Frustrated with finding a Personal Trainer

WhiteRabbit1313

I have it in my head that I need to do Starting Strength or Strong lifts, and I've been doing SS for the past week. In the meantime, I'm trying to interview trainers to find one who will recognize that: 1. I hate cardio and want to keep it to a minimum and 2. That I already b have a plan; I just need a qualified trainer spot me on forms, so that I don't hurt myself.

I met with one trainer, who was in amazing shape, which leads me to believe that he knows what it takes to get in great shape. Plus, he loves lifting, which is my focus. The problem is that he's unavailable to train me.

So, I asked about a trainer who happens to be MMA oriented and also appears to be in great shape, but he's all booked up, too.

Then, today, I met with a trainer who does have weight lifting certifications and primarily lifts, but she's not in the shape I'd like to be in. She's definitely strong, knowledgeable about lifting, but she's pretty thick and I wonder how that's possible (diet?) When she's working out regularly. Maybe, I'm wrong in my assumptions, but I don't believe she knows what it takes to get me in shape, based on that one aspect. BUT, I tried to keep an open mind and listened and followed her through an assessment of my shape involving lifting exercises. She does seem to know forms and conveys critique on my forms effectively. Then, we get to the end, and she's planning to have me in the gym doing cardio (HIIT) for 30 minutes after lifting 3x week plus an extra cardio day. WTF? I want to be in the gym every other day. Period. I do not want to do cardio. I will dread going to the gym if I know I have to bounce around like a dufus. I'm fine with a little walking on the treadmill (10-15 minutes), but I sure don't want to do 30 minutes of it 4x/week. I walk alot and track my steps with my fitbit. My heart's fine! So, yeah, it annoyed me.

Lastly, NO ONE that I've mentioned SS to or SL 5x5 or NROLFW has a freaking clue what I'm talking about and they have some plan of their own in mind for me.

So, here are my questions: can I get in amazing shape (esthetically, muscles defined) in 6 months doing lifting alone 3x/week, or do I really have to do cardio? Should Iinsist on doing a plan of my choice, or should I follow a trainer's plan?

Am I being closed-minded here? Suggestions, please!

FFfitgirl

Train yourself! Watch videos online. The trainers I've had didn't do much with weights besides machines

I do cross fit which is little cardio and weight lifting. What to do to lose weight is eat at a deficit, exercise is like icing on the cake

WhiteRabbit1313

Train yourself! Watch videos online. The trainers I've had didn't do much with weights besides machines

Yeah, I think that's what I'll end up doing, if I can't find the right trainer.

Blokeypoo

In for similar issues/advice )

MaryJane_8810002

You should really do the cardio, it will help those muscles pop!

MostlyWater

Maybe you should be your own trainer.

WhoHa42

You don't need cardio to lose weight. It does have a lot of health benefits though so doing some even like twice a week is always better.

JustT1m

I liked P90x which has a mix of some cardio, weights, and yoga. Another program that I am doing now is Body Beast which is pretty much all weights with a little bit of cardio. Might want to check either of those programs out if you are unable to find a trainer. Another plus about work out vids is you can do them in the comfort of your own home.

meshashesha2012

by your own standards OP, you shouldnt even be following starting strength (or strongs lifts a more basic version of starting strength) because it was started by someone who looks out of shape. i mean seriously, watch a mark rippetoe form video and you'll see beer belly.

if you're just interested in a trainer for lifts, who will help your form and who will essentially be a strength coach, then their body fat percentage shouldnt be a factor.

i personally would be more concerned that they hadnt heard of starting strength rather than how they look

SideSteel

This is a long interview/Q&A that we did with Steve Troutman, but we asked him this very question:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1152660-eat-train-progress-interview-with-steve-troutman


To add my own opinion to your situation, I would be very clear before you hire a trainer that you are looking for someone to monitor and teach you proper technique for the barbell squat, the deadlift, the bench press, and the overhead press (assuming these are the lifts you're looking at). Point being, you need to be very clear that your interests are in properly executing those techniques. You are not hiring someone to put you on a treadmill, you are not looking for program design, you are not looking for someone to track metrics for you or improve your fitness levels. You are looking for technique improvements.

Now being honest, I would very seriously question anyone who has never heard of Starting Strength or Stronglifts. That doesn't mean that they will automatically be a bad trainer if they haven't heard of these, and that doesn't mean they will be a good trainer if they're familiar with them. It just means I'd question how much they go outside of their training certification to seek additional knowledge. Anyone that gets certified and immediately assumes that everything they've learned in their certification must be correct and the extent of all fitness knowledge would be someone I'd stay away from.

