Realizations you've come to During your Career as a Personal Trainer

[askthetrainer]

Try to mention how Long have you been a personal trainer and where

What realizations have you come to as a personal trainer, when (in relation to your personal training career) did you come to this?along with What Year as a Trainer

I'll go first

I've been a personal trainer for around 10 years, 5 years full time in San Francisco, CA

I've come to the following realizations (off the top of my head)

1 Year of working at a corporate gym: I cannot work at a corporate gym anymore (24 Hour Fitness after they switched manager to a Supplement selling maniac)
1 Year of Training: Never judge a book by it's cover. Clients may appear fit, but can be pathetic and some may seem unfit but are athletic.
1st Year of Training: The most successful trainers (in the coporate gym)are NOT the ones in the best shape but the ones w/ the best people/sales skills.
Year 2: A large percentage of perspective clients from the internet are flaky.
Year 5: Gay guys like to smile and laugh while they box

[hosscat240]

Try to mention how Long have you been a personal trainer and where

What realizations have you come to as a personal trainer, when (in relation to your personal training career) did you come to this?along with What Year as a Trainer

I'll go first

I've been a personal trainer for around 10 years, 5 years full time in San Francisco, CA

I've come to the following realizations (off the top of my head)

1 Year of working at a corporate gym: I cannot work at a corporate gym anymore (24 Hour Fitness after they switched manager to a Supplement selling maniac)
1 Year of Training: Never judge a book by it's cover. Clients may appear fit, but can be pathetic and some may seem unfit but are athletic.
1st Year of Training: The most successful trainers (in the coporate gym)are NOT the ones in the best shape but the ones w/ the best people/sales skills.
Year 2: A large percentage of perspective clients from the internet are flaky.
Year 5: Gay guys like to smile and laugh while they box

did u finally box in front of a mirror to figure that out?

[WoofieNugget]

Also 10 years, mostly full time with 3 years in corporate and 2-3 years independent.

You can't help everyone. An attachment to this is that most people don't want to help themselves but would rather give an illusion that they are.

Second you on never judge a book by its cover. Some of the biggest guys I've trained have been the weakest structurally and some of my old ladies are solid as a rock.

Train the brain first - then the body. If they can't process it, then they aren't going to be able to do it properly.

90% of trainers really, really suck. I just try to be one of the 10% that doesn't.

And the biggest one in my first year of training was a realization that I really knew very little about the human body and how complex it really is. So I've spent the last 9 changing that.

[coloBB]

Over five years Personal Training. First 3 years in the Corporate setting. Last 2 independent and private studio.

75% of your clients wont listen or do everything you say no matter how much you drill nutrition/cardio into their heads. The 25% that do will be with you forever.

Will never work in a corporate setting.

In home training can be awkward.

Summers suck.

People like to lie to them selves. Me: How is your diet? Client: Oh I eat really healthy. Me: How many calories do you eat daily? Client: I don't know?!? .....uhhhhh

[jando]

Try to mention how Long have you been a personal trainer and where

What realizations have you come to as a personal trainer, when (in relation to your personal training career) did you come to this?along with What Year as a Trainer

I'll go first

I've been a personal trainer for around 10 years, 5 years full time in San Francisco, CA

I've come to the following realizations (off the top of my head)

1 Year of working at a corporate gym: I cannot work at a corporate gym anymore (24 Hour Fitness after they switched manager to a Supplement selling maniac)
1 Year of Training: Never judge a book by it's cover. Clients may appear fit, but can be pathetic and some may seem unfit but are athletic.
1st Year of Training: The most successful trainers (in the coporate gym)are NOT the ones in the best shape but the ones w/ the best people/sales skills.
Year 2: A large percentage of perspective clients from the internet are flaky.
Year 5: Gay guys like to smile and laugh while they box

my corp gym experience has been pretty positive. no real sales pressure. they even give me 900$ a month into addition to training commissions to track assessments (tracking this takes 5 hours a week) and promote my bootcamp class. 26.50 - 35$ per sesssion. 8$ on assessments. They gave me a monopoly on the bootcamp class. They only pay me 35% on the bootcamp class (but im also paid a small salary to do so) but they really help me promote the class big time by using their 8,000 person email list, do in club advertising for me and they will create sales contests for my class with the sales people.

[Mr.ILL]

People are flaky.
Most trainers suck and get paid lots of money to suck.

[ob205]

Originally certified in 97, worked off and on as a trainer since then, now purely a strength coach.

1. People are delusional - I had a obese person come in for an eval and when I told them they were 45% bodyfat said that's pretty good and was being SERIOUS! That and every clients diet sucks no matter what they tell you.

2. People with no athletic background have no idea how to push themselves or train hard.

3. Every female is terrified of getting too muscular, I would tell them I have tried to get to muscular my whole life and it's not going that great, and I'm a man so don't worry you won't.

