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Hiring a trainer
- Thread starter gilgal52
- Start date
I wouldn't hire a PT unless they've been training themselves for many years however old they are. Being certified means nothing and I think it's a disgrace the lack of knowledge many PT's have yet pass themselves off as experts because they've done a quick course. I know some that have never even been inside a gym until the day they start as a PT expecting people to pay them £30 an hour upwards!!!
Everyone PT has got to start somewhere. I would ask to see if they have any references. I would also find out more about their fitness background, experience, etc. By the time I was 19 I had been training for 4 years, reading up on the science behind strength training and conditioning, and implementing those things on my own personal program development.
Do I know more now than I did back then? Of course I do, but that's because I've continued to educate myself, staying up to date on all the current research as it pertains to the human body and how best to train it.
However, would I have been able to put together a safe and effective program for a person trying to lose weight and improve their general fitness? I definitely would have.
I think David the PT and I are both trying to say that age isn't the biggest factor, experience and knowledge is.
Do I know more now than I did back then? Of course I do, but that's because I've continued to educate myself, staying up to date on all the current research as it pertains to the human body and how best to train it.
However, would I have been able to put together a safe and effective program for a person trying to lose weight and improve their general fitness? I definitely would have.
I think David the PT and I are both trying to say that age isn't the biggest factor, experience and knowledge is.
A lot of personnal trianer certifications require you to memorize the latin names for a bunch of muscles and/or bones which I would argue doesn't improve or prove your ability to teach exercise technique and philosophy or design a program for anyone. A few years (or better yet a few decades) in the gym, along with a lot of reading is better preparation.
I am confused when I see the personnal trainers at the fitness center I go to having a woman who is 150+ pounds overweight do concentration curls (worse yet standing on a bosu ball). I have never seen them doing sqauts or any other basic exercises which would do more to build muscle and burn fat in a shorter time. Sadly most of those women, either give up after a few weeks or months for lack of progress, or if they do stay with it, never loose anything. They look just the same 2 or 3 years later.
I am confused when I see the personnal trainers at the fitness center I go to having a woman who is 150+ pounds overweight do concentration curls (worse yet standing on a bosu ball). I have never seen them doing sqauts or any other basic exercises which would do more to build muscle and burn fat in a shorter time. Sadly most of those women, either give up after a few weeks or months for lack of progress, or if they do stay with it, never loose anything. They look just the same 2 or 3 years later.
If your personality clicks then yes! Give him/her a chance
He's too young to be a trainer,lack of experience. If he was a certified,maybe only on papers but in training,you need a trainer that is a professional not an amateur,your health is the topic here.So better,be a trainer yourself.
If your personality clicks then yes! Give him/her a chance
A personal trainer is there to get the best from you in the gym using his/her knowledge and personal experience.
A personal trainer is not a friend or a therapist or a marriage guidance counsellor and if he/she lets you treat them as such then, as is sadly often the case, they're trying to be something they're not just to get your money.
Very unprofessional.
A personal trainer is there to get the best from you in the gym using his/her knowledge and personal experience.
A personal trainer is not a friend or a therapist or a marriage guidance counsellor and if he/she lets you treat them as such then, as is sadly often the case, they're trying to be something they're not just to get your money.
Very unprofessional.
A person's success or failure in the gym has a lot to do with their mental state, in fact long term success probably has more to do with psychological factors than physical factors for many individuals. I would say, although a personnal trainer is not a mental health professional any more than they are a doctor or physical therapist, they certainly have to have a repore with thier client and need to understand and factor in the clients psychological state as well as physical, and what is going on in the clients life outside the gym, and be smart enough to know when to recommend the client consult with a phsyical health (doctor, pysical therapist) or mental health professional.
dswithers: I agree with all of that, I was refering more to client and PT talking about what they did at the weekend or that their husband is having an affair or what was on tv the night before, and in far more detail than is necessary to have rapport. You wouldn't go to a doctor or therapist that spent most of the session talking about things like this so why a PT?
Plus if a client can do all of this while halfway through a set of lat pulldowns or 20 minutes on the cross-trainer they are not working hard enough to justify being in the gym and the PT isn't working hard enough to justify getting paid.
I'm not saying this to bash PT's because obviously I am one, but more than a minority of them are more interested in their own enjoyment of the session than what's good for the client, not to mention doing just enough for the client to see some improvement without it being sufficient for them to no longer need the PT.
If you're a good PT you don't need to do this, instead you have trouble fitting all your clients in because you're the one that gets results.
Plus if a client can do all of this while halfway through a set of lat pulldowns or 20 minutes on the cross-trainer they are not working hard enough to justify being in the gym and the PT isn't working hard enough to justify getting paid.
I'm not saying this to bash PT's because obviously I am one, but more than a minority of them are more interested in their own enjoyment of the session than what's good for the client, not to mention doing just enough for the client to see some improvement without it being sufficient for them to no longer need the PT.
If you're a good PT you don't need to do this, instead you have trouble fitting all your clients in because you're the one that gets results.