Ok, since I've become a slave to the Stairmaster, or the Stairmaster has become MY bitch (however you want to look at it), I've had a lot of time to observe people in the tiny little gym in my building. Several times I have witnessed people in there with personal trainers; alleged professionals who charge money for their time and expertise to guide a client through a safe and challenging workout, generally for one hour.
But what I see is mostly clients doing exercises with bad form while the trainers watch and do very little, or, more baffling to me, trainers standing next to cardio equipment while clients do their cardio???
To explain a little about my background and how it pertains to this topic, I became fascinated with athletic training and nutrition in high school and spent about 10 years rabidly studying it from every angle. I know my shit when it comes to exercise physiology/hydration/nutrition and I had some really amazing trainers myself...none of whom included my cardio training in their one hour session. That was for me to do on my own. The hour that I paid them for, and paid them well, they focused entirely on a proper warm up, intense training with meticulous attention to form, and a good cool down and stretching session, which I then continued on my own. THAT is worth paying for.
A few years back I paid for sessions with a trainer that was one of my tenants (during my property management stint in downtown LA), and while she was in damn good shape herself and certainly was a stickler about form (which I love) she included 30 minutes of cardio in my training time...NOT cool. Unless a client asks for that kind of motivation, it's a bullshit move. In my opinion, a personal trainer isn't there to watch you run, bike or climb stairs. They are there to take you through a one hour workout. Period. If a client requests that kind of mollycoddling, great, go to it. But I've yet to talk to someone who asked their trainer to stand next to them during their cardio.
This is also proof positive that degrees and certifications don't mean a damn thing. All of these bad trainers are certified. Some of them have undergrad degrees in exercise physiology. The best trainer I ever had was a bodybuilder with no degree, who got certification to please the health club he used, but who was entirely self educated and knew his shit backwards and forwards. He was by FAR the best trainer I've ever worked with, I learned so much from him.
So I just have to express my disgust at the sloppiness of a good number of trainers out there. Just because you like to work out, like to hang out in a gym and know basic training doesn't mean you should charge people and guide them through a complex process. Being a trainer means knowing all there is to know about physiology, athletic hydration, athletic nutrition, recovery, form, etc.
I also seldom see trainers with really positive and warm attitudes...out here I see a whole lot of posing, posturing and attitude faces. I know it feels good to be in killer shape, which most trainers are, and I know that being a trainer is sometimes about being a drill sargeant to keep your client going...but for the love of God people...trainers can smile and laugh too!
Bottom line...if your trainer wastes half of your time watching you do cardio, has you bouncing in ANY stretch, lets you bend your knees to where they extend beyond your toes in any lunge/squat, DOESN'T teach you the importance of beginning every exercise from your core/powerhouse, doesn't teach you about proper breathing or lets you swing a free weight even the slightest...move on!!! Don't waste your time or money or endanger your precious body that way. A truly great trainer motivates, understands, keeps you utterly safe and spends the entire session working your body head to toe. This is not to say that trainers with degrees and certifications aren't good, they damn well should be with access to all that knowledge and preparation. But please, don't assume the initials behind the name mean a damn thing. I had an ACE personal trainer advise me to resume marathon training (after 6 weeks on light training due to a lingering cold) with a 13 mile run...which was just ludicrous.
Be picky when it comes to you and your body. There are some incredible trainers out there who love what they do, love to see their clients flourish for the pure satisfaction of helping people and who really know their shit.
Seek and ye shall find. ;)
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