Caveat: This is a rant about personal training services/gyms

I admit that I can be stubborn, pig-headed and a know-it-all. I know I have much to learn and being in education I’m probably the least receptive to learning if I detect flaws in someone’s argument or approach. However…

I just joined a new gym near my work. Part of the sign up process for this new gym is a mandatory fitness assessment were they try ever so persuasively to get you to buy personal training packages. Now I’m not averse to using a personal trainer I just don’t have heaps of money at my disposal and I think I’m okay on my own at the moment. Well, I came out my appointment feeling like a big sack of pooh. DEFLATED.

Essentially the two trainers I was assigned to poked fun of my program, New Rules of Lifting for Women, and heavily critiqued my form or lack thereof. They insisted that I show them how to properly perform a one legged squat. Like really? I never professed that I could even do one and I don’t know a ton of people of average fitness like me who should be expected to do the same. No word of a lie, they were openly mocking my fitness level and my technique. In the end, I failed their form test, scoring a potential 10 out of 25. For serious? Once upon a time I was considered an elite athlete. Heck, I was in just such a program at school and we had trainers working with us all the time. There I got no comments on my form or technique. Not that it means much, but still, am I really that bad?

Then we moved on to the metrics. Okay, I knew I was out of shape but alarmed that my BF is a whopping 33.6%. In order to get down to my desired 19%, which fitness Nazi #1 tells me is completely achievable in 42 weeks, I need to gain 15 lbs. of muscle while simultaneously losing 24 lbs. of fat—hahaha, and I says pardon? Apparently, regardless of how much my general fitness or technique sucks she says I should be able to achieve what few men can in less than a year all the while maintaining a calorie deficit. Now I’m no mathematician but that *kitten* just doesn’t add up. In the end, her prescription is for me to hire her for six training sessions a week, yes SIX! Again, I’ve never been good with numbers but I’m going to say that at minimum she’s going to set me back $300 a week. Ouch.

Am I wrong to be upset or should I just suck it up and admit that I need to be more humble and maybe buy some training sessions? Please advise. I feel like I shouldn’t pay them much mind because I know they’re just trying to sell their services but I didn’t need this shot to my confidence at this time.

I'm very sorry about your experience. Unfortunately there are two types of trainers, those with a real education in a sports medicine or training field, and everyone else that takes the $100 online certification exam to supposedly be a personal trainer. Any educated person would know better than to intentionally embarrass or poke fun at you during a resistance training session. Everyone has to start somewhere, and even those fools at the gym didn't know what they were doing the first time they walked into a weight room.

First of all I would give you a few pointers from my education thus far. I am not currently certified, but I am a senior student at a university kinesiology program, so I know a little.

1. If you've never trained before, you definitely shouldn't start out going six days a week. Start with a goal of two if you think you can fit it into your schedule. If you're more comfortable starting with even just one day a week, one is still better than zero. If you do decide to go twice a week, make sure that you don't go on consecutive days. Starting to do resistance training can be quite taxing on your system and you're going to experience some soreness.

2. Don't over do it. If your goal is that you simply want to tone your muscles and lose some body fat, try to find an exercise for each major muscle group and use a weight that you can do about 15 reps with. Even if you just do your own body weight to start out with that's okay.

3. Form is important, but so is choosing the right exercises that you are capable of performing correctly. One-legged squats are advanced move that most people unless they train regularly would struggle with. Squats in and of themselves are good for you as they're a great total body exercise that fires up your metabolism. Just make sure when you get to the bottom of your movement that your knees aren't further out in front of you than your toes, make sure to keep your back mostly straight, even slightly arched in your lower back, and try to get a 90-degree angle about your knee.

4. Don't put up with people at the gym that try to intimidate or embarrass you. It's unprofessional and ignorant of them to treat you that way. I would complain to their management about the experience because no business should want their employees to behave in such a way.

I sincerely wish you the best in your endeavor and good for you for getting active and trying something new!! We're all cheering for you here.