Now this doesnt mean every trainer, but Im sure everyone on this site has haerd some crazy tip from a personal trainer or someone to do with athletics. Here are some of mine
this coming from all future personal trainers, personal trainers or gym and sport coaches in my high school.
Dont keep your back straight during deadlifts because it puts to much pressure on your back
upright row is perfectly safe for anybody to do
sqauting in a smith machine is safer than a barbell
dont let your feet angle when sqautting because you will pop out your knee
curling all the way up during a pull-up is fine because as long as you go up it works and you dont have to go down all the way
Dont ever do more or less than 10 reps
theres no reason to keep back streight when doing pulling motions
And there is to many to name to do with nutrtition, I have heard some of the dumest things from people who think they now alot.
I had a fellow trainer go to my supervisor last year and tell them I was putting my clients in harms way because I was giving them stiff legged deadlifts with dumbells.She said I was gonna damage their sciatic nerve.I overheard another trainer telling her client she cant do cardio before a workout because she would burn all her muscle first.Not carbs,or fat stores.Muscle first…priceless
[quote]viking666 wrote:
I had a fellow trainer go to my supervisor last year and tell them I was putting my clients in harms way because I was giving them stiff legged deadlifts with dumbells.She said I was gonna damage their sciatic nerve.I overheard another trainer telling her client she cant do cardio before a workout because she would burn all her muscle first.Not carbs,or fat stores.Muscle first…priceless[/quote]
There is a valid theory on training in a starved state for the wasting of muscle.
Who needs them really? I prefer coaches as a term,as in some of the ones that write for this and other forums.
[quote]viking666 wrote:
What about the current trend of obese trainers?[/quote]
yea I kno what you mean and the dumbell stiff leg dead, who ever said tht was bad haha. Also nurses who are obese and work at a doctors office, they should be all healthy but far from it
[quote]viking666 wrote:
What about the current trend of obese trainers?[/quote]
It sucks but is indicative of the country being the fattest in the world. What is a tad more annoying is the mainstream person on the street that expounds on big-boned genetics. News today is how fat celebrities are “fighting” back against the tabloids.
Oh and mexico has now risen to #2 fattest country in the world due to imports of soda and other American convenience food.
What is pretty interesting is the 24hr that I go to now doesn’t have any obese trainers. The guys are actually in pretty good shape muscle wise.
Let’s see I’ll try to add onto this post…
Saw two Indian guys that were clueless and they were doing some forced heavy curls on the incline(heavy for them). For whatever reason one was told it was okay to fail and drop it backwards (behind his back as his shoulder arm and elbow started bending in the wrong direction.
I can’t quite describe what it was like to see his shoulder give then elbow bend funny…
Then his friend tying his towel around his elbow…
Possibly one of the rare times I actually cringe, other then getting an angry test. stare from a skinny fat smurf.
Oh and ~ I tend to hear a lot of :
That is not proper form aimed at everything that doesn’t look like it comes from mens health.
I have a solution for celebrities who are “struggling” with their weight and especially the obese. Designate Yellowstone Park or as a zones to dump these people in, put them through a survival school and erect a massive 15 foot high wall around the entire park. After that time collect those that the bears and wolves haven’t eaten and release them back into society. They will be much better off for it.
But to the original topic. I have somewhat of a PT mentality in that I am maybe overly cautious with people, I have loosened up a bit over the years but still have a bit of this in me. However, I believe many PT’s have no idea of how to push a persons limits from a strength standpoint, and dont really understand what the human body can tolerate with proper form. PT’s are around to strengthen an individuals body to the point where he or she can resume normal everyday activites. Which for most people is sitting on the couch and bending over to pick up their keys. The second the person gets in a situation where they need to exert a decent level of strength, balance, coordination etc… they usually end up with a traumatic injury and end up back with the PT. I must say the vast majority of people walking around are pathetic examples of the human species, truly disgusting.
