How to choose a personal trainer

Let's be real the world of personal training is oversaturated. Everyone will say they are amazing, 99% of personal trainers will all have clients, 95% will all market themselves the same yet a far smaller percentage will be worth the time or money. When it comes to investments, your health, your body is the most worthwhile investment you will ever make so it’s important to get the personal trainer selection down pat. The post gives you some go-to identifiers to select the right PT for you.

I love health and fitness, I always have but I am not going to lie there are PLENTY of trainers out there on Instagram, in gyms, boot camps and so on that DO NOT train their clients properly. More often than not I have been horrified at the way that personal trainers choose to approach their clients, how they focus on the mindset, and most importantly what they DO NOT DO when it comes to instructing clients on exercises during their workouts. I've seen personal trainers willingly watch clients use the incorrect techniques never correcting them, only to wonder why their client, injured soon after cannot continue to work with them because they are in so much pain. This is why I am motivated to write this post. First I must say this: I'm not like other trainers and fitness lovers out there. While most do a Certificate IV or Diploma in Fitness, I have studied Biomechanical Science at University so I know more than the average bear when it comes to understanding the human body. 

What to look out for in a personal trainer:

-Examine how they motivate others
-Look at their social media accounts- do they have the values that you do? Do they celebrate clients' success? Do they do everything you want to do?
-Look at YouTube clips of famous trainers, pay attention to technique (you may be familiar already), how is the trainer teaching proper technique?
-Listen to injury or soreness comments by clients and consider the feedback being provided, is it common sense knowledge, or is it clear that they really do understand the human body?
-How does the train run the session? Eg: do they allow the client to make up the session and hence become less challenging? If so this is a sign of a poor PT.
-Ensure they embed rest days. It is NOT healthy to have no rest. For those who mightn't be aware there is such thing as 'active rest' but this should be calm, slow, and certainly not about getting you into your top heart rate zones. Think things like walking on the beach, have a relaxing swim in the pool, stretching.
-Ask for credentials and or experience. Please keep in mind that credentials DO NOT equal an amazing trainer, whilst many people would like to think this a trainer still has to deliver on the things listed above. There are plenty of 'specialist trainers' even who do not deliver on these things.
-What is the trainer's actual attitude? If the trainer doesn't have a positive attitude it is hands down an investment not worth paying a cent for. So focus on the use of sarcasm, how they react if you give them criticism/ask for changes to your program, what they say about their clients. NOTE TO SELF: Personal trainers should absolutely NOT be complaining about their paying clients especially on social media. You want a personal trainer who is empowering not demotivating- a poor attitude is enough to kill any get-up and go. 
-Do they provide nutrition plans for weight gain or loss? 
-If you cannot see how they help individuals with their mindset ask them. Many personal trainers focus on 'do, do, do' but doing is only 50% of the mindset issues individuals face, the reason many people don't work out often is to do with their internal belief system, doing doesn't change that, addressing it does. 

Did you find this blog post helpful? Would you like to know what it's like to experience top-notch personal training and life coaching? Click the link below and register for your 7-day trial, life coaching is delivered by me and personal training is provided by a trainer rated as the best in the US! You will not be disappointed!

Use the discount 'TRIAL' to get the 7 days for FREE!