Most Personal Trainers Are Useless
Most Personal Trainers Are Useless.
A lot of personal trainers don't even know how to train themselves
Most people assume personal trainers are all the same when it comes to their ability to train people as they're fully qualified. Unfortunately, the vast majority of personal trainers don’t have the knowledge to train other people successfully. In all gyms, I've been in over the years, and all the personal trainers I’ve known, maybe two or three would I consider taking advice from. The rest I wouldn’t let them train me even if they paid me.
At best they aren't effective and the client will make little progress, I've regularly seen clients train with a trainer for years and still use the same weights and reps for an exercise that they started with. At worst, they are dangerous as they don't know how to safely do an exercise that they are trying to teach.
At best they aren't effective and the client will make little progress, I've regularly seen clients train with a trainer for years and still use the same weights and reps for an exercise that they started with. At worst, they are dangerous as they don't know how to safely do an exercise that they are trying to teach.
How does this happen when they have loads of qualifications?
The standards are very low in the industry! I’ve got a bunch of qualifications, but they were all a waste of time. I literally didn’t learn anything from any of them. They were very basic and often had lots of incorrect information in it. For example, the section on how to do a squat showed a video of someone doing a squat incorrectly and just had a few bullet points describing how to do the exercise. The squat section in the course was less than 5% of what I wrote in back squat article on this site.
There is very little practical work involved in these courses. In my Level 3 Personal Trainer, there were two practical days which worked out to be 5-6 hours of practical training. That's it! It’s also almost impossible to fail these courses. They will pass everyone even if they aren’t ready to teach other people. You're just paying for a certificate.
Everything I’ve learned has been from years in the gym being around experienced people and doing my own research every day. I’m always reading and trying to learn. Shockingly, most personal trainers I know don’t do much, if any research and they are novices in the gym themselves.
The general public assumes every personal trainer knows how to perform the big barbell exercises, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. As I mentioned before, the courses to qualify as a personal trainer don’t teach you how to do them correctly. I’ve had had many clients who have trained for years with other trainers. When they started with me, they hadn’t been taught the basics of the exercises. They were unaware of simple and important stuff like bracing, or how to walk the bar out before squatting, both of which should be shown how to do it right at the start during the first they are being taught it.
When I get a new client who has used a personal trainer before, I normally have to correct everything they do and teach them how to do the exercises again as if it’s the first time they have done them.
A personal trainer should know when he’s out of his depth. For example, I recently had someone ask if I could teach her to do a snatch. I don’t have any experience with the Olympic lifts, so I gave her details of someone I know who does know how to do them. It wouldn’t have been right to take her money. Unfortunately, I know of trainers who haven’t learned how to do an exercise, but still, try to teach others how to do it as they want the money.
They often see you as easy money and don't care about your training
Worse than not having the knowledge to train people is when they just see you as easy money and don't care if you make progress or not.
I've seen personal trainers who know better have conversations with clients during all of their work sets of squats. Not only is this dangerous and you're not doing the basics of the exercvise correctly, but you can't be training very hard if you're able to talk while squatting. I've seen the same trainer spend so long talking that they only doing a few work sets in a session.
Another PT once told me he didn't progress a client much as he wanted the client to always need him.
I've seen personal trainers who know better have conversations with clients during all of their work sets of squats. Not only is this dangerous and you're not doing the basics of the exercvise correctly, but you can't be training very hard if you're able to talk while squatting. I've seen the same trainer spend so long talking that they only doing a few work sets in a session.
Another PT once told me he didn't progress a client much as he wanted the client to always need him.
How to ensure you pick a personal trainer that is good?
Ask lots of questions. You’re paying a lot of money for your training and I expect to be asked questions. Don't just trust everything your personal trainer says. Question everything and don't assume he knows what he is doing. The chances are high that he doesn't.
A good trainer won’t have any problem explaining any questions you have with your training. He should be able to explain why you're doing the exercises you’re doing and how you'll progress over the next few months. There should be a good reason for everything that you do and there should be a plan. your trainer should be able to explain why you're doing everything you're doing in detail.
Your personal trainer should have a plan for your training. He shouldn’t be making it up on the day, and everything included in the program should have a good reason for it being there and how you’re going to progress. Training shouldn’t be random. Often a personal trainer doesn’t have any plan other than to tire their client out so they feel like they have had a good workout. I have a good idea of what my clients will be doing weeks and even months from now. Your personal trainer should too.
Don't stay with a trainer if he hasn't planned your training out and is deciding what you're doing on the day, the workout randomly changes from workout to workout or it’s just random exercises thrown together without good reason.
A good trainer won’t have any problem explaining any questions you have with your training. He should be able to explain why you're doing the exercises you’re doing and how you'll progress over the next few months. There should be a good reason for everything that you do and there should be a plan. your trainer should be able to explain why you're doing everything you're doing in detail.
Your personal trainer should have a plan for your training. He shouldn’t be making it up on the day, and everything included in the program should have a good reason for it being there and how you’re going to progress. Training shouldn’t be random. Often a personal trainer doesn’t have any plan other than to tire their client out so they feel like they have had a good workout. I have a good idea of what my clients will be doing weeks and even months from now. Your personal trainer should too.
Don't stay with a trainer if he hasn't planned your training out and is deciding what you're doing on the day, the workout randomly changes from workout to workout or it’s just random exercises thrown together without good reason.
Real World Fitness
I started out in a private studio, and always said I wouldn't ever go to a gym because I didn't want to be around trainers who were incompetent and the gym didn't have enough of the right equipment (squat racks, benches etc). Fortunately, Real World Fitness is different from other gyms and it's the only gym I would have considered moving to in Nottingham.
If you're not getting the service you think you should from your personal trainer, come to the gym for a chat and see if we can help.
If you're not getting the service you think you should from your personal trainer, come to the gym for a chat and see if we can help.