Almost all personal trainers are clueless, amirite?

i've known of SO many people who didn't go to college or take any sort of courses that suddenly marketed themselves as personal trainers just because they like to go to the gym

by Fun_End 11 months ago

Because, a college education isn't required to be one. It doesn't hurt. But, not required. You just need to get your NASM certification in which you pay a hefty price. Honestly, that's by far the easiest part. Marketing yourself and getting clients is the hard part. If you work at a commercial gym, it gets worse cause you got quotas to meet and the house always gets their cut.

by Cmertz 11 months ago

Yeah and those that marker themselves good aka predatory are almost never goos trainers

by Anonymous 11 months ago

that makes up a giant percent of the personal trainer demographic

by Anonymous 11 months ago

Just start moving

by eugeniafisher 11 months ago

Start with 3 sets of 10 for each muscle group with weight that isn't to heavy, but not to easy either. Go to gym 2-3 times a week. Divide the muscle groups up between those days. Find machines that target whatever you wanna work on. Finish off with 10-20 mins of cardio. Diet is the main thing, i'd recommend Myfitnesspal app to track your foods. Stay in a caloric deficit and you'll reach your goals

by Anonymous 11 months ago

Honestly, just start going. Try a wee run to warm up. Use some of the machines before free weights as there are usually instructions printed on them. Build up some confidence and then start looking at specific plans.

by Anonymous 11 months ago

Doing it badly and building the habit of going is the most important thing at first. You can work on educating yourself along the way. Jeff Nippard and Mind Pump are great resources to educate yourself.

by Metzchristopher 11 months ago

In my opinion most people don't want real training and criticism they want encouragement and motivation. They are looking to get in shape and not looking to be professional weight lifters. If that gets more people exercising, even if not in the way you personally deem correct isn't that a good thing?

by Anonymous 11 months ago

well, they would be getting in shape in a more effective and safer way if they are doing the right exercises and with good technique, right? Shouldn't the trainers at least know how to educate their clients about that?

by Anonymous 11 months ago

It seems OP is referring to improper technique. It's better not to go the gym than to go to the gym and lift heavy with improper technique. If you injure yourself with heavy weights, you could end up in the hospital or with life-long injuries. The trainer's could mix criticism with encouragement. There's no need to just go with one of them.

by Anonymous 11 months ago

It gets people exercising for a month or two and then they ultimately quit. I've seen it time and time again first hand as someone who has spent a lot of time in gyms. People need realistic expectations and goals and need to realize that exercise is a long term endeavor. Most people go from nothing and figure they'll exercise and get dramatic results. They'll add the caveat "I don't want to get too jacked" as if that's a possibility of something that could accidentally happen.

by AffectionateBee7303 11 months ago

In a gym you're going to be lifting a weight you've never lifted before - otherwise you're wasting your time. Lifting that weight safely isn't rocket science but it does require instruction. It's not about efficiency or max lifts, it's firstly a safety issue

by Anonymous 11 months ago

Not much use in being motivated to work out if your technique is all wrong lol

by Anonymous 11 months ago

Yep, not working right now and most of the personal trainers I see during the day are basically paid eye candy for older housewives looking for some young male attention.

by Brookejacobs 11 months ago

I think you are right but I also think people are kinda dumb for not doing research by themselves and over estimating their capabilities. I can blame the trainer sure but someone with little to no training or technique getting under 100-200 kilos of weight is kinda delusional.

by Anonymous 11 months ago

This is why I don't just tell people to "get a personal trainer." There's so much bs in fitness and so many trends that come and go it's no surprise people don't know where to start. Getting in shape isn't super complicated and the data seems to show that the weight you lift, the reps, the number of sets, don't matter all that much as long as you're lifting in proximity to muscle failure and employ progressive overload in your routine. You also need good exercise selection which is pretty much as simple as squat, bench, deadlift, and row+ whatever else you want to work on. You can also do machine alternatives to all of those movements if you're intimidated by the barbell version of the lifts. Beyond that it's just time and consistency. The issue for people doing their own research is that there is so much bs in fitness. Women's fitness is particularly bad. There's is no shortage of good looking skinny women selling total BS or at least unrealistic expectations given what they are offering. Chloe Ting, Caroline Grievance, etc.

by AffectionateBee7303 11 months ago

Lifting and diet is not complicated and there is so much info out there now, that a personal trainer is definitely not needed for expertise. Most people just want someone to spoon feed them, motivate them, and hold them accountable.

by Ill_Grape 11 months ago

I agree, you can find all the information you need online for free. But for people who might be nervous to go to the gym for the first time, insecure about how they look, have no clue where to even start etc, a PT can be nice to just have there with them to break that ice for the first time.

by Anonymous 11 months ago

I agree with you in that many PT and gym coaches are very clueless when it comes to exercise theory and science based techniques to achieve muscle gains efficiently. They will recommend tons and tons of sets, redundant exercises, tell you that you must "surprise the muscle" and whatnot, but overall everyone believes them because they're jacked (pretty sure either by genetic lottery or the juice)

by Lebsackesther 11 months ago

almost all

by Anonymous 11 months ago

The thing is, this might be true. But the other thing is, a personal trainer will always just do stuff you could have googled yourself given a certain amount of media literacy. There is no secret knowledge or experience to being a PT. People generally don't pay PTs for their mastery in exercise science or something similar, it's most of the time just someone being there s.t. you turn up regularly.

