Gym controversy- would you hire an unfit trainer?

jennrissa wrote: »

Ohwhynot wrote: »

I would, but I would be wary for all the reasons stated above. That said, I am overweight and have a degree in nutrition. I KNOW what I have to do, but it's not easy for me. I can absolutely help someone lose weight by giving them the tools they need, but in the end, it's up to the individual person to follow through. If an overweight trainer can help me fix my squat form, then I'd hire them right away! (Seriously, my form sucks.)

A trainer at a CrossFit place I went to told me to stand near a wall, not too close, arms stretched above my head hands on the wall, and to squat down. If my nose bumped the wall, or even my knees, I was leaning too far forward.

That's a really solid drill. Certainly not unique to crossfit or any other school or system

cqbkaju wrote: »

As @stanmann571 says, I would not hire any adult as a personal trainer for general classes who trains with 5lb dumbbells.

The fact that they are carrying a lot of excess fat also makes it harder to trust their advice.
The only people who will hire overly fat "personal trainers" are the people who have low self-esteem and body image issues to begin with.
Most of those people don't have enough discipline to go to the gym to get "in shape" to begin with.
So that being said, why would you pay someone who will have few -if any- clients?
You are going to lose money. Say what you want, but the Boss is probably running a business to make money.

They are looking to have someone take the over-flow, right?
How many customers are going to be happy when they are expecting to train with their usual Barbie or Ken but end up with Fiona?

If you want to be in the fitness profession then the expectation is that you will be reasonably fit and at an acceptable body fat percentage.
Sounds like she fails on both counts.

No it isn't nice. Yes, it may have hurt her feelings.
Yes, it may even be considered some form of "fat-shaming" for the people who want to use labels.
But it is the way of the world and it isn't likely to change anytime soon.

If you "audition" at Hooters and don't have the body type and personality they are looking for then you are not likely to get the job.

If she wants the job bad enough then she will improve her qualifications, training methods, and physique - the requirements for the job- and then try, try again.
That is how job interviews work.

Yes to this

@stanmann571 Well said, sir.

I'm sure there are personal trainers out there that are qualified that don't look the part of being a fitness professional. But if their business and clientele building suffer because of that, so be it. It is a matter of being professional in all facets of your job. The problem a lot of people have is they look at a PT as someone that is doing an easy job that anyone can do. And if this person is very fit, it annoys people because it's not like it's hard or anything to be in shape when it's your job....right? Well if that's the case all the more reason an out of shape trainer is not handling their business like a professional.

When it comes down to it, if you have a very specific focus and are advanced in that area, I think it's pretty important to get someone that fits your needs. Your general practitioner MD is not gonna be your cancer specialist.

But if you are just looking for help and direction all things being equal I would say you may want a trainer that practices good health and fitness while also instructing it.

I don't care how much a swim instructor knows about all the mechanics and theory of how to swim.....if they can't swim themselves and try to teach me while they're wearing inflatable swimmy flotation devices on their arms, I think I'll pass.

I have a lot of opinions about this and they are rather strong ones, but I don't necessarily judge anyone for having a difference of opinion here as long as they are identifying what they want in a trainer rather than suggesting how they think all trainers should look.

"Look the part" is something that many personal trainers will use as a sharp stick to poke other trainers with as though their physique is somehow an indication of the knowledge they have. Truth is, vanity and insecurity are things that run pretty deep in SOME people who are entrenched in a fitness lifestyle and we see it on instagram regularly and so it doesn't surprise me that this is something that gets thrown around as though it's some badge of honor to see your abs, or as though it makes you better than the trainer who has a few extra lbs of bodyfat.

But having said that and trying to be objective here, I see two main things worth independently mentioning:

1) I am willing to bet that having some identifiable traits with fitness will probably help more than it will hurt. Now this isn't necessarily being shredded, it could be someone who has excess body-fat but also a physique that makes it apparent they lift heavy weights. It could be someone who doesn't look jacked but simply looks healthy, and there's probably wiggle room within that interpretation. But I don't think it's necessarily as simple as "fat or not fat" since I can think of at least one trainer who is about 5'11 and 300lbs and he's FANTASTIC at what he does and he has a full roster of clients. However, you take one look at him and you can immediately tell that he's strong as an ox -- but he's ALSO identifiable as over-fat.

2) While I can see why someone might think that a fit trainer must be better than one who doesn't appear fit, I think that's awfully risky logic to apply and often times it will be false. I can think of multiple coaches who don't even look like they lift, who know more about hypertrophy than the majority of the population of fitness professionals (Lyle McDonald would be a good example). I can think of an overweight old guy who doesn't look fit at all yet he's regarded as one of the best on the planet (Boris Sheiko).

I can tell you that I will very likely never be an elite powerlifter, I will very likely never be strong or competitive enough that people say "damn, Patrick is an amazing athlete" but I have coached multiple IPF state record holders in different divisions and I have one athlete who (at least in 2017) ranked in the top 20 in the deadlift on a national level. And I don't say that to brag even though it sounds arrogant AF, it's just that it goes along the same kind of logic that the ability to coach someone and the ability to do the thing you are coaching are not the same thing.

In fact, they are often entirely different. I know some tremendous coaches who are remarkably unimpressive in other aspects of the things they coach, and I know some tremendous athletes who really shouldn't be coaching other people because they just don't have the skill set for it.

There's only so much you can tell by looking at someone, and making some sort of judgment as to how well they can achieve results in other people based on how they currently look seems quite foolish. And IMO, getting results involves a combination of relationship building, social proficiency, empathy, and at least some competency with regards to having the necessary knowledge in the domain you're teaching in, and probably a list of other skills I've not touched on.

You know what isn't a factor in getting results in others? Your weight, your pants size, how much you can bench.

Now, experience IS useful and I'm not suggesting it's 100% useless by any stretch. It's just that we can't make statements about experience based on the appearance of the person on any given day.

If I suddenly gain 20lbs this year, I promise you I'll continue to IMPROVE as a coach, even though I'd look less fit as a result of that weight gain..

/end rant (for now).

Depends. If it is due specific medical condition or due to specific medical even (could not train for a while or so) - I might understand. If they are not perfectly fit, but not in overweight/fat category - probably yes, would hire. If they are totally obese - probably no, because what they preach do not work on them, why it should work on me?

In addition: would you go to obese dietitian? Though we probably know overweight medical personnel...

Minimum CSCS to work for us.

Are we talking about severely overweight or just overweight by a little? I'd rather hire someone who has been there and went through and are currently going through the struggle and can relate that this move may be tough and this is how to get through it without getting hurt. Or xyz is a good workout that will get your heart rate up without being too hard on the joints. I've seen plus size trainers on Instagram that post their workouts and document their troubles, etc. and it's easy to relate.

If she's someone who is trying to tell someone to eat this and not that while ordering the left side of the menu at McDonald's, then no, I wouldn't.

I wouldn't hire someone who was clearly unfit.

A few extra pounds, but fit otherwise? Awesome, shows you're a real person, especially if you're not in your early 20's anymore.

Shoot, my current trainer was packing a few extra pounds when I hired him, but you can tell he's fit despite that, and built. Body building isn't my goal, but he knows and understands my sport, so that works for me!