Personal Training... with a general tone...

I recently visited another gym (mentioning no names). I was visiting friends in the area on consecutive weeks and ended up using the gym on a Tuesday and on the following Wednesday.

I saw two extreme opposites examples of personal training. One I really liked, the other I really DIDN'T! During which I observed what I called "Personal Training, with a general tone."

TRAINER ONE...
One of the "better" (read "busier"), personal trainers / better salespeople had clearly become so stuck in a rut, or perhaps lazy that they were churning out the same exercises, and possibly full "personal" training session for client after client!

He got my attention as he was seemingly looking for it judging by his twitchy movements, excessively loud voice and chanting as he counted repetitions.

HIS CLIENTS... Client one on Tuesday - overweight female, late 20's. Client two, fairly muscular male, aged 40+. On the following Wednesday, same female client followed by a very slender lady in her late 40's. SURELY, these 3 different people shouldn't require the same program of exercises and intensity of work?

TRAINER TWO...
MEANWHILE... in the matted area there was a very slender trainer going quietly about his business concentrating on his female client's core stability and working some nice, functional, yet challenging exercises for his client designed to encourage strength, muscular balance and core stability; finishing their session with a brisk bit of interval resistance work. Yet I only saw him on the second visit so assume he was less busy?

Immediately after, he was working with a very lean male in his early 30's (at a guess) who, as many men do, seemed to be looking to "bulk up". They worked major muscle groups, only concentrating on arms as the second part of a super-set and seemed to be allowing the client significant rest time when they were lifting heavy. They occasionally worked to "failure" and used a few super-sets; the whole session looked tough but worthwhile.

Trainer one had taken the "personal" out of "personal training" and was simply making his clients tired, not better! (Quote 3)

Trainer two had clearly thought about his clients, their needs, ability and end goals and from that, created a personalised session offering them, in my eyes, the most benefit.

SUMMARY...
This got me thinking about how both members and employers should approach this situation...

CLIENTS/ MEMBERS/ FUTURE CLIENTS...
Before you think about personal training in any way keep an eye on sessions and trainers around you. Ask yourself, is that session suited to the client? Have I seen the trainer do a similar session or set of exercises recently? Does it look enjoyable? Could I and would I do that on my own? Watch a few sessions and ask these questions each time before selecting a trainer.

Here's a few checks to make sure that your trainer worth your hard earned cash...

1- Is your training specific? Have you discussed goals and does your training match up to what you're trying to achieve?
2- Are you tracking success? Depending on your goals, is your trainer making sure that you're making progress through monitoring specific areas such as weight, body fat percentage, strength gains etc?
3 - Is your trainer a "fad" trainer? Do they learn something new and then blitz you with that until they pick up something else and then blitz you with that? Ie. They learn about TRX and that dominates your sessions, until their kettlebells course is complete and then THAT'S what takes over your sessions?
4 - Are they PESONAL or are they more concerned with talking to other people in the gym and checking their phone? Not the be all and end all but it's annoying and VERY unprofessional!
5- Do they give you anything extra? Sure, you signed up to an hour a week but I treat people as I'd like to be treated - is YOUR trainer conscienscious? Will they ever call or text or show that they listen to you in the session by adjusting the next session or bringing articles or other relevant things to your next session?
6- Do you know what your session "usually" involves? if your trainer does pretty much the same session week in week out give them the elbow? Sure, if you want to get good at squatting, the best thing to do is squat. But, if your goals are more generic, such as weight loss, then there are PLENTY of things that you can do!
7- Do they show you that they're educated? Do they clearly explain WHY you do things? HOW you do things? Do they offer you new ideas and tell you of new things they've learned? If not, they're probably not learning

There's plenty more but that's a good start :-)
EMPLOYER/ GYM...
There is a CLEAR need for the gym boss or head of personal training to step in here. In my mind Personal Trainers have too much free reign and as such, too much opportunity to veer off track and become lazy, too focused on sales and less focused on quality of session. Ultimately, a good business is run on retention and referrals, deliver good sessions and these will take care of themselves.

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"I'm not getting any results?..."

Here's one I hear a lot:

"I go to the gym 'X' times a week, and I'm not getting any results!! How come?.."

Rather than a blog, you could write a book on reasons why you might be lacking significant results, but here are some of the most common reasons why people don't get the results they feel they deserve:

"Variety is the spice of life..."
Have you been going to the gym and doing pretty much the same thing each week or worse still, each session? There you have a problem. No matter how much you sweat at the time, or even how difficult the weights still are you need a change. Change can come in the format of a new gym programme, a new style of training, pushing yourself further in classes, adding resistance in suitable classes (spin and body pump etc), new classes all together or even just a few small tweaks to your current gym programme. For further reading see a previous blog post: "Do it the same but different".

