[quote]Andrew Dixon wrote:
I would never choose a trainer based on looks.
To me they should look strong, healthy and be passionate about what they do.
I would pick a strongman competitor over a mens health model any day. [/quote]
These lines seem to contradict each other.
Zap, do I need to add that Jesse had jumped UP to the stone-loading box or are you seriously confused about the pic?
[quote]derek wrote:
Andrew Dixon wrote:
I would never choose a trainer based on looks.
To me they should look strong, healthy and be passionate about what they do.
I would pick a strongman competitor over a mens health model any day.
These lines seem to contradict each other.
Zap, do I need to add that Jesse had jumped UP to the stone-loading box or are you seriously confused about the pic?
[/quote]
It’s Zap. If you don’t know by now…
I will say I believe it’s possible to earn credibility in a given discipline even if you haven’t achieved what some of your charges have. Scotty Bowman never played NHL hockey, but owns every major coaching record there is including most wins, most playoff wins, most championships and the only coach in history to win championships with 3 different teams. That isn’t exactly the same thing as weight training, but makes the point.
Having said that I will add that in the everyday world these types of individuals are very rare especially in the iron game and it makes all the sense in the world to draw from someone who has excelled at what you’re trying to do.
I may get hammered for this, but despite what I’ve read here and elsewhere I really believe that for non elite competitors if you actually need a personal trainer for very long you’re splashing in the wrong pond. If you can’t get pointed in the right direction and begin grasping for yourself how to proceed you will likely never do really well in this game. That doesn’t mean even the most advanced trainee will ever stop learning, but if you need hand holding and cheerleading for very long you ain’t cut out for this.
[quote]derek wrote:
Andrew Dixon wrote:
I would never choose a trainer based on looks.
To me they should look strong, healthy and be passionate about what they do.
I would pick a strongman competitor over a mens health model any day.
These lines seem to contradict each other.
Zap, do I need to add that Jesse had jumped UP to the stone-loading box or are you seriously confused about the pic?
[/quote]
Just fooling with you. It reminded me of Bob Dole falling off the stage.
[quote]Zap Branigan wrote:
Zap, do I need to add that Jesse had jumped UP to the stone-loading box or are you seriously confused about the pic?
Just fooling with you. It reminded me of Bob Dole falling off the stage.[/quote]
Never heard of it ;^)
[quote]derek wrote:
Zap Branigan wrote:
Zap, do I need to add that Jesse had jumped UP to the stone-loading box or are you seriously confused about the pic?
Just fooling with you. It reminded me of Bob Dole falling off the stage.
Never heard of it ;^)
[/quote]
Another good stage fall.
[quote]Tiribulus wrote:
I may get hammered for this, but despite what I’ve read here and elsewhere I really believe that for non elite competitors if you actually need a personal trainer for very long you’re splashing in the wrong pond. If you can’t get pointed in the right direction and begin grasping for yourself how to proceed you will likely never do really well in this game. That doesn’t mean even the most advanced trainee will ever stop learning, but if you need hand holding and cheerleading for very long you ain’t cut out for this.[/quote]
I agree 100% with this, I have had more than one person I know tell me “I was in the best shape when I was working with my personal trainer, he made sure I did the work” or “If my personal trainer isn’t making me I can’t get motivated to workout”
I don’t understand this philosphy but everyone is diffrent…
It is a lifestyle, you have to love it.
[quote]Tiribulus wrote:
If you can’t get pointed in the right direction and begin grasping for yourself how to proceed you will likely never do really well in this game. That doesn’t mean even the most advanced trainee will ever stop learning, but if you need hand holding and cheerleading for very long you ain’t cut out for this.[/quote]
I think it hurts for some to simply admit that they aren’t cut out for this. They linger on, barely making any progress despite trying to microanalyze the smallest detail and turning this into some extreme science experiment. They miss the part about consistency and giving this everything you have as if they can “out-think” the effort. People who figure it out quickly likely wouldn’t be on a forum asking many of the questions that get asked here.
I met someone I hadn’t seen in a while in the gym tonight. At about 200lbs and what must be 6% body fat given the veins apparent, the guy breaks every rule you hear on these forums.
His routine is over 2 1/2 hours long (including an hour on the treadmill). His diet, while filled with several Muscle Milk shakes is largely Ding Dongs and cookies. Yes, he needs to bring his legs up some and he needs to train his back more, but most of the people on this forum would kill to look like he does on his worst day.
The difference? I haven’t seen very many people who train as hard as he does. He would tire out some of the most hardcore lifters if they tried to follow him through a workout.
