Howdy Warriors! A bit ago, I posted an “Ask Me Anything” question box in my Insta Stories. One of the questions I received asked how to choose a personal trainer. Amazing question. But one that deserves more time and attention to answer than what Instagram will easily allow. This one’s a long one with a lot of info so, grab a beverage, hunker down, bookmark this page, we’re going to tackle this today.
Personal trainers and coaches tend to forget how intimidating gym environments can be (see my series on Wellness Gatekeeping for deeper dives). We don’t mean to; it just happens to be like everything else in life. The more time you spend somewhere, the more you do something, the more comfortable you become. So, if you are one of the (many, many) exercisers out there with questions, let me ease your mind a bit.
Credentials, Credentials, Credentials
Personal training, at least in the US, is an unregulated industry. This means that any regular gym go-er with what they perceive as above average knowledge can proclaim themselves a personal trainer. It’s a problem. It was before social media, but it’s an even bigger one now. And unfortunately, it means the onus is on the consumer (that would be you, the exerciser) to do your due diligence.
Not every personal trainer is interchangeable. And not every trainer is worth your precious time or hard-earned money. You need to understand a bit about yourself here. If you have health conditions, injuries (current or previous that nag), different movement abilities, and/or very specific and ambitious goals you are going to want to look for a personal trainer that can address those things properly.
This means education. Now, I am not a snob believing that every personal trainer should have a four-year college degree in Exercise Science, Physiology, Kinesiology or the like. But and this is a very important but, any trainer you consider working with should hold some sort of certification. Certifications are granted by institutions that hold us responsible. To earn a certification, we have to put in hours of study, go through an examination process, and keep current through continuing education. Any trainer willing to go through this process is telling you that they value your safety.
The two gold standard certifications are the Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist from the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA-CSCS) and the Certified Exercise Physiologist from the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM-EP). Both of these require four-year degrees. These certifications allow trainers to work specifically with athletes (or those with high level goals, like running a marathon) or individuals with medically controlled conditions, respectively. Both of these institutions also grant a general Certified Personal Trainer (CPT) certification that allows trainers to work with generally healthy clients. NSCA and ACSM are known to be very rigorous with their examinations and continuing education, so depending on what you need, I would recommend any of these four credentials in a trainer.
If you fall in the generally healthy realm and have a more general goal (weight loss, increased fitness, etc.), the American Council on Exercise (ACE), the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM), or the International Sports Science Association (ISSA) all offer Certified Personal Training credentials that are well respected. Truthfully, it can all start to look like alphabet soup on a business card, but at least Google it before you commit time and money to a trainer.
Malpractice Insurance
A personal trainer deals with your body and your health and wellness. Just like a doctor or dentist is required to carry malpractice insurance, trainers and coaches should, too. Again, this is another way that trainers indicate that they care about your health and safety. Any trainer who is carrying malpractice insurance is thinking about the finer details of the business side of their practice. And if they are willing to think that closely about the business details, they are more likely to be thinking critically about the amounts, types, and dosages of exercise they are prescribing clients.
If you are training in a big box gym (Planet Fitness, LA Fitness, Crunch, etc.) or a large corporate or hospital owned facility, the gym itself may carry malpractice insurance for all the staff. If you are unsure, ask the Fitness or Personal Training Director. If you are training in a smaller facility, are completing sessions from home, online or something similar, your trainer should have their own insurance. And, again, any trainer worth your time and money will provide you with their info upon request, so don’t hesitate to ask.
Intake Interview
Good personal trainers don’t just jump right into workouts with new clients. They take some time to get to know a bit about you. Great trainers will do the intake interview for free. Every intake interview can be a bit different, but they should share a few common features. If these aren’t present, keep looking.
A health history review. Any half decent trainer wants to know if you have any pre-existing conditions or injuries, even if you are in great health currently. For example, even if you haven’t had issues for years, good trainers want to know about your old shoulder injury. Why? Because good trainers will know not to start off with certain versions of exercises, will know to offer multiple movement options for that joint, and will be on the lookout for signs of pain or discomfort both during the workout and after. Again, good trainers care about your safety.
A goal review. You are hiring a trainer because you have a goal in mind. If a trainer doesn’t ask or doesn’t seem to particularly care about what YOU want, run out of their office. We work for you. We might be experts on exercise, but you are the expert on you. We do not have the right to judge or push our own agenda.
Time for questions. A good trainer will leave time for you to ask questions. A great trainer will answer all of them without judgement. If you have a question, please ask. We want you to feel comfortable going into workouts. Use this time to suss out personality and whether there is a good fit. You want to find the happy medium of someone you can have easy chats with but will also keep you on task.
Flexibility
Personal training and coaching are our job, but this is something you are doing to better yourself. On your time. And life happens. If a trainer can’t offer flexibility with session packages, then you might be better off elsewhere. Now, that isn’t to say our time isn’t valuable, too. Expect to sign a form noting cancellation policies. But if you buy a twelve-session package and your trainer pre-locks your appointments, you might want to keep looking.
This should be something you discuss at your intake interview. If you’d like to meet three times per week, then your trainer should be able to work with that schedule. If you’d like to meet once per week with two other workouts they write for you, that should also be do-able. Long story short on this one, a good trainer will be willing to work WITH you and your schedule. Because consistency is what matters most.
Professionalism
Social media has made it the norm to expect that trainers are barely dressed or posed a certain way. This is bull doody. If a trainer is posing in the mirror instead of paying attention to you or if their wardrobe is distracting in any way, then your safety may be compromised. Remember, your training sessions are about you, not how great they think they look.
Respect is a huge deal for me. I have taught every trainer that worked for me this (hopefully it stuck). We assume that in our line of work we can touch clients to correct form. We shouldn’t. If you don’t want to be touched, tell your trainer. If they can’t respect that with verbal cues, do not schedule another appointment. Same goes for words you find triggering (a common example here might be those recovering from an eating disorder). Ditto for the name you wish to be called or pronouns or anything else you can think of. If it makes you uncomfortable, say something. If your trainer doesn’t respect it, then they don’t respect you. Take your money and find a trainer who will.
So, that was a lot of rambling to basically tell you that your trainer works for you. If you don’t feel comfortable, don’t ignore that feeling. Do you have other questions about personal trainers? If so, let me know in the comments!
