You found Part 2...enjoy!
1.) Trainers Think Their Time is TOOO valuable.
This one perturbs me to no end. Since when is your time to valuable to help someone? Many trainers charge up to $100 an hour for their time! I’m sorry but I would never pay anyone $100 for anything. Trainers tend to set their price based on what “more important things they could be doing at the time of the session” (playing with the kids, watching that DVD, making dinner, going out shopping, etc), rather than setting their price based on their level of expertise and background. Too many trainers want the Ferrari as soon as they get the driver’s license. I detail this in my book “Secret Skills of Personal Training”—in order to achieve longevity in this field, you have to position yourself to “service others”.
Personal training is not a self-serving career. You help others...you give yourself to others, you sacrifice crappy hours, and dealing with different personality types to help others. The time of the less fortunate (or less healthy in this case) is more valuable than ours...because they don’t have as much left as we do.
2.) Everyone Wants to Be a Trainer
This one I can feel for. Some people develop a desire to help others. I truly understand that testament to help another human in an unfavorable condition. But...just like everyone is not meant to be a doctor, lawyer, and astronaut—neither is everyone meant to be a personal trainer just because you went through the Express line at your local gym for 12 weeks and lost 14 pounds. That doesn’t make you a professional. There is nothing wrong with wanting to be something in life...but to be good at what you do in this field is what separates you from everyone else.
3.) Millionaires Grant Everyone Permission to Call Themselves Trainers
Okay...over the last 2 years there has been an incredible influx of personal training studios, boot camps, websites, and products. This saturation has caused harm in the personal training industry. Many of these
personal trainers are encouraged to market themselves and develop half-assed programs. Are they purposely developing half-assed programs? No...but that is the level of competence out there because they are focused more on making a buck through marketing and easy cash. How did this happen? The field has been overly clogged with people wanting to share their services BEFORE they are actually good at them! These "millionaires" love this idea because they are only part of a handful that is marketing to newbies. So THEY are making tons of money off of these newbies. And potential clients don’t know the difference. And another detrimental effect of all of this is: newbies are great at advertising, developing websites, and using sales strategies; but when it comes to training a client....they suck! So the client is “turned off” by the lack of experience, knowledge, professionalism, creativity, and responsibility by these newbies and guess what?
Our field is labeled a JOKE!
4.) Trainers Don’t Workout Themselves
I see this one from time to time. Trainers encouraging their clients to perform a one-arm , one leg standing cable row with rotation on a ½ foam roller! Well....I’m not going to get in to the fact that they trainer may not know exactly why he or she is performing that exercise. But I will get into the fact that I know for a fact—just by looking at the trainer—that the trainer does not perform or cannot perform that exercise. Why do trainers do this? Is it because such an exercise is hard and we want our client to suffer, or is it because the exercise has a purpose? So many trainers are out of shape and not conditioned for the type of training they prescribe (power-lifting, HIIT, functional, etc, etc...) Well, guess what? It’s not only about being physically capable of performing the exercise, but it is more importantly about knowing “where and how” to cue the exercise and understand the mental skills required to perform the exercise. That is why if you preach it, you should practice it!
5.) Trainers Don’t Continue to Learn
I can’t say this enough. To be in the position of developing exercise programs for sedentary people that put they’re hard-earned money and trust into you is so important. A doctor doesn’t graduate school and start seeing patients---they perform a residency at a hospital...for years! Trainers must understand that this practice is more than holding a clipboard and counting reps...it is about understanding the human body and how it correlate to stresses your clients puts on it, and what physical stresses YOU put on it through exercise. An exercise program without modifications in its first 2 weeks is a joke to me. Any trainer that carries around the latest edition of Men’s Fitness during a session is a joke to me. Any trainer that cannot admit that they need assistance or need to refer out is a joke to me. I have met trainers that were certified in 1988 and have not learned anything new. Do you know how much fitness has evolved in just 3 years? Half of today’s trainers do not put the time, effort, and money into continuing education, seminars, or instructional books and videos. They want to make money and not invest in their skills or experience. Imagine this: If I sold you a computer with 2.5 Intel Pentium Processor for $1200, wouldn’t you be upset if you turned around and saw the same price tag on a computer with 4.0 Intel Pentium Processor? You would want the faster computer because you were getting more for your money! Well, sorry to say, not every client is getting the most for their dollars. Some are paying trainers based on their looks, sales tactics, or not knowing what they are getting themselves into.
I don’t mean for this article to offend anyone. I look at this article as a challenge for you to step it up. Personal training can be a dog-eat-dog career choice and if your intentions are placed correctly, you can enjoy a long successful career in it. Don’t let this article discourage you , but let it awaken the original reasons why you want to be a trainer.
: "Words of wisdom from a middle aged man"
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