4. Personality / Training knowlege is probably 60/40 on importance. Anyone can show someone how to do an exercise the client is hiring YOU.

5. "The Biggest Loser" is an absolute nightmare for you as a trainer, since every client will think they should lose 20lbs a week and wonders why you aren't doing kick boxing while standing on a Bosu ball with them.

Those are off the top of my head, great thread idea! Look forward to seeing others posts.

[SB100%Natural]

Good thread.

Been working as a PT for 4 years, some things I've concluded...

1. That most clients want something for nothing, i.e. they want to lose body fat but don't really want to change their diet accordingly.

2. That most clients are completely unaware of what they really want to achieve.

3 That most women clients think they gain muscle easily so they shouldn't lift heavy.

4. That most clients think they can achieve their goals monday through friday and then go get hammered and eat junk all weekend.

5. That ALL clients underestimate how long it will take for them to get in shape.

6. That most clients have little or no nutrition knowledge. Most do not know what carbs, proteins and fats are.

7. That women generally train harder than the male clients, at least in my experience.

8. That most clients judge the effectiveness of a workout by how much they sweat.

9. That 99% of clients completely underestimate how hard they should be training.

10. That most clients actually believe they will achieve their goals if they train really well for 3 months followed by a 1 month holiday, then 2 weeks of sporadic exercise followed by 3 weeks holiday followed by 1 month extremely hard training followed by 3 weeks off etc.

[broad.stance]

Certified in 1999. Worked on and off primarily as a part-time trainer for about 9 years. Independent.

- Trainers who are humble and seek out knowledge, appreciate being shown or directed to new studies and techniques, know the most; trainers who know it all, know the least. There are no 'tends to' or middle ground here, this is an absolute and universal truth.

- There is a difference between functional and cosmetic fitness/athleticism. There are a lot of people who want to look like an athlete, but who don't necessarily wish to train like an athlete. And there are people who already look like an athlete, but who don't like being reminded they are not a fit as they appear. Find out what type of client you have and tailor the program appropriately.

- As an independent, READ YOUR CONTRACTS before signing with a gym or private studio. If there is mention of a non-competition clause, negotiate to have it removed or do not sign. It is a means to eliminate you as competition for the gym/studio and its staff trainers. You were warned.

- As you go along you can get away with forgetting some details of kinesiology, but you can never forget methods of injury prevention or how to take care of a client in crisis.

- It is not necessary to explain the intricacies of their program to a client. It simply bores them.

[djz]

People are flaky.
Most trainers suck and get paid lots of money to suck.

word

[askthetrainer]

2. That most clients are completely unaware of what they really want to achieve.

I came to realize that after my 1st year of independent training...

If I had to put a % on it, I'd say 50% of my clients really didn't care whether or not they got "Results"

I say "Results" because not all clients come in w/ specific goals and there are so many things they can improve... if someone comes into a trainer and gets fitter, stronger, feels better bout themselves and are more happy but they don't gain noticable "results" is that a success or failure on the trainer's part?

They were just there because they knew they wouldn't work out if they had a trainer and they had fun. A small minority were content to BS the whole time...

[SerpentHearted]

i haven't been in business very long but the first thing i'm starting to learn is:

when people say "i'd like to come to your class but can you make one on a different day of the week because xxxday is no good for me?" won't come to your class no matter what day it is on. The ones who really want to train with you regularly will change their schedule if they have to.

[Keltron]

[I]
Year 5: Gay guys like to smile and laugh while they box

here's one based on the one above:
Gay guys are FAR MORE professional and respectful than horny old ladies

[NorwichGrad]

Been a trainer for 1.5 years as a part-time hybrid dependent and independent. I am dependent where I train most of my clients. The advantage to this is that I don't have to do any selling. The head trainer (who btw is not sales driven - all word of mouth) basically delegates clients to one of us 5 trainers under him. Disadvantage, of course, is that I only get paid 58% of the session fees. I an independent at other gyms; however, I do more sales and marketing. But I get 100% of the fees.

As a trainer, I have come to the realization that:

a) You can only do what you can do, and sometimes all you can do is good enough. What I mean by this is that I have learned that there are two types of motivation - one is internal and the other is external. Internal motivation really comes from within, and it is more powerful than external motivation. As trainers, we can provide external motivation to our clients. Client external motivation can also come from their friends and relatives. On the other hand, if a client has all external motivation and NO internal motivation, then I have learned that that client is destined to fail. I learned not to waste my time of clients who do not wish to help themselves. On the other side of the spectrum, I have also learned that internally motivated clients energize me. These are the individuals who truly make me feel that I make a difference.

[rebeblack]

I've been into fitness for 2 years and training for 6 months. But even when I was getting myself healthy, people were just as ridiculous.

