I find it pretty amazing how at ease people are about putting their body in the hands of someone they don’t know. I have seen people be more uptight and guarded about installation of an air conditioning unit. Before you even think about hiring a trainer you should at least resolve in your mind exactly what you about to do, and how important it really is. Perhaps then you will take it as seriously as you need to take.

For the most part we hire a trainer out of need for real change in our lives or performance. That is a great thing, to make change for the better, and to better ourselves. The problem comes in when you put that decision in the hands of people who either don’t care or can’t help. Most of the time they lack the knowledge and, like in many professions, nobility isn’t found easily. Examples of this can be seen in all areas of professions (doctors, therapists, and mechanics), what I am going to focus on today is personal trainers.

The Hunt

Let’s be honest, the chances of finding a good trainer are small, finding them locally are even smaller. Population of your city can matter but then Gray Cook is in a small city in Southern Virginia. There are crap trainers in New York and amazing trainers in Belmont, Mass.

As far as where to look for a trainer I recommend private trainers/local gym training  over commercial gym trainers if really looking to push forward. Most commercial gym trainers are just getting by to something “bigger and better.” To them it’s just a job. If you can, find someone that makes it their life. Private gyms are great for this as are self-employed trainers. They will work harder for you because they don’t get paid no matter what. The phonebook is a great place to start. Call around, talk to people and see who you will feel most comfortable with. If possible to get a referral to a trainer, do so. This way you can see what results they have already given and what kind of experience you could have with them. If you can’t do that though here are some tips and what to look for in a trainer you have no prior knowledge of.

The Right Certification

Let me preface this with the fact that a trainer could have a college degree, all kinds of certifications, and years of experience, and be horrible. It doesn’t take much to memorize stuff from a bookand take a test. All certifications have their weak points, and the ability of your trainer to go beyond just learning what they have to every two years is important. If you hear the phrase “continuing education” then you are at least with someone who cares. They may still be crappy, but they care. This all being said, you up your chance of getting a better trainer if they have a good certification and education. Here is a list of good certifications to trust: CSCS, NASM, ACSM, ACE, ISSA, and NSCA. I have my personal preferences, but again it’s the trainer, not the paper.

The Right Price

If it’s too cheap there may be a reason, if it is really expensive it may be hype. Look for someone willing to work with your budget, but that takes his or her career serious. You should be paying more for the assessment, and overall starting of your program vs. session expenses. For example, I charge the most at the beginning of working with clients. The assessments (which we will discuss) are the most important part to taking on a new client. This is the research and understanding stage of you, the client. While each trainer is different, good trainers understand that at a point your start to have to spend less time on investigation and more of acting and implementation. Sure there is constant re-evaluation of a situation and progress, but, for the most part your course should be pretty obvious to a good trainer when goals are set into place. If a trainer has the nerve to act as if your become more of a problem or more costly as time goes on or you get a feeling of their trying to milk you for all you have, then it is time to move on.

Right for your goals

You aren’t going to get served training for bodybuilding by an aerobics instructor. You aren’t likely to increase speed performance with a weight loss specialist. The best of trainers can cover all ground, but if you have a really specific goal, then find a specific trainer. If possible narrow it even further. For example, I get a lot of fat loss clients because I am the “fat loss expert” but I also get a lot of metabolic damage cases because that is my area of high researched knowledge. However, not that I haven’t worked with athlete performance and it is certainly growing, but currently I would send you to someone like Eric Cressey or Tony Gentilcore who work with that every day. A good trainer isn’t afraid to send you to the best. A good trainer knows when the best thing they can do for you is provide you with a better option and not let their ego get in the way.

The Assessment

This is by far the most important time you should be spending with your trainer. It takes truth on your part, and listening on theirs. If the following isn’t discussed, say thank you, pay them for their time if needed and move on.

