Personal Trainer Help

I believe there is a problem with overweight health professional in general (doctors and nurses included) and while I do not think that weight denotes knowledge, weight does denote character and when putting your body in someones hands, I want those hands to have solid character AND knowledge.

Also I am not saying I need a six pack, far from it. Just someone who shows they care about themselves.

I don't care who you are, you can always use a trainer or inspiration. I train trainers, I get training advice from other trainers, and my needs for a trainer is certianly dedication and passion for fitness and health, two things that usually come with someone who cares about themselves. Not to say there aren't exceptions, but they are few and far between.
 
Funnily enough, in my experience, most of the trainers who look the part are boobs. In the gyms I've trained at or worked out at, the trainers who look the part normally suck. They're full of vanity and while the client is doing quarter squats on the smith machine, they're either checking out the hot chick doing her billionth crunch or they're making sure their sleeves are rolled up enough to expose their bulging bicep.

Yea, the post is full of my own personal experiences.... but that's where I'm coming from with my opinions since that's all I can go on.

We can run a million what if scenarios and come to different conclusions.

Trevor, you're right, and I said this before in this very thread. It's in the trainer's best interest to look the part. If a prospective client is to walk into a gym without any real knowledge and expecting ALL trainers to be 'good,' who is said client going to choose; a fat trainer or a thin one.

Obviously the thin.

But what's the point... we're not talking about maximizing trainer revenue. We're discussing if a fat trainer presents a moral dilemma. At least that's what this conversation seems to have transformed into.

I totally respect your opinions.... and Leigh's.

They're just not applicable to my experiences.

I'll say this: In an ideal world, of course I'd want all trainers to be fit and slim. I, myself, try and walk the walk, talk the talk as much as possible and I wouldn't have it any other way.

But in the real world, trainer's lifestyle habits are the least of my concern. My primary concern with today's population of trainers is competence wrt the service they provide. We could have every trainer turn into a tub-of-lard and be decades ahead of where we are today in terms of competency if half of said tub-of-lards simply read a book or two.... continued their education and pursuit of knowledge.

The myopic view most people entering this industry take is what's worth talking about IMO.
 
I think that is a great post and really all I want to add is when I say fit I in no way mean bulging biceps, just not an obvious slob, someone that just screams lazy and they don't take care of themselves and I can't think of one trainer/doctor/nurse I ever met who's appearance in that manner didn't speak exactly to their knowledge. So again I am generalizing from experiance on this but my vision of "fit" merely means, takes care of themselves.
 
Funnily enough, in my experience, most of the trainers who look the part are boobs. In the gyms I've trained at or worked out at, the trainers who look the part normally suck. They're full of vanity and while the client is doing quarter squats on the smith machine, they're either checking out the hot chick doing her billionth crunch or they're making sure their sleeves are rolled up enough to expose their bulging bicep.
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On a more serious note, though, not to parrot steve AGAIN in this thread, but this has been my experience as well. In my opinion, If there is a guy with a hose on the outside of his arm, and there is a guy with a bit of a belly on him, but with muscles, I'm gonna go with the belly guy. Chances are, Mr. Ripped is one of those genetic lottery winners (we all know a couple), and the chubby guy has had to work a lot harder to get where he is.

EDIT:
This is just along the lines that we are talking about comparing possible trainers by aesthetics alone.
 
Leigh P. said:
I think that is a great post and really all I want to add is when I say fit I in no way mean bulging biceps, just not an obvious slob, someone that just screams lazy and they don't take care of themselves and I can't think of one trainer/doctor/nurse I ever met who's appearance in that manner didn't speak exactly to their knowledge. So again I am generalizing from experiance on this but my vision of "fit" merely means, takes care of themselves.
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Good point Leigh, we're sitting here going back and fourth about fit vs. fat trainers/coaches when in reality, my vision of fit/fat may be drastically different than yours or the next persons.
 
Hey Steve:

Everyone already knows that to be the biggest bodybuilder out there you have to take your training advice from Jay Cutler. Muscletech says so.
 
do I need a personal trainer?

I was wondering if any of you have gotten a personal trainer, and I wanted to know how much you've benefited from their help .. thanks so much!
 
Should I enlist a personal trainer?

I had a free "orientation" hour with a personal trainer today. We did an incline bench press as a negative exercise, upright bench press kinda thing, incline pushing machine more up than forward kinda motion, push ups off the wall of an exercise ball and lateral and front raises. My arms were shaking by the third set of the first machine, and my arms hurt more than they ever have when I'm on my own.

When I go (during the last two weeks) I do large muscle groups of upper body (lat pull down, upright row, butterfly, upright chest press) and then lower body on another day (leg extension, hamstring curl, leg press) and just alternate those going 3 times a week. The last few reps are a challenge on all exercises, but I'm never sore afterward (unless I run). I do cardio at 80% max HR 3-4 times a week (2 days are run/walk intervals).

