Stay Away From Personal Training
Personal training is one of the biggest profit making services for a gym and its trainers. This is the reason the staff at the gyms push people to sign up for personal training (PT) programs. The newbies are the most prone to the PT sales pitch.
If you’ve just got a gym membership, working out can look intimidating. The trainers at your gym know this and will try to push you into signing up for a PT. No matter how hard they try, you should stay away from it.
These Are The Reasons Why You Should Never Sign Up For Personal Training
1. Not For The Long Run
Staying with a personal trainer forever can be hard even if you want to compete in pro bodybuilding shows. Most people tend to stop taking the personal training services once they get the knack of things in the gym.
While this might be the obvious next step for you, there are chances your personal trainer will not be happy with your decision. Don’t expect help or spot from the trainers at your gym once you’re off the personal training program.
2. Cross Selling
Once you sign up for PT, you’ve established you’re ready to spend handsomely on your health. Many gyms recommend and sell supplements to their customers and make a fat commission on every sale.
Cross selling doesn’t end at supplements. It can even extend to gym gear and any other thing related to fitness and working out. Don’t be surprised the next time your personal trainer finds something extraordinary and wants you to try it.
3. Over Dependence
Getting a personal trainer for yourself is like outsourcing the tension about your health. This can be a good and a bad thing. Overdependence on your trainer for your training and nutrition plans can be harmful.
Your trainer will love to do all this work since it will keep you dependent on him. You should be actively involved in building your diet and training plans. Make sure you’re questioning and learning from your trainer with every single passing day.
4. No Custom Training Programs
Personal training isn’t as personal as you might think it is. Look at it from the business point of view, the more clients the trainer services, the more he earns. Training clients for the entire day can leave little to no time to work on individual client training programs.
The trainers end up building a generic training plan which all their trainees follow. In worse cases, people follow plans which are available on Bodybuilding.com for free. If you decide to opt for personal training, see to it your instructor builds a custom plan for you.
5. Getting A Wrong Match
No two people are the same. You can’t go with any fitness trainer. You need someone who matches your personality and style and understands where you lack. Your fitness instructor will be with you for the entire time you’re in the gym, choose someone you can jell well with.
Hiring a wrong match can act as a demotivation. You might start skipping your workouts because of your trainer. The best way to avoid this is to ask the trainer for a trial and only finalizing if he is a good fit for you.
Have you ever opted for personal training?
Let us know in the comments below. Also, be sure to follow Generation Iron on Facebook and Twitter.
Amen brother! They just want your money. Unless you are fortunate enough to have Charles Glass training you!
Agree – everyone is a trainer these days – I have to keep my head down when training just so I’m not distracted by the sheer number of moronic “trainers” – and they are hurting people sometimes with their bullshit movements – be careful people!!!!
If you were that motivated then you wouldn’t need to keep your head down.
Like i said i can see why you commented on my post because you obviously lack confidence, but to build your confidence i can train you
Nate Caius Meigh hardly! I keep my head down so I don’t become distracted by the fucking morons who claim to be effective trainers. As far as confidence is concerned – save your arm chair diagnosis for the idiots you train who obviously know nothing of a quality trainer – you helping me? Arrogant fuck! I’ve been competing for years and been trained by the best – you’re just a clown – just starting out – don’t get ahead of yourself!
Haha aggression is the first sign that I’ve caught you out.
If you’ve worked with some of the best then we would of heard of you and you’d have photos of your accomplishments and not hiding but more importantly if you had managed to get on stage (a performing arts stage) then nothing would distract you but you’re another clear example that you have issues with lying because you aren’t achieving your goals. I’ve achieved a 6st weight loss and improving with fitness everyday still aswell as having photos as proof…….. Wheres your proof?
Where are these photos of you with the worlds best?
You’re just another person who hates others for their success
Really sad but like i said before all of my clients have seen results so you should take some tips for yourself instead of daydreaming haha
Nate Caius Meigh you are a fucking joke – all of your pseudo psychology only serves to discredit you.
“Issues with lying because I’m not achieving my goals?” “Where are my pics?” And my favorite, “we would have heard of you if you were trained by the best?”
Wow!! What a fucking moron! Do you think everyone trained by the best are well known?
Do you think I have something to prove to a skinny bitch like you? You revealing yourself in your pictures only serves to show you’ve made mild progress – doesn’t prove your a good trainer – just proves you look like a long distance runner – very little muscle!!!