by Anonymous 11 months ago

Well, as their clients are even more clueless, they still might be of some use.

by Anonymous 11 months ago

They are largely clueless and useless, just like so-called "influencers".

by Much-Particular-7418 11 months ago

Yeah this is popular tho. Only trainers themselves say otherwise. I remember when I had one he kept saying what he'd do with his gf and was very unprofessional. Smh at 20 yos

by Admirable_Guard 11 months ago

Sounds like he actually has some accomplishments in the fitness world, which means he likely knows a lot more than most trainers do!

by Anonymous 11 months ago

Most personal trainers have very litte formation in training theory, biomechanics, physiology etc. because most people think experience training = knowing how to train. Also, most people dont want a physical training expert, they want to feel motivated, feel they are working hard and have fun. And that has more to do with charisma and people skills than with scientific kwnoledge

by carmel65 11 months ago

Unless it's a celebrity trainer then it's not worth getting one. I've had a few and each one fit what OP described.

by Anonymous 11 months ago

You are over complicate things... if you train reasonably hard(close to failure), with good enough form that you don't hurt yourself, and eat enough protein, you will achieve at least 95% of gains. I am also pretty sure that most coaches do that for their clients... but yea I agree that you don't need a coach for that.

by Anonymous 11 months ago

Idk, I have had three different trainers before, and my mom currently has one, they are all doing competitions themselves , I think you just unluck there bound to be good ones and bad ones on the field

by Anonymous 11 months ago

Saying they are little more than college students with a major in PE is greatly overestimating how difficult it is to become a personal trainer. It is just a simple certificate that you get through taking a course. Most of the personal trainers I see are either gossiping it up with their clients or barely going through the motions. I feel sorry for the older folks I see who obviously hired a personal trainer to help them live out their remaining years in the most healthy way possible; but that trainer is on their phone the whole time and barely interacting with their client. It makes me uncomfortable. Very rarely do I see a personal trainer who is engaged and taking their job seriously throughout the entire session, but it could just be that LA Fitness sucks.

by Anonymous 11 months ago

I was a trainer about 25 years ago while I was still in college and I agree completely. If you teach a client to bench, squat, deadlift, pull ups, and overhead press, along with progressive overload, they won't need you in a few weeks. If you change up the workout frequently and have them do a bunch of weird BS and confuse them on how to build a program, they will keep coming back for awhile. That's the biggest problem, its not about teaching the client what they need to know, it's about marketing and repeat business. I watch trainers everyday have their clients do dangerous and inefficient excercises, while only partially paying attention to what's going on during the sets. Clients are wasting money and time, and not learning the basics to be able to work independently in the gym. People would be better off going with a friend that works out, or asking random people/watching videos for help and trying to figure it out themselves in many cases. At least that way after a month or two tbey'll have a pretty good idea of what they are supposed to be doing to reach their goals.

by Anonymous 11 months ago

Find a trainer that has their CSCS certification. That exam is like 80% fail rate last time I checked. This also one of the few times you judge someone by what they look like. If they don't look fit or in shape or look like you want to look like then how can they get you to where you want to be? They can't.

by Josephcruicksha 11 months ago

My first question to any personal trainer, at least if they hold themselves out as one who trains powerlifting, is their openpowerlifting profile name.

by Anonymous 11 months ago

You're expecting to find intelligence at a gym?

by Anonymous 11 months ago

Sure. Actually I've found that people who are physically fit are generally more intelligent than those who aren't. A gym has the best equipment around for getting strong, like barbells and squat racks. Do you think strength doesn't matter?

by Anonymous 11 months ago

Most people aren't paying their trainers to get elite fit. They're paying people to motivate them to workout and be their gym buddy while offering expertise. Though you really oughta be certified if you're being paid to train.

by Anonymous 11 months ago

I agree. It's even sadder how high the percentage of bad doctors and psychologists are. It's so tough to find a PCP or shrink that is decent at their job.

by Metzchristopher 11 months ago

YouTube and google can do what personal trainers do. The only time I see it's feasible to get a pt is if you're extremely unhealthy, coming off injury, or training as an athlete. If you're an average Joe just going to the gym to lose weight and be fit you don't really need a pt

by Baylee15 11 months ago

Meeting a personal trainer at a commercial gym

by Budget-Ad 11 months ago

Yes and no, yes because getting people to exercise and overall workout is a good thing. No, because as a trainer you're in a way paid to help the person paying to to guide them and you're a stepping stone into getting into shape. So you're obligated to to be knowledgeable about exercising, which means creating a workout plan that will meet their goals. Also the biggest problem is what OP mentioned, it's all about form checking them and make sure they're using a proper technique. Improper technique leads to injuries.

by Cmertz 11 months ago