3 Tools Every Personal Trainer Needs

Personal trainers need to be creative, innovative and most importantly have a tool box appealing towards any type of client. There are many products at a personal trainer disposal. The following 3 are must haves to bring creativity and innovation to their clients.

1) Resistance bands

Resistance bands may not seem that important, but they are. Bands can work for muscle growth, definition and rehabilitation. They add uniqueness to any workout. If a client is new to bench press, start them with the bar and wrap the band around each end. This resistance is low pack and develops clients form. The resistance training combined with the form benefits will help increase the client's max. If you are training someone who can bench 225lbs, add a resistant band and watch what happens. They will drop in weight with the band on, but once it comes off, 225lbs will become easy.

Resistance bands are versatile and can be used to work out a number of body parts. Here is an exercise that works lower body and shoulders:

Put your feet shoulder width apart while stepping on the band, grab the handles and raise your elbow 90 degrees parallel with the shoulder, palms facing the sky. Start squatting. Not enough personal trainers have clients do a shoulder press at the top of their squat. These are only two examples of hundreds of what personal trainers can do with a resistant band.

For more workouts check out this link: http://greatist.com/fitness/resistance-band-exercises

2) Medicine Balls

Medicine balls look so harmless, but oh no, if done with creativity they can be challenging. Medicine balls combine cardio and muscle tone. Cardio building comes from getting the heart rate in the orange to the red zone while muscle tone builds from high reps.

Here are a couple of medicine ball workouts that do both:

1. Start with fifteen ball slams, pick up the ball hold about your head and do 20 squats. Do these workouts for three sets rest 30 seconds in between each set. You will be dripping sweat.

2. Place the ball on the ground, put one foot and start alternating feet for 30 seconds, then pick the ball up squat and throw the ball as high as you against a wall for 20 reps. Perform three sets of this with thirty-second rest in between each set.

For more medicine ball workouts check out this link: http://greatist.com/fitness/25-must-try-medicine-ball-exercises

3) Recovery Products

After client works out make them recover. This includes resting, stretching, icing, implementing proper nutrition, and even massage. This will enhance the client's consistency, performance, and motivation. There are many products that can help facilitate this recovery but we'll recommend what we think is the best: The Stinger by Recoup Fitness. The Stinger is a 2 in 1 cold massage roller. It stays cold for six hours and is easy to clean with disinfectant whips or spray. It is versatile, simple, and fits in the palm of your hand. A stainless steel ball freely rolls inside the handle allowing the client to ice and massage any sore muscle group at the same time. It works well with upper body, lower body, and can even disassemble to release the ball, which in turn can be rolled on the ground and perform a foot massage.

The foam roller is popular but can cause injury without proper form. It is difficult to teach proper form, uses the client's body weight (which is hard to control) and cannot floss out the small areas. The stick is simple to use, but has limited functionality and requires 2 hands. It can't do upper body. This limited function will not fully recover the clients leading to lingering soreness, more time away from the gym. The Stinger is the all in one product that solves the problems with other recovery products.

Adding these three tools to your tool box will help make you a top-notch personal trainer. Your clients will benefit from the results you helped them achieve and most importantly lead them to healthier longer life, and after all, the purpose of personal training is creating a better life for clients.

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