6st (is that 6 stone)? Ahh good for you! You were an obese kid who lost some weight and now you think you know everything – I get it! I’ve watched “the biggest loser” and “my 600 pound life” – that’s a great accomplishment – still… doesn’t mean your an effective trainer!!
Hates other for success you say??? Morons like you have been spouting rhetoric like that for ever – I love that you lost weight – good for you – however, I hate posers and frauds and am disgusted by people a false sense of themselves.
If you can run.. should you be a running coach? If you can swim should you coach people to swim? Of course not!! You lost weight and now your a trainer – get my point! What qualifies you?
Not even reading through all your excuses as you’ve been made to look a idiot.
I said if YOU had trained with the best then you would have photos but no you’re an attention seeker which yet again is part of your illness as you’re
Aggressive
Liar
Self confidence issues
And more
My clients results and education speaks for itself but that aside the really sad thing about you is that the age you are you should be setting an example but you prefer act like a idiot and boast about things you probably haven’t got.
I never said anything about the famous best in the business so yet again another clear sign that you’ve got to lie because you’ve wasted your life.
I never gloat about my accomplishments because that isn’t who i am because usually the ones that do is to compensate that they aren’t where they want to be.
I did say usually but there are people that do gloat that have made a success and deserve it unlike you then haven’t expected sympathy.
It’s been great speaking with you but for now thankyou for giving me the opportunity of teaching you about maturity and further more good luck with the illness and getting the help you need Goodbye
By the way you are obviously blind because i said I’m not a bodybuilder and my photos show one thing……. Achieving my goals. I haven’t uploaded a photos for months and look different now but none the less i am a PT in weight loss not bodybuilding lol
I’ll block you now to save the bit of dignity you surely should have
Goodbye
Been saying this since i was 17 years old.. Now 33
Find yourself a “coach” not a personal trainer. Ask to see a degree in Exercise/Sports Science or related field, and not some online course they took in a month.
Mohammad Altaf
Just because you have a degree in human kinetics and took a PT course does not mean you are a good coach. Try getting yourself in shape first before telling people how to get in shape.
When trainerds get paid really good. Do you think you will get result soon it’s a big scam system … it’s money honey…
Cheryl Sice
Goes to show Will is the one in a million then ???……
Hahha thanks, Chez ?
A fat fuck personal trainer who neither trains nor diets?
I’m a personal trainer in weight loss and not one of these things stated is true to myself. I’ve never thought about money doing it as i train my clients in my spare time but more importantly i am a personal trainer because i thrive on supporting people to be the best that they can be as i was once that person.
It’s easy for people to sit behind keyboards and slate others but not everyone is self centred and possessed by money
Nate that argument is nonsense – you may want to support your clients but that does NOT make you a good trainer. Moreover, even people who are certified often make poor trainers. Don’t confuse altruism and academia for what makes a great trainer – there is no correlation –
A good trainer must be passionate, motivating, have positive energy as well as having a wealth of experience – mostly procured from their own struggles with nutrition, correct form, injury avoidance etc etc. I’ve been training for 40 years and have competed internationally in both bodybuilding and powerlifting. I’ve used coaches who are the biggest names in the industry and I would still be very cautious if anyone asked me for advise – and yet I watch young, inexperienced people train others every day – no results, no system to measure progress and often working around injuries that the trainer was responsible for inducing – the industry is packed with frauds and posers – you may not believe you are but unless you meet the criteria I just mentioned – don’t fool yourself and don’t waste people’s time or money or, most importantly, their health!!!
Ignorant!
I am everything you’ve said so i can class myself as a great personal trainer. Every one of my clients have achieved their goals and better yet done so by a huge margin. Personally experience has nothing to do with it as I’ve proved aswell as I know I’ve accomplished what i wanted and more importantly so do my clients. To say what I’ve said is nonsense is really sad and immature as to judge someone you don’t know is just that. My client base speaks for itself. I was once 16.02st and was in very poor health and therefore turned my life around and now my health and wellbeing is excellent as I’m at 10.03st and are improving everyday.
A great personal trainer is someone who supports not only their clients but anyone who wants to better themselves after all a personal trainer doesn’t just relate to fitness.
I do agree that there are alot of frauds but I’ve chased my passion and seen remarkable results and that’s what makes a great PT.
