How To Find A Good Personal Trainer
There are many reasons to hire a personal trainer, the most common being accountability and motivation. Some others include injury prevention, help training around a medical or physical condition, and event preparation, like for a wedding with little time to spare before the bride, groom, or both ruins their life. If you’re serious about reaching your health and fitness goals, hiring a personal trainer to work with you in the gym or remotely can be one of the best decisions you can make. It can ultimately be the difference between you seeing results or not. However, with everybody and their momma and their momma’s best friend being a personal trainer nowadays, how do you know who can and can’t bring you to your destination?1I know I’m not alone in noticing that virtually everyone is a self-styled fitness guru. Well, that number is expected to rise. In its Occupational Outlook Handbook, the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics projects the labor market for fitness trainers and instructors to grow by 15 percent from 2019 to 2029, the largest rate for all occupations. One reason for the explosion is that it’s ridiculously easy to become a personal trainer. Another explanation has to do with the upward trend in obesity rates and the general health of the American public expected to worsen as the society becomes more sedentary. Currently, 40 percent of American adults fall into the obese category, or have a body mass index (BMI) of 30 and above. Eighteen percent are severely obese, or have a BMI of 35 or higher. Based on current projections, half of the adult population will be obese by the next decade and 1 in 4 adults will be severely obese. As such, if projections hold true, the personal training market will grow to meet the demand of a public that’ll soon have to reckon with its fitness and nutrition indiscretions. For more information, see Ward, Zachary, et al. “Projected U.S. State-Level Prevalence of Adult Obesity and Severe Obesity.” New England Journal of Medicine, vol. 381, 19 Dec. 2019, pp. 2440–2450.
Well, since this happens to be an article written with the express purpose of helping you answer that question, let’s get to answering that question with the things to look for that should steer your decision-making process!
There are a lot of trainers out there all with distinctive backgrounds. In respect of that, it’s hard to give a blanket rule of what to look for but one thing for certain is that whoever you select as your trainer should have some kind of formal education in something fitness related, such as exercise science at a major university. However, not everyone falls for the trap of accruing a mountain of student debt to become a personal trainer, a field with an absurdly low barrier of entry. In that case, the prospective trainer should at least have a certification by one of the field’s accrediting bodies, such as ACE, NASM, NSCA, ISSA, or ACSM. Certification through these alphabet organizations demonstrates that the trainer has at least a minimum level of education with things pertaining to fitness and nutrition. With that said, allow me to now contradict myself.
*ahem*
As important as formal education is, it’s really not the be-all and end-all. There are plenty of trainers who know chapter and verse about proper squat mechanics and joint angles, for instance, but can’t coach a client to get brutally strong on that lift. On the other end of the spectrum are coaches with no formal education of any kind who can get real-world results because they’ve been in the trenches for years. That comes down to experience, which also plays a pivotal role in your shopping decision.
Remaining on the topic of experience, who puts your mind more at ease of knowing what they’re doing and producing the results you’re after: a lawyer who’s been practicing for 10 years and has dealt with numerous clients from various backgrounds or a lawyer who’s fresh from passing the bar and takes you on as one of their first cases? What that has to do with anything is that while many people become personal trainers every year, the field has a high turnover rate that sits at 80 to 90 percent, with the career span of the average trainer lasting 1 to 3 years. That means the person you may be looking into may not have a lot of practical experience under their belt. So that’s something to bear in mind.
As for what else you should consider…
…
My, this is embarrassing but I seem to be drawing a blank here on what else I wanted to add!
Hmmmmmmmm…
A person’s body and the large social media following they have because of it?!?!, you ask.
Whoa, there!
Sorry, but abs, a big booty, and anything else that’s related to someone’s appearance doesn’t mean jack.
Why?
Because there are some people who look like shit but are extremely knowledgeable in how to bend the body to the imagination’s will. And then there are people who are physical specimens who don’t even know the basics. Lucky for them, far too many people don’t know the basics themselves to be able to discern the bullshit from the factual. So yeah, don’t rely on what you see on someone’s social media feed as a barometer of their competence.
*snap fingers*
Ahhhhhhh, now I remember what it was that I wanted to add for your consideration!
What I wanted to say is that given the spate of people who train others as a side hustle in between their full-time gig as a cop, EMT, hair stylist, or what have you, you should look for a trainer whose sole occupation is training. After all, much like you wouldn’t entrust your health and body to a part-time doctor, why would you do so with a part-time trainer?
See, with training as someone’s primary source of income, chances are reduced of them cancelling sessions or putting you on the back burner because of things that have to do with their main gig getting in the way. As a full-time trainer, they can give you the guidance and support you need and are paying for even after a training session is over, as you may have questions, comments, or concerns that need immediate addressing. Additionally, with training as someone’s part-time thing, the odds are low they’re going to have the time or interest to work on their trade, such as reading up on the latest research and figuring out ways to individualize the application of it.
In total, someone whose main source of income is training and depends on it for their livelihood has more of a vested interest in your success and is more likely to go out of their way to bring it about, as your results are a direct reflection of their skills and expertise and can be the difference between their clientele growing or not.
When looking for a personal trainer, (1) education, (2) practical knowledge, and (3) investment are what you should keep an eye out for. There are other factors to consider in your decision apart from what the trainer brings to the table, though, such as the type of training you’re looking for, whether that be one-on-one or in a group setting; their location and time they can schedule you in; and if their fee fits into your budget. But for the most part, it’s these three things that are going to determine the type of service you receive and the results you get.
As for me and where I fall?
Shiiiiiiiiitttttttt, that’s what I have a FAQs page for!
Moreover, why tell you how good of a personal trainer I am at the risk of coming across biased when there’s Yelp and Google Reviews so you can hear from other people how much you need me in your life?!
Glossary: abs, fitness, goal, gym, motivation, nutrition, personal trainer, results, squat
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