who are new to the gym and in the next few weeks you will find out why!

For me GBC was a program I went too a lot and then within the structure of it provided the individuality that the client needed.

07/03/2022

➡️ IF ALL YOU CARE ABOUT IS THE SALE TODAY, YOU ARE SCREWED ⬅️

Yep you heard me right!

Now, I am not saying people won't sign on the dotted line straight away.

However, what I am saying is if all you care about is them signing up there and then and you will do anything to make that happen then you are screwing yourself up.

If I said to you I was going to put a billboard above every single potential client head

And this billboard will tell you there lifelong value e.g. how much they will spend on you over there life with you

Would you change your way of approaching things?

I bet every single one of you said

YES!!!!

Now as you know I cannot do that, but that doesn't mean you can't think this way.

So, what can you do?

Offer them your free services, build that connection with them, show them what you can do and how you can help for free.

Nurture them and allow them to realise that you are the person for them.

Overtime they will buy into it and ultimately become a client.

They might not be a client for a long period of time because you educated them so damn well that they become a titan in the gym

However, they now are your biggest advocate.

They tell all their friends about you and your services and boom!!!!

What started out as free has now made you a trainers that is at the top of their game.

Again, just to reiterate.

If someone wants to sign up there and then, then boom do it and give them the best damn service, so they do the exact same thing above.

However, if not. Give them the free stuff and really help them through that and nurture them onto your paid stuff and keep that level of service and help them!

AS A MATTER FACT WE HAVE SOMETHING FREE FOR YOU!

CLICK THE LINK IN OUR BIO AND THEN 5 DAY SERIES ON BECOMING A PT!
The Personal Training Institute

06/03/2022

➡️ YOU CAN DO IT. JUST BE PREPARED ⬅️

I have always said as a fitness course provider that we want honesty.

That means we will not fluff this industry up to make you buy our courses!

Might be bad marketing, but that is fine by me.

So, let me put this here before we start......

THIS IS THE BEST INDUSTRY IN THE WORLD!

However, this industry will test your character a lot.

When I first got started in the industry I was earning minimum wage (6.20) for over 40hours a week as a fitness instructor.

When I became a personal trainer I struggled. I built a client base, but it was slow and it meant being broke.

I used to walk from my house to the gym every morning and evening. It was an 1hour and 15mins one way and the same the other way. This meant being up at 5am and leaving work at 8pm.

Bus? I couldn't afford a bus trip!

I built myself over the years and invested a great deal of time and money to improving myself e.g. going on courses, paying for mentors times, books, seminars etc.

I got into a position where I was self-employed and I was doing well.

However, I had a deep desire to work in London. I gave up my self-employed work even though I had built a reputation and decided to work for someone else in London because that's what I felt I had to do to justify myself.

For 6months straight I worked near onto 90hour weeks and achieved some of the best results I have ever achieved as a trainer.

Lockdown hit and I found out that the person I worked for didn't pay my taxes. I went 7months without a single penny and noway of getting into another gym. I also lost all those clients and also lost over £10,000

I have now built myself back up and have ventured into the education sector.

And here we are.

You might be thinking damn why are you still doing this.

Simple! This is the best industry and I give a s**t!

I have been lucky enough to get transformations and testimonials and built myself to a good position and I want to pass that onto you and help you get there and not make the same mistakes as me.

CLICK LINK IN OUR BIO AND THEN 5 DAY SERIES ON BECOMING A PT TO FIND OUT HOW WE CAN HELP YOU BECOME QUALIFIED 😁

05/03/2022

🎉 OUR APRIL INTAKE DOORS ARE OPEN 🎉

However, it is important to us that you know what we are about!

So, let us take you through the 5 Core Things We Are About!

Firstly.......

➡️ EDUCATION 📝

But, not just education.

In-depth education.

We want you to walk away from your Level 2 and 3 and really understand the content!

Look it's all good coming into the course and learning the things and memorising them to pass

But if you do not know them properly you will struggle.

You have to know the topic.

You should really understand the topic!

If you don't that is fine, that is what we are there for as tutors.

Ask us questions.

Book your one-to-one call which you get weekly with us.

We will check in every week at least once, but normally two to three times per week to ensure you are getting on okay.

I noticed in my journey as a trainer the better I knew a topic the better I could implement it!

That is why it is so important to us that you have thirst for wanting to really understand the topic.

We do our stuff in written long form content to ensure you get every little detail

However, we also provide you with condensed videos that give you the direct points.

It is important though you do go through the written content and really understand these topics.

It will help you!

NEXT WEEK WE WILL TALK ABOUT OUR NEXT CORE PRINCIPLE.

APPLICATION!

IF YOU WANT TO FIND OUT MORE OR LOOK TO SIGN UP. CLICK THE LINK IN OUR BIO AND ENQUIRE!

The Personal Training Institute

04/05/2022

17/03/2022

16/03/2022

15/03/2022

14/03/2022

13/03/2022

12/03/2022

10/03/2022

09/03/2022

07/03/2022

06/03/2022

05/03/2022

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