Personal trainers

A couple of questions following an article I saw on the news last night re a women who was voted PT of the year in NZ. a) For those that are presently PT, stated she had 100 clients, WTF? How could someone manage 100 people? b) Claimed that 1 in 3 people here who train have a PT, how many here currently use or have used a PT and what did they think. I am not, nor ever have been, or used a PT myself just interested in these points, and yes I know most people think PT’s suck so don’t bother just putting that.

Hear the crickets chirping? That’s probably due to your last sentence …

PTs can be useful, if you can find a good one. I have been lucky with 2 at my gym, and there is a third I will try at the start of the year when I do my first Mag-10 cycle. The good trainers I know are familiar with this site, as well as Ian King and Staley separately. These folks are definitely in the vast minority. Try wearing your T-Man shirt to the gym and seeing if any of the trainers recognize it. If they do, they might be worth talking to some more.

The knock on PT’s is stupid, it’s like saying “I hate all PUERTO RICAN’S, oh J.LO is ok though!” see what Im saying?!!!?(yes Im a puerto rican) If your interested in a PT simply talk to them, ask for background and carry a serious conversation about your goals and you’ll quickly realize whether he/she knows what their talking about or is simply a Muscle&fitness magazine grad.!

I am not looking for a personal trainer, the main question I have is, how could someone do justice to 100 clients?

A good way to find out if a PT is a pansy is to ask them to show you clean & jerk. If they scratch their head, they’re crap. If they show you, they’re worthwhile. At the gym I go to, only one guy that works (advisor or whatever) was able to show me olympic-style lifts (deadlift, clean, push-press, etc.). After talking with him for a while and getting him to show me some movements, I developed an admiration and realized that this guy actually knows his shit, unlike the people that work there the OTHER 6.5 days/week.

Individualized, one-hour-a-week workout instruction, one would have to work 14 hour days 7 days a week. So obviously, it’s not realistically possible.


But personal trainers also “manage” clients (i.e., write out workouts, diets, etc.) on an on-going basis, and thus might devote an hour or two to any given one once a month. In that case, 100 clients isn’t that much.


Also, I’ve seen people with similar goals go in together and buy “pair” training programs. (Okay, this has mostly been gay couples. But still.) So that would be double the normal number of clients that one could “train”. Maybe the woman was talking about one of these options.


And to Harkonnen: the deadlift isn’t an Olympic lift. Push-press isn’t really one either… :slight_smile:

saw the same piece on the box too. i wouldnt trust her to mix up my protein shakes personally…having said that, finding a good one is well worth the effort - i guess it just comes down to how serious you want to get and how much money you want to chuck at something which is supposed to be an enjoyable passtime.

Sooo, the basis behind this PT being awarded “PT of the Year” is purely economical? Not based on quality of training but how much $$ she made. How many of her clients have seen results?

I'd do the same as Harkonnen: If a PT knew the O-lifts, then that's who I'd go to. However, since I really don't require a PT, just realize that there are a few regulars here to the forum that ARE PTs'. So that may make the better question to ask a PT: do you know of T-Mag? John Berardi? Ian King? Dave Tate? And so on....

A good PT is usually someone who can realize that while making the $$ is good (we all gotta make a living...), it's better to realize that there's a wealth of knowledge, information, and methods beyond what was required in the books for any given certification program. Experimentation is good. Results for your clients is important.

To finally answer the primary question: No, I don't think she could do justice for 100 clients. That's just my opinion.

Just some quick Junk math, if the PT works 40 Hours a week (2400 minutes)/100(clients)= 24 (minutes) per client per week. Further divided by 3 workouts a week leaves 8 minutes per client if the PT doesn’t stop to eat or shit. Quick someone check my Math, that can’t be right.

Hyphnz - as I did not see the story myself, I cannot comment on how this trainer manages the 100 clients she claims she has. That said, not everyone seeking the advice of a trainer is saying sign me up for 3x per week. There are some clients who have plenty of experience but would just like someone to tweak their program 1x per month (perhaps due to financial constraints). If she had 20 people like that and another 20 that only trained 1 hour per week with her then perhaps she could accomodate a larger clientele.
Or take someone like Poliquin for example who might work with a group of hockey players for a portion of the off-season or maybe an entire team at once. Would you not consider these people his clients even though their trainer is not with them all of the time?
In addition, I am aware of different types of personal training contact management software in which trainers can set routines individually for each client over the 'net (certainly not as detailed as a t-mag program & I’m not saying I agree with it) but she also could be referring to something like this. So I guess what I’m saying is there are plenty of ways that a trainer could have a large clientele if you think outside of traditional training styles.
As far as the stat about 1 in 3 use a trainer, I assume you are talking about in NZ. I honestly don’t know the answer but that seems very far fetched to me. And if 1 in 3 NZ’ers are using a PT, I’ll be moving there shortly! Just my 2bits, hope it helps.

Apparently the PT’s were nominated by clients and then chosen from there. I actually found this following a search. “Nikki Hart, Sports Dietitian explains why Mish was chosen as the winner. ?Mish has demonstrated excellent knowledge of her clients? needs as well a passion for her occupation. She also understands her role as a personal trainer and integrates that with advice from other health and fitness professionals.”.

Isn’t a LOT of Personal Training getting “tuned-in” to a clients psyche, and “exploiting” that? (…and I say that NOT in a negative way…)


In other words…pump the client up…give them a program that they are comfortable with…and motivate them to stick with it. If you get “results”, that’s icing on the cake…but it seems like HOW you get a client to some end-point is more important than the end-point itself…


It seems like whomever is best at THIS will be successful…


Am I off base here? Mufasa