Are You a Personal Trainer?

To OP,

1 If you’re in a commercial gym, you will have the lowest common denommonater trainers who have probably just done a course and only “worked out” during the 3 month course they finished last week.

Add to that most courses are WAY behind the research(eg protein requirements, creatine and other supps, the “lactic acid burn”) so the trainers are crippled before they can even start.

Oh and “I don’t want to get too big” comes up alot from trainers as well as clients. Too big for what, the chidren’s clothing section?

2 Trainers are there to make money. So guess what? they will approach anyone they haven’t before in the hope they can make a sale.
They might also be intimidated by you and need to show you how much they know(or not) to assert their place in the gym.

3 see 1 Plus most trainers leave the industry before a year is out.

4 I have no idea. That is, I don’t check out other members’ pics to see if their advice is worth taking.

Before you see that as a criticism, I’m not saying you do/don’t.I’m just saying if I see some advice or suggestions I think about it on its own merrits and don’t worry about the suggester’s physique. For example Boyle or early Creassy look(ed) nothing special but have had a great effect on my training and my clients.

Well lets ask this question…Why does EVERY personal trainer have to be Jacked? Maybe some have to retain a certain weight for their respective sport or participate in activities that require different goals. What if a kid loves to play soccer but trains people for work? What if a personal trainer does cross-country or marathon running? What if all these people who aren’t JACKED have degrees in athletic training from college as well?

Bottom line is people have different goals. Why does a personal trainer have to adhere to your goals and dreams in order to be deemed effective in your eyes? You wanna look like a bodybuilder? Than either find someone who is a personal trainer who looks like one…or someone who has KNOWLEDGE on the subject. Size doesn’t necessarily always equate knowledge. I’ve known guys from college who werent necessarily huge but could wrap rings around your head with knowledge about building muscle, muscularture and human body function.

So what im saying is…listen to what ANY personal trainer has to say before your judge them. Some peoples knowledge just might shock you…even if you think you know everything…I mean more than a guy who’s a buck fifty but has a masters degree in athletic training. Nough said.

[quote]Loudog75 wrote:
I recently just got back in the gym this week after an injury and I see many of the same personal trainers there that I’d seen previously. Just a couple of questions:

  1. Why do PT’s always look like little fit shits? Couldn’t lift BW if their life was on the line.
  2. Why do they always give advice that’s not asked for?
  3. Why don’t they ever show any progress.
  4. (Bonus) Why are there so many PT types here on TMuscle.com. They all have advice but look like CRAP.

By the way - This is a pics or STFU board!

[/quote]

Heres my best attempt:

  1. Being a successful personal trainer has nothing to do with personal accomplishments in lifting, or size… It’s all about selling yourself. The most successful personal trainers are the ones that have that Brad Pitt-esque, lean but not anorexic physique. Most women are deterred by a giant meat head looking guy (I know this from personal experience too [No, I’m not the giant meat head looking guy :(]). And since (around here) most clients are women who have loaded husbands, you want to make sure not to scare them away.
  2. Business. If you see someone doing something wrong, or doing something that isn’t as efficient as a different exercise, you’re encouraged to go give them advice. Not only does that show them they don’t ‘know it all’ it’s showing them that you care enough to help them without being paid. If they ever decide to use a personal trainer, will they go to the guys that are too busy to give them the time of day, or the trainer who gave them free advice that worked? It’s all about baggin’ the clients.
  3. Now I don’t work 40 hours a week training, and I even find it hard to put down the kind of calories, while putting in the work I’d need to put on lean mass. And keep in mind, that’s the only kind of mass a PT would want to put on (Would you hire a fat personal trainer, keeping in mind that the target market isn’t powerlifters?). Generally you get about 30 seconds to take a piss or grab a swig of water inbetween clients. I suppose, just like with any other line of work however, after 8 clients in a row with barely any food in you the last thing you want to do is lift… So I can find it pretty believable that alot of busy PTs aren’t putting on size.
  4. Being a personal trainer doesn’t mean you are big, or strong. It means you have the knowledge to help others get big and strong. Would I personally hire myself, or any PT if they were fat / weak or didn’t practice what they preached? Hell no. But that’s just me, and isn’t the general public. Their progress does not determine their knowledge, especially when factoring in point 3. Just saying.

