if it were me id rebrand myself to cast of the dubious ‘personal trainer’ assumptions people make.
but then again most fitness suites are now talking about ‘health and wellbeing coaches’
instead of trainers.
they have realised that your progress is 90% outside of the gym and all about your general life, and then they realised that they were chumps and only making money during the 10%!!!
so hopefully chad will switch title as will droves of others and people wont have to wade through fake tan and teeth to get to actual personal trainers anymore.
“Health & well being coach”.
I could go with that, I don’t think there’s any officialdum to claim that title is there? Although, if it’s already around, that title will surely be rubbished in future too then.
What title, or position could we name the more prodigious, true health & training guru’s out there, such as the guys here - Poliquin, Boyle, Robertson, Chek, Cressey, Cosgrove and crew, or some of the Crossfit guys who have also helped mentor me - Burgenger, Rippetoe, Glassman, Rosen, and my local Crossfitters in Australia?
A title that says “When it comes to all things health & fitness, I know my shit” and that becomes universally indisputable, what would u call it?
I’d rather aim to be called whatever that may be in the future, rather than just a trainer, instructor or coach.
Wellbeing & Strength coach? Health & Strength advisor?..I think eventually whatever title is used it won’t change outside perceptions or the rubbish trainers around within some areas of the industry.
We’re going a bit off the original thread topic here, but personally I think that unless the health & fitness industry as a whole (in the UK anyway, I can’t speak for anywhere else) has a radical shake up then these problems will always persist.
The whole commercial gyms side of things is not set up to help trainers develop in the right way. So many guys (and girls) start as instructors and are very passionate about learning and developing, but after a few years of crap pay, long anti-social hours and endless cleaning they see becoming a personal trainer as an ‘escape’ rather than a vocation.
I’ve been in the industry over 10 yrs and things have not improved at all in that time. I remember being a manager of a corporate gym and earning just 12,000 a yr when my friend who did the same sports degree as me was doing an office job at 26,000 and spending her day surfing the web! Most good trainers are not motivated by purely money, but at the end of the day we want to be valued and earn as good a living as the next guy.
Also lets be honest unless you work for a commercial gym as an in-house trainer, it’s very hard to get set up as an independent without alot of financial support. The gyms near me charge trainers 800 a month just to use their facilities if you’re an independent trainer. Once you add up your rent/bills/tax and stick that on top it’s very hard as a person say in their 20’s to be able to manage without good savings or a supportive partner. I think that’s one of the reasons people go for the in-house option in order to establish themselves.
I think all the guys who own all these big chain gyms have lost touch with the grass roots, they just see it as getting the most ppl through the doors. Once you’ve paid your direct debit they feel they have done their job. It frustrates me and many others I talk to, but what to do to change things??
Yeah, I apologies to the OP, went well & truly off the original thread topic there. My bad.
Although,to strawberrysunday (OP), maybe there’s some insight for u from the trainers perspective of the industry.
It seems we’ve agreed that there are a few very good trainers out there, you might just have to filter thru a few mediocre, or even flat out crap, trainers to find one.
Perhaps aswell as asking the trainer questions when u get a chance, u should try to get some feedback from some of their clients, as well as sitting back and observing in action each of the trainers at your gym.
I gained a lot of my current clients from them approaching me on the gymfloor, and just saying “hey, i’ve been watching all the trainers here for a while now, I’ve seen what u do & I think u could help me, can u train me please?”
Most of the time I’d never met them before. I’ve found i’ve gotten on very well with those particular clients, I guess because the sales guys didn’t match us up, & I didn’t try to “sell” them on the floor or while I was doing a program with them, they got to sit back & make an unbiased & unpressured choice, and they chose to come to me.
[quote]lordstorm88 wrote:
What kind of questions would you ask a personal trainer?
Being a member of 24 hour fitness, I have four “free” sessions with a personal trainer. These sessions were technically paid as part of the enrollment package. $750 over three years, translate to $20.83 per month with an annual renewal price of $29.00 ($2.42 cents per month) on the four year and thereafter.
So basically what questions would you ask? (I can’t think of any at the moment, so I’m looking for some input. Thanks).
nothing really. T-Nation has taught me just about all i need as a beginner. even if he could teach me more… i doubt i’d gain more than say… 10% faster progress
the only lifts i’d think a trainer would be helpful are the snatch and clean and jerk. they are very complicated, especialyl the clean and jerk to learn from a website. the rest… or at least what ive done so far have been learnable[/quote]
Most people would kill for 10% faster progress!
I guess you’re still new enough to be in the “I know everything” phase.
nope i dont think i know everything. like i said i think a trainer isnt worth the money for what little he can contribute to you when you are a beginner. almost every person on here tells beginners to eat lots of protein, 500-1000 cals surplus, go heavy with mostly compounds, sleep enough.
theres some more to it, but not much. heck i think most people could reach the 1.5 bench, 2 squat and 2.5 deadlift times bodyweight with just those things, though its not optimal after a while, its possible.
again the key word is that i think they arent worth the money for a beginner. but like someone said, if you have the money and they are a good trainer, get em sure.
It depends on how much value u place on achieving your own goals as to whether or not a trainer is “worth it”.
Like Old Dax said, most would kill for that extra 10%, I would for even 1%. And I think that value is 10 fold at the beginner stage.
If u had the chance to train optimally from day 1, and eliminate any bad habits, no matter how subtle, before they became in-grained into your function, why wouldn’t u take that opportunity?
I’m sure 99% of experienced trainee’s, regardless of goals, be it strength, size, fat loss, increased VO2, or sport performance, would say “I wish I knew then what I know now”, or “I wish I was told/shown this from day 1”.
[quote]grillem69 wrote:
It depends on how much value u place on achieving your own goals as to whether or not a trainer is “worth it”.
Like Old Dax said, most would kill for that extra 10%, I would for even 1%.
And I think that value is 10 fold at the beginner stage.
If u had the chance to train optimally from day 1, and eliminate any bad habits, no matter how subtle, before they became in-grained into your function, why wouldn’t u take that opportunity?
I’m sure 99% of experienced trainee’s, regardless of goals, be it strength, size, fat loss, increased VO2, or sport performance, would say “I wish I knew then what I know now”, or “I wish I was told/shown this from day 1”.[/quote]
I think this hits the nail on the head.
I like to think that my own training mistakes have made me a better trainer of others, but in terms of my own training progress if I could go back and have more knowledge from day one I’d take it no question. It’s that knowledge a good trainer should provide.
Well, this is an interesting question. Realize that 4 sessions is not a lot. You will see your trainer the first few weeks or month of your membership, then never again. That being the case, you need to use the sessions to set yourself up for long-term success in the gym.
Certainly you want to know about their background, training philosophy, who they have trained, etc. This has been covered pretty decently in this thread. I would want to become familiar with all the equipment, classes, and services offered by the gym. You may have already been given a tour, so that may have been covered. I would also want to know who to go to with problems - who is the owner, who is the manager, who maintains equipment, etc. Since you are in a long-term commitment, you need to know whose chain you need to rattle when problems arise.
There may be key gym members to get to know. Are there athletes that train at the gym? Who is known to be helpful and supportive? Who can you go to for advice? Has anyone already achieved what you are striving to achieve? You may get more knowledge, advice, and support from your fellow gym members than your trainer. They will be the one’s you spend the most time with. Your trainer may be able to help you tap into this social network that will help you after their 4 sessions are over.