While you are getting a Certified Personal Trainer (CPT or PT) to give you advice, knowledge and direction on achieving your fitness goals. Most people put a lot of trust in their trainer, yet there are a number of things personal trainers never tell you.
Setting Expectations The trainers should be giving you an idea of what it takes to reach your goals and how long it may take. Often they tell clients their goals are easy to reach. In reality it is more often the case those goals are beyond the client’s expectations. It may be a small goal like just getting in better shape or a larger goal like women who will start working out a month or two before a wedding expecting to lose fifty pounds. The trainer knows they will not lose a full fifty pounds by then but will never disclose that to the client. A forty year old man may want to build a muscular body in three months for his high school reunion which is also not a reasonable expectation. A good trainer will ask for the fitness goals of the client and explain what are reasonable expectations. If they do not tell you what the expectations are then you are ten times more likely to quit within three months as you will not meet your own expectations.
Fitness Assessment A Certified Personal Trainer not only has to learn individual exercises but a good portion of their education and testing is on client assessments. It is the most important part of the first training session. They must look at your current fitness level and even general health condition. Some people should be directed to their Doctor before they begin their workout. They should be asking you about health conditions such as arthritis, heart conditions, etc. or past injuries, as training must be structured to prevent further injury or health problems. It is also the time to determine what part of the body needs more development than others.
If your PT does not perform an assessment of you, then maybe they are not the right one for you. If they do not do an assessment you might want to ask them how do they determine what you need to do.
Off Days Trainers rarely inform clients that the scale may go up some days. Its just part of your body adjusting as you follow a fitness regimen. Expect to gain a pound or two back for a few days. Expect to have certain days, you have no energy to workout. Its part of life. Good trainers will keep you motivated.
Diet & Exercise Many fitness instructors often only focus on the workout at the gym. No matter what your goals are: Losing weight, getting a shapely body, building muscle mass, training for a competition, diet is a big part of getting there. They should be asking you what your current diet is and making suggestions (hopefully without actually selling you product) but you might need to do your own research. Read some of the other articles on here that might help.
Lack of Experience I have been working out myself for over thirty years and earned by Certification in Personal Training twenty years ago. While it is not my vocation, I have worked with hundreds of people over the years that have achieved their personal fitness goals. Yet many people will take the advice of a personal trainer they pay good money for rather than someone like myself. Why? Because they feel they are getting an experienced professional when they pay someone. Unfortunately, that is not the truth very often today. Certification can be gotten today with a few hundred dollars and a test taken online with an open book. Certification does not equal experience or knowledge. Just because they are getting paid does not mean they are an expert. And don’t fall for the 25 year old trainer that says they have 20 years experience!
Should also be mentioned that the trainer’s own physique does not indicate knowledge or experience. There are a lot of twenty-something trainers who profess to know how to get a forty-something mother to lose weight. They may have never had to worry about weight in their life. If they do not offer it, then you should ASK! what their training is? How long they have been training? What was their fitness background in the past?
Complicated Exercises Standing on one foot on a bosu, a dumbell in the other hand reaching up while kicking the other foot high in the air. Yes it can help with balance and give a good laugh to other people in the gym at the same time! It probably has absolutely no effect on the goals you are trying to reach. PT’s do complicated exercises with clients to keep them on a leash. As you would have difficulty finding these on your own, or even doing them, they get to keep you as a client. One fitness center tells its trainers “If you let your clients use the machines, they will realize they do not need a trainer.” They will use some machines but keep a percentage to using gear that is a bit more complicated.
The standard exercises using weights, cables, resistance bands and basic body-weight (crunches, pushups, etc.) movements work for 99% of all fitness goals.
Cardio or Warm-ups as part of Session This is often considered a personal training Scam. You do not need to pay a trainer to watch you on a treadmill, bicycle or elliptical machine. They can direct you to doing cardio and how much to do but it should not be on your dime.
Better Trainers are not in the Gym Personal Trainers that work for a fitness center are generally not highly paid. They might tell you they are the best in your area. The better trainers are independent of any gyms. They have proven themselves over the years and can command higher rates. They also have acquired their own clientele and do not need to rely on a big fitness center chain for clients. This does not mean that a personal trainer who is an employee of a gym can not help you. They may be more than what you need. They just will not tell you the better trainers are not employees.
Your Exercise Regimen is the Same as Everyone’s They Train It pays to take some time to spend in the gym “watching” your personal trainer. You might find they do nearly the same workout routine with almost everyone. If that is the case then they are not customizing to your fitness goals and current condition.
Shut-Up and Lift Those Weights! This might be a case of a Trainer telling you too much. Except that you need to workout harder. They need to be getting you to do those last few extra reps or going for a little more weight. Not to the point of injury but to push a little further. Many trainers only have you do an exercise a set number of times. Doing ten reps of a movement will not do a thing for you if you can do fifteen or twenty. If they spend more time talking instead of getting you to do a real workout, your mouth will get the biggest workout.
Personal Information Personal Trainers are people and like most people they can tend to gossip. If you hear them talk to you about other clients then be aware that they are also talking to other clients about you. It is advantageous to keep personal information you say to a minimal.
They are not a Doctor A real certified fitness instructor will have some knowledge about the human body and health conditions. They also may identify when you have an injury. But they are not licensed or educated on how to treaty conditions. They should in those instances tell you to see a doctor or specialist that is needed. They should not be treating you.
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