1. Don't ask me what I eat and how I got in shape only to tell me that is "gross" or you could never eat like that.

2. Please stop telling me I don't eat enough, I eat plenty just not the crap you put in your body.

3. How much do you charge? Then when I tell them, they say "that's too much" but then I watch them buy fast food all the time, smoke and drink. How much do you think that costs each month?

4. I know you are my friend but I value my time and will not train you for free.

5. No it's not too heavy, too much, too many times.....just do it!

6. I'm just generally sick of hearing people make comments and judgments! So frustrating....

[chaosngn]

Pretty cool

[Simmo0508]

4. I know you are my friend but I value my time and will not train you for free.

Quick question - why are you even (or why would you) training your personal friends in the first place?

[Exa123]

I've been into fitness for 2 years and training for 6 months. But even when I was getting myself healthy, people were just as ridiculous.

1. Don't ask me what I eat and how I got in shape only to tell me that is "gross" or you could never eat like that.

2. Please stop telling me I don't eat enough, I eat plenty just not the crap you put in your body.

3. How much do you charge? Then when I tell them, they say "that's too much" but then I watch them buy fast food all the time, smoke and drink. How much do you think that costs each month?

4. I know you are my friend but I value my time and will not train you for free.

5. No it's not too heavy, too much, too many times.....just do it!

6. I'm just generally sick of hearing people make comments and judgments! So frustrating....

7. The always delightful question "when do you get to eat normal again?" to which i reply "since when is chicken,steak,vegetables,Basmati rice, potatos and bread not normal?....ohh you mean s**t food like big macs and fries, yeah never" then give em a then walk away.

[DontSleep]

Try to mention how Long have you been a personal trainer and where

What realizations have you come to as a personal trainer, when (in relation to your personal training career) did you come to this?along with What Year as a Trainer

I'll go first

I've been a personal trainer for around 10 years, 5 years full time in San Francisco, CA

I've come to the following realizations (off the top of my head)

1 Year of working at a corporate gym: I cannot work at a corporate gym anymore (24 Hour Fitness after they switched manager to a Supplement selling maniac)
1 Year of Training: Never judge a book by it's cover. Clients may appear fit, but can be pathetic and some may seem unfit but are athletic.
1st Year of Training: The most successful trainers (in the coporate gym)are NOT the ones in the best shape but the ones w/ the best people/sales skills.
Year 2: A large percentage of perspective clients from the internet are flaky.
Year 5: Gay guys like to smile and laugh while they box

When you UNDERSTAND the business (marketing, client retention, etc..), being a trainer is the greatest profession in the world

[BC02]

That it is all about sales and thats it.

[ob205]

That it is all about sales and thats it.

How dare you!

Are you implying that in the end all that matters is Money!!!! Please take this in the sarcastic tone it was meant.

Sad, but true, sometimes Machiavelli was right, "the end does justify the means!" We know Jilian Michaels is a dumb ass, yet she is laughing all the way to the bank.

[IloveMLB2K10]

I've been a Trainer for 4 years, 2.5 private.

1. Approximately 65% of clientele want a patsy. They want someone to blame other than themselves for the state that they are in. That way they can say "I even went to a trainer and didn't lose weight, this is just how I am." The other 35% are gold and make you want to be a better trainer everyday.

2. One fundamental truth. "You cannot change if you stay the same." If you are who you are at 300lbs then you cannot be that person at 200lbs. There will have to be things that will have change in your mind, and in your understanding for you to reach your goals.

Case and Point. I have had 1 client for two years. He finally set me down and said that he was not happy because he hasn't lost any weight. I asked if he felt if he has changed in than 2 years. He said "No I like who I am." and I said, "That's why you have stayed who you are."

[hosscat240]

How dare you!

Are you implying that in the end all that matters is Money!!!! Please take this in the sarcastic tone it was meant.

Sad, but true, sometimes Machiavelli was right, "the end does justify the means!" We know Jilian Michaels is a dumb ass, yet she is laughing all the way to the bank.

Can you explain a little on why Jilian Michaels is a dumbass (serious)

[bigman30685]

One huge thing I have observed in the corporate scene...

-The members work off of bro science, and M&F magazine. Those magazines are worth more in knowledge to these people than the certifications we pay for and strive to achieve. They think that PT's know nothing. I need to go independent or non-corporate FAST.

-SELL SELL SELL SELL SELL SELL oh ye did I mention SELL?

-For those who haven't read my post, an 800kcal diet is a safe way to lose weight.

My 2 cents after about a month and a half of training.

[BSCSCS]

Can you explain a little on why Jilian Michaels is a dumbass (serious)

I wouldn't say that she's a dumbass, but that she perpetuates misinformation to make money, such as spot reduction and magic pills. Her show also gives false hope by condensing 8 weeks of work into what seems like 2-3 weeks on her show, and severely dehydrating and fasting them before weigh-ins.

Either she believes in her misinformation and is truely a dumbass, or she is the fitness industry devil laughing in all of our faces...I tend to prefer the latter.