Tired of this nonsense!

I’m just going to rant here. Comments are welcome. Okay, I work at a gym as a trainer. This is this the first gym I’ve worked at so I tried to respect other trainers. Well, after 2 months, as I suspected I’m clearly the most knowledged trainer. Management is pushing the supplments we sell and telling me I have to incorporate “core stability” to be a good trainer. I see trainers that have clients who are looking to get bigger that only use rubber tubing and swiss ball crap. Here’s something funny, the manager tries to sell people on the fact that in his mind, using “core stability” work (swiss ball, balance boards, tubing) burns more calories than free weights because you have to activate the TVA. Ummmmmm, okay?!? Good try bud, but I serioulsly doubt that your lame ass swiss ball squat burns 1/2 as many calories as my barbell squat. The trainers and staff there think squats are bad, not because the damage on your knees, but because of the pressure on your neck. Well, maybe you should work your neck then, pencil neck geek?!?

Another thing that bothers me big time is that everyone is only concerned with calories and to a slight extent, macronutrients. Okay, I understand the law of thermodynamics, but if I eat M&M's all day and have a caloric deficit, I really can't see myself losing bodyfat. Seriously, these people put no energy into meal planning, GI index, combination of foods, etc. I guess they don't want to get confused. They also think that a multi-vitamin is essential for survival. Okay, well I eat 1,000 or more calories above my maintenance and like 3 protein shakes and 3 bars daily, do I really NEED a freaking multi-vitamin for $12/month?

Thanks for reading my rant. I feel better now. Comments are welcome.

Awwwww… C’mon Scott, the nice old people at your gym can’t be that bad can they? At least they’ve got lots of dough to shell out on personal training.

Maybe you could hold some seminars on nutrition. I happen to know the head trainer who came before you, and he did in fact hold quite a few seminars on diet, flexibility, specific golf training, and a couple others for the members. That would be a good place to start…

I’m also a trainer who has gone through the same thing at several gyms. 4 years ago I got strange looks whenever I brought the swissball out and now everyone uses them. My advice is train your client’s with your methods and if you have success other people will notice. I’ve learned to ignore what we may think are mistakes by other trainers .Focus on educating the people you work with and don’t criticize other trainers method’s,this will gain you respect.The seminar idea is great!

There is a fault in your thermodynamic logic in that you assume a caloric deficit automatically induces fat loss. This isn’t necessarily true. The law of thermodynamics when applied to weight loss proves only one thing, that being the body is forced to burn stored energy when sufficient calories aren’t consumed which in turn results in weight loss. Where that energy comes from however is a different story. So yes eating M&Ms all day so long as you are at a caloric deficit will indeed cause your body to burn stored energy. Unfortunately it will be mostly muscle as it is much easier to convert to energy than fat.

Quite simply put, caloric deficit controls weight loss through stored energy expendature while macronutrient ratios play a bigger roll in what stored energy you are burning.

Or even simpler “How much you eat determines how much you lose. What you eat determines what you lose.”

Even macronutrient ratios won’t play that big of a roll when no weight training is performed. The only way to ensure maximum fat loss with minimum muscle loss is to perform weight training and eat adequate protein. Weight training signals the body that the muscle is needed so it will burn fat instead. The extra protein ensures that you are supplying your muscles with the means to repair itself and minimize cannibalization.

So in the end if a person was to weight train, eat adequate protein and then fill the rest of his caloric requirements(assuming you are at a deficit) with M&Ms you would indeed lose fat. Peanut M&M’s would be preferable due to the EFA’s from the peanuts and the fact that they are a much lower GI food.

Dieting is a simple matter. People tend to make it much more complicated than it needs to be.

