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Personal trainers- your thoughts - Page 2

post #16 of 23
3/31/11 at 9:07pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Fuzzypuppy View Post
At Equinox, I'm convinced that the trainers must have some sort of competition to see who can get their clients to do the stupidest, most crazy exercise they can create.

I'll cosign this and add dangerous to your list of stupid and crazy.
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post #17 of 23
4/7/11 at 1:11am
I have an Equinox trainer I love - he keeps the workouts fresh and challenging, and I'm noticing constant changes in my body shape, strength, cardio and overall fitness. He has no shortage of lifts, routines, programs and styles drawing from traditional weight lifting, boxing, running, yoga, kettle bells, and flexibility work. Looking around, I can tell a lot of them are dummies who know a couple things about working out, but not much about helping people achieve their specific goals.
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post #18 of 23
4/7/11 at 4:36am
Depends on your level and experience with fitness and the results you are trying to achieve. Your average gym trainer does nothing more than force you to exercise, much like a lot of those prep classes for standardized testing etc. If you're just getting into fitness, this may be a good way to get acquainted with various basic regimens/exercises and force yourself to get into a good routine. If you're more serious about your fitness (meaning you already have the self discipline down and know how to basic exercises), you're better off researching new/different routines or following a program like crossfit. If you're looking to get into say collegiate/amateur/professional sports then you probably wouldn't be asking this question here and have a qualified trainer already.
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post #19 of 23
4/7/11 at 5:54am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cool The Kid View Post
What percentage of them are legitimate, and how does one become certified? I recently switched gyms from an expensive franchise to a "bare bones" one, and some of the PTs at this new place aren't even in shape Plus some of the workouts they have people doing What's the deal? Anyone here use em? What's your general feeling about them?
There are basically 3 certifications that are worth something in personal training: NSCA-CPT or CSCS (ideally both), and ACSM-CPT. I have a certification from the NSCA. The ACSM and NSCA are both ruling bodies on sports medicine and have fairly rigorous tests for their certifications. You can't pass them without studying for a long time, and they require (I believe) an undergraduate degree in sport science. Even after I finished my degree, I had to study for a few months to pass the NSCA exams. (I failed to pass the second half of the CSCS exam the first time I took it, passed the 2nd) It should all come down to your gym. If it's a nice, high-class gym or country-club then they probably have stringent hiring guidelines. A place like 24-hour fitness will get the trainers who aren't qualified to work at nicer/better paying gyms. source: me, B.S. in sport science + NSCA-CPT + worked at one of the "best" gyms in the country in both medically supervised rehab and private clients.
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post #20 of 23
4/9/11 at 1:46pm
my friend is a one of the head strength and conditioning coaches at a major pac 10 schoool. he says cscs is the only legit certification there is. he is pretty snooty about personal trainers though (as many strength coaches are), so maybe that's why he says that.
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post #21 of 23
4/9/11 at 3:38pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by pronov View Post
my friend is a one of the head strength and conditioning coaches at a major pac 10 schoool. he says cscs is the only legit certification there is. he is pretty snooty about personal trainers though (as many strength coaches are), so maybe that's why he says that.

It is the recognized gold-standard in the industry, for sure. At the same time, the cert doesn't guarantee a person is worth a damn as a trainer.

Ive talked to a couple of guys who went through the program and had a look at the syllabus and there is basically nothing in there regarding programming. Is there really any topic more important in the S&C worth than designing effective programs? You would think the issue demanded more than 3 pages. *shrug*
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post #22 of 23
4/9/11 at 3:49pm
I worked as a PT in a bare bones facility that was extremely busy since it was the only gym around in a pretty big town. Most of my clients were woman over 30. I did more talking and listening than actual coaching. Most of them just wanted to do a few exercises just to say they 'went to the gym and worked out' I felt like these people were wasting their money. They were paying me to talk to them 80% of the time and stick a few pins in the machines.

We had some very good PT at this gym. The nearby university had a stellar Masters program in Exercise and Science and we would always have a few guys that just finished the program work as PT.

Like it has been said previously, some are really good, but most suck.
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post #23 of 23
4/9/11 at 7:59pm
Thread Starter 
I am really on the fence about some of these trainers. Let me ask you guys who are trainers- is it normal for a trainer to make extensive physical contact w/clients? There's one trainer dude at my gym who only seems to train women, and all he seems to do is "help" them stretch. His only cert is from like a personal trainer "federation". Is client manipulation a big problem in the PT community? Every time I see this dude with a client I get uncomfortable. I mean he is like between these chicks legs pushing their ankles to their heads. What's the deal?
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