You Want the Perfect Personal Trainer
Don’t Be Tricked Into Paying for a Poor Personal Trainer
We have learned that there are no standards for personal trainers in the USA – that pretty much anyone over the age of 18 can do a basic weekend course with one of over 300 certifying agencies (most of which are not accredited) and come out as a “professional personal trainer”.
The average consumer has no idea this is the case and so it is very easy to be duped into paying top dollar for sub-standard, and even potentially dangerous fitness coaching.
What could somebody who is interested in hiring a personal trainer here in the USA look out for or ask about to determine what kind of a personal trainer they are about to hire?
As it is, it’s a bit of a gamble – they could be getting “Joe Abs” who looks pretty good but doesn’t even have a personal training certificate or they could be getting someone who’s highly trained in exercise science and has a lot of experience.
3 Things You Need to Know to Hire a Personal Trainer
What are the three things you need to know when hiring the perfect personal trainer?
One: You want to find out who are they certified with and then you can look it up online to see if it is one of the top three or four. The certifications we recommend (all of these are accredited) are:
ACSM – American College of Sports Medicine. This is the most scientifically in-depth of the four and sets exercise standards across the globe. We are both certified with the ACSM.
NASM – National Academy of Sports Medicine. Graduates of this course should have a good grounding in assessment and functional movement.
NSCA – National Strength and Conditioning Association. This is an excellent certification for athletic and strength coaches.
ACE – American Council on Exercise. This is a simple certification that covers the basics. The easiest of the four mentioned here and so the most popular for potential trainers.
Does the potential trainer have a degree in something related to fitness, like exercise science or physiology? They don’t have to have that particularly, but obviously it helps, because then you know they’ve committed at quite a bit of their time and effort in area of fitness and exercise.
Two: Next you want to know how much practical experience they have. A lot of personal trainers won’t give you a straight answer on this one. They might say, “Yeah, I have five years, ten years experience.” You need to find out if this is as a professional, is it part-time, is it full-time? Have they been working and getting paid? A lot of time the truth is, “Yeah, I’ve been helping my cousin,” or, “I’ve been training myself.”
Well, that’s good, but that’s not you. You could be 40 years old, female, and need to lose 30 pounds, or you’re an older guy, 75, who’s had a hip replacement. Someone who has been helping his or her 25 year-old cousin for the last 10 years does not cut it from that point of view.
So that’s the second thing to find out – what is the personal trainer’s actual professional experience?
Three: The third simple thing to find out is, “Have you worked with people similar to me?” And, “What kind of results have you gotten?”
You really need to see this on paper or see some kind of testimonial because that just verifies that there’s a good chance it’s true.
One, two, three:
Education
Results with people like you
Practical experience.
This should help you choose your perfect personal trainer. Contact us at Go Fit Now if you have any other fitness-related questions – we are happy to help.
