How to tell if you have a good personal trainer?

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  • MeanderingMammal
    MeanderingMammal Posts: 7,866 Member
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    kelhea wrote: »
    So that being said, how can I tell if he's a good trainer, cares about my goals and knows what he is talking about or if I need to consider trying a different trainer or just not getting one at all?

    So what I'd be looking for is, as upthread, qualification to be displayed openly. Post qualification experience, continuing professional development and interests you can get from conversation.

    Is this someone who is listening to what you want, and working to understand your motivation, or are they projecting their own motivation onto you?

    Are they giving you options or absolutes? Are you getting a feel that they're pitching a One True Way (tm) approach to reaching your objectives, and can they explain how their recommendations are supporting your objectives? If they're recommending particular thing are they following up with why that might be appropriate?

    All that might reflect their own experience and it'll flush out whether they've actually got the relevant experience to help you. As an example if I was looking for someone to help me with my 10Km performance I'd anticipate recommending a combination of resistance training, core work and speedwork alongside my long, steady endurance runs. If I was looking to improve my shorter distances I'd anticipate more emphasis on the resistance work.

    How rounded is the advice? Particularly if your interest is weight loss are you getting some guidance on managing your deficit and how your training relates and complements the dietary side of things?

    And as earlier, do you get a warm feeling from them? Do you get on? If you don't, it doesn't matter how well qualified they are.
  • canadianlbs
    canadianlbs Posts: 5,199 Member
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    kelhea wrote: »
    So that being said, how can I tell if he's a good trainer, cares about my goals and knows what he is talking about or if I need to consider trying a different trainer or just not getting one at all?

    i took an introductory women-only class about lifting to get the very first general idea, then just went solo for more than a year after that before even setting out to look for someone to work with. going that way had bad sides to it, but the good side was that it gave me a year of observing various trainers at work with a range of clients in the space where i was lifting. i knew i didn't know enough to know what i didn't know yet, but like you i didn't want to pay someone 75 bucks an hour to learn it either.

    just lifting by myself while putting myself mentally into the shoes of whichever client was so useful. it gave me a very solid view of the kinds of things i was looking for from a trainer myself. and also of the many many other things that i didn't want or had no interest in. i also picked up a strong sense of how to tell which kinds of people just weren't going to be 'my' kind for workout purposes. by the time i did go looking i knew exactly what i was looking for and found it easier to find that too.

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