8 Reasons You Should Look For a New Personal Trainer
I started off personal training in a private studio and I always said I wouldn't ever work in a gym. One of the reasons was that I didn't want to work somewhere where they didn't share my beliefs about how clients should be treated. I've been in gyms all my life and Real World Fitness treats personal training very differently to any other gyms I've been in and is the only gym I would have agreed to move from my private studio.
What should you expect from your personal trainer? If your current personal trainer does any of the 8 things listed below, you should expect more and get a new personal trainer.
What should you expect from your personal trainer? If your current personal trainer does any of the 8 things listed below, you should expect more and get a new personal trainer.
1, It all seems a bit 'on the fly' and the sessions aren't planned in advance
Does your trainer seem to do anything a little bit off the cuff? Do you arrive at your session without any idea what you'll be doing? Do you know what the long term plan is? No session plan? No layout?
If you answered no to any of these, then chances are you're wasting your money with your trainer.
You're not just paying a personal trainer for that hour, you should be paying for a long term plan as well. I've often had new clients start with me who have had a personal trainer before who had no idea what they were going to do during their session with them and also had no plan for when they are training on their own outside of their PT sessions.
All my client's sessions are planned in advance, and while plans can change, I have a good idea what every one of my clients should be doing weeks from now. Every client has a plan they can follow when they're training on their own and know exactly what to do.
A big advantage of Real World Fitness is it's never overcrowded and we have plenty of equipment, unlike commercial gyms. This means I can plan in advance and know that we'll be able to do what is planned every time.
If you answered no to any of these, then chances are you're wasting your money with your trainer.
You're not just paying a personal trainer for that hour, you should be paying for a long term plan as well. I've often had new clients start with me who have had a personal trainer before who had no idea what they were going to do during their session with them and also had no plan for when they are training on their own outside of their PT sessions.
All my client's sessions are planned in advance, and while plans can change, I have a good idea what every one of my clients should be doing weeks from now. Every client has a plan they can follow when they're training on their own and know exactly what to do.
A big advantage of Real World Fitness is it's never overcrowded and we have plenty of equipment, unlike commercial gyms. This means I can plan in advance and know that we'll be able to do what is planned every time.
2, Not tracking progress
Incredibly this is very common. I've had new clients who with previous trainers never told the client if they had made progress on their lifts from week to week. . A lot of the time it's because of what I talked wrote about above, the trainer doesn't have a plan.
The reason you're paying a personal trainer is so you achieve better results than you would if you were training on your own. If they aren't keeping records, they won't even know themselves how well you're doing and you'll be wasting your money.
You should, and all my clients are able to see exactly how much progress they're making on everything they do workout to workout, week to week and have targets to aim for in the future.
The reason you're paying a personal trainer is so you achieve better results than you would if you were training on your own. If they aren't keeping records, they won't even know themselves how well you're doing and you'll be wasting your money.
You should, and all my clients are able to see exactly how much progress they're making on everything they do workout to workout, week to week and have targets to aim for in the future.
3, Your trainer trains you the same way he does every other of his clients
Every routine you get from a personal trainer should be designed for you, your lifestyle and your goals. There's no point paying for a trainer if he's just giving you a cookie-cutter routine he gives to everyone.
All of my clients has their own program based on their needs. None of my clients have the same routine.
I have one client who plays a lot of sport from Wednesday to Sunday, as a result, I limit the frequency and volume that she does for legs, and she only does any leg work on Mondays so that lifting doesn't affect her sport training and matches.
My client's routines are kept in folders in the gym or on google drive.
They can always see that everyone has their own routine which is different from everyone else.
All of my clients has their own program based on their needs. None of my clients have the same routine.
I have one client who plays a lot of sport from Wednesday to Sunday, as a result, I limit the frequency and volume that she does for legs, and she only does any leg work on Mondays so that lifting doesn't affect her sport training and matches.
My client's routines are kept in folders in the gym or on google drive.
They can always see that everyone has their own routine which is different from everyone else.
