Why are you a trainer?

[KyleAaron]

Interesting article at skill of strength.

Why are you a trainer or a strength coach?

Is your goal to truly help your clients?

Do you take care of yourself? Do you practice what you teach/preach?

Are you in it for self recognition, money or fame?

Have you ever trained anyone for free because they needed it?

Have you mentored a younger strength coach?

Do you learn every day?

Have you taken extra time with a client that isn't one of your favorites?

Have you ever had a client/athlete who at first you didn't want to work and and 1 year later you can call them a true "friend"

How many clients have you impacted in a positive way?

Is success measured by the amount of money in the bank or the amount of people you have helped?

Answer these honetly and then think about your answers. How do you feel about your "honest" answers? Do you feel confident about the truth or as if you may be missing something?

Why are you a trainer?

It's not about you and how great you are, it's about your clients and how you share your gift as a trainer with them.

God gave us two ears, two eyes and one mouth for a reason. I am pretty sure it's so we can listen more, see more and talk less.

The answers you give to these questions I think reveal whether you should be a trainer or not. Certainly our clients could look at them and guess our answers, and their thinking about these things might influence whether they want to continue working with us.

Why are you a trainer?

[lilmanthatcould]

Interesting article at skill of strength.


The answers you give to these questions I think reveal whether you should be a trainer or not. Certainly our clients could look at them and guess our answers, and their thinking about these things might influence whether they want to continue working with us.

Why are you a trainer?

Why are you a trainer or a strength coach?- I am a trainer because I want to help people, right now fitness is the median in which I can. I first realized I wanted to help people rather than work behind a desk when I took a First-Aid class my senior year in highschool, I later became a lifegaurd but had to stop due to physcial limitations. Overall I would love to become a doctor or physical therapist and I see personal training as a stepping stone towards physcial therapy. I have been involved in exercise/nutrition myself for years and figured why not share my knowlege to help others. I am also a college student and personal training pays more than the typical retail job (which I would go crazy if I had to do that for 4 years )

Is your goal to truly help your clients?
- 100%, Looking back I have had a want to help every single PERSON even if they were a person just using there complimentary session. While some it may be harder than others (Its hard to give commitment to somebody that wont commit themselves) I try my best. I spent more than a few hours venting frustrations to fellow trainers when my clients fall off the wagon or decide to try a fad diet.

Do you take care of yourself? Do you practice what you teach/preach?
- This is where I need to work on, I love being a trainer and helping others but since I have become a trainer I find it hard to practice all that I preach. I've gained around 20llbs since becoming a trainer and I hate it. Sometimes its hard to find motivation to stay at the gym on those days where you split shift 5am-9am and come back again for 5pm-8pm . I feel like a hypocrite because of it I go do the exact opposite of what I tell my clients . And I get reminded of it from strangers also, if I go buy a box of cookies with my trainer shirt still on you better beleive I'm going to hear "Look at this, a personal trainer getting cookies, you know you shouldn't be eating this" I'm looking to make that change though, I'm going to either try and find a workout parter at my current health club or buy a membership at my old gym (Gold's Gym) and workout there.

Are you in it for self recognition, money or fame?
- No definitally not for money or fame, I do not mind self recognition though. I would love to be known as a great trainer not just to my healthclub but to the surrounding areas. This is earned though not just givin.

Have you ever trained anyone for free because they needed it?
- I've done a few free trainings (Not just comp sessions) they have mostly been to co-workers, friends, and the occasional person that I know can't afford it but would do great with just a little direction. I remember one guy he was the inner citty "ghetto" type, came in looking to make a change in his health, stop smoking, and get back in shape. I wrote him up a workout and gave him a sample diet plan for a person his weight. Sadly he stopped going after a few weeks though. Its hard for me to do free training as much as I'd like especially in a enviroment where you work as the healthclub's trainer and not for yourself. It devalues the training you give your clients and isn't fair to them so you have to be carefull and know where the line is. I do lots complimentary bootcamps and what not though and hope to use my fitness knowlege to volunteer in the special olympics or senior olympics maybe

Have you mentored a younger strength coach?
- Have not done this yet, I have worked with a few friends that are looking to become trainers and taught them what I know about the industry so far

