ok fellow trainers...what about YOUR own training?

[John Prophet]

as a trainer, do u still attack your OWN training with a passion....or have u found yourself burnt out from looking at the gym all day long etc.


I must say, from my own personal observations (in 1 gym only), most trainers talk way more than they walk.

I had a buddy doing lots of clients a day back b4 I started Pting myself. He'd be there from 6-7am and then at 7pm he'd be thru and he'd be leaving and id start calling him out like "dude, what about YOUR workout?" etc, lol.

So then I started pting and even though I have never had THAT many clients, I sort of see how it makes it harder.

Its a totally different mindspace to be training others and then have to shift into your own workout.


so are you passionate about still improving your own body...or are u just sort of maintaining....or do u even train yourself still?

[alikaeos]

as a trainer, do u still attack your OWN training with a passion....or have u found yourself burnt out from looking at the gym all day long etc.


I must say, from my own personal observations (in 1 gym only), most trainers talk way more than they walk.

I had a buddy doing lots of clients a day back b4 I started Pting myself. He'd be there from 6-7am and then at 7pm he'd be thru and he'd be leaving and id start calling him out like "dude, what about YOUR workout?" etc, lol.

So then I started pting and even though I have never had THAT many clients, I sort of see how it makes it harder.

Its a totally different mindspace to be training others and then have to shift into your own workout.


so are you passionate about still improving your own body...or are u just sort of maintaining....or do u even train yourself still?

I felt burnt out when i was in a commercial gym. Since I opened my gym up I've been working out way harder and setting PRs across the board. Now we try to post a video a week of our work outs or competitions this was the first one we did a few weeks ago http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7kijUKLEYw
its 4 trainers and 1 client. there are more if you click on kaeosfitness and we are making another one today.

[John Prophet]

yeah...cool idea. in a commercial gym its so cutthroat youd never see that type of camraderie etc


car push and sprint would be a real killer (puke fest)

[Sikk]

I still push myself very hard both with eating and lifting. I schedule time every 3 hours to eat, I drink water the whole day even while training other clients and when time gets cramped I have protein shakes on hand to chug.

Hasn't slowed me down in the least.

[afb0032]

yeah...cool idea. in a commercial gym its so cutthroat youd never see that type of camraderie etc


car push and sprint would be a real killer (puke fest)

I guess my gym is a special case then, everyone actually gets along and if we are busy on a certain day, refer some of the other trainers since we each have our own unique qualities and training styles

And to answer the question, I have no problem continuing to workout, i just schedule out an hour and a half block for my cardio/weights workout. In the evening after I get off work I go to bjj, muay thai, boxing, or mma training. Maybe it's a little different for me since I am training to compete someday, but I also feel I should be setting an example for my clients as well.

[Devils]

I was still going to the gym every training day when I was working as a laborer.

I'm too obsessed to quit, haha.

[EMISGOD]

When I was training other people, that was their time. When I was training myself, it was my time and I never had a problem with motivation there, particularly since my then-girlfriend was extremely turned on every time I left the gym after one of my workouts.

[Be-Be]

I belong to a different gym than I work at so I can have a change of scenery if I want. Otherwise I workout between clients or during a cancellation spot. I try not to let anyone at that gym know who I am so I can concentrate on my workouts. My problem is that I want to run around and correct everyone's form and discuss why they are doing some strange things that they do.

As far as a program, I have trouble sticking to one because I'm regularly thinking of new programs for my clients' individual needs and want to go through the routine before I throw it at them. You would think with a dozen programs and 100+ routines, I would have enough but there always seems to be an unique situation popping up.

My main motivation problem is when I've had 5 or six sessions in a row and I'm brain dead as well as physically tired. In my work environment, we work one-on-one with clients in private studios. Mostly free weights so I'm moving a lot of metal each session (especially with my guys) and I am focused very intensely on my clients during their session - lots of feedback, encouragement, etc. I find that if I'm physically and/or mentally tired I end up just going through the motions and sometimes those workouts just get skipped. I've found that as I get older, I just can't keep up the pace anymore and have started getting all sorts of injuries from trying.

