What You Should Expect from Your Personal Trainer

You realize hiring a personal trainer is a great way to get optimal fitness results. But the process of selecting one is challenging. You have some questions that you want to ask but you are not really sure what answers to expect. In this post I give you a guideline for what to expect from a personal trainer. Use this as a primer so that you can better understand what a trainer has to offer.

Complimentary initial meeting. This first meeting is to discuss your fitness goals, motivations, current lifestyle, habits (good and bad), time commitments, available equipment and for you to get a first impression of them. At the end of that session ask yourself a few questions. Did they listen to me? Did they make notes? Were their suggestions specific to me or did it sound like I was going to get the same plan as everyone else? Many of these are judgment calls but they are worth making up front. In addition, make certain you ask them what degrees and certifications they hold, get references of three current or former clients, and Google them to see what people are saying about them on the internet.

Initial Fitness Assessment. There are many fitness tests and protocols that a trainer can use to establish your current fitness level. At a bare minimum a trainer should offer to record your weight, measurements, BMI and body fat. Additionally, benchmarks should be established for your cardio fitness, flexibility, core strength, and upper and lower body strength.

Personalized Workouts. Taking into account your goals and your current fitness level as determine in your initial assessment, your trainer should come prepared with a written program specifically for you. The first couple few workouts the trainer should pay keen attention to how you are responding to the exercises and make adjustments to the plan for the day as needed. It takes a few sessions for the trainer to understand all of your limitations.

***Important*** Fitness Program ***Important*** - Your trainer should want you to workout when they are not there. This means you should expect direction from them on what you should do between sessions. If a trainer is not providing you with “homework” assignments to get you familiar with working out on your own then they are not working in your best interest. I often tell my clients “I don’t want to be your trainer for life.” A great trainer wants to put you on a path to wellness that you can sustain on your own so they can move on to help someone else. There has to be an exit strategy and providing a fitness program is the only way to make that transformation happen.

Nutritional Consultation. There is much debate in the trainer community about the appropriate level of nutritional advice a trainer can give a client. Some in the industry believe if a trainer is not a certified nutritionist they should not give anything but the most basic advice. Others feel that nutritional advice is within a trainer’s scope of practice. At a minimum your trainer should ask you about your food and beverage intake and make suggestions about appropriate food choices for your fitness goals.

Regular Re-assessments.
Every 4-8 weeks expect a re-assessment of your fitness level. Tracking your progression or regression on the assessment is a key to understanding what is working in your fitness program and can be extremely motivating. Whether you lost weight, lower body fat, or improved cardio capacity, it is amazing to see it on paper compared to where you began.

Paul

Paul Dziewisz is founder of Active Personal Fitness. He started his personal training business 4 years ago after a 15+ year career in Information Technology because I wanted to make difference in people's lives. Paul works with clients throughout the Delaware Valley region who face all the common struggles around weight loss, conditioning and living a healthy lifestyle. He understands the stresses of fitting exercise into a busy schedule with work pressures and chauffeuring kids. Active Personal Fitness works with clients to give them realistic goals and strategies to make permanent lifestyle changes and get RESULTS.

Paul is a National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) and American Council on Exercise (ACE) certified personal trainer.