The Ten Personal Trainers You Shouldn’t Trust
Hey San Antonio,
Thought I’d be a little humorous (well, a LITTLE) with this post. I suppose there is some validity to it, but I hope you enjoy it!
10 Personal Trainers You Shouldn’t Trust
1. The guy carrying the McDonald’s bag. Bulking up is a process that bodybuilders do to gain more muscle before “cutting” or leaning out. However, some guys hide behind bulking up permanently and never plan to compete. If a guy is in a perpetual “bulking” state and isn’t practicing what he preaches, ignore him.
2. The girl who sounds like a man or a frog when she talks. Said lady may have other manly features (protruding jaw, insane muscles, etc). If she cares as little about her own body to put male hormones into it, why on earth would she care about your body? Stay away!
3. The guy who was working at Whattaburger the week before. I’m not kidding – a guy that was a personal trainer at Gold’s Gym recognized my truck because I used to go into the Subway that was located next to a Whattaburger. He approached me when I was lifting one day and asked if I was the guy that drove the big Hummer, and I told him yes, and he told me where he was working. I’m not knocking anyone who goes out and works, but I’m not sure how the career path goes from working the window at Whattaburger to training at Gold’s Gym in under 2 weeks.
4. The person that puts you on a bodybuilder’s cutting diet. It’s pretty damn hard to sustain a diet of egg whites, oatmeal, chicken breasts, boiled rice, etc for 12-20 weeks when preparing for a bodybuilding show, so how on earth are you supposed to permanently sustain that and make it part of your lifestyle? If your personal trainer’s nutritional strategy includes “cut and paste” from “Bodybuilding.com”, stay away. Every nutritional plan should be made from scratch for the client based on their goals, needs, and lifestyle.
5. The personal trainer that smells like smoke. Again, practice what you preach. A personal trainer doesn’t have to be perfect, but should lead by example.
6. The personal trainer that can’t say “I don’t know the answer to that.” Look, there are some simple things that as a personal trainer, you should be able to answer honestly and accurately. But if you don’t know the answer, there’s nothing wrong with admitting so and finding the answer for the client. I’ve heard some far-fetched things come out of personal trainers’ mouths and it makes them look ridiculous. There is no shame in saying “I DON’T KNOW FOR SURE”.
7. The personal trainer who trains every client the same way. “Well, it works for me…” I’ve heard a lot of trainers say that and they train every client the same way. Every client is different and has different needs, weaknesses, strengths, and abilities – they should be trained as such. Most trainers do the same thing with every client – be aware of this, and avoid it.
8. The $25-35 personal trainer. I understand budgets, but usually, you get what you pay for. If they were worth more, they’d charge more. You’re probably better off reading a book or two or getting your own certification even.
9. The personal trainer that isn’t a nutritional expert. Yes, I’m saying EXPERT. It is part of the job. It isn’t a “REQUIREMENT” and you can train people without an ounce of nutritional expertise, but IMO, a personal trainer that doesn’t have a solid educational background on nutrition is absolutely worthless. Copying and pasting from the net doesn’t suffice as a nutritional expert. And by the way, the nutritional advice should be part of the training.
10. The personal trainer that doesn’t tell you WHY. You’re paying your personal trainer to teach you what to do when you can no longer train with them. You should have the freedom to ask why and then receive an honest and easy to understand answer. “Just do it because I said” should never work. Learn what you’re doing so you can keep it up – you should NOT have to depend on your trainer to workout!
