Yes..another "Question for you PT's" thread

[mike0093_OLDONE]

I signed up at my current gym about a year ago. When I signed up, I got 3 free PT sessions with any one of the 6 or 7 trainers that worked there. Well I struck up a convo with one of the older PT's who happens to be an old olympic powerlifter. I asked him if he had any room for another client in his schedule. Well to make a long story short, he reworked my whole routine and I have made serious gains mostly due to his help. I used up the last of my 3 free sessions about 7 months ago. Ever since then, I see him almost everytime I'm at the gym and I always say hello and we talk for a while. Whenever he's not with a client he's always eager to come and watch me lift "Go do some bench presses let's see how that new grip is doing" etc. and give me compliments, and plenty of constructive criticism to go along with it. My question is do I owe him some "payed" sessions? If you had a client that you gave free sessions to and they made major improvements would you expect as a PT some "payed" sessions in return? I'm confused at what to do here. I always see him walking around talking to everybody, but I never see him giving out advice/working with people he's not in a session with. Any input is appreciated..maybe I'm thinking into this to far.

Cliffs
- had 3 free sessions with good PT
- everytime im at gym he always gives compliments/criticism/asks to watch me to a few sets
- do I owe him some payed sessions?

[alikaeos]

I signed up at my current gym about a year ago. When I signed up, I got 3 free PT sessions with any one of the 6 or 7 trainers that worked there. Well I struck up a convo with one of the older PT's who happens to be an old olympic powerlifter. I asked him if he had any room for another client in his schedule. Well to make a long story short, he reworked my whole routine and I have made serious gains mostly due to his help. I used up the last of my 3 free sessions about 7 months ago. Ever since then, I see him almost everytime I'm at the gym and I always say hello and we talk for a while. Whenever he's not with a client he's always eager to come and watch me lift "Go do some bench presses let's see how that new grip is doing" etc. and give me compliments, and plenty of constructive criticism to go along with it. My question is do I owe him some "payed" sessions? If you had a client that you gave free sessions to and they made major improvements would you expect as a PT some "payed" sessions in return? I'm confused at what to do here. I always see him walking around talking to everybody, but I never see him giving out advice/working with people he's not in a session with. Any input is appreciated..maybe I'm thinking into this to far.

Cliffs
- had 3 free sessions with good PT
- everytime im at gym he always gives compliments/criticism/asks to watch me to a few sets
- do I owe him some payed sessions?

No you don't owe him anything he sounds like he enjoys what he does. Don't buy sessions for the sake of it he sounds like he is busy enough. But if you feel he helped you and you owe him something get him a gift card or something and say thank you.

[Environ]

You don't owe him anything, but you might do it out of courtesy. Whether it is merely a business manoeuvre or not, he chooses to talk to you and watch you train (because you made good progress, he might be genuinely interested in your training). And, the old schoolers aren't all about money either. My OL trainer was 69 when I first met him. He trained me for FREE. He trained all of us for free. He has his old age pension and he is passionate about the fitness lifestyle and OL in particular. Furthermore, being in the gym gets him out of the house for a few hours in the day. The social contact is probably worth more to him than any amount of money.

At Christmas time, you might get him a gift card or something.

[mike0093_OLDONE]

You don't owe him anything, but you might do it out of courtesy. Whether it is merely a business manoeuvre or not, he chooses to talk to you and watch you train (because you made good progress, he might be genuinely interested in your training). And, the old schoolers aren't all about money either. My OL trainer was 69 when I first met him. He trained me for FREE. He trained all of us for free. He has his old age pension and he is passionate about the fitness lifestyle and OL in particular. Furthermore, being in the gym gets him out of the house for a few hours in the day. The social contact is probably worth more to him than any amount of money.

At Christmas time, you might get him a gift card or something.

Yeah, good call. I'll get him something like a GC at christmas time. Thanks for the replies.

[CantSeeMe]

You shouldn't train with him because you owe him--you should train with him because he got you results!!

[mike0093_OLDONE]

You shouldn't train with him because you owe him--you should train with him because he got you results!!

Yeah, I did get results but he always trains me in between his clients and when he has downtime. I figure it would be weird to bring up the idea of scheduling an actual session and paying for it..when he already trains me for free.

[Be-Be]

Maybe he likes you and thinks of you as a friend. I have no interest in continuing any kind of relationship with most my clients after they stop giving me money but there are some that I genuinely enjoy and keep in touch with. And I'm willing to spend time and energy on people I like - especially if I've helped them see results - and I don't expect anything in return.

It's your choice. If he's someone you'd like as a friend, treat him like a friend. If he's someone you just want a professional relationship with, treat him like an employee. If he is just after your money, he'll go away on his own after awhile anyway.

[Rob Awesome]

I signed up at my current gym about a year ago. When I signed up, I got 3 free PT sessions with any one of the 6 or 7 trainers that worked there. Well I struck up a convo with one of the older PT's who happens to be an old olympic powerlifter. I asked him if he had any room for another client in his schedule. Well to make a long story short, he reworked my whole routine and I have made serious gains mostly due to his help. I used up the last of my 3 free sessions about 7 months ago. Ever since then, I see him almost everytime I'm at the gym and I always say hello and we talk for a while. Whenever he's not with a client he's always eager to come and watch me lift "Go do some bench presses let's see how that new grip is doing" etc. and give me compliments, and plenty of constructive criticism to go along with it. My question is do I owe him some "payed" sessions? If you had a client that you gave free sessions to and they made major improvements would you expect as a PT some "payed" sessions in return? I'm confused at what to do here. I always see him walking around talking to everybody, but I never see him giving out advice/working with people he's not in a session with. Any input is appreciated..maybe I'm thinking into this to far.

Cliffs
- had 3 free sessions with good PT
- everytime im at gym he always gives compliments/criticism/asks to watch me to a few sets
- do I owe him some payed sessions?

That had to have been Tom :D

[mike0093_OLDONE]

Ha..yeah he's one of the nicest most knowledgeable people I've met since I started lifting.