I had an interesting conversation over the weekend. After chit chatting with someone, it came across that I was in the health and wellness industry. After talking a little more, I informed him that I am a certified personal trainer. This person started asking me about rates and if I had a time slot that he could fill in.

Let me first clear the air. I am NOT a personal trainer. I am certified, but only because I want to stay on top of the fitness field, and hold current certifications is one of those ways that I can. I do a a few clients that I help train, but for the most part, I stay away from full time training for various reasons, the biggest being the reason I am about to tell you.

So back to the story: This individual wanted me to take him on as a client. This individual, who was male, is a triathlete, is in great shape, and is one of the guys in the world that honestly doesn’t need a trainer. So I asked him: “Well, why do you need a trainer?” He replied he needs someone to show him how to workout. This guy runs, bikes, and swims nearly everyday! I told him I don’t think he needs a trainer, informed him of some things I would adjust in his own workouts, but for the most part, he knows what he is doing and if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it.

Which brings me to pose the questions: Do you really need a trainer? What is your trainer really doing for you? Go to any gym and watch a personal trainer. What are they actually doing? All I see is trainer following their clients, watching them do weak workouts, and try to push supplements down their throat. Do you really need that? Some people do. Some people need the accountability. If they make an appointment with a trainer, they will more than likely show up. But most people don’t. Most people don’t need to play follow the leader through the gym.

If you are one of the many people that have a trainer, ask yourself if you really need a trainer. Can you do the same thing without the trainer? Of course you can! All you need is education, and dedication and you can be in the best shape of your life.

If you are like most people that are going to the gym, you probably have, or have thought about getting, a personal trainer. I may be a little bias because I am a trainer, but personal trainers are a great resource to have in order to help you gain your fitness goals.

But make sure you get the right one. There are quite a few people in today’s fitness industry that think they are a good personal trainer. They sat in a class room for a few hours and listen to someone talk about the body, took a test, and now they are a personal trainer. And you are trusting your health to them?

A good personal trainer is educated. They have more than one certificate (like 5 or 6). They have a bachelors degree in something like exercise science, exercise physiology or Kinesiology. Some may even have a masters degree. They have hands on training. They have years of experience. They have years of education. They have teachers and mentors. They read journals to make sure they are up to date on everything related to your health and wellbeing because after all, aren’t you paying them to make sure your are at the top of your health game?

Don’t be afraid to question your trainer. You should be able to go up to your trainer and ask any health related question and get a qualified answer that relates to you and what you need. If you do not get that, go find another trainer. There are many of them out there. You only have one life to live and you need to make sure you are at optimal health. Paying someone not to get you there is a waste of your time and money.

Personal Trainers are a professional service. If you are not getting the service you need, go find a trainer who will.

Fitness is like any other industry. It is effected by trends and fads. One of the most recent trends coming about are bootcamps. Similar to the boot camp that military would go through, these workout consist of most body weight, or lightweight workouts, done at a park or beach or something similar and usually have quite a few people participating in the activity.

Boot camps are a great way to get in shape. They are not only fun, but you get to meet new people and that helps to hold you accountable to show up everytime. They usually are not cheap, so paying that much money is also quite a motivator to get you out the door and workout (although that is not the case for all people).

But I do have some words of warning when looking for boot camps in your area: Make sure the person who is running the boot camp knows what the hell they are doing!

It is really easy now for someone to go spend $97.95 and get a “certification” to run a boot camp. Worse yet, are those people who are trying to run boot camps with no education, certification or training! Not only are those people ripping people off, but they could potentially hurt one of their “clients”!

If you are thinking about joining a boot camp, ask the instructor about their background. Do they have a degree? Do they have any certifications? How long have they been doing boot camp style workouts? How many clients do they currently have? All these things will show you if this person is worth giving your money to and getting your money worth back out of it.

Remember: YOU are the client. YOU are the one paying. It should be YOU getting the best experience of your life. Anything less is a waste of your money, and a waste of your time. If you are not happy with the trainer or instructor, there are literally hundreds in your area probably.

If you would like more questions to ask a trainer, or would like to see what answers to your questions would suffice in my opinion, or for recommendations on bootcamps in your area, as always, my email is always open for you to drop me a line: Zach (at) nintemanfitness.com.

People that know me know I am not a fan of big box gyms. They hire anyone and everyone who wants to be a personal trainer. Just because someone is a gym rat and can pump the iron, does not mean they are qualified to be a personal trainer.

Currently, the personal training industry, in my eyes, is going down hill. People are forgetting that personal training is training that is personal. Every one is unique. They have different needs. They have different goals. You can’t give one program to Mary and think you can turn around and give the same program to Bob.

My case in point:  I was waiting for the racquetball court to open up at my local gym. It was mid afternoon on a Saturday. As I sat and stretched, there was a gentleman, mid 40′s, on a Bosu ball doing what he thinks are crunches. Basically, this neck was moving up and down but the abs were not engaged at all. He was doing a personal training session. His trainer was standing over him, with a Monster energy drink in one hand and talking on his cell in the other. Where is the personal appeal in that? You are being paid to give someone the best possible workout you can give and you are not even watching them?!

Take home message for trainers: If you want to be a big time trainer, act like it. Go watch someone who has been in the business for a long time, or a celebrity trainer train a client. They are so in tune with their clients workout they won’t even notice anything else. If you want to be a personal trainer, leave the cell at your desk. Leave the redbull at home. Pay attention to your client, create rapport and  change their life. If you can’t do that, you are wasting your time and your client’s time and you need to go do something else.

Take home message for people who have a personal trainer: Push your trainer to push you. Ask them questions. Get their advice. Pick their brain. If they can’t answer every single one of your questions and concerns, fire them. It is your life that needs changing and if your trainer is not doing the trick, change trainers. There are hundreds of trainers in your area. Go out and find a new one. If you are at a big box, commercial gym and you don’t feel you are getting your life changing money’s worth, go talk to the personal training manager and ask to get their best trainer. If you still are dissatisfied, change gyms. A personal trainer needs to be an extension of YOU. They need to know how to motivate YOU. They work for YOU. Don’t be afraid to push your trainer to the limit and ensure that the services you are paying for are the best.