What to look for in a good personal trainer
Kyle Waugh PTA, CSCS, CPT and Levi Kirpatrick CSCS, CPT discuss the qualities you should look for in a personal trainer when seeking a fitness professional and the future of the fitness industry. Levi is passionate about the health, fitness, and sport performance industry. He is the program manager and instructor at the Lexington Healing Arts Academy, where he supports the education, certification, and training of fitness and nutrition coaches. From the conversation below, we took away the top ten qualities you should look for in a personal trainer.
TOP TEN QUALITIES OF A GOOD TRAINER
You Enjoy Spending Time With them
If you decide to purchase personal training, that means you’re going to be spending a good chunk of your time with a fitness professional. That means you better like them - at least a little. A trainer becomes a friend or even apart of your family. You develop a relationship and trust with this person. Bottom line is If you can’t see yourself spending at least two hours a week with this person, then don’t. There are plenty of personal trainers out there.
Effective Communication
A personal trainer must be able to relay information effectively. Most professionals have a vast amount of knowledge, but sometimes they are unable to break it down for you to understand. I personally use a lot of analogies and visualization when communicating with my clients. I take a complex concept like Polyvagel Theory and explain it with real life examples they may have experienced (i.e. sitting in horrible traffic). Overall, a trainer should be able to explain the purpose of an exercise, scientific concepts, or answer your general questions in ways you can understand.
Experience
A trainer should have experience. Many personal trainers you’ll meet in Big Box Gyms (large corporate owned facilities) will be very green. Don’t pay to be a trainer’s guinea pig.
Look for trainers that have at least 1-2 years of experience.
Ask if they have any results or have been able to achieve their client’s goals.
Ask the if they have a mentor or someone they’re consistently learning from.
Ask what they have achieved with their own goals and fitness.
Attentive, Mindful, & Present
A personal trainer should be solely focused on you during the session. They should be two steps ahead and calculating how you may react to an exercise. I personally am constantly asking questions such as:
“What muscles do you feel?”
“Was that weight easy, medium, or hard?”
“What is the hardest part of that exercise?”
This shows a trainer that is engaged and thinking about what needs to happen in order to get you to your goals.
They Address The Big Picture (Sleep, Nutrition, Habits, Beliefs, and Exercise)
This is a big one. Exercise and fitness is more than just doing three sets of ten of an exercise. What a person is eating, the quality and duration of sleep they’re getting, their mood, how someone feels about a specific style of training, and so much more comes into account when getting you, the client, to achieve your goals. A trainer should be addressing your lifestyle just as much as your exercise program in order for you to be successful.
Caring
This may seem obvious, but it’s worth talking about. You should feel that a personal trainer cares about you and has your best interests at heart. If you feel you’re just being put through the motions or going through the same circuit you’ve done every session for the past three weeks, chances are you need to reevaluate who you’re working with. Find a trainer that consistently provides value and strives to make you the best version of yourself.
Adaptable
A trainer should be able to adapt to your needs. For example, you just worked a full eight hour day, you’re exhausted, and you really don’t want to be at the gym. How would you want your trainer to address this? There’s no right or wrong answer, but your personal preference is important. Maybe you’d enjoy a relaxing yoga flow. Perhaps you’d want the hardest HIIT circuit of your life. It’s all dependent on what you want. But you should find a trainer that can provide exactly that and change the plan when needed. More examples below:
What does the trainer’s workout look like when you’re lacking energy or motivation?
How does the trainer react to the gym being abnormally busy / a lack of space?
What sort of equipment does the trainer always utilize?
Accountable
This one is short and sweet. If a trainer can’t be held accountable than how are you suppose to hold yourself accountable. Your trainer should act as your rock, be your motivation, and set an example. Find out if a trainer is accountable by asking the fitness manager how many days the trainer has called out sick or shown up late.
They Value Your Decisions, Opinions, & Autonomy
A trainer should have your best interests at heart and know when and how to push you. A trainer should value what you want, need, and feel during a session or program. You should never feel steam rolled or forced to do any certain exercise. Your relationship with a trainer should be one of both give and take.
Certified
In order for someone to be a personal trainer, they must have a certification. This shows that they have basic knowledge of how exercise works. Below are the main certifications you’ll see for trainers in the United States:
These associations and certifications protect the consumer and set the bar for the fitness industry, yet they do not guarantee the quality or effectiveness of the trainer and their services.
In summary, a personal trainer should hold a certification to qualify them as a professional in the fitness industry. They should also possess caring and attentive qualities that address your wants, needs, and overall lifestyle. Typically, the more experience a trainer has, the better they will have honed their communication skills, adaptability, and training style. Lastly, and most importantly, you’ve gotta like the person!
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