Having a Personal Trainer

So, I have always wanted to get in better shape. Being overweight, I knew that there were a lot of opportunities for self improvement. Exercise is important, I am a couch potato. I wanted the possibility of a better body. Improved cardiovascular stamina would have been fantastic. It was a possibility that I could end up with the flat stomach that I have yearned for my entire life (or maybe not, but the possibility of that being a possibility was So I went into my mega chain of a gym, with a half and half intention on buying. Needless to say, I did. I signed a contract and agreed to pay $53 hourly for the services of a personal trainer. I would go twice a week. Honestly, I was excited for the opportunity.

It was that day that I met D, the trainer that the gym presented to me. He was going to be the one to help me get to the fitness level that I had always dreamed about. Maybe it would take some time, but that didn't matter to me (somewhere, my wallet was crying, but somehow that was a secondary thing). He seemed enthusiastic, he had a plan. I was going to melt away, all the flub going goodbye. So as joy was surging in my heart, I had to let him know of my limits. I have two very bad knees. It has been something that has put me into physical therapy. It really isn't the most fun thing ever. My doctor knew about my starting to exercise and had given me the ok. It was just something that needed to be known, my knees are horrendous. He said that he understood, and that my workouts would be tailored around that. He was so excited that it was contagious, so I went to my first appointment in my cute new gym clothes with a smile on my face.

So the first workout...running...step exercise...squats...jumping. All extremely high impact exercises. None of them easy on my poor knees. There was no initial physical assessment; no detailed interview...the boy never even weighed me. Just started working out. As my knees started to hurt more and more, I asked D about what he was doing. My knees were not getting better, they were getting worse. I suggested things that I learned in physical therapy and from my doctor, like trying to strengthen the muscles around my kneecap. His comeback was "no, you need to loose weight." With that rude statement, I continued to work for weeks upon weeks. I figured he was the one with certification; I was the idiot paying $53 hourly. While I was loosing some weight, and my physical stamina was undoubtedly getting better, I was limping all the time.

Furthermore, during the sessions D became more and more disrespectful. He was sometimes 20-30 minutes late. He would text message as I was huffing and puffing, paying no attention to my form, alignment and so on (that was his job after all). During this entire time, he blamed me or made sarcastic comments.

Eventually, I fired D as my trainer. After about a month and hundreds of dollars spent. I got out of the remainder of the personal training contract, due medical, due knees.

Was this just a bad experience? Definitely. It did teach me a lot of valuable lessons, though. When looking for a trainer, interview. Ask questions. Don't accept the first person who any gym presents to you. Instead, take the time to ask the right questions. Some of those questions should include:

What are your certifications?

What do you like to have people do in their workouts?

Who is your typical clientele?

Of course there are a lot of other questions, but at least that is a start. Don't go into any situation blind. Furthermore, try to get recommendations from friends or fellow gym goers. It's not a definite guarantee that the trainer will be a perfect fit...but at least you will know about things like tardiness and tendencies to use cell phones during the sessions. Another recommendation is to never let the trainer skip the initial assessment. Nobody likes to get weighed in the beginning, it is embarrassing for a lot of people. Also, anyone who is getting a personal trainer is there to improve themselves. So a low fitness level at the beginning means that there is a big area of opportunity. There are possibilities for a lot of improvement. It is the only way that a trainer is going to accurately know what is going to be good for you. Lastly, never ignore your instincts and knowledge. You know your own body better than anyone, if it doesn't feel right. If a trainer ever contradicts anything that a doctor says, it is time for that trainer to go...personal trainers cannot diagnose, medical doctors can. In the costly quest for better health, nobody wants to end up worse off than they were before. Asking the right questions and listening to yourself and others is key.