[John Prophet]

I belong to a different gym than I work at so I can have a change of scenery if I want.

I have pondered that and I think it might be the best way to go.

Seriously...people around here evidently are so used to trainers not working out themselves that if u DO work out several times per week, it doesnt register to anyone that u r also a trainer. They think of you as just "some gym guy". Like somehow trainers have risen above the need to workout except for breif cameos.

When I do my own workouts thats MY time and I dont really feel like being under a microscope or having to put on some sort of front. I dont even try. I put on my game face and I am sure I look either gloomy or intense or whatever. Of course thats the opposite of the typical bright smiling Mr Sunshine I am supposed to be for being a trainer. So I think in the end it might be best to train yourself in one gym and train clients in another

[Be-Be]

It also resolves the issue of having noodle arms when you have a train a couple clients right after your workout because you fit your training in between them.

There is a trainer from the gym that I belonged to before becoming a trainer myself who also goes to the same "workout" gym as I so I don't think it's completely unheard of. We know each other but we never talk shop there even if all we're doing is sitting by ourselves in hot tub so I think he sees it as a time to turn the focus inward as well. (Though I do have an open invitation to go see him if I ever want to train to compete.)

[Arlecchino]

Only done the PT thing part time for extra money, but did that while I was coaching. And no, it never affected my own training. Quite the opposite, actually, as so many people I was 'training' as opposed to coached pissed me off, and I took it out on the iron.

[MassFreak2063]

as a trainer, do u still attack your OWN training with a passion....or have u found yourself burnt out from looking at the gym all day long etc.


I must say, from my own personal observations (in 1 gym only), most trainers talk way more than they walk.

I had a buddy doing lots of clients a day back b4 I started Pting myself. He'd be there from 6-7am and then at 7pm he'd be thru and he'd be leaving and id start calling him out like "dude, what about YOUR workout?" etc, lol.

So then I started pting and even though I have never had THAT many clients, I sort of see how it makes it harder.

Its a totally different mindspace to be training others and then have to shift into your own workout.


so are you passionate about still improving your own body...or are u just sort of maintaining....or do u even train yourself still?

HA if there are any personal trainers that don't attack themselves with the same passion then it'll just make it that much easier for me to steal clients from them. You can't be a personal trainer and not look the part that would be like having a mechanic that doesn't know what a spark plug is doing work on your vehicle. Period end of story

[coloBB]

I also agree with having to workout at a differen't gym that you train clients. I have a memebership at a few gyms in the area. I never get tired of my workouts and am making huge gains!

[gogz]

I have been wondering this myself when I fully become a trainer. I obviously still want to work out properly but it will be hard

[John Prophet]

HA if there are any personal trainers that don't attack themselves with the same passion then it'll just make it that much easier for me to steal clients from them. You can't be a personal trainer and not look the part that would be like having a mechanic that doesn't know what a spark plug is doing work on your vehicle. Period end of story

spoken like a true 21 yr old, lol. (very idealistic)

I think you will find there are many trainers with tons of clients and the trainers barely work out...many trainers dont look the part AT ALL yet the $$ flows in.

We now have SO many fat people that evidently being fat appears to some as being "normal". So they think a trainer with 20% bodyfat is "normal".

[XNick EdgeX]

I was still going to the gym every training day when I was working as a laborer.

I'm too obsessed to quit, haha.

x2....I'm in the same boat as you bro. I've got a passion and obsession with training and always bring intensity to the gym, talking very little..and training very hard.

[EMISGOD]

HA if there are any personal trainers that don't attack themselves with the same passion then it'll just make it that much easier for me to steal clients from them. You can't be a personal trainer and not look the part that would be like having a mechanic that doesn't know what a spark plug is doing work on your vehicle. Period end of story

I'd tend to agree with this. I think you have to be very careful if training yourself at the gym where you train others or you get the inevitable question of why you're using certain exercises for you and not for them or why you might be using a slightly different form than you're telling them to use, with the implication that you're holding out on them. I've had people ask me that, but they only did it once. I first made sure I didn't appreciate them interrupting my workout, reminded them that the time they were paying for was their time, which was not right then and finished by advising them that they were always free to find another trainer that they might feel more comfortable with.