4, They disappear in between your session with them
You're personal trainer should be supporting you even outside your paid sessions.
I'm always in contact with my clients even when I'm not actually training them. From checking their MyFitnessPal daily, answering questions while they are at the gym training on their own, phone calls, and regularly being kept up to date by text message.
You won't be ignored outside of your sessions with me.
I'm always in contact with my clients even when I'm not actually training them. From checking their MyFitnessPal daily, answering questions while they are at the gym training on their own, phone calls, and regularly being kept up to date by text message.
You won't be ignored outside of your sessions with me.
5, They train you to make you exhausted/sore, not for you to make progress.
While you'll have to train hard and there will be times where you feel slightly worn out, this shouldn't ever be the goal of a workout. Working hard and ending the session exhausted doesn't mean you're making progress and getting better.
Training people to be exhausted is what most personal trainers I've met do. It's the easy option just get the clients to do circuits as it requires no skill or knowledge to plan a session to make someone work hard and feel exhausted at the end of it, and the majority of people new to the gym believe that how effective a workout is based on how hard they are pushed, or how many calories they burn, so will think the trainer is doing a good job.
If all your trainer is doing is working you hard, but doesn't have a plan or showing you're making measurable progress you need to fire him as soon as possible.
Training people to be exhausted is what most personal trainers I've met do. It's the easy option just get the clients to do circuits as it requires no skill or knowledge to plan a session to make someone work hard and feel exhausted at the end of it, and the majority of people new to the gym believe that how effective a workout is based on how hard they are pushed, or how many calories they burn, so will think the trainer is doing a good job.
If all your trainer is doing is working you hard, but doesn't have a plan or showing you're making measurable progress you need to fire him as soon as possible.
6, They don't seem disappointed if you don't reach your targets, or don't get excited when you do.
I was shocked when I got into this industry that not everyone becomes a personal trainer because they had a passion for it and wanted to help people and purely did it for the money. I've known of personal trainers deliberately hold clients back so they felt they would always need him as a trainer and they would keep getting paid, and trainers who just see it as business and the clients doing well isn't top of their priorities. I would be very suspicious of any trainer who didn't seem passionate about your training.
I want my clients to succeed even more than they want to. I'm extremely disappointed with the times it's not going well, but it puts a smile on my face all day when they do achieve great results. This is how it should be.
If your trainer cares more about your goals than you do, it's a good sign they have your best interests at heart, and they don't just see you as a way of getting paid.
I want my clients to succeed even more than they want to. I'm extremely disappointed with the times it's not going well, but it puts a smile on my face all day when they do achieve great results. This is how it should be.
If your trainer cares more about your goals than you do, it's a good sign they have your best interests at heart, and they don't just see you as a way of getting paid.
7, Your trainer ignores when you're in pain
This is simply dangerous. If your personal trainer doesn't take you being in pain seriously or tells you 'no pain, no gains' when you tell him what you're doing hurts, get rid of him straight away before he injures you.
At the start of every session, I ask my clients how they are feeling and if they have any pain/niggles. If they feel any sharp pain during an exercise we'll immediately stop and try to work out what's causing it and make changes if needed.
Regularly being in pain shouldn't be a consequence of training.
At the start of every session, I ask my clients how they are feeling and if they have any pain/niggles. If they feel any sharp pain during an exercise we'll immediately stop and try to work out what's causing it and make changes if needed.
Regularly being in pain shouldn't be a consequence of training.
8, They're unreliable
Does your personal trainer cancel a lot? Is he always late? Have you turned up to find he's not there because he forgot about your session? Have you turned up to find he has passed you on to another personal trainer who doesn't know anything about you?
None of these should be acceptable.
Yes, things come up that could cause the trainer to cancel, but it should be very rare. I've never cancelled a single client session, and only would if I had no other choice.
None of these should be acceptable.
Yes, things come up that could cause the trainer to cancel, but it should be very rare. I've never cancelled a single client session, and only would if I had no other choice.