What you need to know about your Personal Trainer.
"I finally hired a Personal Trainer! Now I don't have to do the crazy hard work like thinking about Nutrition, my Exercises or my lifestyle habits! Even you should hire a personal trainer bro, if you need constant motivation. It's your personal trainer's job to motivate you! Just do what he/she says."
Don't do this. I beg you.
Being in the Fitness industry for around 7 years now, both as an enthusiast and as a Personal trainer (majorly), I have seen both sides to this particular argument.
In this article, I'll be helping you figure out the exact role of a Personal trainer, why should you even think of hiring one, what's their role and ultimately, what is your responsibility when you start working with them.
Let's have a look at it, step by step.
Why should you hire a Personal trainer?
Let's imagine this scenario - It's your first day at the gym, you see buff dudes hogging the machines, bashing the weights, making weird faces in front of the mirror and showing off their bodies. You make peace with that, alright. You are assisted by a Personal Trainer initially, who showcases you the machines and explains briefly how it works. You take a demo session, and you think "Man! Since this guy has already told me how everything works, he has also given me a plan for my first week, I can do it all by myself. There's no chance I'm spending my hard earned money for some Personal Training! Ehh..."
Yes, not everyone would be like this. People would have different thought processes. I am just highlighting the majority of the people I have come across. Maybe, you'll just be one of those people who thinks, "let me give it a shot by myself and then if needed, I'll go for a Personal Training."
However, that "if needed" usually comes out of desperation rather than us wanting to learn. Why fix it, if it ain't broke?
However, that's fine. Not everyone needs a Personal Trainer. But most people do. Most people think, they don't need a Personal Trainer because they think all they do is Provide them with information which is available for free on social media etc.
No doubt there are Personal trainers who impose information, half of the times, incorrect information, which typically has created this belief. Even I thought so when I was just an enthusiast. But boy oh boy! If a Personal Trainer knows what they're doing (Roles and responsibilities explained below), they are an amazing investment.
You can typically consider the following criteria, to hire a Personal trainer -
You want to make a healthy change in your lifestyle.
You want to shed off some fat or build muscle or both
You want to improve your posture
It's your first day at the gym
It's your 10,000th day at the gym
You want to improve performance
If you are a recreational athlete.
If you yourself, are a Personal Trainer.
This pretty much includes majority of the population. Notice how I have included people who have been regular "gym goers" and professionals as well.
The reason being, you can always learn something new. Even being a professional.
As I am writing this article, I already have a person in my head who is going to be my future coach.
I have not included professional athletes here. The only reason being, there are specialists who do this job in a much better manner.
If you fall under any of the above 8 categories, it's absolutely fine for you to consider Personal training.
With that said, let's dig deep into a Personal Trainer's role.
Role of a Personal trainer
To be very honest, it's pretty confusing for us when we see a Personal Trainer help people with exercises, giving out Diet plans, recommending and selling supplements, prescribing drugs (YES THAT HAPPENS) etc.
Despite "scope of practice" being out very first chapter in the Personal Training Curriculum, it's kind of ironic isn't it?
So, am I saying that Personal Trainers shouldn't help you with supplements or your diet. Hell no.
Over time, I have realised that people need a one stop solution. Which means if they join a gym and decide to go for a Personal training coaching, they would not prefer spending money for a nutrition coach, a rehab specialist, a lifestyle specialist etc.
That is why many certifying agencies, include the basics of almost everything in a standard Personal Training course.
So a Personal trainer might not be able to "prescribe" you a written diet plan, but they can certainly help you with your Nutrition and Lifestyle choices. That's actually a good thing because Diet Plans don't work for majority of the population. More on that later.
Since Personal trainers do a lot of things, to make this easier for you, I have divided their roles and responsibilities according to - A (Skilled and Specialised) B (Knowledgeable but not specialised) C (Not skilled not Specialised).
All Roles and Responsibilities are mentioned just for a Personal trainer here. Your Personal trainer may be a nutrition coach or a rehab specialist as well, so it's always cool to ask this!
A - Skilled and Specialised
The best thing a Personal Trainer does is pretty subjective. It would be unfair of me to just list a couple of things here, because in all fairness, knowledge is unlimited.
The points I'd be mentioning here are just for reference purposes. I would highly recommend you to sit and have a chat with your Personal Trainer about their USPs!
Helping you with Exercise Programming (Creating a Customised Plan)
Helping you create and set goals - Effectively divide your goals into Macro, Meso, and Microcycles.
Helping you with exercise form/technique.
Conducting assessments (these include a 1 mile treadmill walk test etc) which would help them with a clear view to understand your body from a physiological point of view.
Encourage you through the courage phase
Bring in a Lifestyle Change!
You might think this is not a lot! Well, if you really go into the depth of it, it's an entire universe.
B - Knowledgeable but not specialised
Now this list is pretty vague. The simple reason being, Personal Trainers are given basic knowledge about many things. For example, knowledge with respect to Nutrition including calories, respective Vitamins and Minerals etc. But that doesn't mean they'll start prescribing diets to cure a Binge Eating Disorder. It's a fine line, and as a responsible client, it is always advisable to be aware of these things. Not everyone is honest about these facts!
Helping you with Nutritional knowledge
Helping you with knowledge and facts about supplementation
Working in sync with your physiotherapist to help you feel better
Helping you understand what the correct posture is, from a general point of view
Provide you with information plus data (using a peer reviewed research paper) with respect to chronic or genetic illnesses/diseases, in a super simplified way.
C - Not skilled neither specialised
Now this one is pretty obvious, but I really don't know why we don't pay attention to this.
Can't treat or cure any form of illnesses/diseases. Hello Doctors?
Can't provide or prescribe you with diet plan.
Can't give you massages. Hello Massage Therapists?
Can't suggest you specific supplements
Can't sell you supplements (Unless you visit a shop etc)
Prescribe Drugs.. Duhh!
To be honest, all of these things are pretty much on paper. They hardly make it to the real world. I personally feel this is because the Fitness industry is relatively new and young, especially in India. Because of this, we don't really have set roles and responsibilities for Personal trainers, Sports Nutritionists, Nutrition Coaches, Registered Dietitians or Nutritionists. Yes, all have different role and responsibilities!
But does that mean we start becoming careless about the same? As clients, we need to be super careful what our trainers know and what they can do. It's a matter of your life and all I'm asking you to do, is be a little aware. That's it.
Your responsibilities while you're getting coached
Is it accountability? Is it adherence? "Oh I'd be such a bad client if I don't stick to the plan!"
All of these factors do matter, without a doubt. But there is something you are forgetting. And it's pretty huge. It's called consistent evaluation!
Whose consistent evaluation? Not yours, your Personal Trainer's!
Just like your coach analyses your performance and work, you need to start doing the same.
Here's a key point though. Very few people are actually honest about their Coaching experience. Honesty usually comes in with technical aspects like type of exercises and the abilities, for example - "Hey man, I'm just not able to perform the movement you told me to. Please help me with something easier!"
However, it never comes out with respect to coaching. Or even if does, you've kind of made up your mind that he/she isn't the right Personal trainer for me. It's like an ugly breakup.
We all are human, and we evolve with consistent feedback. It would be very useful for you if you maintain this honest yet professional relationship with your Personal Trainer!
At the end of the day, all Personal Trainers are just Personal trainers, i.e they "train" you.
Which means, there needs to be feedback from both ends in order to make this journey successful.
A client-coach relationship is always like a partnership in nature, not authoritative.
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