Hire a Coach?

Sep 11

So you wanna get a personal trainer…

But you’re not quite sure how to choose the best one for you.

You’ve seen PTs at your gym or images on social media, you’ve heard horror stories from others and you’ve hesitated and wondered if in fact it’s worth your time and money.

I know some people who waited for years after mulling it over.

To hire a PT or not?

Here’s the thing…

Not all PTs are the same….nor should they be.

Each one is unique and brings something different to every training session.

The goal then is to find the right fit for you, because truth be told, if you make a bad choice, the consequences can be dire.

Apart from wasted money, you can end up either injured, guilt-ridden or with a messed up metabolism.

The Bad: How you know a PT sucks

They don’t ask you any questions about your training or dieting history.
They don’t ask you about your current lifestyle situation… fitness regime, eating patterns, energy levels, sleep habits, stressors in life.
They don’t ask you about your goals …. specifically what you want and more so WHY.

The Ugly: How you know a PT really sucks

They overload your training program aka cause you MORE stress
For example, you say you’re really busy, have 3 kids and a full-time job and they give you 6-day/week training protocol. Like that’s gonna happen. Clueless.
They “force” you to burn X amount of calories in a workout sesh.
Clearly, they know very little about caloric expenditure during a training session by allocating arbitrary misleading numbers to attain. Dumb.
They program exercises that don’t transfer into YOUR real life.
Balancing on a BOSU while performing an overhead squat for the regular Jane Doe makes zero sense unless she’s joining Cirque du Soleil. Useless.
They use the same program for all their clients.
So 75 year-old Susan gets the same program as 42 year-old Linda when clearly the needs of each of these women are very different. Careless.

The Good: How you know a PT is worth it

Your PT asks you questions…. and listens!
The questions are about YOU, not just your knee flare up or your protein intake. Because they know your results are driven by far more than squats and egg whites. You are a whole person and the big players of sleep, stress, work, hormones make a huge difference in your training session and future results. Yes, even questions about your cycle… hormonal fluctuations are real and should be brought up in convo regularly.
Your PT programs according to your current needs and future goals… not according to a periodization chart.
If you’re in a very busy season in life, the last thing you need is a heavy workout plan that has you feeling defeated when you fall short. Instead, a PT should tailor the program to fit into YOUR life. Not the other way around. Because there is a program to fit the needs of everyone… if that means 30min sessions twice a week or a 4-day split. Don’t let any PT tell you that you must hit the gym 5 days a week for results. Walk away. Buh-bye!
Your PT “coaches with care”.
Basically, you’re gonna screw up at some point. We all do. And by that I mean, you may miss a workout or eat more than you intended or make choices you regret later ( extra glass of vino anyone?) Your PT shouldn’t condemn or reprimand you for getting “off plan”. But by the same token, they shouldn’t necessarily brush it off, dismiss or ignore it. Especially if it bothers you. Instead, they should ask follow-up questions about those choices. What and why something happened (or didn’t) is likely a teachable moment moving forward.
In other words, maybe they can hep you to be more pro-active in finding a solution so you avoid the same pattern or decisions next time. It’s what I call Coach with Care… Coaching is instruction, leadership and guidance. Care is empathy, understanding with an invitation to improve and level-up from your status quo. Instead of feeling fear or embarrassment for messing up, you actually turn towards your PT to help you figure out what and why whatever happened did.
Your PT is punctual and has the training session planned ahead of time.
Sounds like a no-brainer, but you’d be surprised how many out there show up late and do a random workout with their client. It’s a lack of respect for the client’s time and the fitness profession.
Your PT pays attention to YOU during the sesh.
In other words, he/she is not scrolling their phone or texting others while your belting out reps. Whaa? Yeah, I’ve seen this first-hand too. Your PT’s focus should be on you… your ROM, your technique, counting reps, coaching and motivating to ensure you are doing the very best in that set. If the phone is in hand, it’s used either to set a timer maybe or to film you in action as a way to fine-tune your form.

Last thoughts…

I’m writing this super early in the morning, before I head out to train my client. I have no idea what her night was like or how she’s feeling today. When I show up, I’ll ask my favorite questions… “how did you sleep?” and “how are you feeling?”.

From her response I’ll know if she’ll train the way I planned (typically a tougher sesh on Fridays) or if I offer a slightly watered-down version of my OG game plan.

Because training is not about annihilating or destroying a client so they can’t walk the next day.

Seriously, anybody can program that.. duh.

Just do 200 burpees and 100 push-ups. Done. Your sweaty, feel destroyed and “feel” like it was effective. No bueno.