why do personal trainers also have their "clients" use non sense exercises

[jsmurray]

The ignorance in these threads always makes me laugh. Exercises are based on clients medical history, exercise history, goals, and safety. I would not have nearly 50% of the population who hire trainers do some of these exercises starting off. Also, the Geriatric population is going to be booming in the gym the next 20 years, many of whom will be sent from physical therapists to receive treatment. Obamacare is causing physical therapists to overbook and therefore sending their clients to personal trainers. The exercises you listed dead lifts, bench, etc frankly are advanced exercises for these people and would easily hurt them. Look at the progression of post-injuries and you probably won't see any of these exercises listed. You'll see exercises such as machines that require less core, less stability, less balance because frankly these clients don't have it. That is after a heavy dose of treatment using stability balls and BOSU balls to get them to that point. Even then, there are tons of people at the gym who are just there to stay healthy. They want to avoid osteopor. and CVD, not so much to look amazing. That's way more important.

[getbigordie18]

Some trainers don't have expertise education to become certified. Not all but there are a few who are quite knowledgable. However your first time resistance training there is no need to do the powerlifts like squats benches and deadlifts unless you are training to become a bodybuilder. Many people who hire cpts are looking for general health.

[ablessedunrest]

Some trainers don't have expertise education to become certified. Not all but there are a few who are quite knowledgable. However your first time resistance training there is no need to do the powerlifts like squats benches and deadlifts unless you are training to become a bodybuilder. Many people who hire cpts are looking for general health.

The way I see it these are great functional movements. They not only can help improve body composition but they also improve everyday tasks as they are based on gravity and the movements the body naturally proforms. I consulted with a soccer player (not processional) who is interested with barbells (including bench and dead lift) to improve his speed and stamina whilst playing. And I agree barbells would be beneficial. I just feel it's unfair to say "there's no need to do them" when there are so many (non aesthetic) reasons to use them. That is all.

[KyleAaron]

However your first time resistance training there is no need to do the powerlifts like squats benches and deadlifts unless you are training to become a bodybuilder. Many people who hire cpts are looking for general health.

Strength is the basis of all other physical qualities, and a few mental ones, too. If Edna comes in on her walking frame, improving her endurance won't get her off the walking frame. Likewise Bob the 40yo accountant with a "bad back", or Jenny the 30yo mother with "bad knees", or Jerry to 20yo 6'4" dude with a hunched-over posture.

Strength helps endurance and mobility, but not vice versa, and endurance and mobility don't help each-other. Getting stronger makes everything else easier, up to a certain point of diminishing returns, obviously - a ping pong player doesn't need to squat 200kg. But most people we as personal trainers see are very, very far from that point of diminishing returns so we don't need to worry about it.

Now, given that we don't want to spend all day in the gym, and training all 670 muscles in the human body individually would take rather a long time, we look for the movements that use the most muscle mass. And given that strength is exerting force against external resistance, we look for movement that allow us to move the most weight. But we're not doing isometric training, and we wouldn't mind some mobility benefits, too, so we want the movements that use the greatest effective range of motion.

So we want the movements that use the most muscle mass to move the most weight over the greatest effective range of motion. That leads us to things like squats, presses and so on.

As to choice of tool, given we're working with everyone from 16yo athletes to 84yo guys who want to go to the toilet unassisted, we want something that's titratable. We want to be able to start as high or low as needed, and go up in as small or big jumps as needed. Machines tend to be big jumps but not very big top weights. Dumbbells and kettlebells can have small increments, but usually go in 2.5/4kg jumps, and anyway a one-armed press etc uses less weight than a two-armed one, which violates our "move most weight" criterion.

So we come to barbells; I have these as 8, 15 and 20kg versions, and microplates let us increment by as little as 0.5kg. Even the 84yo can press an 8kg barbell on day one, and go up 0.5kg a week for a while.

For these reasons, we use barbells with the basic movements like squat, press and so on. Now, this is not always ideal for the circumstances of the personal trainer. If you've got someone for 2x30' sessions a week you simply can't have them do a novice linear progression of squat, press/bench, deadlift/chins/cleans or the like. So you have to make some compromises. But I would at least have them squat in one of those sessions and press in the other, and anyone with a history of back injury needs to deadlift.