"Lift now, talk later..."
Do you go the the gym with a friend or a group of friends? Or with the purpose of socialising while you're at the gym and then leave and happily boast "I've been at the gym for an hour and a half today!" As you tuck into a treat for all of your hard work? Imagine you have a stopwatch and you only turn it on when you're ACTUALLY exercising. Now be honest, how much of your time at the gym is spent exercising? If it's hugely outweighed by activities other than exercise then this is a problem. Stick in your headphones, buzz around the gym, keep talk to a brief "hello... I best get on" scenario and watch the benefits follow.

"Food glorious food..."
Too many people see a gym membership and attending a class as a green light to eat like food it's going out of fashion. If you wear a heart rate monitor at any point you'll know exactly how hard it is to burn calories and how much effort it takes to create a calorie deficit. The gym is a great way to lose weight, gain muscle and improve your body in the way you want to. But it needs to be complimented by your diet; for both aesthetic reasons (weight loss or gain) and for "fuelling" purposes. If someone gave you a Ferrari and you filled it with Diesel petrol, it would still probably run for a little but not at it's full potential. Your body is just the same.

"I want to lose weight, not lift weights..."
Everyone, repeat EVERYONE should use some form of resistance machines or free weights in their programme. For women who fear the bulky repercussions, fear not, your probably couldn't get "big" if you tried. No matter your goals, lean muscle growth will help you. It's also a great way to improve your every day life offering joint stability, improved posture (if performed correctly), improved metabolism, protection of organs and assisting in every day activities which may require a little strength.

"I just don't see it"
What if you ARE achieving results? How do you know?.. One problem when gauging success is that you see YOU everyday, so will often struggle to see these gradual improvements. Try keeping a weekly picture diary, same place, same time of day, same lighting; and compare images of yourself week on week or month on month. Or, try taking measurements and re-measuring each month. A centimetre here and there may be hard to spot but you can't argue with a tape measure! Last point, don't live and die by the scales. Your body goes through many stages while exercising and your total body weight is not always the most accurate guideline for success. Keep an eye on your weight but don't panic if it's not constantly moving in the direction you want it to.

"One for the top and 4 for anywhere else..."
Is your training specific to your goals? Where did you get your ideas, training structure and choice of exercises from? Do you even have a plan when you enter the gym? If you go to the gym and "just do a bit of everything" or "Jump on whatever machine isn't being used"; or, if you picked up your ideas from watching people or use a programme one of your friends has, then it's unlikely you're going to get the results that you want. Training is a science and if you try to wing it, it probably won't work. Seek advice from a trainer perhaps, have a taster with them or even a few sessions where you can tweak your own sessions and learn more for the future.

"Ah, push it, p-p-push it real good..."
Could you have done one more repetition? Then why didn't you? Sure, when lifting weights, safety can be an issue during the final repetitions (especially for those who train alone). However, time and time again i see people cutting themselves short because they didn't quite fancy pushing themselves. It's essential to make the most of your exercise time. While it's never advisable to constantly train to the point of failure or until you throw up; have you ever made yourself sick through exercise? No? then you probably have a little more to give. You need to change your frame of mind and, as I tell my clients "Your body and muscles will decide when you've had enough - not your head!"

"I'm going to have a rest day..."
Now I love sleep as much as the next sloth and the importance of rest should never be underestimated, especially among regular exercisers. However, there are a lot of people who could perhaps be described as "overly tuned" and will avoid the gym if they have any kind of mild muscle soreness, cold, aches and pains. Basically, if they're not 100% they will "have a rest day." You're body is much stronger than you give it credit for and if you decide to avoid the gym every time you're not quite right or stiff from a previous session, then it's unlikely that you'll progress past a certain point. Don't be afraid to "over train", it's a status that is over used in conversation and very difficult to actually reach. "Over training" once in a while can shock your body and boost your results. Try it this week - I DARE you to over train!

"I'll do anything.. but not that!.."
I once told a client "Your problem is that you want a flat stomach, but you don't WANT to do the work required to get it. Until you WANT to work, you won't get whatever else you want."

The problem is that we live in an instant society where generally, if you have a problem and you have some money you can fix it NOW! The body, in this respect is still very traditional and if you want something impressive, the way to get it is hard work and persistence. If you have a target or an image that you want, you must do EVERYTHING you can to achieve it. Giving it a bit of a go and not being completely honest with yourself in terms of diet and exercise will only do so much. You must be willing to try new things and give your body 100% of your effort. Did you need ALL of your last meal? Did you work as hard as you possibly could have last time you went to the gym? Think about it...

"All the athletes drinks them..."
A final short one, please, please, please don't drink endless sugary sports drinks "like the athletes do" and wonder why you're not losing weight! These drinks are meant for recovery purposes and should not be relied upon for "energy" nor consumed on a regular basis. Don't think of them as "sports drinks", think of them more as a liquid meal.

To summarise...
There are multiple reasons why you might not be making the progress you feel you deserve. The last point is "honesty", if you can honestly, HONESTLY say that none of the above point apply to you in some shape or form and you STILL aren't making any steps int he right direction I'd be very surprised. Be more conscious of your behaviour and remember that your progress isn't just impacted in your gym hour, but is also heavily effected by your every day way of life.

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