What Is a Personal Trainer

Imagine stepping into the gym for the first time in your life. There are so many machines and gadgets. What do you do first? Is this one safe? Are you using it right? There are so many questions to ask about trying to get physically fit as well. How much should you push yourself? How much is too much?

A personal trainer is someone who steps in and will coach you through your weight loss regime. What is it that a personal trainer does exactly?

Whenever I want to find out what it is that a personal trainer does, I simply visit the website or look at an advertisement of another personal trainer. From one location that is located in California, I have found the following list to be exactly what a personal trainer does.

• Coaching workouts that intensify gradually at different stages
• Working to increase improvement function of the body from walking and running, etc.
• Keeping a client up to date on nutrition
• Practices safe stretching and exercise techniques
• Helps to increase muscle tone and metabolism in the body
• Minimize the possibility of injury
• Increase the client’s self-confidence and put good ‘stress’ to encourage
• Eliminate laziness and excuses from stopping the client from getting what they want

One that I have found says that finding the best personal trainer is to simply ask a lot of questions. If you ask questions of your personal trainer and he or she does not know the answer or doesn’t give an answer you are particularly happy with, a client should simply walk away.

If you are looking to become a personal trainer, expect to hear questions. What is your background? How long have you been doing this? How are you involved in the industry? Do you stay competitive in the industry? What is the education level that you have? Did you get certified in a weekend or are you university educated? Are you continuing to educate yourself on the latest health techniques? Insurance? CPR? First Aid?

If you are able to answer these questions to a client, you’ll be much more likely to sign a client. Above all, personal trainer will make a customer state his or her reasonable goals and set a plan to reach those goal in a healthy and constructive learning environment that will let the client keep the regime for years to come, even if they stop using the personal trainer.

Like when you shop for anything else, there are good trainers and there are bad personal trainers, but what is the difference?

A good personal trainer would tell you that you should shop around and find the right trainer for you. A lot of corporate gym trainers have sales quotas, do you really think they’re primary interest is your health? Most of them have minimal training and are more of a sales person than a trainer.

If you are looking to become a personal trainer, what is it you should do first? Try to take course on exercise, fitness and health. If you also stay involved personally in the body building industry, you’re also staying on top of the competition. Commitment is the key; you have to be committed, as your clients certainly will not be. They will want to quit and give excuses. You can’t let them.

Above all, a personal trainer really cares about the client. You can’t simply treat them like another paycheck. A customer has personal goals and needs and is asking you to help them along a path they can’t walk on their own. What a personal trainer is, is not a salesman or a drill sergeant, a personal trainer is a coach, a mentor and a partner on a road to a goal.