Accident waiting to happen
Over the past several years I’ve held different positions in the strength/fitness industry (assistant strength coach, assistant fitness center director, personal trainer, group fitness instructor, and track & field coach). Presently, I’m an amateur natural bodybuilder and a front door host at a “casual swank” restaurant bar. The reason being for this change is because I decided to put my career in the strength/fitness industry on hold and move to New York for a year. Long story short…I followed my girlfriend.
But just because I’m not as involved in the industry as before I still consider the gym my second home. All of the positions I’ve held have a common theme amongst them, you must be attentive to the person/people in front of you. Through my experiences I’ve seen a lot of fitness professionals interact with their clients in the wrong way. I’ve been training at the same gym during this year in New York and there has been numerous occasions that made me bite my tongue to not say anything.
If you are a personal trainer or a client looking to get one, I’m going to share with you some red flags. The primary job of a personal trainer is to motivate, inspire, and provide results. If they can’t do that then they need to figure something out really fast or get a new job. Here are just a few signs that should give any gym manager or client a reason to question their trainer or to find a new one. If he/she:
1. Is more interested in others around you and participates in small conversations with their friends.
2. Engulfs you with the latest, “coolest”, and trendiest fitness gadgets or exercises.
3. Has you spending the majority of your session trying to balance on an exercise ball.
4. Walks away while you are performing an exercise and doesn’t give any feedback as to whether or not you are doing it right.
5. Leans against a machine with their arms crossed and a stick up their ass, while they count your reps.
6. Gives you diet advice when they are the ones who should be taking their own advice.
7. Has you training your arms and abs for a good portion of your session while your goal is to lose weight.
8. Spends most of the session checking their cell phones and talking about their personal life and problems.
9. Doesn’t show that they have a personalized program for you. Instead they just throw exercises out as the session goes on.
10. Doesn’t give you their full attention.
Now you may be thinking I’m making this all up, but I’ve seen these situations happen again and again, and that’s just scratching the surface. Personal Trainers need to remember that the gym managers are just the ones who give you a pay check, they’re not the reason you’re getting paid. Your clients are the ones who pay your bills and put food on the table. So if you are a personal trainer and are guilty of these habits please stop what you are doing and re-evaluate why you became a personal trainer in the first place. You are giving the profession a bad name. And if you are a gym member looking for a personal trainer, now you have a couple of red flags to watch for.
Like the theme and logo.