I lucked out when I hired my trainer, in that I found a good one that actually understands olympic lifts quite well. I also did exactly what I described above and it worked well. We went straight to the squat cage and every session was spent squatting, pressing, pulling or doing an exercise that assists in those movements or assists in gaining necessary mobility to execute those movements.

cwolfman13

Trainers get paid to train you...generally speaking, the trainee does not dictate how the professional trainer is going to train them. That's just not the way it works...how it works is that you tell a trainer what your goals are and the trainer will develop a plan for you...I've never in my life heard of a trainer saying, "yeah...bring your own plan in here and I'll just give you a spot and watch your form." Maybe that happens but I've never seen it. And really...that would be a pretty big waste of money. I also don't know of any trainers who would be like, "yeah...go ahead and skip your cardio"...cardio is important for your cardiovascular fitness and is important to an overall balanced fitness regimen. If you don't want to do any, that's fine and there are plenty of people who don't...but I don't think you're going to find a trainer who is not going to include cardio in their plan for you.

SideSteel

Trainers get paid to train you...generally speaking, the trainee does not dictate how the professional trainer is going to train them. That's just not the way it works...how it works is that you tell a trainer what your goals are and the trainer will develop a plan for you...I've never in my life heard of a trainer saying, "yeah...bring your own plan in here and I'll just give you a spot and watch your form." And really...that would be a pretty big waste of money. I also don't know of any trainers who would be like, "yeah...go ahead and skip your cardio"...cardio is important for your cardiovascular fitness and is important to an overall balanced fitness regimen. If you don't want to do any, that's fine and there are plenty of people who don't...but I don't think you're going to find a trainer who is not going to include cardio in their plan for you.

I think that depends entirely on the goals of the client.

If I had a client come to me and say they had the primary goal of learning how to bench press and squat and pull with correct form, the majority of the time I spend with this client would be on squatting and bench pressing and pulling and any additional/leftover time remaining would be spent on things that will directly increase the clients ability to bench and squat and pull.

Now most people DON'T have specific goals like this, which is why most trainers likely end up prescribing whole-body fitness programs to address a variety of metrics. The most specific you will likely hear is "I want to get in shape" or "I want to lose fat" or "I want to get bigger muscles".

If a client wants to learn to squat/press/pull and you're the trainer, and your solution is to put them on the same type of program you put everyone on (a generic full body fitness program) I would say that's a bad trainer. If a client has specific goals the trainer should be utilizing programming tools to help that client reach those goals.

Now you're right in that the client typically doesn't tell the trainer how to train, but goal specificity certainly plays a massive role in program design and a good trainer will recognize that.

meshashesha2012

I lucked out when I hired my trainer, in that I found a good one that actually understands olympic lifts quite well. I also did exactly what I described above and it worked well. We went straight to the squat cage and every session was spent squatting, pressing, pulling or doing an exercise that assists in those movements or the assist in gaining necessary mobility to execute those movements.

definitely agree with this.

it;s hard finding trainers in gyms who know oly lifts and can teach them. usually the ones who will know either spent time training athletic teams or played sports themselves, worked those lifts and now incorporate them into their training.

this is why i really only like working out with trainers who have experience training athletes and were former also athletes. it shrinks the PT pool, but i know i'm not going to have to wade through a lot of BS workouts

ItsCasey

If your diet is under control, you don't have to do cardio. Cardio is, of course, beneficial for heart health, and low-intensity cardio is good for muscle recovery. It can also give you more calories if you want to eat more. But it's not necessary for fat loss.

And while I don't think it's fair to judge a trainer entirely on how lean they are (her goals may be more strength-related than bodybuilding), it is absolutely fair to judge them based on their knowledge of strength training, and any trainer who doesn't know what Starting Strength, Stronglifts, and NROLFW are is not to be trusted for help with lifting.

RECowgill

To the OP, I feel your pain I've been in a similar boat. I haven't found a trainer I can trust and all they want to do is tell me what I should be doing rather than hear my story or work with my goals. I also do very little cardio and my weight loss has been due to lifting and diet control.

It's lead me to be entirely self taught. Tons of research on every subject and watching videos for the proper form on everything. Right now I'm doing SL 5x5 but most of my progress has been from a routine of my own design, 3x a week heavy lifting. Similar to other routines but tailored for me and what I like. I always figured I could do better if I found the right trainer but that person hasn't appeared. I think sometimes we're better off just doing this ourselves.

My ideal trainer would be someone who monitors my form and works with me to improve it. Would be more knowledgeable about deadlifting and squatting than me.

I think you're right to skip cardio if it doesn't motivate you. Cardio can be a real waste of time. I dropped 10% off my body fat without much cardio while improving my strength significantly. Focusing on cardio only would've set me back, made me skinny fat or weak. So you are probably on the right track I would just focus on your own thing.

MrsJS5

Thank you to SideSteel for the resource! Really interesting interview with lots of great information!

