Choosing The Right Trainer
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Clients often ask how to find a great trainer for their adult children, their elderly parents, or their friends.
Location
Are they hoping to go to a specific gym or studio? Check if the trainer routinely rents there. Looking for housecalls? See if the trainer comes to their zipcode. Not sure if they can really get an awesome workout in the park or in their tiny NYC apartment? There\’s only one way to find out – try once!
Coaching Style
If you\’re the person who can be very critical of yourself, choose someone uplifting and positive. If you\’re the person who gets distracted, choose someone for whom being organized comes a little more naturally. And if (like me) you\’re a geek who wants to know how and why everything works, choose someone patient and knowledgeable who loves explaining the nuts and bolts of exercise. If you love trainers with a \”drill sergeant\” personality, great! Go for it! Just know that that\’s not the only style of trainer that exists.
Appearance
A common mistake among newbie clients is to choose a trainer who looks how they themselves want to look. Clients that want to look slim and toned are often afraid to work with larger, more muscular trainers. Clients that want to bulk up are often skeptical of a lean, wiry trainer. But you could be missing out on the absolute best trainer for yourself or a friend. No matter how much time and money you invest, you\’re never going to look identical to your coach. Instead, you\’ll be a fitter, more vibrant version of YOU!
One of my friends is a retired professional fighter who has now become an outstanding personal trainer. His buddies, including many successful executives, want to look like him – and I can understand why! He\’s not just buff; he also has great posture. I asked how he tells clients to pick the perfect trainer for them. He recommends that clients that want to build strength or bulk up work with trainers who are women or smaller build guys. Trainers who are now strong, but struggled to get there… as opposed to trainers like him who had to work hard for flexibility, but to whom strength & size came naturally. He believes trainers that struggled to get strong will have more specific, more helpful corrections. Even after all these years of telling clients they won\’t look like replicas of their trainers, I was amazed by his answer. So choose the trainer that has experience training people in your sport, with your goal, or with your type of injury, not the person who looks how you want to look!
ACE & NSCA Certified Personal Trainer
President
On the Mend Customized Fitness and Massage
