Personal Training Client doesn't want to cycle sync?

If you a fitness coach who is as excited about working with your cycle as I am, you may have run into clients who are not at all as excited as you.

So how do you empower those clients cyclically if they really don’t want to track, train or eat according to their cycle? This hormone health lesson is going to help you support your clients cycle even if they don’t track! 

My name is Omega - I’m the founder of the Confident menstrual Cycle Coach Academy where I empower personal trainers to optimize and balance their hormones while helping them build the confidence to empower their clients to do the same. This course is application only, so if you want to be confident in optimizing and balancing your client’s hormones, you can learn more here.

This question on how to support people who don’t want to work with their cycle came in, in our Academy student support group - Daniella says,

“Hi Omega! I have a client who is simply not interested in their menstrual cycle AT ALL and doesn't consider it that important. She doesn't want to track her cycle either because she says she keeps forgetting to log it in/write it down. While I try my best to drop some knowledge bombs where ever I can (such as our period being the 5th vital sign of health), it still doesn't seem to land. Any advice?”

So here is what I shared with this student, that I’ll share with you…

Don’t preach

I think for those of us who have had a transformational experience tracking, training or eating with our cycle - it can be easy for us to think that this is the best thing since sliced bread! And it might be, but it doesn’t mean everybody wants to eat that bread if you know what I mean.

If you get into a situation like my client who I mentioned before got in, what you’re doing is trying to convince someone of the importance of cycle tracking. Instead of building rapport, this client might be getting annoyed by you. We don’t want that. So in summary to this point…read the room! If your client isn’t receptive follow point number 2.

Fold cycle assessments into your monthly assessments

So you might be thinking…huh? How do I do that? Assessing for cycle phases only adds a couple of minutes onto your regular monthly assessments. I made cycle assessments easy for you to do with my free cyclical assessment document that you can print out or use digitally for each of your clients.

With this assessment you can determine which phase your client is in and follow my next point, which is…

Periodize your client’s training monthly

Remember, your client is paying you to help them get to their goals. By creating a periodized program that aligns with their cycle you are helping them take advantage of their hormones while reaching their goals. But if you don’t know how to periodize to your client’s cycle, you can watch this video next. I’ll link it below, so that you can watch it after this one.

As a preface - training cyclically is subjective. Although cycle syncing recommendations state very specific intensities at various cycle phases, we as trainers need to think about the whole person rather than treat our clients like an algorithm.

If you’ve watched my Youtube videos, you’ve heard me talk about cyclical fitness in this video. Using the cycle tracking sheet, you can predict which phase of the cycle your client is in.

Make micro-nutrient recommendations

As trainers you likely make macro nutrient recommendations, which is great for helping your clients understand their basic needs. But you can help your clients support their hormones using micronutrients from food too! Here are some basic recommendations that you can make week by week when you have your regular check-ins with your client *hint: tracking all this is very easy if you’re using my cyclical assessment doc*:

Bleed phase - the simple addition of more iron can help your clients aerobic capacity. Encouraging your clients to indulge in clams, red meat, lentils, quinoa or black beans.

Follicular / Ovulatory phase - The simple add of zinc can improve the health of your client’s ovaries. High zinc foods include oyesters, pumpkin seeds, ginger root and pecans.

Luteal phase - In the 10-14 days of the luteal phase increase fiber intake.

Make sure to download the free cyclical assessment guide here.