When planning your workout routine, a personal trainer can make–or break–your plans to accomplish the fitness goals you have been dreaming of. But its hard to know who is a good personal trainer and who might not help you reach your goals, or even worse, might cause injuries to your body.
Follow these easy tips to help you meet the personal trainer of your dreams:
1. Take your time before picking your personal trainer:
The management personnel of any gym will assure you that all their trainers are the best in town, and while some gyms really employ the best trainers around, you can’t be sure until you try for yourself.
Take a one-month membership in a gym near you. Go there two or three times a week for a run or some weightlifting. Outside their pre-arranged client sessions, personal trainers usually work as gym-floor trainers. In addition to helping you, and others, during the hours you are working out, the trainers will talk to you and befriend you. It is a typical top-down management marketing technique–trainers will try sell their skills to you in hopes that you will pick one of them as your personal trainer.
Go to that gym at different hours and different days so you meet all the personal trainers that work there. Then pick the best of the lot but know that if you pick a trainer because of their ability to sell his/her self to you during this courting period, you might not get the results you are hoping for. A personal trainer who is good at marketing might not be that good at personal training.
2. Ask for educational history:
As a rule, a personal trainer who holds a physical education degree is not necessarily a good personal trainer. Think about it like this: Are all doctors, who spent years studying medicine, good doctors? The same goes for personal trainers.
But that doesn’t mean you shouldn't consider education while picking the personal trainer. It is very important to ask for all the previous educational experience the trainer has. Workshops, masterclasses and training sessions with other trainers are usually provided by fitness centers to trainers; you will know a good trainer from the amount of dedication he/she has put into these programs.
3. Meet previous and current clients:
Sneak around and ask previous and current clients of your future personal trainer about the individual. Find out information about how busy the trainer’s schedule–to know if your trainer would be available for you and to determine your schedules won’t clash. Ask about how flexible the trainer is in changing appointments. Make sure the trainer’s methods of operation suit you and work to your benefits.
Know, however, that what works for others can very easily be a deal-breaker for you. So study the client you’re talking to, and see if you would react differently in certain situations.
4. Spend sometime with the personal trainer:
Having a personal, yet professional, relationship with your trainer can help significantly in motivating gym visits. So spend sometime with your personal trainer before signing to the training sessions–talk to them and see how they understand your needs and your mentality. It is very common for a trainer and a trainee to talk about various subjects during a session. Be sure you connect with a trainer well enough to share your stories with them.
However, bonding with your personal trainer and becoming friends might have a negative side. You might become their friend rather than their client, which can push you down the list of their priorities when they need to concentrate on something else. It is very common for an individual to expect some understanding from the friend while keeping a better attitude towards the strictly professional clients.
5. Start small:
Although most gyms offer better personal training rates when you pay for a bigger package, usually including a large number of sessions and some benefits like free gym or swimming pool passes, it would behoove you to start small. This allows you to change the personal trainer or the fitness center if you so choose.
Finally, don’t forget to ask for a free session with a personal trainer first. Often fitness centers are willing to give you a free trial with a trainer before booking them for a longer period. This offer usually is not advertised, so ask for it and you might just get it.
Follow these easy tips and you will land the personal trainer perfect for you!
