I would recommend researching the personal trainer you plan to shovel money to in order to reach your goals.  Like all professions, there are good and bad trainers.  I don’t think shopping for a trainer should be that much different from shopping for a gyno, proctologist, chiropractor, dentist, etc.

1)  Does your potential trainer carry legitimate personal training certifications or a degree from an accredited University?  - Where did this trainer learn their trade?  Did they just pick up a copy of a magazine and decide they could follow along and submit people to this type of movement?  I’m not saying all trainers have to be certified or have a degree.  Would you want a neighbor who knows how to run line - wire your house for electricity?  Would you not hire an electrician?  **just a little heads up about electricians and what it takes to be one: http://masterslic.tripod.com/FAQ-2/1.html

2)  Does your potential trainer have any lawsuits pending or have they been sued? - Does your trainer really know what they are doing or do they get their workout plans from a magazine or TV show.  Just because 1 workout works for 1 person does not mean this workout is safe for the general public.  If a workout causes you pain in your knees, shoulders, neck or low back, this workout is not safe and should be modified. You should not feel joint pain while working out.  If you feel joint pain when you’re not working out seek a medical expert or a trainer who is knowledgeable and may be able to help correct any problems before they become more serious (ie require surgery).  Keep in mind trainers are not diagnosticians.  We don’t have x-ray or MRI machines so if your pain is extreme consult your medical professional.  

3)  Does your potential trainer carry liability insurance? - Unless you’re working out at a facility that pays their own trainers (like Globogym) then you are dealing with contract or independent trainers.  These trainers are required to carry personal training insurance.  This insurance not only covers the trainer but covers you the consumer if anything should happen and you get injured while you are in their care.  I would be leery of organizations that aren’t covered due to a high volume of injured people based on their practices.  This is your responsibility to yourself.  If you plan on paying money to an individual or a company wouldn’t you want to know that they are safe enough that insurance companies agree to cover them?

4) The next one is harder to find out but, does your potential trainer train their clients based on the needs and goals of the client or the personal goals of the trainer? - This one I’ve seen a lot.  As an example, client A is an overweight, middle aged woman with joint/back pain who wants to lose fat.  Her trainer is muscle bound 20 something male who wants to get bigger.  He puts her through the same workout he just did 2 hours earlier the only exception is she is moving less weight.  She cannot properly perform a lot of the movements correctly because of muscle imbalances and/or the excess weight she carries.

5)  Does your potential trainer have any experience in training your population (diabetic, heart disease, Fibromyalgia, shoulder surgery, scoliosis, etc) - The last thing you want is to pass out on the gym floor or get pushed beyond your limits and not be able to workout for weeks or months.  This makes reaching your goals a little bit harder.

6)  Does your potential trainer assess your posture to determine the best exercises for your body and your muscle imbalances?  Does your personal trainer truly know enough about the body to assess your posture and how to build a comprehensive workout based on your body and it’s needs.  Sedentary lifestyles, past injuries, chronic pain, and being in the seated position for 8+ hours a day do something interesting to the body.  If these things aren’t addressed the risk of injury is greatly increased.

7)  Does your potential trainer believe “pain is weakness leaving the body” in regard to joint or low back pain?  - I hear this a lot from boot camps.  Their mantra however injures people.  These injuries can do a number of things from preventing the client from achieving their goals to painful shoulder or knee pain.  If these things aren’t addressed the risk for corrective surgery increases.  If you are experiencing joint pain, your body is trying to tell you something and that something is “there is something wrong that shouldn’t be ignored!!!” And you should not do 10 more reps just to satisfy the trainer. Several of my clients were injured in boot camps. It seems unfair that organizations will take your money to make you leaner without regard to your safety.  It also seems like a waste of money to pay someone who may help you lose weight but you gain it back because your knees now hurt and you can’t walk/bike/run.

8)  Does your potential trainer believe in 6 week training systems or a progressive training systems geared to teach you a lifetime of fitness? - I think this is one of the biggest ills of society currently.  We hear all the time that over 30% of our population is overweight or obese (including children) why do we only want to address these issues for 6 weeks?  Why not teach people safer workouts that they can do the rest of their lives?  In regards to the TV show, who has 6 hours a day to workout with a drill sergeant?  Don’t we all typically have normal jobs and family and normal lives that take up most of our day.  Why not learn to workout on your time (whatever limited time that may be?)  Of those who do the 6 week extreme weight loss programs, what kind of weight is gained back after the program is over.  (What did you learn from that? weight loss only comes in 6 week torturous increments, when it’s over we gain it back, and we now have negative connotations associated with fitness or exercise)  Health wise, this yo-yo of extremes is not good for your body.

9)  Does your potential trainer believe the best way to workout and achieve your goals is to make you puke or induce rhabdomyolysis?  Neither of these things are good for the body.  First of all, common sense should tell us that doing something to shut down the function of the kidneys is not good for the body!  This could also cause chronic kidney damage (which means for the rest of your life).  Living the rest of your life on dialysis doesn’t sound like a healthy bench mark to strive for. If you don’t believe me, find someone on dialysis and ask them how their workouts are now.  *When you workout you increase the heart rate, increasing the rate the kidneys filter the blood.  If the kidneys don’t work properly guess how much working out you’ll get to do.  As far as puking, unless you’re puking food you ate that’s not good for you (like something greasy) or you ate too close to your workout this is not a badge of honor and is not a safe consistent way to workout.

10)  Does your potential trainer have a reciprocated absence policy.  In other words, we know that if we don’t show up for a session it costs us that session.  However, if your trainer doesn’t show up, are they prepared to make up for that time that you have missed.  My policy is if I don’t show up for a client they get an additional session added to their log (not just the one I missed).  Everyone’s time is valuable. Do they also value your time?

Be accountable for your body.  Take charge of what you do to yourself or whose hands you place your care.

Chika Christenson, MS, CPT, CES, PES