I would like to contribute to this thread:
It is not the personal trainers’ fault that they are all stupid. It is how they were taught. True story: I go to a school in Minnesota and I am a health fitness major. I fully intend on being a personal trainer when I graduate. Last semester I enrolled in a class entitled Personal Training taken with my advisor, a man who has a masters degree in kinesiology.
The class is intended to ready everyone that takes it to be able to pass the NSCA exam for being a certified personal trainer. I have worked in a gym and been instructed in most lifts by a pretty knowledgeable Physical Therapist who owns the gym. I also have played high school and college football, high school track and field , and high school basketball. I have been an avid T-Nation reader for about 2 years, and I have to admit I have been reading Muscle and Fitness since I was about 15.
I was forced to drop this class because of pure stupidity from the professor and the information presented in the course textbooks. Obviously a portion of the class was in the weight room, and on the first day there we were shown the following lifts in this order: Upright rows, Box Step ups, Triceps Extensions, and Dumbell Rows. He also pointed to the leg press machine and said that one is self explanatory and can be used to grow your legs.
No mention of Squats, Bench or Deadlifts. No Olymic lifts- no snatches, jerks, cleans nothing. We were recommended to stick to sets consisting of at least 10 reps with a light weight that could be controlled throughout. Also we were told to focus on cardio for fat loss.
I am now transferring schools and plan on being an exercise science major at a state school in my area. If anyone knows which certifications are the most respected, contain the most USEFUL information I would be happy to hear it, because I was not impressed with the information presented in the NSCA handbook.
[quote]ungs9 wrote:
I would like to contribute to this thread:
It is not the personal trainers’ fault that they are all stupid. It is how they were taught. True story: I go to a school in Minnesota and I am a health fitness major. I fully intend on being a personal trainer when I graduate. Last semester I enrolled in a class entitled Personal Training taken with my advisor, a man who has a masters degree in kinesiology.
The class is intended to ready everyone that takes it to be able to pass the NSCA exam for being a certified personal trainer. I have worked in a gym and been instructed in most lifts by a pretty knowledgeable Physical Therapist who owns the gym. I also have played high school and college football, high school track and field , and high school basketball. I have been an avid T-Nation reader for about 2 years, and I have to admit I have been reading Muscle and Fitness since I was about 15.
I was forced to drop this class because of pure stupidity from the professor and the information presented in the course textbooks. Obviously a portion of the class was in the weight room, and on the first day there we were shown the following lifts in this order: Upright rows, Box Step ups, Triceps Extensions, and Dumbell Rows. He also pointed to the leg press machine and said that one is self explanatory and can be used to grow your legs.
No mention of Squats, Bench or Deadlifts. No Olymic lifts- no snatches, jerks, cleans nothing. We were recommended to stick to sets consisting of at least 10 reps with a light weight that could be controlled throughout. Also we were told to focus on cardio for fat loss.
I am now transferring schools and plan on being an exercise science major at a state school in my area. If anyone knows which certifications are the most respected, contain the most USEFUL information I would be happy to hear it, because I was not impressed with the information presented in the NSCA handbook. [/quote]
wow dude you really had ato drop the class because the teacher is dum haha, I deff know what you mean. Its not quite as bad as your situation but I have certain gym teachers at my school and I can honestly say my mom who used to workout alot back in the day knows twice as much as them. these are the people teaching evrybody in the school who is knew to weights and they teach it wrong. Its acually kinda sad
I taught the weight room class during my spare in gr. 12. I caught the teacher of the class doing the some of the scariest shit, such as the scared cat deadlift. It was awesome though, by end of the year, every kid could snatch, deadlift, squat all the way down, and do at least 15 chin ups. They are still teaching my program at the school lol. As far as respectable programs training certs. Grin and bare it through the NSCA. You can forget everything they teach you the second you’re done.