Mate why even care to respond, just a lot of negative comments from sour peeps…Yeah I’ve competed at international level too and am a national bodybuilding champion, been a PT in 3 different countries and also had contracts with the US military for just such reasons….hating on trainers as your clearly sour….we aren’t all money grabbers and I don’t even advertise, people come to me, haven’t don’t that in years lol
You’ve just slightly contradicted yourself because if you were even slighty concerned about a PT methods then you wouldn’t of ever had one yourself. I could judge people but that would go against my nature and what i stand for but from my experience the people who judge others are usually the ones who lack confidence in themselves and tend to have issues with lying to compensate that they aren’t achieving their goals (thats my experience of the people who judge, not me judging unless I’m 100% sure)
Personal training should be a strict no in general? Lol. Tell that to all the successful personal trainers out their and their clients
Bullshit article…. so many factors nit covered. I have been a trainer for 25 years and I have helped 1000s. I have never taken a handsome commission from selling supplements or anything other than training. I dont know any trainer that has…..a couple bucks maybe. Not enough to make me push selling anything that won’t benefit my client.
You need to know what you are talking about before writing.
There are some shitty trainers for sure but for the most part a certified degreed trainer with experience is a good investment for about anyone for a short time whether for education or motivation.
There are some trainers out there that fit this this description. There are many that do not. I’ve seen trainers with degrees that have such an ego that expect to get paid more than they are worth and they train every client the same way, writing the same diet.
Personal training is more of a trade. Certifications are necessary. But the best trainers have people skills and care about people individually. A good trainer will learn in the trenches. They don’t try to sell products. They access and train each client according to what that client needs. They don’t overtrain and cause injuries. They don’t act like drill sergeants.
I believe whoever wrote this has been unfortunate to see some bad examples of personal training.
Hayden Grainger
??
The best personal trainer is your own body. Educate yourself with the biology of the human body and then listen to it when it comes training it. Eye ball your progress and keep going.
i´ve seen a tons of personal trainer that needs a personal trainer hahaha. Even Jason Genova can be a better PT than them lol
I’ve been a certified trainer for over 25 years, and the the trainers I see today in gyms are ridiculous, they pass the test and say they are trainers, makes real trainers look bad. I believe that so one should have a trainer for more than 6 months. A good trainer educates his client on how to train and to maintain his conditioning .
Firstly, I want to say, come on guys; arguing and insulting each other is hurting your image/business as trainers. Just don’t do it.
I’m a trainer, too, and want to say that this article needs clarification. Sadly, I have to agree with this article-but, only, under certain circumstances. Chain gyms are, usually, the culprit. A big-brand chain can ruin a good trainer, and seriously stunt the growth and development of new trainers. They, do, make it all about money, and even implement policies and proceedures that severely limit trainers. You can have a great trainer with the best training, experience, and intensions have their hands tied to the point that they have no choice but to provide a cookie-cutter workout to clients that provides very little benefit to the client-all because of company policy. So, it is not always the trainer’s fault. That being said, trainers should be refusing to work under these stipulations! As a client seeking a qualified trainer, you should seek out trainers that are independent. Heed this article and don’t hire a trainer from your big-chain gym. There are small “personal training” gyms that don’t require membership dues from trainees. You pay your trainer and that’s it. Your trainer pays to use the facility. That way, you can hire a trainer that is not restricted by their employer’s obserd policies. Take your time to get to know the trainer; interview them. Verify their credentials and ask for references. Don’t agree to a long-term contract. These independent trainers are self-employed and far more appreciative of your business, and they NEED your business far more than the chain trainer does. You’ll get treated like gold rather than just a commission.
I’m a member of a small non -chain local gym and I’ve found personal training a positive experience. My trainer motivates me, encourages me to try different stuff and I have made real progress. And not once has he tried to sell me anything or pressured me to employ him again- unless I want to. They’re not all bad.
I completely disagree with this article. It didn’t take into account the strength and conditioning professionals that love what they do and give it 110%. We spend tons of unpaid hours creating individualized programs to fit our clients needs. Unpaid hours on continuing education and staying up to date. We show up at 430a, we leave at 10p at night. We work 7 days a week and stay up late with those unpaid hours. Maybe you don’t understand that we science, exercise science to create programs. I can go on for hours. This isn’t a fair article
Really depends on the PT Imo ,how much experience, education etc.. Harsh statement to say that you should never sign up for Personal training. Then again ,there are alot of PT’s that could use a PT
People talk about x number of years training. I would assume the “great” trainers started somewhere as well.
Kevin Shawn is 100% correct. I am a former P.T. I trained Rod Stewart, Catherine Bach ( Dukes of Hazzards) and many other celebs. I majored in Kinesiology at UCLA. I knew my stuff. But my greatest asset was MOTIVATING clients. The first thing I asked each client was ” Why do you want to do this?” “What do you hope to accomplish” “Why do you believe I can help you?” And the big one : ” How will you feel if you fail?”
