Is it time for a new trainer?

M

mama3

0
Hi everyone. I am in a bit of a dilemma. I hired a personal trainer some months ago (I didn't belong to a gym) to help me lose weight and get healthy. Things went well although results have been limited. I have several obstacles, both physical and non. I am a working mother of 3 young ones and suffer from clinical depression. Physically, I have asthma, I have a chronically sprained ankle (not even sure if that makes sense), a broken heel bone and I had back surgery 5 years ago for a herniated disc which was crushing my sciatic nerve. While I have made some progress, it certainly hasn't been what I would like to see. I have recently joined the gym for which my trainer works in hopes to add variety and consistency. The problem is this: the trainer is extremely pushy. While it's always been this way, it has gotten significantly worse since joining the gym. I wonder if the trainers have quotas that they have to make regarding clients making progress. I have always seen this a motivator but the expectations have become, in my opinion, unrealistic. In fact, after my last session I left the gym in tears. I can not do any high impact work so I am limited to cycling and elliptical training. I am being told that I need to be doing 3-4 sessions a week of weight training, 2 hours every day of cardio and to burn 5000 calories a week just in my gym sessions. When I fall short (which I always do), I am told that I am not putting my priorities in the right order; that there is no reason that I shouldn't be able to do this. I should note here that my trainer is single and has no children. So, I work full time, have a house to run, 3 kids to raise, a fair bit of weight to lose and limited abilities to excercise, let alone time to excercise. Even if I could spend 3 hours every day at the gym, my body will not do cardio for 2 hours every day. I have/am putting everything I have into this and it doesn't seem to be enough. As I said, I left my last session in tears and wanted so badly to stop at McDonald's for a double cheeseburger (I didn't!). I don't consider this motivating and feel it really isn't helping me. My friends and family are apalled. Is this a case of a mismatched trainer/trainee? Please help!
 
It ABSOLUTELY is time for a new trainer!!! Being pushed like that is ridiculous!!! There is NO reason for you to be doing 2 hours of cardio a day - that is complete overkill and a waste of your time (see threads on HIIT). It makes me SO angry to hear stories like this - which gives most trainers such a bad name!!! A trainer should be there to motivate and encourage you NOT to make you feel defeated. I agree with friends and family!!

PS: Glad you didn't stop for the double cheeseburger! Good for you for not giving in to your frustration!!!
 
Agreed- wow is all i can say- find another PT or workout on your own from what you have learned. you could also find a "workout buddy" who is someone in a similiar position as yourself who can see the same problems you see- that can keep you motivated.
 
Thanks for the reinforcement. I was starting to wonder if I was just being a crybaby. Now the task of trying to stand up to her. ;)
 
Yes, as they said, you need to find a trainer that motivate YOU. The excessive cardio is also rediculous.

Having said that, do be carefull of the excuses. I've worked with so many clients I can't even count, and the successfull ones are always the ones that never even mention their limitations (I've had tons of successfull single mom/working two jobs clients and more unsuccessfull rich widows with no obligations :)

You didn't say how many months you've been working with him, but I never felt I need to see REAL progress in a client until about 4 months (about the time it takes your body to really start to adapt). or how your diet is going. My gut feeling is your trainer is frustrated with your weight loss progress, and given he can't really control what you do outside the gym, he grasping at straws, and just making things worse.

Bottom line. Get a different trainer but realize it is their job to push you a bit. Many people will stick with a trainer, not because they are getting results, but because they "like the trainer" and never feel pushed. Don't let that be you (I'm not saying it is)
 
Hi Jake, thanks for the response. I couldn't agree with you more. I am, in fact, careful with the excuses. There is certainly no lack of trying. And when my trainer pushes me properly, I am very motivated to get in one more rep, maybe even two more when I think my body won't do anymore. I used to be someone who used excuses like time, effort, energy etc to not work out. But the frustration of the small successes had literally driven me in sane. So I have to look slightly at those things. However, my diet is not perfect. I don't know what a perfect diet looks like. I do eat some things that are not great for me at times but most days I stick to 1600 calories a day or so. Having just joined this forum, I have seen many posts on this issue. It seems the experts on here are saying that exercise is important (though not to the tune of 2 hours of cardio a day) but that for fat loss, the real issue is diet. So I have those comments replaying in my head and am going to make an even bigger effort in the diet part. I think you are right about my trainer feeling frustrated. I have lost some fat (I have lost one size) but have gained the same amount of weight in muscle so the scale hasn't budged. I am ok with that sort of progress; I think my PT should be too. Thanks again for the feedback.
 
Yes, you can out eat ANY workout program. I know overweight Ironman triatheletes!!! Start keeping an ACCURATE and HONEST food log that includes measured amounts of everything that enters your body for a couple of weeks. You'll learn more about your diet than you ever wanted to learn, but you'll also figure out where the issue really is (you'll probably surprise yourself).
 
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