This comment:

When I do my own workouts thats MY time and I dont really feel like being under a microscope or having to put on some sort of front. I dont even try. I put on my game face and I am sure I look either gloomy or intense or whatever. Of course thats the opposite of the typical bright smiling Mr Sunshine I am supposed to be for being a trainer. So I think in the end it might be best to train yourself in one gym and train clients in another

comes because someone is worried about the client thinking of them as a "friend" or someone who is at their constant disposal, neither of which should be the case. This is one of the reasons I also stress keeping things on a professional level, but it is also a concern when working out at the same gym you train people at...

[MassFreak2063]

spoken like a true 21 yr old, lol. (very idealistic)

I think you will find there are many trainers with tons of clients and the trainers barely work out...many trainers dont look the part AT ALL yet the $$ flows in.

We now have SO many fat people that evidently being fat appears to some as being "normal". So they think a trainer with 20% bodyfat is "normal".

yea not as much money as someone that looks the part instead of just playing it like say jenny lynn

[MassFreak2063]

I'd tend to agree with this. I think you have to be very careful if training yourself at the gym where you train others or you get the inevitable question of why you're using certain exercises for you and not for them or why you might be using a slightly different form than you're telling them to use, with the implication that you're holding out on them. I've had people ask me that, but they only did it once. I first made sure I didn't appreciate them interrupting my workout, reminded them that the time they were paying for was their time, which was not right then and finished by advising them that they were always free to find another trainer that they might feel more comfortable with.

i'd just simply tell them that they're goals aren't the same as mine. I train to be a bodybuilder, and if i have a client that wants that then i'll train them the same but i don't think i'll have a whole lot of clients like that

[John Prophet]

yea not as much money as someone that looks the part instead of just playing it like say jenny lynn

yeah, our world is weird like that. Who do u think would make more money on a diet book...Oprah or, say, Charles Glass?

[MassFreak2063]

x2....I'm in the same boat as you bro. I've got a passion and obsession with training and always bring intensity to the gym, talking very little..and training very hard.

me as well....and regardless of whether i was training people 50 hours a week or not i'd still bring it for myself. I did when i moved furniture 60 hours a week so really nothin can stop my passion

[MassFreak2063]

yeah, our world is weird like that. Who do u think would make more money on a diet book...Oprah or, say, Charles Glass?

oprah is king midas, but i of course would buy glass cuz he's badass....i dunno whyat this comment has to do with anything though almost seems like you think i said the opposite of what i did

[John Prophet]

i'd just simply tell them that they're goals aren't the same as mine. I train to be a bodybuilder, and if i have a client that wants that then i'll train them the same but i don't think i'll have a whole lot of clients like that

thats sort of a problem though.....they wont come up to u and ask in the first place, lol.

Thats why I think its best to train somewhere else unless u r just one of those "flashy, drama, circuit trainer" types yourself...because thats all peeps relate to.

When they see me doing a powerlfiting style bench workout myself, they are turned off before we even speak and the door is shut. When they see me make the slightest grunt while doing deads..or psyching up and doing a heavy double with push presses..its over, lol. Even just showing mild intensity will scare off most clients

Its even worse if, as I think was the case breifly, the person working the front desk tells them "he is a powerlifter". Thats just an automatic no for most prospective clients

It would probably be about the same if they said "he is a bodybuilder"


Now if they said "he is a non descript 150lber in a polo shirt" then youd be in like Flynn!

[John Prophet]

oprah is king midas, but i of course would buy glass cuz he's badass....i dunno whyat this comment has to do with anything though almost seems like you think i said the opposite of what i did

Maybe I misunderstood you....u have to admit its not super clear what u meant

[EMISGOD]

i'd just simply tell them that they're goals aren't the same as mine. I train to be a bodybuilder, and if i have a client that wants that then i'll train them the same but i don't think i'll have a whole lot of clients like that

I didn't want to dignify their question with an actual answer, actually.

yeah, our world is weird like that. Who do u think would make more money on a diet book...Oprah or, say, Charles Glass?

