You can never judge a book by it’s cover and that is true when it comes to working with clients in the fitness industry.

I have been pleasantly surprised and impressed by the dedication one of our Boxerciser’s has shown since the start of the year.

This particular client hadn’t exercised in a while and although had some boxing experience was out of touch with the technique and skills. Due to odd numbers at a session a couple of weeks ago I was pad holding for this particular participant. When somebody is left handed, or southpaw as it’s called in boxing, pad holding can be a challenge if you are right handed as you have to do the opposite to what feels natural. But after a bit of practice we got the hang of it.

Now I never expect anyone to get the techniques perfectly straight away, boxing involves learning patterns of movement which have to be repeated to be learnt like many other skills. Some people pick it up more quickly than others and some need a little extra coaching.

With this client he was struggling to have his hands in the right orientation for certain punches and I was having to find different cues to help him which is not a problem as that is part of an instructor’s role, to find the best way for a client to learn something correctly.

The following week at class we had even numbers so my southpaw client was partnered with a fellow Boxerciser. I set the group up with a combination to practice and as I’m going around the room watching everyone, I’m amazed to see that my southpaw partner from last week is doing everything as I taught him!

When I ask if he’d been practicing my client said “oh yeah I’ve been going out and practicing in the garden.”

How good is that? This guy has obviously decided after the class that to get the most out of the sessions he’s going to go away and practice, work on what he’s struggling with so he can come back the following session and be ready to move on to the next skill set to learn. I will be honest and say it was totally unexpected and in the few years I have been working as a fitness instructor I have never experienced.

So if you’re finding something hard, don’t give up. Take a leaf out of my Boxerciser’s book and keep at it. It may take a day, a week, a month or more but with dedication and persistence you will get there.