What Personality Traits Should a Person Have to Excel as an Athletic Trainer?

An athletic trainer is a specialized type of coach, and as a trainer you must keep your ears open. Learning about your client and what interests her will help you learn how to design your sessions together and set up a plan for success. Clients are not just a paycheck; they are people, and if you learn to treat them in that manner it can make your job easier and more successful.

Ability to Stay Calm

• As a trainer, you will be pushing your trainee to succeed. Success will mean he will be pushing his boundaries, and as he pushes these boundaries, failure will occur at times. This failure may frustrate your client and result in him saying things out of frustration. As the trainer, you must realize that these are not personal attacks and remain calm even when your client has lost his temper.

Quick Thinker

• Be prepared for an emergency as a physical trainer. Even if your client has done all the proper warmup exercises and is lifting a weight appropriate for her, an injury can occur. Be quick to react to any injury that your client receives. This might mean calling over another trainer to assist you in assisting your client. It could also include contacting emergency services, such as calling 911 for additional assistance.

Creativity

• Not everyone is motivated by the same things in life. When you have a client working toward a goal, as the trainer you must try to find ways to motivate him. For some clients, this might involve being aggressive and giving negative feedback when your client is failing to meet a goal you know he is capable of reaching. Other trainees may react poorly to aggression and need a more supportive environment. Help the client by celebrating small successes on the way to the larger fitness goal.

Persistence

• Don't give up on your client, even if it's clear that she wants to give up on herself. If she starts to make missing appointments a regular pattern, give her a phone call. Ask why she is not attending her appointments. Emphasize during the phone calls that she cannot meet her goals by avoiding her appointments, and that it's important that the two of you work together.

Strong Listener

• Listen to what your client is telling you. Find out what the client's greatest obstacles are. When you hear about a possible roadblock, keep this in mind when creating the client's training plan. If you talk with him and listen to him, he will reveal items that help motivate him, as well as reasons for failure and things that can contribute to that failure. If you listen closely, this will help you in designing your plan for him to meet his goals.