Personal Trainers Discussion Board

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DX2JX2 wrote: »

How about some advice about how to choose a good personal trainer? What kind of questions should we ask? What should we look for?

In my experience, it's easier to find a really bad personal trainer than it is to find a good one. It seems like the only qualification you need to become a trainer is to know how to get to the gym.

It also helps to know your specific goals. Be honest and upfront with the person potentially training you. Find out if they have worked with people who had similar goals and situations.

jasonlh515 wrote: »

Packerjohn wrote: »

jasonlh515 wrote: »

I’ll open it with macro ratios. Based on your personal experience what works best for each different type of goals (lean muscle mass, strength, maintain, fat loss, etc...).

To be honest, for the vast majority of people the typical trainer will be working with, macro splits following the USDA My Plate guidelines and appropriate amounts of micro-nutrients and calories will be fine. For most people a trainer will be working with the idea of different splits for different goals is majoring in the minors.

The certifications of most trainers don't allow them to give specific individualized diet advice to clients.

Providing nutritional advice is a dependent upon the state’s statute and if there is a defined scope of practice for nutritional care. Giving full nutritional programs to individuals, even in states where there is not a defined scope of practice, is extremely risky for the trainer and the individual involved. Unless your trainer is licensed as a dietician they should not be giving you macro breakdowns with a specific meal plan IMO. Sharing general knowledge is fine but prescribing any kind of diet plan should really be off limits for your client’s protection as well as your own. I personally think of myself as a very knowledgeable person when it comes to nutrition and have spent hundreds, if not thousands, of hours researching about nutrition, but I do not sell or prescribe any kind of nutritional care even though it is legal here in Texas without without being a licensed dietician. I think if you find a personal trainer that is not licensed trying to sell you dieting programs they are either money hungry or naive to think they are qualified enough to provide that kind of care. 99.9% are not qualified to give you that kind of advice and I would avoid if I were you.

It also depends on the certification. I recently took a 45 hour prep class and passed the ACE Personal Trainer Certification (did it for personal knowledge). ACE specifically says it's a violation of their ethics policy if someone with the just the ACE Personal Trainer cert gives individual specific nutritional advice.

Example, the trainer can tell the person the USDA My Plate recommends a certain % range of daily calories in protein and grilled chicken breast is a better source of protein than a potato for example. He/she cannot tell a client to eat 8 oz of chicken breast a day.

jasonlh515 wrote: »

RuNaRoUnDaFiEld wrote: »

jasonlh515 wrote: »

RuNaRoUnDaFiEld wrote: »

jasonlh515 wrote: »

I’ll open it with macro ratios. Based on your personal experience what works best for each different type of goals (lean muscle mass, strength, maintain, fat loss, etc...).

Surely this would be dependant on the client not just the goal.

Macros aren't a one thing suits all.

I can have the same goal as the next person but my macro preference could be very different depending on what I find filling or just what I like to eat.

Agreed. Nothing is one-size-fits-all in the fitness world. I wouldn’t necessarily agree though that your macro ratios would be that different from an individual having genetic similarities and wanting to reach the same goal. You may eat different types of foods but you need a similar macro/micro nutrient profile to achieve similar results on the same workout program. If your macro/micro profiles are identical and your workout programs are the same and you’re seeing variations in your results then that’s the sign there’s is a genetic variation to how the body may react whether it be to the foods they eat or to the training they are doing. There are so many things that can vary in the human body though and that is why it is so important to keep logs of dieting and training.

Take your example goal of fat loss.

Identical twins with a high body fat %

Each has a TDEE of 2000, Twin A achieves satiety with a moderate protein, higher fat diet. Twin B with higher fibre carbohydrate diet.

Why would you give them the same macro split?

Fat loss comes from reducing your calories below your TDEE not from set macros.

It depends. Are they achieving the same level of results with a different macro split? While satiety can help reduce their overall calorie intake, it doesn’t necessarily mean they’re going to achieve the same level of results or are receiving the same overall health benefits. Satiety is not the only important factor to consider. A sustainable plan that keeps your client feeling good in many different aspects is what is needed. Keeping their energy levels high, hormones stable, and the rest of the body functioning as well as possible should always be the end goal. Clients can see great results quickly with low carb diets but, as we know now, extremities with low carb/fat diets can have negative effects on the body when continued over a long period of time making it an unsustainable plan.

With that said, satiety is a very important thing for clients who struggle against urges to resist eating too much. It may be a good plan to start them out differently because of that, but I think gradually you’d want to work them towards an identical macro pallet.