Calm down, buddy…calm down. :slight_smile:

I must defend the swiss ball here. I too am a trainer and have been for almost eight years. The swiss ball is still underused. The problem you are seeing is that the owner of your gym is preaching the benefits of stability work without doing much actual work. Of course I agree that regular squat kick ass. I do not have a single client who does not include them in their program. The really great things that can happen with swiss ball work is when you begin to do “regular” free weight exercises on the ball. I could go on and on here but dumbell benches are a good place to start with maximal effort I believe they will yield better results in terms of funcional strength gains than reg. benches any day. I am too tired to keep my thoughts together but you should have seen the look on peples faces when I was hammering out 8 reps with the 120lb DB doing one arm swiss ball chest presses. Take that strngth to the flat bench and it is easy as the cake that all those clients eat. As a trainer in a gym there will always be something to rant about. That is the business

hey bro, you pretty much summed up the reasons why i stopped being a trainer after about 6 months. i was tired of training the sheep that just wanted to “tone up” or “i just want to work my thighs and triceps”…then why do you need my help, bitch??? “wont i get fat if i eat that many times a day”…blah, blah, blah. stupid asses.

I hear ya bro. When I did my short stint as a trainer, I saw the same type of thing (no swiss ball though). Basically the people who go to a mainstream club for training wouldn’t know the difference between a knowledgeable trainer and the standard club-trained money drainer. Most don’t care because they’re TOO LAZY to do the foot work themselves. If they had the mental wherewithall to do the research, they wouldn’t need the trainer! Tell you what, when I open my club, you can come work for me. Here’s my vision: limited membership (only so many members - when we’re full, you go on a waiting list), only one membership plan, minimal machines, lots of racks and platforms, lots of space, trainers that don’t get paid by how many poeple they train (the members aren’t charged by the hour for the training), hardcore stuff only, no aerobics classes, no ferns, no supps, no easy listening music… Sound good? It’ll be in one (or more) of 4 areas: Seattle, Oregon coast, Phoenix/Glendale, or the western foothills of Montana. Look for it in about 4 years.

I feel your pain! But I will have to say, that you should listen to your “boss” as far as the first several weeks of a new client’s workout, or the first 3-4 weeks of a new training cycle. The stability work lays a great foundation for the heavier, “real” work to follow, and may expose a potential injury before it happens. After this “prehabilitation” period, drop the stability work except perhaps as part of the warmup (provides a great wake up call for the nervous system of all those pencil jockies). You’ll notice a lot of stability work in the Ian King programs, though he doesn’t utilize a ball. As for squats being bad for your neck- well, all I can say is you have the potential to make alot of money by holding a Squatting for Dummies workshop and make it mandatory for the staff to attend!

I am a little envious in that at least you work where people can show you a lot of stability exercise options (even if they do go way overboard and apparently justify the protocol via a load of crap). Until recently, my only access to these exercises was through home study from the Paul Chek Institute and by going to expensive seminars/workshops.

As so often is the case, I believe mixing the opinions creates a better program. And I agree with the other post about not slamming other trainers at the club. Let your results speak for themselves and save the debates for staff meetings not conversations with your clients or anyone elses.

Stick with it, this is a great way to make a living (I’ve been a trainer for almost 8 years). Just don’t let morons (I mean other trainers) drive you out, and educate your clients so they become gym savvy. When the other members see your clients moving around the gym like they know a thing or two, you’ll stay as busy as you want to be. Lead your clients around by the hand, and you’ll go under.

Keep it up!

Scott, have you ever tried beating the shit out of some of your co-workers and clients? It sounds like it might do you some good. Pick someone who really annoys you. Find what kind of car he drives, and then wait there for him when he leaves the gym. When he looks at you with his annoying, confused look and starts wondering why you’re standing by his car, just beat the hell out of him. Crack him across the face, pull his legs out from under him (a crobar helps with this), and then just step on his head and jump up and down on his nose. This will surely vent some of your anger and you’ll be in a happier place. Without a job, possibly jailed, but happy.

brider, i live in Phoenix so you need to hurry up and get your gym business set up out here. well, let me know in 4 years or so. thanks for the tips and advice from some of you guys. i’m either planning on staying and doing my own thing regardless of what they tell me or leaving when I still have some dignity left. they’re trying to brainwash me with their “core stability” stuff. they prefer only to scratch the surface of things as opposed to actually doing some leg work and researching and learning new ideas. their loss, my gain.