Enjoyable Intervals | Setting the Client Up for Success in the Short, Medium & Long Term - Written by Keith Smith
Over the past few years, interval training has become a go-to approach for many personal trainers supporting clients in achieving their short-, medium-, and long-term outcomes. Another fundamental ingredient in client success is consistency of behavior.
This article explores some of the key factors contributing to "enjoyable intervals," which we define as safe, effective, and individualized sessions that hopefully lead to consistent behavior in clients. This is especially pertinent for those with busy lives—balancing family, work, and other interests—who can commit to structured training at a facility twice a week. For me, this represents the general population.
Enjoyment vs. Fun
The terms enjoyment and fun are sometimes used interchangeably in conversation. However, for this article:
Enjoyment is defined as “the state of taking pleasure (a feeling) in something” (1).
A state is defined as “a particular mood that someone is in at a specific time” (2).
Fun is defined as “amusing, light-hearted, entertaining, or a joke” (3).
While fun is undoubtedly a vital component of any client-personal trainer relationship, this article focuses on the most powerful driver of human behavior: feelings—and enjoyment is how we define certain feelings.
As personal trainers, we often view our role primarily as helping clients achieve their long-term goals, which I refer to as “the over there.” These are the three-, six-, or nine-month objectives and the strategies needed to achieve them.
However, enjoyment is an experience uniquely defined by the client. It happens in the moment and reflects how they feel during and after a session or series of sessions. Enjoyment, or what I call “the here, the now,” can also be defined as value.
The Importance of Value
Value is subjective—it’s the client’s perception. Clients pay more for what they perceive as both value and worth than they do for worth alone.
Enjoyment is fundamental to consistency of behavior, adherence, and retention. It also directly affects the personal trainer’s session fee. Clients pay for the service a trainer offers if they perceive it as having both worth and value.
Personal trainers are paid to provide a service (an act of help), offering information, guidance, and support to take clients on their unique journey toward their outcomes (“the over there”). This represents the trainer's worth.
However, it’s difficult to differentiate oneself on worth alone. Personal trainers who ensure that every session provides a feeling of success—no matter how small—add value to their offerings. Feelings of success can be seen as moments of enjoyment (“the here, the now”), which directly enhance the client’s experience.
Key Responsibilities of a Personal Trainer
Two crucial responsibilities of personal trainers are:
Ensuring that every session is safe, effective, individualized, and justified against the client’s current fitness and skill level, while aligning with their short-, medium-, and long-term outcomes.
Creating an environment where the client feels safe, comfortable, confident, valued, and purposeful, building trust, competence, and enjoyment.
When it comes to personal training, “the over there” and “the here, the now” both matter.
Written by Keith Smith on behalf of FitPro
Interval Training Defined
In Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning (NSCA, 3rd Edition), interval training is defined as “theoretically properly spaced work-to-rest intervals that allow more work to be accomplished at higher exercise intensities with the same or less fatigue than during continuous training at the same relative intensity.”
Interval training is often marketed to clients as a way to burn more calories. While this is valid, trainers must also consider the long-term physiological adaptations it offers, supporting client outcomes and contributing to overall health, wellness, and longevity.
What follows are suggestions, considerations, ideas, and examples to ensure that interval sessions are planned and delivered safely, effectively, individually—and enjoyably.
Skill Level
Skill is defined as “the ability to do something well” (4). To ensure an interval session is enjoyable, clients need to feel confident and competent.
While trainers are responsible for developing client skills over time, this should occur outside of structured interval sessions. Interval sessions should aim for successful completion, supporting long-term physiological adaptations.
Selecting exercises that make clients feel anxious, awkward, or uncomfortable can lead to session failure and reduced engagement. Avoid choosing exercises just because they are trendy or “exciting.” Instead, prioritize what is safe and enjoyable for the client.
Fitness Level
Fitness is defined as “the ability to perform work” (5). For an interval session to be safe, effective, and enjoyable, it must be realistic yet slightly challenging.
This ties back to skill level and feelings of confidence and competence. Intensity, work-to-rest ratios, and the number of intervals should all be carefully planned. Completing the session builds confidence, competence, and self-belief while contributing to long-term physiological adaptations and enjoyment.
Exercise Preferences
Most clients engage in structured exercise because they enjoy it. While trainers may need to adjust for safety and effectiveness, focusing on activities the client likes is key to fostering enjoyment.
Some clients may dislike high-intensity work due to the unpleasant sensations it can evoke. Trainers should respect this and opt for other training approaches that better align with the client’s preferences.
Equipment choice also plays a role in enjoyment. While trainers may have preferences for certain tools, ensuring that clients like and feel comfortable with the equipment enhances the session's success.
Behavior of the Personal Trainer
An enjoyable personal training session depends heavily on the trainer's delivery. Trainers must create an environment centered on the client, fostering purpose, focus, and a sense of joy in “just doing.”
Daniel Goleman’s framework for Emotional Intelligence (EQ) provides insights into effective trainer behavior:
Self-awareness: Recognizing your own emotions and ensuring they don’t negatively affect the session.
Self-regulation: Communicating constructively and positively, regardless of personal feelings.
Motivation: Being self-motivated and skilled at inspiring others.
Empathy: Understanding and responding to the client’s perspective with compassion.
Social skills: Building relationships and communicating effectively to create enjoyable, engaging sessions.
Conclusion
The success of personal training, especially with interval training, is rooted in enjoyment and how clients feel during sessions. Clients care less about what trainers know and more about how trainers make them feel.
By creating moments of enjoyment that drive positive behavior, trainers can ensure adherence, retention, and—most importantly—client success.
References
1, 2, 3, 4: Oxford Dictionary of English
5: Towards Active Living (H.A. Quinney PhD, L. Gauvin PhD, A.E.T. Wall PhD)
Written by Keith Smith on behalf of FitPro
