The Best Personal Trainer story everyone knows, but no one thinks of

I’m fine

I’ll be honest with you. When I started working with clients 14 years ago I wasn’t enough certified, neither experienced enough, I wasn’t the best personal trainer. I was 19 years old boy passionate about all sports, ready to learn and earn his place in the world of sport. But even so, I had my sports college education, I was a second-year student in sport science and I’ve been working with more conditional, basketball and personal trainers than 90% of people will ever meet in their lives.

He’s fine

These days I had worked in a gym and I had a colleague who was a musician. Not great, not terrible. He was a good guy, but a bad coach. The problem was that he didn’t realize how wrong his skills and how basic his knowledge was. All the way: the human body, workouts, planning of the training process, and leading the clients through the labyrinth of wellness and a healthy lifestyle. He was older than me and my upbringing doesn’t allow me to tell him everything straightforward. We made some jokes and I tried to help out so I’m sure he knew my opinion and he was cool with it.

What about you?

My schedule was pretty crowded his one was empty as a desert and I felt sorry for him. But I felt sorry for his clients too. I have told none of them about my thoughts, even when he admitted that (as a real man of art) it’s not his thing. And he was right. It was his part-time job. The workouts were something to fill up the budget. The gym was a place to chill-out or to chat with someone and make a contact.

So what do you think who was mistaken then?

It was and it will always be you, dear reader. It’s not dumb those who take but those who give permission for that. Fortunately, with the globalization of the world and fast-spreading the information around, it gets easier. The one who wants to find a good service, an expert in any area, never mind if it’s the Best Personal Trainer, Accountant, Lawyer or whatever you can think of, can do it, let’s say not in a fraction of a second but pretty fast.
Yes, sometimes it could be pricey, but more than ever it will save you time, headache, and in terms of the previously said – money.

Brain Food

So if your next accountant is actually dedicated to web design or your next IT expert is in truth a graphic designer gets prepare to have a lot of lost profits.
Or if the guy you trust for your healthy habits and activities is a nice-looking orator with a lack of qualification, experience, and education, be sure you are on the way to lose a lot of your time. I hope it will be just your time.
Because if your Accountant, Lawyer or IT expert works with your Assets. Your Personal Trainer, like your Dentist and GP, works with your health.

Fast forward to 2020 and the best personal trainers

I have graduated a long time ago with my Master’s Degree in sports science. A few years back I represented my country on the Anniversary Academic Forum for sport organized by the International Olympic Academy. Without being a TV, FB, IG or any other superstar my schedule as a Personal Trainer is fully booked and I have also been a Professor at the New Bulgarian University teaching Fitness for 5 years now.

Time flies and I’m still wondering:

How people choose their Coach. What are the criteria in their heads for the best personal trainer? How do you consider trust somebody with your health?

The Coach -The man who should be responsible for how you look and how you feel in your body. How energized you are during the day and maybe if you sleep well. No, seriously all these things are more or less related to your physical activities and the sooner you get it the better you’ll feel later in your life. I promise!

Let’s think about it this way:

When I’m looking for a doctor and it’s not an emergency case.

When I was looking for a dentist I wanted to know some things about him or her as a specialist. How long ago did she/he graduate? Where? Does she/he often participate in workshops, seminars, and courses for maintaining and upgrading her knowledge? I also got recommendations from friends in common or on-line reviews. Thank God, great feedback to all the questions above and I have been happy from day one.

Now, I can hear you saying Dude, it’s illegal to work without education as a doctor. You can’t compare it to a Personal Trainer. Yes and no. Yes, I compare it as it’s up to me and my health. No, I analyze the way of making the decision to choose one or another person to get the job done.

In the rows below I’ll share with you quick tips of what to look for when you hiring. Yes, exactly hiring your personal trainer, coach, group-class coach, etc.

Step by step to choose the best personal trainer.

1. Certification and qualification

We all live in a time of pseudo-experts. The distinction comes from certification. No matter how kind he/she is, no matter how passionate they are. Passion is not knowledge. It has never been and it never will be. You could change your passion into knowledge but that change needs efforts. The value of your efforts in getting the knowledge is measured by the grades and by the qualification of Personal Trainer study. It all starts here. When you build a house first you need fundaments. The stronger they are the bigger the house could be.

Let me quickly rank it by their importance:

• Ph.D., Master’s or Bachelor’s degree – the higher, the better. It could take from 4 to 9 years to build that knowledge. Please, never compere a 1-month course with this kind of essential superior qualification. It’s like comparing brick with a house. Qualified education gives you a Personal Trainer. How systems work in the human body. Theory and methodology of the training process – how to develop different motor skills and gradual upgrades. What are the specifics in anatomy, biochemistry, physiology? What are the basics of psychology and pedagogy that allow a proper approach and persistent work with adults and children? If I worked only as a PT, I would use not more than 20% of my knowledge. The things someone can learn in one month (God forbid be it a weekend course) are so limited and primary.

• Professional education, College – up to 3 years. Most often they represent a compressed form of education in which the most important and fundamental subjects of the profession are offered. The schedule is busy and sometimes lacks practical training. However, it covers all the necessary material and, given a good attitude on the part of the trainees, that leads to complete knowledge and skills in the field.