I think the fact that there are no rules that work for all people is too much for many to handle. The idea of training hard is a concept I doubt very many actually understand. I often wonder if they even walk out of the gym sweating.
http://www.T-Nation.com/readTopic.do?id=1515536
I would rephrase the way a few things were stated and I’m not one to link to articles very often, but this edition of Shugart’s Hammer is quite insightful in this regard.
Before someone brings this up there is also a difference between training with a group or a partner who is as motivated as you are already and needing a babysitter to assign your chores and make sure you get them done.
I’m also not talking about working with someone for a period on occasion in the pursuit of expanding your personal resources.
The right personal trainer and that’s the trick isn’t it? The RIGHT trainer would be helpful in the very beginning to teach proper form for instance and the rudiments of weight training as a whole, but most of the time they wind up as a fitness nanny.
[quote]Professor X wrote:
They miss the part about consistency and giving this everything you have as if they can “out-think” the effort.
[/quote]
“out-think” the effort.
Best phrase yet!
This reminds me of the cartoon where (I believe it’s the Roadrunner) Wile E Coyote is flying along happily until the Roadrunner holds up a sign that reads “You Can’t Fly”.
It’s after reading this that he plummets to the ground.
Sometimes never being told about limits seems to erase the fact that they ever existed.
I think science can ruin a good thing. Weight training should be more of an art and less of a science in some regards.
[quote]derek wrote:
This reminds me of the cartoon where (I believe it’s the Roadrunner) Wile E Coyote is flying along happily until the Roadrunner holds up a sign that reads “You Can’t Fly”.
It’s after reading this that he plummets to the ground.
Sometimes never being told about limits seems to erase the fact that they ever existed.
[/quote]
Well said. I like your analogy.
I’d have to say the big guy. But again, I think it mostly has to do with the persons goals.
Id go with the big guy. I dont know of anyone who is that big without years of dedication.
Manual labor and youth/genetics could get you to look like the skinny guy without ever setting foot into a gym.
I’d choose whoever could press/jerk, squat, and deadlift more weight.
Jesse’s physique just speaks dedication and years of working out and experience.
Uknown looks like he has been doing cardio for several years and started doing bodyweight exercises like 6 weeks ago. maybe a little extreme, but you get the point.
I’d go for Jesse 100 percent.
[quote]derek wrote:
Andrew Dixon wrote:
I would never choose a trainer based on looks.
To me they should look strong, healthy and be passionate about what they do.
I would pick a strongman competitor over a mens health model any day.
These lines seem to contradict each other.
[/quote]
Yeah, they do a bit. I was trying to respond to the OP and offer my actual criteria for choosing a trainer. So if I chose one, it would be the big guy, but in reality I’d want to speak to the big guys trainer.
While I wouldn’t pick a trainer based on looks alone, they shouldn’t be super skinny or overly fat.
[quote]Tiribulus wrote:
http://www.T-Nation.com/readTopic.do?id=1515536
I would rephrase the way a few things were stated and I’m not one to link to articles very often, but this edition of Shugart’s Hammer is quite insightful in this regard.
Before someone brings this up there is also a difference between training with a group or a partner who is as motivated as you are already and needing a babysitter to assign your chores and make sure you get them done.
I’m also not talking about working with someone for a period on occasion in the pursuit of expanding your personal resources.
The right personal trainer and that’s the trick isn’t it? The RIGHT trainer would be helpful in the very beginning to teach proper form for instance and the rudiments of weight training as a whole, but most of the time they wind up as a fitness nanny.
[/quote]
Maybe you could change trainers as you progress. If your a beginner, some dude who can teach perfect technique is a good choice, but as your physique changes and goals may change you would switch trainers. Just as I would switch accountants as I made more and more money. There would be a point where my adviser is no longer suitable for my level of achievement.
Of course you could go straight to the big guns, but maybe you’re paying top dollar of fundamental advice that anyone can teach you.
[quote]Andrew Dixon wrote:
<<< Maybe you could change trainers as you progress. If your a beginner, some dude who can teach perfect technique is a good choice, but as your physique changes and goals may change you would switch trainers. Just as I would switch accountants as I made more and more money. There would be a point where my adviser is no longer suitable for my level of achievement.
Of course you could go straight to the big guns, but maybe you’re paying top dollar of fundamental advice that anyone can teach you.[/quote]
I believe there is more than a semantic difference between an advisor and a personal trainer. A man without advisors is an arrogant fool and just as badly off as the man who hangs on the word of whatever he’s read most recently.
However, having your radar in a constant sweep for useful information isn’t the same as entrusting your progress to someone else. I will concede that if I could find the perfect trainer for me, meaning some one who could act as an efficient sounding board. Someone who could truly help me strengthen my own methods and who was free, I’d be open to working with them.
I really don’t mean to come off the wrong way, but there’s no information I need bad enough that I can’t get now that I’m willing to pay for.