I’ll post a pic when I get home from work, I suppose…

Also, I feel like you need a new belt.

The trainers of the gym I go to are from Iceland, one is strong as hell the other is a damn good Oly lifting coach and is name is Thor. FTW!!!

I work as a PT at a college gym. I’ll try and get a picture I suppose (avi is an old/shitty cellphone pic). I remember hearing Alwyn Cosgrove talk about being a “good trainer” and remarking that it’s easy to stand out when the standard in this industry is so low. And it’s really the truth.

We’re not technically required to be certified. I think it’s always going to be a matter of how seriously you take your job. If you’re just a former athlete/training is sort of a thing you do to make a few extra bucks you’re not going to be particularly motivated to get people results.

All my clients squat, deadlift, and press. That doesn’t mean they’re all doing barbell lifts on day one but that’s definitely the goal. For some people (especially the overweight) that means we start with pushups and bodyweight squats. I also use kettlebells (my own) as well as bands and some other more “functional” training equipment. Being an effective trainer however is about more than making people lift heavy or pushing them.

Most of my clients are either overweight or just looking to “tone” (fuck I hate that word). So for them the program is generally built around strength/conditioning and lots of dietary education. At the end of the day I can get somebody stronger but if they need to lose 50 lbs the work ends up being more about psychology and education than putting more weight on the bar.

As for my own training, I lift heavy 4-5 days a week. The food definitely requires planning. Sometimes you barely have enough time between clients to slog back a protein shake. I cook all my meals in advance and bring my cooler packed with Tupperware to work. It’s harder to put on mass because you’re usually exhausted after a day of working with people. Especially if you demonstrate/do exercises with your clients.

I try to get my most important lifts in on days that I don’t work or I go in BEFORE work and train when I’m fresh. Plenty of trainers just work with their clients and consider that enough but I think that you need to hold yourself to the kind of standards that you expect of your clients. If they don’t see you and the results of you working hard/taking care of yourself, why should they listen to you? The people that don’t look the same every year and so do the people they train.

I should probably also add that as a trainer you’re providing a SERVICE to the client. And ultimately its your job to get them what -they want-. Not everyone needs to be lifting heavy or packing on slabs of lean mass. That might not be their goal. Some people similarly don’t want that type of training environment. To be successful, you need to be the person that they want to spend an hour with a few times a week.

There’s always a fine balance between hard work/having some fun. If it’s just serious, and hardcore and miserable no one’s going to come back! Getting stronger/lifting heavier works for a lot of people. But as a different example, I have a client who’s a former athlete who has a fair amount of lean mass on her but wants to get leaner. We do a lot of circuits/complexes and similar “metabolic” type work because if all we did was lift heavy, she’d probably pack on more mass and be even “bulkier” than she is now.

On another note. I train one kid who’s a classic skinny ectomorph and he just wants to pack on mass and it’s fucking awesome lol.

[quote]latspread wrote:
To OP,

1 If you’re in a commercial gym, you will have the lowest common denommonater trainers who have probably just done a course and only “worked out” during the 3 month course they finished last week.

Add to that most courses are WAY behind the research(eg protein requirements, creatine and other supps, the “lactic acid burn”) so the trainers are crippled before they can even start.

Oh and “I don’t want to get too big” comes up alot from trainers as well as clients. Too big for what, the chidren’s clothing section?

2 Trainers are there to make money. So guess what? they will approach anyone they haven’t before in the hope they can make a sale.
They might also be intimidated by you and need to show you how much they know(or not) to assert their place in the gym.

3 see 1 Plus most trainers leave the industry before a year is out.

