By Dr. Irv Rubenstein
ACSM - Health/Fitness Instructor; NSCA -
CSCS; ACE - Personal Trainer
Once you’ve decided to increase your
fitness level, success may hinge on your next
choice: utilize classes led by professional
trainers or hire a personal trainer?
Choosing a personal trainer is a better
option for people not comfortable exercising
in a group, desiring direct accountability,
needing one-on-one motivation, and/or
requiring explicit guidance due to physical
issues.
Before embarking on a search for a personal
trainer, check your motivation for having
one. For some people, having a personal
trainer is a luxury, something to brag about.
For others, they are a necessity to reach
important fitness goals. For too many,
they're a waste of good money. Why?
Because spending three hours and $250 a week
on a trainer can be ruined in one 10-minute
excursion to a fast food restaurant!
For those deciding their goals require the
help of a personal trainer, finding the one
best can require some effort. The first step
is making sense of the alphabet soup of
accreditations. For people desiring a more
athletic approach to fitness and who have no
medical issues, look for an NSCA trainer.
ASCM-accredited trainers are well-suited for
those with medical concerns, especially if a
doctor specifies contraindications. If one is
seeking general fitness, trainers with other
accreditations, like ACE, are fine.
Finding a trainer with the right credentials
is only part of the process. I've seen
trainers with Master’s Degrees who
still don't know how to train and former
athletes who have a better understanding of
the body than academically-trained trainers
will ever have. Certifications simply prove a
trainer wants to learn more.
During an initial meeting, you can tell a lot
about a potential trainer’s attitude
and willingness to tailor a program for your
needs. I’d consider any of the
following to be a warning sign that the
person is stronger in marketing than training:
- requires long term commitment –
fiscal or time
- claims that everyone loses weight with
his/her system
- states that all her/his athletes get
bigger without injury
- sells product, especially supplements;
- takes credit for all his/her successes;
- brags about a busy schedule; and
- never says “I don't
know.”
Pay attention to the questions the trainer
asks you. If the questions are few or vague,
expect a cookie-cutter program that may not
meet your individual goals or accommodate
physiological issues you may have.
The truth is, you won’t really know how
good a “fit” your trainer is
until you have had a few sessions. For this
reason, I recommend you ask for a trial
period. After three sessions you will know if
the trainer’s approach is right for
you. Sometimes it doesn’t take that
long. For example, if a trainer asks you
right from the start to do things you've
never been able to do in the past– like
exercise at an extreme level 30 minutes a day
seven days a week or cut out sweets, carbs,
or alcohol cold turkey– leave!
Once you’ve found the one that
optimizes results for you, devote yourself to
learning proper technique. After a short
while, motivation will come from within and
you can decrease the number of sessions to
fit your financial and time requirements. In
fact, my most successful clients come to me
once a month and “follow the
script” on their own during their other
workouts.
Finding the right personal trainer is much
like anything else: devoting time to making
the right choices at the beginning saves a
lot of time in the long run.
Irv’s interest in fitness began
at age 11 when, on the advice of a
pediatrician, he took up weight training to
remedy his stooped posture. Today, he serves
as president of S.T.E.P.S., Inc.,
Nashville’s first personal training
center. He specializes in post-rehab, older
adults, special populations and sports
conditioning.
