A couple days ago, I saw something ridiculous in the gym. I
witnessed a personal fitness trainer putting his client
through activities more akin to practicing for a circus
tryout than building a stronger and shapelier body. The
client was being instructed to do pushups with one hand
being elevated by a medium-sized, air-filled ball. In
between pushup repetitions, the client was told to roll the
ball back and forth between hands. He did a pushup with his
left side elevated by the ball (shaking precariously while
trying to balance) - then he pushed it across to the right
hand. He trembled in getting it beneath his right hand for
a repetition. Then he flung it over to his left hand again
after a rather shaky (and unbalanced) right-handed pushup.
I was secretly rooting for the client to end the session by
bouncing the ball off his trainer's head a few times.
What the hell was that all about? Is half the world going
bonkers or is it just a lot of the personal fitness
trainers and their clients who follow any instructions
they're given, no matter how silly? You couldn't convince
me with a Ph.D. candidate's dissertation that this client
was deriving benefit from what his "personal trainer" was
having him do. It was a complete and utter waste of time
and appeared to only feed that trainer's ego with the
belief that he was in possession of proprietary or esoteric
knowledge.
Don't get me wrong. There are some good fitness trainers
out there. They're just interspersed among a bunch that is
mediocre at best and downright counterproductive at worst.
In an apparent attempt to make their profession appear that
it doesn't consist of merely demonstrating basic exercises
and counting repetitions, many are taking this "core
training" fad a bit too far, in my opinion. When will they
come back to basics? When will they realize that there's
much more value to provide a client within the realm of
effective basic training combined with powerful mental
performance enhancement? It's a visually nicer body that
most people are seeking - not the ability to balance on
their knees atop an exercise ball while attempting to do
one-armed dumbell rows (I actually witnessed that too).
So how does one choose a personal fitness trainer? These
guys and gals aren't cheap. They can charge a good chunk of
change to essentially teach you some circus acts, or just
arbitrarily walk you through some exercises. It's not
pleasant to think of wasting time and money in this manner.
I have a unique criteria that I recommend people follow
when choosing a personal fitness trainer. In fact, I'm not
aware of anyone else who will provide you with this list.
After going through it, however, you will find that it
makes sense. These are not numbered in level of importance,
but the final one listed is THE most important. So here it
is:
1. MAKE SURE THE TRAINER IS IN GOOD PHYSICAL SHAPE
Sounds like a given, doesn't it? Well, it's amazing how
often I see a client trudging along behind a personal
trainer whose gut is hanging over his belt and whose
muscles appear to have not been worked in years. I don't
care if the trainer has a degree in Kinesiology or won a
bodybuilding contest years ago; if that individual can't
keep their own ass in shape, what makes you think they'll
be of much help getting and keeping you that way? All else
being equal, it's not motivating to have an out-of-shape
fitness instructor and it can set doubts in your mind at a
subconscious level.
2. HIRE SOMEONE WHO HAS MENTAL TRAINING CREDENTIALS AS WELL
AS THE PHYSICAL ONES
Most of your ability to positively change your body and
keep these positive changes is a mental thing. We know this
intuitively. Yet how many people take it seriously enough
to hire a personal fitness trainer who can also help them
get their mindset in shape?
I recommend finding someone who has credentials in Sport's
Mental Training or Hypnotherapy/NLP and can effectively
combine these disciplines with the physical regimens when
necessary. Believe me, you'll be glad you did.
3. MAKE SURE THE TRAINER IS CERTIFIED BY AN NCCA ACCREDITED
COURSE OR REPUTABLE COLLEGE
The NCCA (National Commission for Certifying Agencies) is
an accrediting organization holding standards for
reputability of certification programs. Top quality fitness
certifications that are NCCA accredited include N.F.P.T.
(National Federation of Professional Trainers) and ACE
(American Council on Exercise) and ACSM (American College
of Sports Medicine).
Of course, certification from a reputable college or trade
school also represents quality fitness credentials.
Bottom line: Be sure your trainer has high quality
nutrition and exercise knowledge.
4. ASK THE TRAINER FOR REFERENCES
Just like hiring any other professional, it's best to ask
for references. Make sure to ask for past clients who've
gotten positive results within the same area of improvement
that you're seeking for your body.
5. MAKE SURE THE TRAINER RECORDS PROGRESS FOR HIS/HER
CLIENTS
I'll say it plain and simple: If a personal fitness trainer
isn't keeping a record log of your workouts, then you're
wasting your time and money. That is; unless you just want
to pay them to be your friend.
A trainer who doesn't keep a record of what he or she has
you doing is just arbitrarily choosing your exercises,
sets, and repetitions. Assuming they've got a lot of
clients, it's unlikely they're able to keep it all in
memory.
Watch your prospective trainer handling other clients for
about a week or two before deciding whether to hire them.
If you're serious about improving your physique, don't
shell out your money if they're not doing any writing along
with their instructing.
There you have it; some tips for hiring a good personal
fitness trainer. If you follow them, you'll be more likely
on your way to a stronger and better looking body, and less
likely to end up doing stupid human tricks with a ball on
the gym floor.
----------------------------------------------------
Scott Abbett is the author of HardBody Success: 28
Principles to Create Your Ultimate Body and Shape Your Mind
for Incredible Success. He is a certified fitness trainer
and a Master Practitioner and Trainer of NLP. To see his
personal transformation visit http://www.hardbodysuccess.com
No comments:
Post a Comment