1. Qualifications
Unfortunately for our reputation as fitness professionals, there are a lot of people working as personal trainers who do not have the minimum qualifications. The minimum qualification required to work as a personal trainer is Cert III and Cert IV in Fitness & Personal Training. Be cautious of personal trainers who work independently - there is no one responsible for ensuring they are qualified before they advertise themselves as a personal trainer. A trainer working as part of a training team is more likely to have a supervisor ensuring qualifications are adequate.
2. Attitude.
A personal trainer's attitude towards health and fitness will strongly affect their approach towards your training and influence the attitude you develop towards exercise. A trainer should be passionate about health and fitness, participate in their own regular exercise program and constantly support your involvement in as much exercise related activities as possible. A personal trainer who takes a few sessions for some extra cash on the side with no passion or interest in health and fitness is not the best choice. Avoid the personal trainer who is more passionate about them self then they are about your results - you will quickly become tired of hearing them speak about there own achievements.
3. A Busy Personal Trainer
A busy personal trainer is busy for a reason. If they have trouble fitting you in they must be doing something right.
4. Professionalism
Do they look, speak and act like a professional? An unprofessional personal trainer will lack organisational, time management and communication skills. Personal trainers are fitness professionals and should act like one.
5. Training Environment
The environment that your personal trainer works in will impact on your personal training experience and your fitness results. Make sure your personal trainer has access to all the necessary training equipment and works in an environment that you find comfortable. Personal training in a park with a medicine ball, boxing gloves and park bench will become boring fairly quickly. It isn't necessary to have all the gear but having a few extras will help to keep things interesting and varied. If the trainer operates entirely outdoors find out if they have a back up arrangement in the event of prolonged wet weather.
6. The Fine Print
Investigate all policies, fees and extra charges. Is there a contract, joining fee, admin fee, transaction fee or cancellation fee? is there a cost for extra services such as a home exercise program or nutrition advice? Find out exactly what you get for your money.
7. Word of Mouth
If you find a personal trainer by referral it's a good sign they have done a good job, at least once. People only spread good news if it's REALLY good, take word of mouth referrals seriously.
8. Experience
Find out how long a personal trainer has been in the industry and how busy they have been during that time. Find out what type of work they have been doing in the industry and what type of fitness goals they have been working with. A personal trainer who has many years experience but has been instructing aerobic classes does not really bring any extra expertise then a personal trainer with no experience at all. Similarly, a personal trainer with years of experience taking only a handful of sessions each week may have a misleading resume. Personal trainers typically don't last long in the fitness industry if they're not doing a good job. If they have greater than 2 years experience with a busy personal training schedule they are likely to be a good pick.
9. Knowledge
A personal trainer should have good knowledge about the services they offer and the exercise that is right for you. Assess a personal trainer's level of knowledge by asking questions about your training and any concerns you may have. If they can't answer confidently it's a good indication that you should keep looking around.
10. Results
Nothing speaks louder than results. Ask about previous success stories.
No comments:
Post a Comment