WhiteRabbit1313

by your own standards OP, you shouldnt even be following starting strength (or strongs lifts a more basic version of starting strength) because it was started by someone who looks out of shape. i mean seriously, watch a mark rippetoe form video and you'll see beer belly.

if you're just interested in a trainer for lifts, who will help your form and who will essentially be a strength coach, then their body fat percentage shouldnt be a factor.

i personally would be more concerned that they hadnt heard of starting strength rather than how they look

I bought the book, based on Fivethreeone's recommendation, who DOES have a great body. ;-)

I agree on being concerned by them not having heard of the books. Maybe, it's a regional thing?

Cherimoose

I met with one trainer, who was in amazing shape, which leads me to believe that he knows what it takes to get in great shape.

Was he ever in bad shape, and did you see a picture? If not, he might just be genetically lucky, like a lot of trainers are. Some people look good no matter what workout they do. There are lots of bad trainers out there with good bodies. It's better to choose a trainer based on their certifications / qualifications, experience, and communication style. It's usually better to have an *average* looking trainer with a year experience, because then you know they've survived in the industry from their skills, not from looking pretty.

On to SS & SL.. I hate to break it to you but there are many, many different ways to get in shape. Different chefs use different recipes, and it's the same way with trainers. Some trainers can get you in great shape without doing a single back squat, bench press or power clean (which, by the way, is an advanced, specialized exercise and does not belong in a book called Starting Strength). So, keep an open mind with regards to exercises. A customized routine from a good trainer can often be superior to a cookie-cutter routine found in books or online.

With that said, do make sure the trainer uses mostly compound exercises (2+ joints moving, not 1), and uses mostly freeweights, cable machines, or body weight.. not mostly selectorized machines. "Mostly" meaning more than 50% of the sets.

WhiteRabbit1313

If your diet is under control, you don't have to do cardio. Cardio is, of course, beneficial for heart health, and low-intensity cardio is good for muscle recovery. It can also give you more calories if you want to eat more. But it's not necessary for fat loss.

And while I don't think it's fair to judge a trainer entirely on how lean they are (her goals may be more strength-related than bodybuilding), it is absolutely fair to judge them based on their knowledge of strength training, and any trainer who doesn't know what Starting Strength, Stronglifts, and NROLFW are is not to be trusted for help with lifting.

That's a good point. I also tried to tell myself that she may not have reached her goal, yet, and started out even more out of shape/overweight. I just like to take advice from ppl who've achieved the goals I'd like to achieve. I have a method in choosing mentors who are where I'd like to be. For example, I didn't listen to dieting advice from ppl who have never lost weight and maintained that loss. They didn't seem to be qualified to help me.

But, she does seem to be qualified to help me with forms, which is the main thing.

WhiteRabbit1313

I met with one trainer, who was in amazing shape, which leads me to believe that he knows what it takes to get in great shape.

Was he ever in bad shape, and did you see a picture? If not, he might just be genetically lucky, like a lot of trainers are. Some people look good no matter what workout they do. There are lots of bad trainers out there with good bodies. It's better to choose a trainer based on their certifications / qualifications, experience, and communication style. It's usually better to have an *average* looking trainer with a year experience, because then you know they've survived in the industry from their skills, not from looking pretty.

On to SS & SL.. I hate to break it to you but there are many, many different ways to get in shape. Different chefs use different recipes, and it's the same way with trainers. Some trainers can get you in great shape without doing a single back squat, bench press or power clean (which, by the way, is an advanced, specialized exercise and does not belong in a book called Starting Strength). So, keep an open mind with regards to exercises. A customized routine from a good trainer can often be superior to a cookie-cutter routine found in books or online.

With that said, do make sure the trainer uses mostly compound exercises (2+ joints moving, not 1), and uses mostly freeweights, cable machines, or body weight.. not mostly selectorized machines. "Mostly" meaning more than 50% of the sets.

That's also a very good point. My ideal trainer appears to have good genetics and a (posted on the wall) lifting routine. So, I know he still has to work for the results. I also know that I have easily gained muscle, in the past, and I'm not terribly overweight considering my inactivity, so I trust that he'd produce good results. I need to take a pic of his routine. Ha!

WhiteRabbit1313

The more that I think about it. I think I'm just disappointed that the first trainer won't train me. In one session with him, I felt challenged, effectively critiqued, and completely trusted that he could not only help me get in amazing shape, but also that my strength would translate to other goals (taking up tae kwan do again). So, maybe, I'll just tell him I'm not purchasing a training package, unless he's my trainer.

livingleanlivingclean

Why don't you just find a training partner wanting to do the same thing?


I don't think it's ok to judge the trainers based on appearance. The woman could be trying to gain muscle and not afraid to eat to do so. the guy could have eaten very little, done hours of cardio and taken things to assist him to get lean. Unless you know the background, it's really not ok to judge their performance as a trainer based on looks.