Are you implying that this is because Oprah is fat and Glass is not? This comparison is invalid as Oprah and Glass are not doing the same thing or appealing even remotely to the same market. A better example would be to pick 2 trainers whose names no one has ever heard of and whose faces are not unknown, one of them fat/chunky (or even at that 20% bf point) and the other one ripped and ask maybe 100 random people, just taking the looks of these people at face value, whom they would rather have train them.

Every time I hear some overweight trainer at the gym talking to someone else, the following is always a part of what he says, "I might not look it, but I know what I'm talking about." Even then, people don't believe him because he looks like someone who has just let himself go completely into slop...an extreme case, but the same hurdle that anyone who is out of shape has to overcome before the client engages in suspension of disbelief...

[MassFreak2063]

thats sort of a problem though.....they wont come up to u and ask in the first place, lol.

Thats why I think its best to train somewhere else unless u r just one of those "flashy, drama, circuit trainer" types yourself...because thats all peeps relate to.

When they see me doing a powerlfiting style bench workout myself, they are turned off before we even speak and the door is shut. When they see me make the slightest grunt while doing deads..or psyching up and doing a heavy double with push presses..its over, lol. Even just showing mild intensity will scare off most clients

Its even worse if, as I think was the case breifly, the person working the front desk tells them "he is a powerlifter". Thats just an automatic no for most prospective clients

It would probably be about the same if they said "he is a bodybuilder"


Now if they said "he is a non descript 150lber in a polo shirt" then youd be in like Flynn!

those aren't the clients i'm trying to attract. The clients i'm trying to attract would see the hard work, dedication, and passion and say to themselves..."well if he puts that much into himself and has such passion, then he definitely knows his stuff and can get me the results i want" No mediocre person is going to elicit that. And i don't want mediocre clients either. If i'm doing this i want people that actually want to achieve their goals because to stay a client of mine we'll be makin some progress

[MassFreak2063]

Maybe I misunderstood you....u have to admit its not super clear what u meant

sure it is....if you take pride in yourself and you body and your training and have that passion burning within you can and will be able to make much more money than some joe schmo period......jenny lynn if you don't know is Ms. Figure olympia and she charges around 110$ a session from what i heard last and is always completely booked

[EMISGOD]

those aren't the clients i'm trying to attract. The clients i'm trying to attract would see the hard work, dedication, and passion and say to themselves..."well if he puts that much into himself and has such passion, then he definitely knows his stuff and can get me the results i want" No mediocre person is going to elicit that. And i don't want mediocre clients either. If i'm doing this i want people that actually want to achieve their goals because to stay a client of mine we'll be makin some progress

I guess this depends on what you mean by "mediocre"...

sure it is....if you take pride in yourself and you body and your training and have that passion burning within you can and will be able to make much more money than some joe schmo period......jenny lynn if you don't know is Ms. Figure olympia and she charges around 110$ a session from what i heard last and is always completely booked

Interesting...I would have thought she'd be able to get a considerably higher dollar amount than that...where did you hear that number?

[John Prophet]

if you take pride in yourself and you body and your training and have that passion burning within you can and will be able to make much more money than some joe schmo period

like I said bro..your young. You will find that what u posted is only true some of the time. Youll see. There is way more involved than physical appearance.

Why r some pro bbers broke and some rich?? It damn sure isnt from differences in contest winnings alone.


The best looking trainer I ever saw in my gym was this guy who competed in the Nats as a lightweight. Obviously, for a local gym he was just awesome. Tiny waist, big delts, plenty of cuts year round. Abs and midsection to die for. Yet he never had more than 1-2 clients and he had to give it up.

Meanwhile some of the "top" trainers hardly look like they work out at all.


Thats what I meant when I said life is weird like that.

[MassFreak2063]

I guess this depends on what you mean by "mediocre"...



Interesting...I would have thought she'd be able to get a considerably higher dollar amount than that...where did you hear that number?

well she lives in Kentucky or Tennessee now so i think it's dropped off since she was in california maybe....i just know it's alot lol