4 I have no idea. That is, I don’t check out other members’ pics to see if their advice is worth taking.

Before you see that as a criticism, I’m not saying you do/don’t.I’m just saying if I see some advice or suggestions I think about it on its own merrits and don’t worry about the suggester’s physique. For example Boyle or early Creassy look(ed) nothing special but have had a great effect on my training and my clients. [/quote]

No worries on criticism - I’m on the interwebz. This was just me voicing frustrations that I think we all have. Right or Wrong, it just annoys the crap outta me to have people giving advice when the don’t take their own. Ex - I’m a financial advisor, I couldn’t in good consciouse tell someone to do something that I wouldn’t/ couldn’t do.

[quote]DTP88 wrote:

[quote]Loudog75 wrote:
I recently just got back in the gym this week after an injury and I see many of the same personal trainers there that I’d seen previously. Just a couple of questions:

  1. Why do PT’s always look like little fit shits? Couldn’t lift BW if their life was on the line.
  2. Why do they always give advice that’s not asked for?
  3. Why don’t they ever show any progress.
  4. (Bonus) Why are there so many PT types here on TMuscle.com. They all have advice but look like CRAP.

By the way - This is a pics or STFU board!

[/quote]

Heres my best attempt:

I’ll post a pic when I get home from work, I suppose…

Also, I feel like you need a new belt.[/quote]

That’s the result of a skinny waist and large thighs. Not much I can do about it. Thanks for the insight though.

[quote]Wapptor wrote:
I work as a PT at a college gym. I’ll try and get a picture I suppose (avi is an old/shitty cellphone pic). I remember hearing Alwyn Cosgrove talk about being a “good trainer” and remarking that it’s easy to stand out when the standard in this industry is so low. And it’s really the truth.

We’re not technically required to be certified. I think it’s always going to be a matter of how seriously you take your job. If you’re just a former athlete/training is sort of a thing you do to make a few extra bucks you’re not going to be particularly motivated to get people results.

All my clients squat, deadlift, and press. That doesn’t mean they’re all doing barbell lifts on day one but that’s definitely the goal. For some people (especially the overweight) that means we start with pushups and bodyweight squats. I also use kettlebells (my own) as well as bands and some other more “functional” training equipment. Being an effective trainer however is about more than making people lift heavy or pushing them.

Most of my clients are either overweight or just looking to “tone” (fuck I hate that word). So for them the program is generally built around strength/conditioning and lots of dietary education. At the end of the day I can get somebody stronger but if they need to lose 50 lbs the work ends up being more about psychology and education than putting more weight on the bar.

As for my own training, I lift heavy 4-5 days a week. The food definitely requires planning. Sometimes you barely have enough time between clients to slog back a protein shake. I cook all my meals in advance and bring my cooler packed with Tupperware to work. It’s harder to put on mass because you’re usually exhausted after a day of working with people. Especially if you demonstrate/do exercises with your clients.

I try to get my most important lifts in on days that I don’t work or I go in BEFORE work and train when I’m fresh. Plenty of trainers just work with their clients and consider that enough but I think that you need to hold yourself to the kind of standards that you expect of your clients. If they don’t see you and the results of you working hard/taking care of yourself, why should they listen to you? The people that don’t look the same every year and so do the people they train.

I should probably also add that as a trainer you’re providing a SERVICE to the client. And ultimately its your job to get them what -they want-. Not everyone needs to be lifting heavy or packing on slabs of lean mass. That might not be their goal. Some people similarly don’t want that type of training environment. To be successful, you need to be the person that they want to spend an hour with a few times a week.

There’s always a fine balance between hard work/having some fun. If it’s just serious, and hardcore and miserable no one’s going to come back! Getting stronger/lifting heavier works for a lot of people. But as a different example, I have a client who’s a former athlete who has a fair amount of lean mass on her but wants to get leaner. We do a lot of circuits/complexes and similar “metabolic” type work because if all we did was lift heavy, she’d probably pack on more mass and be even “bulkier” than she is now. [/quote]

I’m impressed.