Do you learn every day?
- Yep, In the past month I've taken the time to learn faciliated stretching to add to my arsenal and I can say that my clients LOVE it. I've had a few say at those early morning sessions "James, I was so tempted to skip out on our workout today but this stretch at the end makes it all worth it"

Have you taken extra time with a client that isn't one of your favorites?
- If I don't have them scheduled back to back with somebody or its my last session of the day I am normally willing to give an extra 15mins to the person even if they were late. Also some of my clients will naturally take longer than others ( I train one stroke victem who was also dibilitated by a car accident so moving in and out of machines or from machine to machine takes longer than a typical client, sometimes I'll also have to help move her stroke side in and out of machines, everyday is a little different with her)

Have you ever had a client/athlete who at first you didn't want to work and and 1 year later you can call them a true "friend"
- I haven't been a trainer for a year much less work with somebody that whole time. I did work a dancer girl who at first I wasn't too excited about because she never followed nutritional guidlines so we never made much progress on the scale and she was also afraid to bulk up. Ever workout though she warmed up a little more and eventually she was and I were able to joke and stuff. Anyways this girl danced on the university level and my girlfriend was looking to try out, so my client worked with her a few times and helped her come up with her routine. This probably isn't the "true friend" your talking about but its about as close as I can get right now

How many clients have you impacted in a positive way?
While training with me I can say most, 2 off the top of my head I didn't work with enough to have time to make a great impact. A few went back to their old habits once training was done. Others I feel like I had a great impact on 2 stick out in my head.

1. 47yo Male, Overweight and on blood pressure medicine all he ever did was run on his elliptical at home, never really touched weights. I gotta give this guy some props because he was my FIRST EVER client, so he had to deal with all my noobish tendencies. Anyways I had him for 12 sessions and later on 12 more, I got this guy ADDICTED to exercise lol. He was running 2 1/4 miles BEFORE our 1 hour sessions and he worked out on his own 5 days of the week + 1 with me .He lost around 26lbs I beleive and was able to get off his blood pressure medicine, the biggest impact though was when we found out he had a cancerous kidney tumor. The doctor told him it was great that he was able to exercise as much as he did cause it's going to make surgery alot easier on this body. I remember asking him if he was going to renew and he said "Yea man, I'm going to NEED you after this surgery, I won't be able to do it without you" it almost made me tear up because around that time I was looking to move gyms as I had exhausted my savings and needed a new gym so I could pay rent, because of that I wouldn't be able to work with him

2. 20yo female, healthy weight, athletic long distance runner. I feel bad about this one because intially I was not as invested as I should have been, I was supposed to help her come up with a marthon program .She had purchased five 1/2 hour sessions and saw me once a week but we were supposed to have alot of communication via email. Anyways I was late on replying and didn't have the plan when I was supposed to. She shot me an email pouring her heart out where she told me was a recovering bulimic and how this marathon was kinda like her start to a new life and that she NEEDED me to help or give her to another trainer. This email was an awakening to me reminding me of my resonsibilties as a trainer, so I did hours upon hours of research on training marathon runners and how to be there for recovering bulimic. For the next 10 weeks we trained ( I continued training her after her sessions ran out and also trained her for an hour despite her paying for 1/2 hours ) and she finished her marathon in just under 4 hours, I felt like I helped because I wasn't just there for physical training but there emotionally also when she would text saying she felt like a failure or missed her workouts for 2 weeks and helped keep her on track. Now that she has done her marathon (with a great time on top of that) she has been on track with her life

Is success measured by the amount of money in the bank or the amount of people you have helped?
Amount of people I have helped, I have had arguments with family and friends about this and in the end I CAN"T just work behind a desk doing business stuff even if the money is great. I have to be able to help people.

[KyleAaron]

Detailed and interesting answer, lilman, thanks a lot. You've set the bar high, I look forward to more from others.

[vanfreak]

Interesting article at skill of strength.


The answers you give to these questions I think reveal whether you should be a trainer or not. Certainly our clients could look at them and guess our answers, and their thinking about these things might influence whether they want to continue working with us.

Why are you a trainer?

Why are you a trainer or a strength coach?- Was inspired by a friend of mine who became a Police Officer.Started asking him questions about weightlifitng.This wouldn't have been the last thing on the list for me to do with my life, it wouldn't even have been on the list.

Is your goal to truly help your clients?-YES yes and yes.Each client is different.But as I quickly found out a lot of what we do is psychological.My clients amaze me every day.

