Weight Loss Forum - View Single Post

Steve · #32 (**permalink**) May 13th, 2008, 05:26 PM

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Quote:

A client looking for a trainer would be well advised to become familiar with proper form through one of those two books and then see if their potential trainer is teaching something that at least approximates it. At the very least, they probably don't have their heads completely up their asses if they know proper form. They might not be good at any other aspect of training but at least they probably won't get you hurt with bad form.

Beyond that, clearly things to look at would be if their clients are seeing results. Now, I'd note that sometimes a lack of results have nothing to do with the trainer. A lot of personal training clients are flat out lazy, they won't adjust their diet, they won't do anything the trainer asks, and nothing happens.

They figure that once they've signed their check for the month their responsibility is done. Now, we might criticize the trainer for not being able to get the client to change their habits but that isn't always the case. I had clients who simply weren't going to do anything I asked. Why didn't I just fire them? Often when starting out, you can't afford to turn anybody away, even if they are complete screwups so you end up training people who simply aren't going to do more than show up twice a week for an hour and goof off. Then, of course, they blame you for their lack of results 8 weeks later but I'm getting off topic.

But if the trainer is doing things right, at least someone should be seeing results and moving towards their goals (whatever they may be). If nobody is, odds are he's an expensive rep counter and very little else.

On that note, something to look at (and this can be hard to tell) is whether the trainer actually trains people with different goals differently. Or does everybody get the same workout (usually a bodybuilding oriented thing)? This goes into my comments above about many trainers only knowing how to train themselves; they've gotten into great shape over years of hard training and assume that their current workout (usually a high volume bodybuilding approach) will be suitable.

But what if they are working with a 35 year-old female with no previous exercise background. How about a 16 year-old male? Or a 50 year-old male with a back problem. Thinking that all three of those clients should get the same workout (which is almost always a bodybuilding body-part split) is idiotic. Yet that's a lot of what you see in commercial facilities, the trainer knows one way to train and everybody is doing the exact same thing regardless of their goals get more or less an identical workout

As a quick note on this, I would mention that beginners almost always get and need extremely similar workouts (unless there is some specific injury or conditioning issue that has to be dealt with). Yeah, when I was a trainer, everybody got the spiel about getting an individualized workout. But the reality is that beginners need basic training in a bunch of things and their workouts will look more alike than not.

Related to the above, one very serious consideration is whether the trainer has any experience with beginners in the first place. A lot of people who have been training for many years forget about what they did themselves when they started. So they take brand new clients and just put them through the wringer.

An hour of intense exercise on Day 1 and the person is too sore to move. I've heard horror stories. At one gym I lifted at in Austin, they killed a guy; put him through an intense one-hour workout without having done the proper health questionnaires and he had a heart attack.

What about during the workout, is the trainer going to explain why certain things are being done a certain way (teaching the client as they go) or just say "Do this"? My goal as a trainer was always to get my clients to be independent of me as soon as possible. I wanted them to be able to continue training (by knowing not only what to do and also why they did it) if I left, went out of town, changed jobs, they moved, etc. To me, training was as much about teaching them about proper exercise as it was training them effectively.

Related to that, will the trainer actually adjust the program if it's not working? Or does he have the right program and if it doesn't work, it's your fault? Admittedly, this is usually more of a problem with a coach and athletes than personal trainers and clients but it is a consideration.

I'm sure I could keep going, stuff I'd personally take into account when evaluating whether or not a trainer knew his stuff (it would probably entail me grilling him for 2 hours with detailed questions, as I did before I hired my speed skating coach) but a lot of it wouldn't be applicable to a client trying to find a suitable trainer. The above should get folks at least started finding a good trainer.

Good luck with your muscles.