Is my trainer wrong?

zavrrr

so I had a first session with a trainer earlier this week, and while mine was not this negative about SL, I could tell that she definitely would prefer to be tailoring some sort of custom program.

OMG. A personal trainer had the nerve to try and design a program tailored to your needs and your current abilities??

Quelle horror!!

Obviously, this "trainer" has not gotten the memo that her job is just to give you a stronglifts handout and count to 5.

I get that this could be taken as insulting to the trainer, but in this case I requested training specifically for this purpose and was very clear about it when I put in the paperwork. I had to save up to be able to afford a couple of sessions - if I could afford to work with someone on a regular basis I would certainly defer to their recommendations, but since I know I'll be mostly working on my own I want to focus on something that I trust myself to do and stick with unsupervised.

Sorry, I was using hyperbole as a rhetorical device in the general thread. That happens in these discussions and you can forget that it looks like it is directed at an individual. Again, I apologize that I made it sound like I was criticizing your specific situation.

No worries
I just wanted to clarify that I wasn't intending to belittle the trainer's expertise.

stealthq

. Basically, she said I need to start with core and stability work because without that how am I going to pick things up?

because that's what EVERY trainer says.

How are you going to pick things up?

by practicing picking things up.

You don't get better at picking things up by planking.

But I *want* to get better at those things, I should have specified. I'm not comfortable lifting a barbell right now because I can't, and I can't with proper form.

the only way you get better at it- is by doing it. use a broomstick and work on mobility.
Yes- "core work" and "stability" will help- but so will just trying to do those actual things you want to do.

I'm aware of that, but I do all those lifts, just with lower weight dumb bells. I still get deadlfts, weighted squats, ohp, etc. in, just not with a barbell. I don't see how that's an issue. I prefer it, I'm intimidated by the barbell right now and until I reach a point where it doesn't make sense for my ability level to do dumb bell work, I'm fine with that.

Maybe my experiences with my trainer aren't pertinent to the thread and I should have figured that out. But I'm losing inches with her, happy and comfortable, and making progress. So.

You did not say in your original post that you are actually doing the lifts, just not with a barbell. That's what everyone has been recommending from the get-go, so it sounds as though you are on the right track.

You originally said the plan was for stability and core work, and we're envisioning planks, crunches, and swiss ball work (or similar) on their own. Totally different beast, and not a great way to prepare for something like StrongLifts unless your core is so weak you can't stand up straight.