Yes, this is the definition of Satiety.

jasonlh515 wrote: »

RuNaRoUnDaFiEld wrote: »

jasonlh515 wrote: »

RuNaRoUnDaFiEld wrote: »

jasonlh515 wrote: »

I’ll open it with macro ratios. Based on your personal experience what works best for each different type of goals (lean muscle mass, strength, maintain, fat loss, etc...).

Surely this would be dependant on the client not just the goal.

Macros aren't a one thing suits all.

I can have the same goal as the next person but my macro preference could be very different depending on what I find filling or just what I like to eat.

Agreed. Nothing is one-size-fits-all in the fitness world. I wouldn’t necessarily agree though that your macro ratios would be that different from an individual having genetic similarities and wanting to reach the same goal. You may eat different types of foods but you need a similar macro/micro nutrient profile to achieve similar results on the same workout program. If your macro/micro profiles are identical and your workout programs are the same and you’re seeing variations in your results then that’s the sign there’s is a genetic variation to how the body may react whether it be to the foods they eat or to the training they are doing. There are so many things that can vary in the human body though and that is why it is so important to keep logs of dieting and training.

Take your example goal of fat loss.

Identical twins with a high body fat %

Each has a TDEE of 2000, Twin A achieves satiety with a moderate protein, higher fat diet. Twin B with higher fibre carbohydrate diet.

Why would you give them the same macro split?

Fat loss comes from reducing your calories below your TDEE not from set macros.

It depends. Are they achieving the same level of results with a different macro split? While satiety can help reduce their overall calorie intake, it doesn’t necessarily mean they’re going to achieve the same level of results or are receiving the same overall health benefits. Satiety is not the only important factor to consider. A sustainable plan that keeps your client feeling good in many different aspects is what is needed. Keeping their energy levels high, hormones stable, and the rest of the body functioning as well as possible should always be the end goal. Clients can see great results quickly with low carb diets but, as we know now, extremities with low carb/fat diets can have negative effects on the body when continued over a long period of time making it an unsustainable plan.

With that said, satiety is a very important thing for clients who struggle against urges to resist eating too much. It may be a good plan to start them out differently because of that, but I think gradually you’d want to work them towards an identical macro pallet.

I suspect there's a pretty good range of macro splits that the healthy person can do well on. For muscle maintenance or gain you'd want to have a minimum protein amount (I think .65-.85 g per lb of a healthy body weight, from what I've read, but for the very lean (who would have more LBM per total weight) maybe a bit more). I also think there are nutrition needs that make really extreme approaches difficult (super low fat or super low carb, as both can result in missing nutrients). Beyond that, there are probably approaches that make individual people FEEL better -- more carbs, more fat, so on -- and, just as important, feel happier and more content with their diet and like it's a diet they chose, not one they are suffering with (which matters to whether they stick with it).

My guess is that if these things are satisfied, the small differences (when you keep protein at a reasonable level) of adding still more protein or varying fat vs. carbs is minimal, and even if it did lead to slightly faster muscle gain for someone for whom that was the goal, the other factors end up being more significant.

For myself, I looked at protein amounts and ended up doing 30-30-40 when losing (30% to keep protein high enough, and 30% fat because I tend to find well-chosen fat makes more of a difference to my contentment with a diet than starches). At maintenance that became 20% protein (which was still .8 g per lb), and fat and carbs have varied depending on other considerations, and it really hasn't seemed to be the most significant factors -- I find the types of fat and carbs I choose more significant than percentage.

With respect to advice from a personal trainer, I am someone who wouldn't seek diet advice from a trainer (I went to one for advice on form and putting together a routine that supported my running goals, and sought out someone who did endurance sports, as well as knowing how to lift). But I think chatting about nutrition with a trainer is enjoyable, and am interested in ideas and insights and what he/she does. For those who are interested in more diet advice (and I get this is often not permitted), I tend to think you need to meet the person where he/she is, and be understanding of current diet and goals, and also knowledge. For someone who really is asking where to start, I think macros are going to be confusing and perhaps taken too literally (you see this on MFP with people thinking that if they go over or under carbs (or fat) that they won't lose). I think a general explanation of protein being important (and sources of protein if they don't know) for muscle maintenance/repair/gain, and the general role (and positives) of carbs and fat and micronutrients, and some ideas for structuring meals can be helpful, that they can then work with. Some people would want this, some wouldn't, of course.