IS MY TRAINER A GOOD FIT
You have decided it’s time to hire a personal trainer. Great choice! So what should you look for in a trainer? Read below for my suggestions.
Are they certified? Though I have never had anyone ask me to show them my certification or for that matter even if I am certified, I think it’s important that you do this simply because it shows that they are serious about their profession. In the United States, anyone can simply call themselves a personal trainer. They don’t need a certification to train people privately, but it is required for most to get a job within a health club. PS - mine are all listed in my “About me” section.
Do they specifically call out that they train for what I am interested in? If you called me and said that you wanted to train for a competitive Bodybuilding show, I would likely turn your down as a client simply because I don’t have experience training someone to be a pro bodybuilder. Now I wouldn’t just say, “no” and hang up. I would do my best to reach out to other trainers/resources that I have available to find you the best bodybuilder trainer I could. Even though you might not train with me specifically, it doesn’t mean I wouldn’t want you to be successful with someone else.
Is your trainer on-time to your sessions, professional and prepared when it’s time for you session and do they follow-up with you at all outside of your training or is it radio silence? Communication is a big thing with me personally. It goes both ways - client to trainer and certainly trainer - client. I try to communicate with all of my clients both about their training, but also other things that I know that they would be interested in.
Is your trainer professional during your sessions? Does your trainer do everything they can to make you feel comfortable during your sessions? For my female clients, I try and position myself around them that doesn’t make them feel uncomfortable or awkward. Often times some of the movements can put you in vulnerable positions and to have someone staring right at you from those positions can be awkward. Trainers should show professional etiquette towards their clients at all times.
Does your trainer listen to your concerns, your likes and dislikes? Some trainers could care less about what you think is good or bad training or that you have concerns over certain movements. They act like they know exactly what is best for you. Again, this can be awkward at best and dangerous at worst. When I am working with clients, I am always trying to read their body language, listen to them when they speak and certainly watch their form. If any of those things feels off, I address it. Many of my clients work in a corporate setting and they are coming to me, at times, from another meeting. This meeting might have gone good or bad, but either way it can affect their mood and this carries over into our workouts. As trainers we play a role like a psychologist sometimes and we need to be able to read our clients emotions. We need to assess when to back off at times and when to push a little harder when it’s appropriate.
Does your trainer know their boundaries? Unless a trainer is a registered dietician they should not prescribe meal plans or supplements (beyond the very basics). If they don’t have a medical degree they should not be discuss medical issues with you. This is call Scope of Practice. Any good trainer will know when to say, “that is not my profession and I would need to refer you to someone who can professionally assess your particular issue.” Again, being a resource and having a network is important for your clients.
Finally, do you get along with your trainer and do you trust them? Personality matters because you want to spend the time with someone you respect and enjoy being around. If you don’t like someone yelling at you and you get a trainer who is aggressive and yells a lot then you are probably not going to a) train much longer with them hopefully and b) get turned off by the whole “trainer” idea to begin with. Trust me when I tell you there are really good trainers who treat you respectfully that are out there and ready to train! Second is do you trust them? Your trainer is going to ask you to do some movements/exercises that might sound challenging or even scary to someone just starting out. You need to trust your trainer that they would never ask you to do something that they didn’t feel you could 100% do and not get injured. The more confidence you build up in your trainer, the faster you will progress.
These are just a few, off the top of my head, comments I have about what you should look for in a trainer, but I would certainly believe that there are more. Finding a good trainer is critical in your overall success to attain the goals you have set.