I received some mixed reactions to my last blog post on ‘How to spot a bad Personal Trainer – Part 1‘ so rather than continue with the post on how to spot a good personal trainer, I’ve decided to write a brief post on How to spot a good one.
You see, it’s not always about spotting a ‘bad’ personal trainer, it’s also about knowing when you’ve hit the jackpot and found a good personal trainer.
One of the responses to the last post was in relation to professionalism (I think they were referring to the part where I stated that, just because they’ve gotten themselves into good shape it doesn’t necessarily mean they are good at what they do) and the need to find someone who takes the job seriously. They said something about wearing a uniform, clipboards and professionalism.
Yes, a certain amount of professionalism is needed, but, nobody wants to go to a gym with a goal in mind and feel like they’re going to a dentist or doctors surgery to get pinched and prodded to find out everything that’s wrong with them. It’s like staring down the barrel of a gun.
Part of the skill of being a good, successful, personal trainer is to assess and diagnose problems while exercising, not just in the ‘official’ assessment, while the client is distracted by exercising…not feeling self conscious and uncomfortable.
Nobody wants a formal encounter with some up-tight, spandex-clad a**hole who spends more time looking in the mirror than pointing them in the right direction.
So, rule number one for a great personal trainer is to make the person feel comfortable, confident and getting most of their information from conversation and other ‘non-invasive’ means.
Next on the list is adherence and accountability.
Keeping the person interested and looking forward to training is paramount. It is of absolutely no benefit to anyone if the client doesn’t WANT to train and doesn’t look forward to their next encounter.
A grave mistake trainers, especially ‘newbie’ personal trainers, make is trying to be too professional and overly ‘motivational’.
“Yeah, that’s it…five more…come on, how much do you want the results? Yea, get it…”
I just puked in my mouth even writing that.
No point being an automaton and barking orders at someone. Not only is it demeaning and condescending it is absolutely pointless and guaranteed to annoy someone.
To conclude, as personal trainers/coaches, our secondary job, close behind actually getting results, is to make training fun, informative and somewhat informal.
That’s it for this week. If you’re hungry for more – come back next week & in the meanwhile feel free to download our Free Cookbook and 28-day meal planner.
& if you’d like to find out more in person – click here and sign up for a Free No-obligation Consultation. We’ll come back to you as soon as possible.
Bryan Kavanagh BSc. CSCS
theabsgym.com
bootcampsindublin.com