Episode 72: What to Look For When Hiring a Personal Trainer.
Posted on March 21, 2016
We work really hard to try and guide you and get you exercising in a way that works for you, but sometimes you just need the guidance of a professional to show you how to exercise, so today we’re going to cover what you should be looking for when trying to find the right personal trainer or coach for you.
There are several reasons you may want to hire a personal trainer or a coach, you might be afraid of hurting yourself and need to be shown how to exercise, you may not know where to start, this is especially important if you’re coming off an injury or have a condition like heart disease, you might be training for something very specific like a sport or maybe you’re incredibly busy and you don’t want to think about your workout you just want to show up, be told what to do and then get on with your day. These are all good and valid reasons to hire a personal trainer, however like all personal services not everyone in the industry is created equal and it really depends on the person you work with, so here are some things you should be looking for when hiring a personal fitness trainer.
To start, look for someone with a good combination of education and experience. There are some fitness professionals that graduate from university that can’t even describe how to properly do a squat and there are other professionals that took a weekend course but can throughly describe every movement pattern in the body and have an in-depth understanding of exercise physiology, so of course you have to proceed with caution, formal education does not always mean superior trainer. In many ways experience trumps education, so your best bet is probably someone that has a degree or diploma in Exercise Science, Kinesiology, Health Promotions or a related field combined with 3 or more years of experience. Then you are much more likely to have someone that will do a very good job and are much less likely to get someone that is just a ‘fly by the night’ trainer or someone that just decided to get into it because they thought they could make a ‘quick buck’. The barrier to entry into the fitness industry is very low as well as, wildly unregulated. Almost anyone can call themselves a Certified Personal Trainer, so you should look at where they got their certifications from and not just that they have it.
In the United States and Canada there is only one place that has a regulating body and that is here in the province of Ontario, where we practice under the College of Kinesiologists of Ontario, but even if you don’t practice under the college you can still offer personal fitness training services as a Certified Personal Trainer or Certified Exercise Physiologist. If you’re in a different province or the United States look for professionals that are certified through the NSCA, NASM or the American Council on Exercise. All of these certifications require the trainer to continue their education so they are more likely to be up to date. There are also other governing bodies that are entirely credible I just don’t want to be here all day listing them off because it varies depending on where you are in the world, so if you’re unsure ask the trainer you’re interested in working with where and what they were educated in and what did they have to do to become certified. If you’re comfortable with their response use it as your starting point.
Once you’ve narrowed your search based on education and experience ask them for an interview, if you have the time you should interview at least 3 trainers and this will give you some comparisons, this is especially important if you’ve never worked with anyone before.
During the interview you’ll want to do is ask them how they get their current fitness information. If they get it from Scientific Journals, workshops and leading researchers you’re more likely to get a trainer that is up to date and in-tune with more current methods of fitness training.
You’ll also want to ask them to describe in-depth the most complicated person they worked with and how they handled that case, of course minus personal information. If they’re able to give you a lot of detail about the situation and you’re happy with the response you’ll know they’re telling the truth about it and can verify they have some experience.
Another thing you’ll want to do is make sure they have availability to fit you in, most really successful trainers have very limited availability and will likely have trouble fitting you in and may even have a waiting list. If you only have specific times to exercise this is something you’ll need to consider.
Ask them for references that you can contact, really good trainers don’t have clients, they have raving fans and you will know immediately as soon as you talk to them, because there is a distinct difference and you will probably be able to tell in the first minute of talking with them.
Ask them if you can try 2 or 3 sessions first before committing to a package, this way you’ll be able to get a feel for whether or not it’s going to be a good fit and if you’ll enjoy the sessions.
Lastly, you shouldn’t necessarily pick a trainer because they’re hot, muscular or shredded looking. Just because they achieved this look for themselves does not mean they will be able to effectively coach you to make the same changes or that they even know what they’re talking about, they found some systems or methods that worked for them and these will be different than what works for you, on top of this if you’re basing it on a picture there’s a good chance they ‘cut weight’ specifically for that picture, which may be fine if you want to compete in figure competitions, but not if you’re trying to just be a healthier person.
Picking the right personal trainer is important because we want you to be successful on your fitness and health journey no matter who you work with. If you would like our checklist of what to look for when hiring a personal trainer click the button below and we’ll deliver the checklist to your inbox for you to use whenever you are looking for a trainer.