I have NSCA and BCRPA certs. BCRPA was excellent because of the teacher I had, He would rip the book apart and tell us to learn the stuff from the text and forget it, unfortunately BCPRA is only for BC Canada. NSCA is recognized pretty much everywhere in north America so its worth it. Once you have the cert you can pretty much do whatever the fuck you want.
and for the credibility of trainers, you just have to talk to them. theres a bunch of in shape, out of shape trainers at my gym. some dont even lift. not that a trainers physique is equivalent to their knowledge, but just by seeing their clients go through futile programs says a lot.
[quote]ironjoe wrote:
I taught the weight room class during my spare in gr. 12. I caught the teacher of the class doing the some of the scariest shit, such as the scared cat deadlift. It was awesome though, by end of the year, every kid could snatch, deadlift, squat all the way down, and do at least 15 chin ups. They are still teaching my program at the school lol. As far as respectable programs training certs. Grin and bare it through the NSCA. You can forget everything they teach you the second you’re done.
I have NSCA and BCRPA certs. BCRPA was excellent because of the teacher I had, He would rip the book apart and tell us to learn the stuff from the text and forget it, unfortunately BCPRA is only for BC Canada. NSCA is recognized pretty much everywhere in north America so its worth it. Once you have the cert you can pretty much do whatever the fuck you want. [/quote]
what exactly is NSCA and BCRPA, are they courses to have to take? Im still in high school so im not sure haha
As far as trainers go there are a few different types. You can be sure of this much. If a trainer has not been in contact with some type of mentor that showed them how to do certain lifts, OR if the trainer has not done extensive research on his or her own reading books and internet sites such as this one you can be positive they do not know what they are doing. Many trainers have gone to school for exercise science but were not exposed to what they should have been.
However you MUST consider this fact when discussing what professors are teaching in weightlifting classes.
Not everyone in any class is really interested in learning. Now in math class these people may just screw up long division or something. But if you have some fucking idiot (and usually several fucking idiots). That do not care and or pay attention during a detailed deadlift class these people are going to think they have the knowledge to do this lift and alot of them are going to end up hurting people.
I would love to teach a class about this material. You would have to be very tough on the class and specifically tell them if you do not pay attention you cannot do this with someone because you will not know what you are talking about.
[quote]Shadowzz4 wrote:
As far as trainers go there are a few different types. You can be sure of this much. If a trainer has not been in contact with some type of mentor that showed them how to do certain lifts, OR if the trainer has not done extensive research on his or her own reading books and internet sites such as this one you can be positive they do not know what they are doing. Many trainers have gone to school for exercise science but were not exposed to what they should have been.
However you MUST consider this fact when discussing what professors are teaching in weightlifting classes.
Not everyone in any class is really interested in learning. Now in math class these people may just screw up long division or something. But if you have some fucking idiot (and usually several fucking idiots). That do not care and or pay attention during a detailed deadlift class these people are going to think they have the knowledge to do this lift and alot of them are going to end up hurting people.
I would love to teach a class about this material. You would have to be very tough on the class and specifically tell them if you do not pay attention you cannot do this with someone because you will not know what you are talking about.[/quote]
ok thanks, yea I was thinking about maybe becoming a trainer and taking courses, but I kno what you mean I have a friend whos about to become a personal trainer because of a course he took and I can honestly say he doesnt now shit. I know more just from reading books and being on this site all the time and I havent taking any course.
You have to realize something, the classes and the exams you take to become a PT are there to teach you how to help the average joe and the out of shape soccer moms.
If you want to be an internationally recognized trainer you’re going to have to do your own studying/research and testing on yourself and willing trainees.
Commercial gyms are full of idiot PTs who don’t know shit. Also, if I were to ever get a PT I’d want someone who looked the role and who knew more than me. So many damn times after going home for summer and joining one of the local gyms for the two month break will I keep getting bothered if I want a free personal training program and each time I say no. Why? Because the trainers are smaller then me and know less as is evident when I hear them talking to the 46yr old stay at home mom who wants to tighten up but refuses to lift weights.