I was one of the few P.T’s that if I did not believe you really wanted it, I would not accept you as a client. I have given people their money back after they paid, and told them to hire someone else, because my reputation is on the line. If they wouldn’t be 100% committed, I did not want them. I was very successful. Today, everyone and their brother and sister takes a course found in the back of a muscle mag, and believes they can be a personal trainer. VERY FEW are motivated enough, passionate enough, and have the skill to tap into the minds of different clients and find out what motivates them. Most P.T.’s care more about paying their bills than helping a client reach their goal. I never needed the $$. I did it because I was passionate about fitness and health. I still am. I no longer teach clients. But I see so many Pt.’s that are fat, too skinny, and no nothing about the mind and how to motivate someone. Very Sad.
This page is officially a fucking no.
Ronnie Coleman himself hired a Personal Trainer.
All of the pros have trainers that push them and watch their shit for them.
Get the fuck outta here.
Wesley Guttridge Maria Zupan Ty Mullen
Everyones different. I’m not certified but have 40 years of training experience. I could do better than them
most of the trainers i know dont know chit they try and train people from a book and string poor bastards along for years
100% Rodney! Most of them don’t have a clue about training
But what if personal trainer is Hany Rambod
Following, would love to read what the PTs say about this.
The problem is companies sell a piece of paper to the general public, telling them they are now a personal trainer! I have and can train people but not because of a piece or paper or title (I don’t have either one), but because I have experience and the ability to use knowledge gained from it. Most personal trainers I know of have less time spent in a gym then the average person. It’s all about titles and shit to these guys.
I am a personal trainer Ofcourse we want to make money if we didn’t we would be broke just like anyone else in any other job or business wants to make money. Doesn’t mean the person isn’t getting value for what they are paying for! I’ve had clients who have had to work out late at night because they are self conscious about people seeing them train because they are inexperience. Then in a short space of a few months seeing those same people make a good transformation with their body and making them more confident and sociable within the gym. If you ask me charging £25 an hour and helping someone get the body they want and make them a happier person is value for money. We aren’t all just after your money. Most of us do this because we want to help people but Ofcourse we need to make money if we are doing it full time to survive ourselves. I started because I used to be anorexic and was so self conscious so when I got happy about my size and became more confident I realised I wanted to help others feel the same.
And no I don’t give out generic programs either. I find out what a persons goal is and I use my knowledge to design a program that will meet their specific need. Same with diet plans.
Joey Pineda
Thanks Generation Iron – not all PT’s are like this.
I’ve seen some shit PT’s with qualifications – standing with their client, arms folded whilst the client is doing the exercise wrong, clearly just looking at £ signs
I’ve seen PT’s taking money then training with their client!
I’ve seen PT’s sell their PT services based on the results of their Juice plus sales! Same for Herbalife, not on the results of their PT’ing
There is a place for PT’s but decent, upfront honest ones.
Don’t tar us all with same brush!
What do u have to do to write for GI? Buy a book and pass a test? Hmm, sounds familiar.
Personal training is like any other profession. There’s good trainers and bad trainers. Trainers who do it because they love it, and trainers who just want the cash. This is so obvious it’s pathetic you post something like this.
Good post
David Colley all you PTs know fuck all just wanna earn money
Why do u need a trainer train yourself just need to get of your arse and do it
Hahahaha
I’ve use personal trainers a few times over the decades. The only time I ever felt I got anything positive from the experience was when I worked with a PT that also happened to be an NPC bodybuilding competitor back in the late 90s. The worst one ever was a few years ago when I worked with a female PT that was paid for by my employer. Her idea of physical fitness was being thin and fit, running, cardio, and light weights. Terrible match, especially since my goals were powerlifting strength levels and massive bulk size. I watch people at my gym that use PTs and feel sorry for them. The things they teach them are a joke and often dangerous (ie stand on this ball, put one leg in the air, and do military presses with a loaded barbell- it’s great for your “core”!). The only way I would ever work with a PT again is if they were a competitive Powerlifter or strongman that was significantly stronger and more knowledgeable than me.
Ive seen serious personal trainers that are actively engaged with their clients – I also saw a UFO once
here’s thought STOP BUSINESS SELLING FUCKIN 12 WEEK FAST TRACK PT COURSES
Some of the personal trainers are just paid rep counters. Works for newbies but if you want progress, you need to educate yourself.
Are you telling somebody who doesn’t know anything about training that they can do better without a trainer. You’re actually goading people to hurt them selves . What you should have done was point out bad training qualities .