Not many people know this, but I’m a plasterer by trade.
I never really thought of the comparisons between what I do now and what I did from when I was 11 years old, all the way through college and afterwards, while I was setting up The ABS Gym.
I don’t really do that much plastering anymore (I still contribute by looking after my dad’s marketing) unless my dad has a big job to finish or he has a major time constraint and needs a project finished quickly.
The other day I was discussing a few jobs with him. He was telling me about the amount of jobs that he’s had to ‘fix’ after some cowboy chanced his arm at a job that they weren’t good enough to do. He’s had to go over work that was done by less experienced, less able tradesmen more times than he can count.
It got me thinking about one job in particular from years ago. Two plasterers had started a job, thrown a couple of buckets of plaster on the wall, and then left without finishing it. It looked like somebody did it with a spoon, while blind folded… and drunk.
I know it sounds funny, but picture this from the customer’s point of view: Somebody started a job, took some of the person’s money to buy materials, made a complete mess of the job and then ran off when they realised they were in over their head.
I suspect that the ’tradesmen’ in question had completed a smaller job, maybe a small patch or wall, before and then thought they were ‘plasterers’.
I know, I’m rambling, but there is point to all of this.
Hiring a coach or personal trainer that merely got themselves in shape and completed a 3 week course is NOT a fitness professional.
Just because someone is ‘in shape’ doesn’t mean they are a reliable source of fitness information.
What worked for them may not, and most likely will not, work for you.
If you take advice from somebody who is not qualified, or grossly under qualified, you run the risk of ending up like the unfortunate customer above that paid money for something that was nonsense and then had to go ahead and hire a professional to fix it at a later date.
I know it is tempting, when you hear about cheap personal trainers charging €10-€15 per hour and fitness classes that are €30 per month, to jump at the opportunity immediately but it is simply not the intelligent option in most instances.
**Disclaimer**
If you are already reasonably fit and experienced, the cheaper options may actually benefit you and you don’t need an expensive trainer or class. If you feel like you have any underlying injuries, physical or other issues, you may need to take the plunge and spend a little more in order to get the results you want and deserve.
I know this post will get some negative attention and, quite frankly, I don’t care.
When people complain about prices to me, I simply liken the situation to somebody going into a Mercedes dealership, asking for an E-class, and then moaning about the fact that it’s more expensive than a Fiat Punto.
Anyway, I’m off to fix somebody else’s ‘handiwork’.
Bryan Kavanagh BSc. CSCS
P.S.I received some slack from readers of my last post re: the use of profanities… That is fair enough, but, if the posts were boring you wouldn’t read them, so it’s a trade-off that I’m willing to accept. 🙂