Do you take care of yourself? Do you practice what you teach/preach?-Found a pretty good balance.My nickname at work when I workout is 'The Beast'[ and a lot of that is for my personality as well...LOL]

Are you in it for self recognition, money or fame?-I do like to be known as a "Personal Trainer'
....but then I come back down to earth and realize that you can call yourself anything , but if you don't get results nothing else matters.Money and Fame? More important to do something I passionately love.

Have you ever trained anyone for free because they needed it?- Yes.

Have you mentored a younger strength coach?-Several.Learned just as much from them as they have from me."The best teacher is the best Student"

Do you learn every day?-Yes.Not a day goes by where I am not reading a blog,article, video seeking out courses I can take or watching other Trainers.

Have you taken extra time with a client that isn't one of your favorites?-yes.

Have you ever had a client/athlete who at first you didn't want to work and and 1 year later you can call them a true "friend"-Been lucky.Have had some amazing clients and can honestly say that I haven't disliked any of them.There are no 'difficult clients' but there are always a few 'challenging ones'

How many clients have you impacted in a positive way?-Many, but it isn't about me.I never take credit for my clients success.They do it all themselves, I just give them the tools.My clients amaze me every day.

Is success measured by the amount of money in the bank or the amount of people you have helped? Amount of people you've helped.Honestly nothing else matters.

Answer these honetly and then think about your answers. How do you feel about your "honest" answers? Do you feel confident about the truth or as if you may be missing something?

Why are you a trainer?

[BC02]

It makes me feel good to see clients progress and go from fat/weak losers tostrong/athletic. Being able to have good before after pics is also damn good for the resume. I ALSO LIKE SEEING RICH/SPOILED PEOPLE SUFFER

[rdferguson]

Why are you a trainer or a strength coach?
I don't really know what specifically made me want to became one in the first place, I just know that when I was younger I got to know some of the trainers at my local gym, saw what they did for others, knew first-hand what they did for me (even just giving me programs or basic fitness tests), and I wanted to do what they were doing. Now that I've actually experienced it myself, I know that I love training people, and if money weren't an issue, I'd still do it.

Is your goal to truly help your clients?
Yes. No long answer needed.

Do you take care of yourself? Do you practice what you teach/preach?
I take care of myself as best I can in the situation I'm in, but that's not quite as well as it used to be. I still train regularly and am constantly pushing towards my goals.

Are you in it for self recognition, money or fame?
I'm not sure what exactly is meant by self recognition, so I can't say. Regarding money, as I said, if money weren't an issue, I'd do it anyway. Since this is my job, and I want to make it my career, yes I do it for money, and I like money, but if money were my only priority, I'd do something else with my time. I'm definitely not in this for fame, but I wouldn't mind a little fame to make the job run a bit smoother (I imagine if I were a famous trainer, people would be much quicker to seek PT with me; that'd take some pressure off sales, which would make me a lot happier).

Have you ever trained anyone for free because they needed it?
Yes.

Have you mentored a younger strength coach?
No, but apparently my boss is setting up a work experience kid to spend some time under my wing over the next few weeks.

Do you learn every day?
"When one teaches, two learn." In that sense, I certainly do. And I have a thirst for knowledge related to fitness, so I am always on the lookout for more things to learn. Just last week I did a Powerlifting Coaching Course through Powerlifting Australia (now I've got 3 months of work experience to do to complete the course), and today I got my First Aid renewed (which is mandatory, but I still learnt new things and loved it).

Have you taken extra time with a client that isn't one of your favorites?
Yes. Especially in the first couple sessions where I'm really trying to nail down technique, if the time is available I will gladly go overtime, even if there's other people I'd rather be spending my time with. I see it as a very worthy cause.

Have you ever had a client/athlete who at first you didn't want to work and and 1 year later you can call them a true "friend"
No.

How many clients have you impacted in a positive way?
Every client I've had (excluding certain inductions who will promptly ignore everything I say as soon as the session is over, cus they know better than a pro) has come away better off for having trained with me than they were beforehand.

Is success measured by the amount of money in the bank or the amount of people you have helped?
From a personal perspective, the latter, by far. But that being said, if I'm not making money, then something's not going right (incidentally, I earn exactly enough money to continue existing, so I know for a fact that business isn't going nearly as well as it should).