• Medical History-This is including surgeries, medications, injuries, and medical conditions. Not all trainers require a doctors approval but it is a good sign if they ask.
• Muscle Balance, flexibility, and postural assessment-It doesn’t have to be a full on screen, some have a great eye from you just standing there. Still it should be discussed because how you are going to progress should depend on how messed up your body is or isn’t.
• Strength and aerobic assessment-There should be some manner of strength tests and aerobic conditioning.
• Goals-Where you want to be and how they plan of getting you there.
• Nutrition-This this does get a little tricky. Unless your personal trainer also has specific education as a nutritionist or Registered Dietitian, then technically they aren’t ALLOWED to give you a detailed diet(in most states). Being that any goal you want to reach involves diet, this may make a trainer seem moot. Not the case, they can give you guidelines, and a basic structure. They can tell you what you shouldn’t be eating and direct you to how to, in a free manner, arrive at the needed info for your situation. Basically they should tell you in detail what you should do to do it yourself and try to bend and work around that rule as much as possible. That IS allowed and should occur.
• Daily Habits-This involves understanding your daily routine, how fitness and better health can fit into your life, and what they can do to help you figure all that out.
• Timeline-Involving more detailed knowledge of where they think you can go, how far and how soon to help keep you motivated and on course.

When to Run

If during the assessment a trainer does or says any of the following, get out that phonebook, and find another one.

1. Is negative or treats you rudely.

The last thing you need is a bad attitude, especially when most of the time people don’t really want to be doing lunges in the first place. It is their job to always try to make you happy. That doesn’t mean walk all over them, but they should be in a constant state of making you feel better about yourself. Being a jerk does not equal being good.

2. Tells you not to eat or suggests that you can only lose fat eating a “special diet” or using supplements.

See at first you will lose some weight, think your trainer is a god and then guess what, either your sessions are over and you put the weight back on or you regain it and somehow, they turn it back onto what you were doing wrong. What do they care, they got your money, or will get more of it trying to help you “get back on track.”

3. If they don’t give you options and try to work with your schedule

Of course they don’t have to be at your beck and call and this is their living, but they should try and make it affordable for you and they should be open to new ideas and ways to work training options for you. If they seem like Prima Donna and you can’t even get to that first session, screw them and take you money elsewhere.

4. If they make any outrageous claims or promises.

A good trainer should know that it isn’t really about them, it is about you. They are there to help you get something done. They can only do as good as the team you are. Anything else is just cheap campaigning.

The Workout

So they passed your assessment test, now on to the workout. Already your goals should have been discussed and the “plan of attack” should be laid out. Here is what you should look for when moving into training.

• Use of Free Weights-Free weights work stabilization, help create balance, and provide a better overall look and performance when used properly. This doesn’t mean cable work isn’t great too, or that machines don’t have their place. However, free weight are still king in my book.
• Compound movements-What a compound movement is in the first place should be explained to you. You need a full body workout when starting off and I still advise them for advanced lifters as well.
• Proper weight-You should be assessed on what weight is right for each movement.
• Talking you through form-How do you know what to focus on if they don’t tell you? The job is to instruct you on proper form and make the exercise safe and worthwhile. This is the only time it’s okay for someone you aren’t getting cuddly with to look at your rear end.
• Warming up-Now granted sometimes when on short sessions with a trainer the warm up may be a little less intense then it needs to be. My advice is if you know you have 30 mins to workout with a trainer, get there early and go ahead and do your warm up so that the two of you can get right down to business. Still if worth their salt, they should be telling you this, specifically dynamic work.
• Enthusiasm-Your trainer should make you feel good about yourself. They should remind you that you’re there for a purpose and are not doing all those squats for nothing. We feed off the energy of others and intensity, it’s very important for a trainer to have that.

When to run

1.      They put you on nothing but machines.
2.      They aren’t paying attention to you while training.
3.      The have you doing tons of “crunches” and isolation movements.
4.      Wrong weight at the wrong times.

This should be plenty enough to help you find a trainer in your area. At the very least it should help you figure out who not to work with.