My diet is inconsistant, but generally (70%?) high quality, clean food, however I don't create a calorie deficit with my food usually (only with exercise). It's become really apparent that I'm an emotional eater.

I'm 23 y/o female 5'6.5" 190lbs (up from 178 in december after ending a nutrisystem-like diet). My ultimate goal is 150lbs. Should I pay someone $35/hour to train me for my wedding in October, or should I try my best to be more consistant with my diet and continue my exercise routine?

I appreciate you reading this and welcome your comments.
 
missfuzzy7096 said:
I had a free "orientation" hour with a personal trainer today. We did an incline bench press as a negative exercise, upright bench press kinda thing, incline pushing machine more up than forward kinda motion, push ups off the wall of an exercise ball and lateral and front raises. My arms were shaking by the third set of the first machine, and my arms hurt more than they ever have when I'm on my own.

When I go (during the last two weeks) I do large muscle groups of upper body (lat pull down, upright row, butterfly, upright chest press) and then lower body on another day (leg extension, hamstring curl, leg press) and just alternate those going 3 times a week. The last few reps are a challenge on all exercises, but I'm never sore afterward (unless I run). I do cardio at 80% max HR 3-4 times a week (2 days are run/walk intervals).

My diet is inconsistant, but generally (70%?) high quality, clean food, however I don't create a calorie deficit with my food usually (only with exercise). It's become really apparent that I'm an emotional eater.

I'm 23 y/o female 5'6.5" 190lbs (up from 178 in december after ending a nutrisystem-like diet). My ultimate goal is 150lbs. Should I pay someone $35/hour to train me for my wedding in October, or should I try my best to be more consistant with my diet and continue my exercise routine?

I appreciate you reading this and welcome your comments.
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Either Way is Great but HONESTLY, you have sufficient amount of time to Reach your Goal and if you ask around or read on some good exercises YOU CAN DO IT BY YOURSELF....the first time I had a lot of weight to lose, I worked hard and lost 5 lbs a month....so if you do minimal that, which is a GREAT HEALTHY pace to LOSE at, then you should be at your GOAL BY THAT TIME!.....I did it ONCE, and NOW I am DOING it AGAIN...I BELIEVE you can DO IT! :party: ROOTING FOR YA!
 
I say DIY. I've had a personally trainer before and they told me exactly the same things I knew and walked me through exercise routines I've done before. Honestly, it was a waste of money and I didn't lose significant weight.

Exploring this site and touching bases with being healthy in general is really all you need to get down to your goal weight.
 
If you do decide to go the personal trianer route, my advise would be to make appointments to sit down and talk with a few trainers about your specific needs, goals and expectations of them as a trainer. I think many people don't feel they can do this, that they are just assigned a trainer or get to pick a name out of a book after reading a generic description of their training and "specializations". The fact of the matter is, you are an employer looking to hire an employee. You are going to be paying this person to assist you in meeting your goals, often paying a lot! You should also ask your gym (I'm assuming you will be hiring a PT through your gym) if you can switch trainers if you aren't happy. Again, you are paying for a service and if that service isn't satisfactory you should have some recorse to change it.

I had a personal trainer for 12 sessions. She was really good, knew her stuff (she was a fitness competitor for years) and pushed me pretty hard as she could tell I had enough of a base fitness level to do that. However, the once a week sessions aren't enough, and I was hitting a period in my life where I wasn't motivated to work out on the off days. Clearly one tough weight training session a week isn't enough. So just make sure that your head is on right to make your PT sessions a PART of your program, not the whole thing (unless you will be seeing a PT a few times a week $$!)
 
Cowgirl said:
I say DIY. I've had a personally trainer before and they told me exactly the same things I knew and walked me through exercise routines I've done before. Honestly, it was a waste of money and I didn't lose significant weight.

Exploring this site and touching bases with being healthy in general is really all you need to get down to your goal weight.
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I don't think all trainers would be a waste of money. In fact, a good one is worth their weight in gold.
 
I get a PT 5 days a week. Costs a fortune, but its worth it.

(I just sold my house, and am living rent free in one of my parents units, so, I have heaps of extra $$ for the trainer).

Here are my reasons for getting a trainer:

1. You have your hard earned $$ on the line
2. It is forced motivation - I have to turn up, or else I get called/chased up by my trainer - where are you? what are doing?
3. They have you do stuff that I would never think of doing
4. They share the SAME goals as you do, and help you acheive them
6. They are just as happy as you are when you see improvements
7. They ensure an even workout - legs, arms, abs, back, core, cardio etc

My weightloss was going OK before I got the trainer, but since having a trainer for 7 weeks straight, the improvement has been HUGE. Not only fat loss, but muscle gain.
 
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