Five Ways to Spot a Lousy Personal Trainer
Hiring an expert to help with your workout can be expensive. Here's how to know you're getting your money's worth.
Two of your best friends hired trainers and now they love their workouts. And there's another story in the gossip magazines about an amazingly fit celebrity who thanks her trainer by name. It's about time, you decide, that you get some help yourself. But before you choose your coach, make sure you know what to look for. Yes, it's nice that a prospective personal trainer looks healthy (or handsome), but that's not enough. If you spot any of these five danger signs, physiologist Cedric Bryant of the American Council on Exercise suggests you keep looking.
1. Unprofessional Business Practices: If your trainer doesn't explain his cancellation policies, can't provide references, or doesn't have liability insurance, walk away. These are all signs that a trainer isn't a professional. Most importantly, ask where your trainer got his or her certification: Besides the American Council on Exercise, the American College of Sports Medicine and National Strength and Conditioning Association are the leading fitness certification organizations.
2. The Cling Factor: When you ask how many sessions it should take before you can work out on your own, if the trainer gives a vague answer or tells you about clients he's been seeing weekly for a year or more, be wary. A good trainer will teach you to be independent, he won't cling to your business. After four months, you should be able to set up and operate equipment on your own, use proper technique and monitor your exercise intensity. You can always have a tune-up session later if you plateau or get bored.
3. Diet Know-it-All: The trainer tries to sell you vitamins or protein powder, recommends unusual products, or tells you, you can't eat meat. Trainers are taught basic nutrition and weight-management techniques, but they shouldn't be pushing an agenda about diet or supplements.
4. The Marine: The trainer pushes you too hard. You need to exercise past your comfort zone in order to build stamina and muscles. But it is possible to overdo workouts. If you start to hate your workout, feel chronically sore, or your heart rate stays high well after a round of exercise, you may be over-exercising. Losing your appetite, sleeping badly, or becoming depressed are other possible symptoms of overtraining. If you're not feeling better as a result of your workouts—stronger and more energetic—complain. Or move on.
5. Personality Clash: You just don't like or trust this person. You need to feel comfortable and sure that he or she won't gossip about you or overstep boundaries by talking about other clients, flirting, or telling you more than you want to know.
© 2008
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Member Comments
Posted By: raisin2008 @ 10/01/2008 8:29:32 AM
Comment: I believe that having point No. 3 about supplements in this article is highly misleading and unfair. To basically state "if your Trainer recommends you take a multivitamin you should walk away and find another Trainer" is totally unreasonable. It is a well known fact that anyone can benefit from taking a natural multivitamin, even JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association) has revised its longstanding position and declared that doctors should now recommend that all patients, even healthy ones, routinely take vitamin & mineral supplements (JAMA, 2002;287:3127-9). I have run my own very successful Personal Training business for over 4.5 years and routinely recommend supplements to my clients when I feel they would benefit from them. I will be continuing to recommend supplements to my clients to help them to achieve optimal health and well-being and if any client walks away after I have done so as a result of reading this article then it is their loss not mine!
Posted By: houstonfc @ 09/24/2008 10:30:23 AM
Comment: That's funny, I typed in 165 for my years of experience...it should be 16...maybe if I did have a 165 years experience I could go on Oprah as an Anti-Aging Specialist!
Posted By: houstonfc @ 09/24/2008 10:29:07 AM
Comment: I think this article will make some people think about some things to consider when hiring a trainer, and that is a good thing. A lot of people hire trainers because the trainers look fit and athletic. being in shape doesn't mean you can help someone else get in shape. I say this as a trainer with 165 years experience who has been published in 2 books, featured in over thirty newspaper articles, and numerous radio interviews. A proper orientation, assessment and an understanding of individual client goals helps to develop a program appropriate for the client, not just "good" for the client. Individual recovery ability, tolerance for work, adherance, time management; all of these factors are necessary to develop a productive program. helping clients progress at a relaistic pace, and educating them on how to get to their goals has worked for my clients since I first got into training. Over 50 of my clients have moved on to become certified (some of them are now competing with us, but at least we can recommend them to prosective clients) through varying certifying bodies like ACE, ACSM, ISSA, etc. They didn't want a drill sergeant, a coddler, a "buddy", or a babysitter: they wanted to learn. When a client is ready to be on their own, we encourage it; some of our clients have been with us for years, some become trainers, some just want new information; we always prefer an informed and educated client, and we do our best to be help them make informed decisions. This article is a good start.