Does this sound relatable? You get a new client or participant in your class, and they’re excited to start. They love the workout and are eager to work with you to figure out what they can do at home to keep improving. You feel positive about the session, hoping you’ll help them progress. But the next week, you find out they haven’t done anything they planned. Week after week, you both come up with good, practical steps, but they never follow through. It feels like hitting a brick wall. You might start wondering, “Why won’t they just do what they say they will do?”

You’re not alone. This is a common issue in the health and fitness industry, and it can lead to doubts about the client’s willpower, discipline, or commitment. But understanding human behavior and why people do or don’t do things can help you and your clients move forward.

The Information-Action Fallacy

Dr. BJ Fogg explains the “information-action fallacy” in his book Tiny Habits. People often think that giving the right information will change behavior, but it doesn’t. If it did, everyone would eat healthy foods and exercise regularly. Simply knowing what to do isn’t enough to make people do it.

Instead of assuming a client’s lack of commitment, ask better questions. The key question is, “What is stopping you from doing this?”

Fogg has a formula to understand behavior change: B = MAP (Behavior = Motivation + Ability + Prompt). Motivation, ability, and a prompt must all be present for a behavior to happen.

Asking the Right Questions

Start by asking the “discovery question”: “What is making this behavior hard to do?” This helps identify barriers. For instance, if a client wants to walk for 30 minutes four times a week but isn’t doing it, find out why. Is it a time issue? Lack of ability? Weather? Routine? Desire? Understanding these barriers lets you work together to remove them.

Creating Supportive Environments

Once you know the barriers, create an environment that supports the desired behavior. Does the environment need to change, or does the behavior need adjusting?

Using the walking example, environmental changes might include planning a route, getting a treadmill, waking up earlier, or laying out exercise clothes the night before. Adjustments might include splitting the walk into shorter segments, like three 10-minute walks instead of one 30-minute walk. The goal is to make the behavior easier to accomplish.

Group Fitness and the ACE RRAMP™ Approach

If you work with groups, the ACE RRAMP™ Approach can help create a supportive and motivating environment. This method focuses on effort and improvement, reducing competition and intimidation, and building intrinsic motivation. The key elements of the ACE RRAMP Approach are:

  • Respect: Foster mutual kindness and respect.
  • Recognition: Acknowledge effort and improvement.
  • Alignment: Encourage cooperation among participants.
  • Mistakes: Accept mistakes as part of learning.
  • Participant: Ensure each person feels important and involved.

By understanding barriers and creating a supportive environment, you can help clients overcome challenges and stick to their fitness goals.

Courtesy: ACE Fitness