• Courses, Certification – up to a month. (Anything over 5-6 months of systematically and persistent learning rather than is professional education.) It’s a speeded-up program that resonates with nowadays demands of fast and easy access to just about anything you can think of.  Quick guides a.k.a. “Ready to go” that guarantees to deliver to you the world best-kept secret of how to: be a Personal Trainer, Build a website, Make a 6-7-8-9 figures salary in a day,  Speak 7 languages, Earn passive income as much as Luxembourg Gross Domestic Product, etc. I accept that some of these courses are a great accelerator for jumping in one field or another. But there is a long way to go after, to call yourself an expert.

• Should you trust an “Athletes”, a Champions in whatever games and challenges they might invent? First of all, that Athlete or Champion is led by a coach. Second, they should at least make the effort to ensure some certification. Last but not least, their wins on the court could never be yours without knowing what to do. Despite Olympic athletes and Excellence sports (I mean world or international championships in established sports disciplines).

2. Take a look at the best personal trainer profile.

So, you can scroll for several hours daily on Instagram, Facebook, etc. but you can’t spend that precious 5 minutes to check out

“who’s that guy who I’m going to work with to get fit.”

• Recent coaches that take themselves and their job seriously have at least one social profile online – share photos, videos, some info about themselves. You could make a quick check to see what they do and what they don’t do.

• Coaches who work for a gym or bigger fitness chain usually have a profile on the gym’s website. By the profile there you could see their education, certificates, and achievements if there’s any. Also, who is senior and who is junior.

• Some of them even have a website – information, services, articles, etc. (like the one you read now)

3. Observation – First impression.

Pick a gym, do your first workout and keep your eyes and ears wide open. (Note: earphones won’t help you met a better coach). By visiting the gym before you start training with some of the coaches who work there you’ll have the chance to see:

• How they treat their clients. Are they chat-robots? Or they pay attention to what happens with their clients. Asking how they are and how they feel by doing one or another exercise, looking for the form of execution, rushing a bit for a good pace of the workout, etc. All these and many more could be a good sign of that you’ll meet someone who takes care of his job.

• How busy they are. If you want to make an appointment with a coach and he tells you: Come whenever you want between (note: his working hours) take it as a warning. If I want to visit my dentist I’ll be able in a few weeks from now. Want a new haircut? I’d better call now for the next week. Understand that it’s a service and if someone delivers it better and the longer he’s doing that job good enough the fuller would be his schedule.  Maybe the guy sitting on the bench is a newbie and you’ll be the chance for him to show his abilities. That’s ok and pretty cool; you’ll have all the attention on you. But there’s a risk that you’ll be “by the way” on his way to the new rock concert or that fancy online shop he works on or just a “relax” after the long day of dealing with problems at work.

• How they treat other people in the gym. Someone told me once:

You’ll know the person not only by how they treat you but how they treat people around you.

Obviously, there’s a deal between you and your coach and it’s quite normal for him to be polite with you (if not it’s quite illogical to still train with him/her). But you don’t need the hate and prejudice of other visitors because your coach is rude. And most of all sooner or later this side of him will turn on you. So save your emotions for something more positive.

4. The appearance of the best personal trainer

I don’t want to sound rude, but you can’t look like crap and telling a client what to do to look better.

It’s a service. If I want to sell you a car I’ll wash it and polish that much so I’d better keep it for myself. If I’m selling you some gadget online I’ll make the best photos with the best explanation. You got the point. If you want to sell me the idea of a healthy lifestyle and your magic to build good shape – you should look at least kind of athletic. It’s not necessary to have a 6 pack or a biceps double your head.

Outfit

The sporty outfit, no matter if it is shorts and a t-shirt or sweatshirt and sport trousers it is a must to have. That is, anyone dressed in anything else but a sports outfit is not the Best Personal Trainer for you.

5. The Attitude of the Best Personal Trainer

Last but not least it is the coach’s attitude towards his clients. If you just meet him and he doesn’t ask you these 3 things is better don’t waste your time:

• Your Health Status – any forms of the disease, illness, injuries, and blood pressure or heart disabilities are crucial for the way you should begin the process of workouts

• How active you are – it includes daily routines, last time you trained, your working conditions (desk in an office, dynamic, night shifts, long driving for example) and – possibly – your sports experience.
• What are your Goals – no matter if you’ll decide it together or you will tell your target on the go? He should be interested in why you need his guidance. It is the main point. The Coach is the Authority who should help you achieve and score the Goal.

Conclusion:

The more steps you take to choose your coach, the better this is for your future success. Never mind if he/she got one or five stars on the criteria above, he still could be good. Just the chances are better if they cover all.

If he is well certified but has a lack of practice, you should look for his efforts and approach. In case he puts passion in your progress, thumb up – he’ll live. If you could not read a thing anywhere about him or he is boring, no panic. Maybe he is good enough, but just a bit introvert and not a social guy is not a crime. He could still do the job. Once you get to know him, communication will improve and speed up your progress.

High five for the ones that cover all. I’ve been working with a lot of professionals that do it for years so no worries. I am not sending you to look for unicorns. Just pay attention to the important things in order to get the best.