by Boyd Myers

Created on: February 01, 2007   Last Updated: August 04, 2011

Personal Training, Sometimes the "Un-Profession"
Although there are a select few personal trainers that strive to deliver above and beyond their clients' expectations, all to often the opposite is true. We've all heard personal training horror stories, but these are all things that clients have recently shared with me about their former personal trainers. Be prepared - it isn't pretty!

-Person A tried a personal trainer at a local Gold's Gym for just 3 sessions to help him get started and kind of show him the ropes of weight training. Well, after more than 5 cancellations, this individual finally found a time that his trainer could finally make it in. During the training session, his trainer kept walking away for 2-3 minutes at a time and saying "I'll be right back..." Person A then decided to follow his trainer, and found that the trainer was training another client on the other side of the gym!

-Person B had a personal trainer at Spectrum Club. This personal trainer never performed any measurements or strength assessments. How do you track progression without having a baseline? When the client asked why she had her doing a certain exercise, the personal trainer replied "Because I said so..."

-Person C (a 57 year old female) also had a personal trainer at Spectrum Club. During her FIRST workout, the trainer had this client doing JUMPING HACK SQUATS. When the individual told the trainer that the exercise (which is usually reserved for athletes and well-conditioned individuals looking to increase explosiveness) the trainer replied "No Pain, No Gain..."

-Person D was extremely overweight and was having severe knee problems just standing and walking. During the first workout, his personal trainer had him performing barbell squats. Now, understand that I LOVE squats, and I think they are very beneficial, but also understand that you need to have a certain level of condition before doing them (like no pain while standing upright). When the client complained of severe knee pain, the trainer told the client "If you complain, I'll just add more weight..."

Unfortunately, many of you that have had a personal trainer in the past probably read through the above scenarios and laughed (or cringed) because it has happened to you. I, on the other hand, actually became disgusted by simply writing it!

You, as the consumer, decide that you want to use a trainer and you have certain expectations. First and foremost, you deserve to be treated as if your time is extremely valuable,

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>