We all have our stories about COVID. If / when we caught it. How the whole pandemic disrupted our lives. For some people, they recovered like any other virus. For other people, the post-virus affects are still troubling. I am one of those people.

I got COVID 6 months ago. My initial symptoms were like bad flu. However, for many months I experienced fatigue and headaches. The fatigue has reduced, but I continue to suffer from headaches. Every single day it is like waking up with a mild hangover. The irony is that I stopped drinking when I contracted COVID. On other days the headaches feel like tight rubber bands around sections of my brain that make it difficult to concentrate or even stay upright. These days make me emotional, and I often get teary when people ask me how I am feeling.

 Every time I proclaim that my health has turned a corner, the universe does not believe I have fully learnt my lesson about fatigue, health and stress. And I am forced to cancel everything and retreat to my bedroom. But, slowly, I am learning what my body is capable of and have patience with my recovery.

However, this blog is not just about my health. It is about opportunities that lie waiting for fitness professionals. I write education for fitness professionals, but I am/was a member of several fitness places. Because, you know, like you, I like working out. It has been fascinating how I have been treated post-COVID. 

When I realised I wasn’t snapping back post-COVID, I put my gym membership on hold. I put my reason down as suffering from Long COVID. And then eventually, that time frame expired, and I cancelled my membership altogether. This was the same for my cardio tennis and yoga. Although I shared why I was cancelling my membership, no one reached out to see how I was going. That’s ok. We all live busy lives. I am just one member.

However, in January, they were in touch. Why don’t I rejoin and restart my membership? I replied that I was interested in rejoining. However, I was still experiencing symptoms of Long COVID, and exercise triggered my fatigue and headaches. I was invited to come in and have a meeting.

Great! They might have some ideas on how to best support my exercise goals. And I was excited about my meeting and sat down to explain my exercise history and my health limitations, and what did they think was the best option for me. Personal training was recommended. Great idea! I asked if they had a personal trainer who had an experience of working with someone with fatigue or Long COVID. 

The answer was that the personal trainer would know how to work with me and purchase a training package. But, knowing what is covered in Certificate IV in Fitness, I thought the risk to my health was too significant. The leap of confidence for me was just too great. And I declined.

There is a good chance that you have or have had a client with these symptoms.

The fear of returning to exercise is real. And so is the sting of my communities of exercise ignoring me because I have not been well enough to attend. I am very motivated to exercise. However, what if exercise was a chore, to begin with?

There are some straightforward strategies that you can use to keep a connection with clients. And I am going to share 5 of them via my latest free training.

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