WhiteRabbit1313

Why don't you just find a training partner wanting to do the same thing?


I don't think it's ok to judge the trainers based on appearance. The woman could be trying to gain muscle and not afraid to eat to do so. the guy could have eaten very little, done hours of cardio and taken things to assist him to get lean. Unless you know the background, it's really not ok to judge their performance as a trainer based on looks.

Ok. Thanks for your honesty. :-)

JTick

I understand your frustration.

When I first started lifting, I did one session with a trainer, expecting that it would go well and I would work with her regularly. I explained to her up front that my cardio and nutrition aspects were under control (I had already lost 70 pounds at that point), but that I was interested in lifting heavy. I specifically told her that I wanted to learn to deadlift, back squat, bench, etc. She ended up spending the session showing me how to use the cable machine and how to do variations on the bicep curl. To say I was disappointed would be an understatement.

I spent about the next 9 months educating myself. I read, I watched YouTube, I asked questions here and posted videos of my form as needed. My lifts were progressing, and I didn't hurt myself.

I stumbled upon my current trainer, and just LOVE her. I can only afford to meet with her about once a month, but I told her what my goals were (to lift for strength and preservation of LBM) and she sets up a month program for me to follow until we meet again. My program is completely designed around compound lifts, with little accessory work which is exactly what I wanted. I can bounce ideas off of her and ask questions as I need to.

My advice would be to keep shopping for a trainer if you really want one, but there's nothing holding you back from learning on your own either. There are LOTS of people on here who lift and who have gotten great results through their own learning.

Also, I would not judge a trainer based on their own body (there was actually a thread on here I think about obese trainers, you might have to do a little digging but could probably find it again). One of the best trainers I know is quite obese...but his clients look FANTASTIC.

WhiteRabbit1313

I understand your frustration.

When I first started lifting, I did one session with a trainer, expecting that it would go well and I would work with her regularly. I explained to her up front that my cardio and nutrition aspects were under control (I had already lost 70 pounds at that point), but that I was interested in lifting heavy. I specifically told her that I wanted to learn to deadlift, back squat, bench, etc. She ended up spending the session showing me how to use the cable machine and how to do variations on the bicep curl. To say I was disappointed would be an understatement.

I spent about the next 9 months educating myself. I read, I watched YouTube, I asked questions here and posted videos of my form as needed. My lifts were progressing, and I didn't hurt myself.

I stumbled upon my current trainer, and just LOVE her. I can only afford to meet with her about once a month, but I told her what my goals were (to lift for strength and preservation of LBM) and she sets up a month program for me to follow until we meet again. My program is completely designed around compound lifts, with little accessory work which is exactly what I wanted. I can bounce ideas off of her and ask questions as I need to.

My advice would be to keep shopping for a trainer if you really want one, but there's nothing holding you back from learning on your own either. There are LOTS of people on here who lift and who have gotten great results through their own learning.

Also, I would not judge a trainer based on their own body (there was actually a thread on here I think about obese trainers, you might have to do a little digging but could probably find it again). One of the best trainers I know is quite obese...but his clients look FANTASTIC.

Hey, thanks for your input. Looking for a trainer hasn't stopped me from learning on my own, so I'm still working out every other day. I'm finding that the few pointers I've picked up have helped immensely, so I'm feeling more confident in training myself, and I know plenty of ppl do train themselves. I just figured it would be an additional aid in my progress. I think, I'll hold out until I find a trainer that listens to me better. I get what you're saying about the trainer's appearance not necessarily being a valid factor. I think it was something I was totally willing to set aside, but when she didn't listen to me, it became an additional mark against her, y'know?

juliewatkin

Train yourself. When I first started lifting I thought I'd look for a trainer to teach me without luck. It's easier and more economical to teach yourself. Video your lifts and review them yourself. You already know how you want to train, the rest of it isn't rocket science. There are a ton of reputable sources to go to for technique.

WhiteRabbit1313

Train yourself. When I first started lifting I thought I'd look for a trainer to teach me without luck. It's easier and more economical to teach yourself. Video your lifts and review them yourself. You already know how you want to train, the rest of it isn't rocket science. There are a ton of reputable sources to go to for technique.

It's definitely good to know others have trained themselves and succeeded. I'm going to fall in step with the rest of you!

cfredz

Why don't you just find a training partner wanting to do the same thing?


I don't think it's ok to judge the trainers based on appearance. The woman could be trying to gain muscle and not afraid to eat to do so. the guy could have eaten very little, done hours of cardio and taken things to assist him to get lean. Unless you know the background, it's really not ok to judge their performance as a trainer based on looks.

I'm kind of in the same boat, how do you suggest to find a training partner when you dont really know anyone with the same goals as you?