BUYERS BEWARE- What To Look For When Hiring a Personal Trainer
It is absolutely no secret that the personal training community is flooded beyond belief. Exercise science in general is in it’s newborn stages relatively, and the science is STILL changing and updating all the time. With the training and coaching community having so many people (or options for the buyer), how do you know you’re getting your money’s worth? Here’s my advice when you’re thinking about hiring a trainer to get you to your goals.
Certifications: the Paper Tiger
Are certifications in any field important? Absolutely… Everyone working in the fitness industry should have some sort of understanding and learning of the science behind what they are doing. Not only does this help their clients reach their respective goals faster- it helps them keep the client safe in many respects to biomechanics, age specificity, injuries etc.
Certified vs. Qualified… know that there is 100% a difference. We have seen trainers with the same high level certification that we have (Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist) WHO HAD ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA WHAT THEY WERE DOING IN THE GYM. Just because you’ve memorized the science, watched some required training videos and passed a test…this gives you ZERO qualification when it comes to fixing form, building a program, knowing what is realistic and getting a client to their goal efficiently and safely. If you haven’t experienced the fitness world yourself you absolutely should not be telling people how to reach their fitness goals. If you were learning to fly a plane…would you hire a teacher that just read 10 books on flying a plane?
A Trainer’s History…
A trainer will learn more in their first year of actually training a range of clients then they ever will from reading a book or passing any written test. I am not saying to 100% ignore certifications rather find someone with both a certification and experience. Anyone serious in the industry will be studying the science and theories on a consistent basis (daily) to try to make themselves better trainers. BUT, more importantly…look at the trainers history. Do their clients get results? Do their clients get results without injury from overtraining/bad form? How long have they been a trainer? Not to knock anyone just starting…but looking at how I trained when I first started vs. today I would’ve smacked myself. And, I’m sure I’ll be a 10x better trainer in 5 years than I am today…that’s how it should be for everyone.
Experience is the most valuable tool any trainer can have. The more clients you have, the more goals and issues you need to get to and solve. THAT is what builds a very good trainer. This isn’t to say that a young kid just getting out of school will be a “bad” trainer. However, if you meet a trainer who has been in the industry full time for a number of years…chances are they are gonna be half way decent at it (if they weren’t, they wouldn’t have a job).
$10 budget, $10 Results
Don’t mistake this as some sort of hidden sales tactic for ourselves. We are pretty blunt with our clients. If they have unrealistic expectations from us we will tell them right off the bat. More specifically, if they only want to buy 1 session per week but lose 40lbs we will kindly show them the door instead of taking their money for worthless results. We don’t like working with clients who will inhibit themselves from getting results.
Any good trainer will feel the same way. They love getting clients who are willing to commit and get results. If you go to some huge box gym and hire a trainer for 10 or 20 bucks an hour and you’re expecting the Yoda of fitness to float out of the locker room with ungodly knowledge of fitness, you’re gonna be pretty disappointed. Many of these gyms will hire anyone who has ever picked up a dumbbell to be a trainer, its how they make money. Have 10,000 clients pay a super cheap price for a super cheap product and a lot of times lock you into some ridiculous contract where you need to submit your soul to get out of it. (Not to say there has never been a good trainer from a cheap box gym…but if they’re there for years and years with zero advance, maybe there is a reason).
Your Experience…
Don’t ignore your instincts. If you hire a trainer for an hour they should be coaching you for an hour. This doesn’t include putting you on a treadmill for 30 minutes. That involves ZERO fitness knowledge. Our gym is about 90% free weights with an 8 stack cable column among other gym knick knacks. Not only do we believe free weight training is better for the clients progress but we believe it makes for better training sessions. We may seem barebones to some people…but the results we draw from our equipment will outmatch most box gyms.
Cable drawn machines are great for isolation, bodybuilding and other things…including lazy personal trainers. If your trainer walks you around to 15 different cable drawn machine and watches you do 3 sets on each and calls it a day, chances are they are being lazy with your sessions. Not saying they should never be used…but it should not be the main source of your hour session.
When hiring, consider all these options…it should be a considerable investment in the well being of your life and you don’t want an inferior product. Almost most importantly, find trainers who legitimately care about your goals and results…if they do, most likely those other factors will already have fallen in place.