Yes, obviously not everyone can start with these movements as they are. Many smaller women and older folk can't squat the empty bar below parallel on day one, for example. So we regress it, with bench squats, leg press and so on. But they will in a surprisingly short time progress to the full versions of the exercises. We just meet them where they are and progress them from there.

There are no excuses for fcking around. They're paying personal trainers $1-$2 a minute, for god's sake. Give them results.

[CommitmentRulz]

Strength is the basis of all other physical qualities, and a few mental ones, too. If Edna comes in on her walking frame, improving her endurance won't get her off the walking frame. Likewise Bob the 40yo accountant with a "bad back", or Jenny the 30yo mother with "bad knees", or Jerry to 20yo 6'4" dude with a hunched-over posture.

Strength helps endurance and mobility, but not vice versa, and endurance and mobility don't help each-other. Getting stronger makes everything else easier, up to a certain point of diminishing returns, obviously - a ping pong player doesn't need to squat 200kg. But most people we as personal trainers see are very, very far from that point of diminishing returns so we don't need to worry about it.

Now, given that we don't want to spend all day in the gym, and training all 670 muscles in the human body individually would take rather a long time, we look for the movements that use the most muscle mass. And given that strength is exerting force against external resistance, we look for movement that allow us to move the most weight. But we're not doing isometric training, and we wouldn't mind some mobility benefits, too, so we want the movements that use the greatest effective range of motion.

So we want the movements that use the most muscle mass to move the most weight over the greatest effective range of motion. That leads us to things like squats, presses and so on.

As to choice of tool, given we're working with everyone from 16yo athletes to 84yo guys who want to go to the toilet unassisted, we want something that's titratable. We want to be able to start as high or low as needed, and go up in as small or big jumps as needed. Machines tend to be big jumps but not very big top weights. Dumbbells and kettlebells can have small increments, but usually go in 2.5/4kg jumps, and anyway a one-armed press etc uses less weight than a two-armed one, which violates our "move most weight" criterion.

So we come to barbells; I have these as 8, 15 and 20kg versions, and microplates let us increment by as little as 0.5kg. Even the 84yo can press an 8kg barbell on day one, and go up 0.5kg a week for a while.

For these reasons, we use barbells with the basic movements like squat, press and so on. Now, this is not always ideal for the circumstances of the personal trainer. If you've got someone for 2x30' sessions a week you simply can't have them do a novice linear progression of squat, press/bench, deadlift/chins/cleans or the like. So you have to make some compromises. But I would at least have them squat in one of those sessions and press in the other, and anyone with a history of back injury needs to deadlift.

Yes, obviously not everyone can start with these movements as they are. Many smaller women and older folk can't squat the empty bar below parallel on day one, for example. So we regress it, with bench squats, leg press and so on. But they will in a surprisingly short time progress to the full versions of the exercises. We just meet them where they are and progress them from there.

There are no excuses for fcking around. They're paying personal trainers $1-$2 a minute, for god's sake. Give them results.

Excellent ^^^. Repped.

OP, as a personal trainer, it is the trainers responsibility to customize a workout for the client, based on capabilities and their goals. I have a 47 year old overweight woman whose goal was 'strength'. You better believe we are doing squats, deadlifts, presses, and bench.

[WeeRocket]

I think the most notable case I have witnessed of this was when I seen a young PT take her female client (whose goal was to lose fat and 'tone up') through a chest workout comprised solely of cable crossovers.

[ablessedunrest]

I judge PT's that use ladders, pinned machines and bosu balls rather then weights. I once had a PT made me balance on a bosu ball doing a pistol squat. I felt like I was hopping while rubbing my stomach and patting my head. It was embarrassing. The same PT also claimed I was pigeon toed as my shoes were shaped in a certain way and too big. He made me cable punch the same arm for 15 minutes because of the direction of my toe. My session was half an hour.

[401Delta]

I judge PT's that use ladders, pinned machines and bosu balls rather then weights. I once had a PT made me balance on a bosu ball doing a pistol squat. I felt like I was hopping while rubbing my stomach and patting my head. It was embarrassing. The same PT also claimed I was pigeon toed as my shoes were shaped in a certain way and too big. He made me cable punch the same arm for 15 minutes because of the direction of my toe. My session was half an hour.

I'll have to hide my BOSU ball from you .

Honestly, I think any piece of equipment can be used effectively, if the trainer or person using it understands the goal and employs it in an efficient way to get there.