Almost everyone has contemplated hiring a personal trainer or fitness professional at some point throughout their adult life. Whether their goal is to lose weight, get toned, get stronger or more athletic, the typical ‘easy way out’ is to just hire someone.
It goes without saying that not everyone with a Kinesiology degree or a fancy personal training certification has the knowledge and skills necessary to transform your dreams in to reality.
If you are a ‘consumer’ of the fitness industry, you need to take every promise, and every ‘sale’ with a grain of salt. You cannot always trust that a Personal trainer has what it takes to get you where you want. You need to do the following things when beginning your search for the RIGHT Fitness Professional.
First
Ask the hard questions! Have you ever worked with someone like me before? For how long? What were their results? Do not be afraid to challenge them, after all they are going to challenge you to become a better person.
Now
Test their commitment to their clients! It may not come as a surprise that like any other ‘professional’ a Personal trainer can often ‘over-promise and under deliver’.
You need to know how they will keep track of your progress. What measurements you will they use to keep you on track. What is their tailored plan for YOU (or are you getting the same as everyone else?). You trainer needs to have a direct plan based on your goals for how the workouts are structured.
They need to provide you with a plan to follow both during and outside of your scheduled sessions. What good is it to financially invest in a trainer that will not develop a full program? If they want to change the workouts daily or even weekly, they aren’t worth your time or money!
A true program builds on itself; it does not completely change with every workout. The human body adapts to stress over time. If you are changing the stress too often, your body will never change.
Then
What are their communications skills like? The last thing you want is a personal trainer that doesn’t know how to explain what they need you to do.
This can go multiple different ways because although some trainers are great salesman, they do not actually understand the physiology of the human body. If they can’t communicate how they are going to help you without fumbling around for a sales catch phrase, it’s time to move on.
On the other hand, if they are speaking in terms you cannot actually understand, that may be just as frustrating because you will get absolutely nothing done. A great test of ones understanding of complex material, like the human body, is to see how well they can take that information and communicate in terms that even a child could understand.
The ability to communicate effectively will drastically increase your odds of success, making your investment in yourself worth every penny.
This should be a fun. But also a serious process in choosing the professional responsible for taking you to the finish line with your goals. Asking questions, understanding their level of commitment to you and establishing clear communication are your best tools. These principles apply to all areas of life and business, helping people navigate a very confusing and distracting field.