What are your fitness credentials?

[Matt]

ya, but that's how the gym's business model works right? The more people who sign long contracts and don't come, the more space they have available for new sales.

Sucks for the trainers though.

 

[Eason]

All my clients had free memberships due to their employment benefits with Microsoft, they were just cheap or lazy motherfuckers. Other gyms, like Golds, do operate on a high-pressure enrollment pitch.

 

[kwilkinson]

Do trainers work for the gym and get paid by the hour regardless of whether they're training or not, or do they work for the individuals at the gym and get paid only when they're with a client? Lish's stepbrother is an amateur bodybuilder and PT and he makes pretty decent money, but I've never really gathered how that works out.

 

[thekunk07]

my friend owns 3 powerhouse gyms. each have @12k members. they couldn;t handle the volume if people didn't typically crap out after a month or two. every night i go to the gym, it;s the same 20 people.

 

[Eason]

Originally Posted by kwilkinson

Do trainers work for the gym and get paid by the hour regardless of whether they're training or not, or do they work for the individuals at the gym and get paid only when they're with a client? Lish's stepbrother is an amateur bodybuilder and PT and he makes pretty decent money, but I've never really gathered how that works out.
Trainers are almost universally commissioned. My gym did a low salary (30k) for the first year, after that you got kicked to commission (roughly $30/hr in direct pay to the trainer for a private client, $18/hr for a medical client "gifted" to us. Seattle is an expensive hole, so most people worked as many clients as they could, sometimes 10-14 hour days with just 5 minutes between clients, 6 days a week. When you're commissioned, you're a slave to your schedule. If somebody can't come to work out during a time you'd like to be at the gym, then you have to choose between making your rent or getting any free time at all. Bottom line IMO is that if you're working for a corporate gym, you'll never be happy or get anywhere. They're disgusting places of exploit, so I quit.

 

[kwilkinson]

Sounds like pretty ****** work. Why did you/they do it? I know this guy wants to own his own gym someday and it gives him a chance to workout at his leisure between clients.

 

[Matt]

Originally Posted by kwilkinson

Do trainers work for the gym and get paid by the hour regardless of whether they're training or not, or do they work for the individuals at the gym and get paid only when they're with a client? Lish's stepbrother is an amateur bodybuilder and PT and he makes pretty decent money, but I've never really gathered how that works out.

suspect that the answer there is 'depends on the gym and the person'.

I have friends who run the bigger gyms here, they have a couple of trainers on the payroll as gym supervisors, drawing an hourly rate. For those guys, their training sessions are extra money - they split it somewhere between 50-50 and 30-70 self-gym.

They also allow other trainers to come in from outside, and again, split the training fees. They also allow those trainers to advertise in some trainers directory thing, but charge them for that.

At my gym, which is run by someone who is probably a bit too nice for his own good, he allows all his staff to do one training session per day while they are on the clock as extra income for them, other freelancers to come in free, and takes no percentage from them. "Anything to keep the members happy." He is a bit too nice.

 

[Eason]

Because you get told all kinds of stories by the recruiter, how you can make your own schedule, make up to $40/hr, and you see pictures of a huge and fancy looking spa/club and you think it would be great. You move up there to work and you get stuck in a lease, you have to deal with a disgusting corporate hierarchy and red tape, you see how much money the club is making off of you compared to working privately, and then you plan your escape.

note: there are people who train part time, but are not trainers. They often get a salaried rate for whatever their normal position is (medical testing or filing or something) for x number of hours, and the rest of the time they can do training sessions. It's probably the only way I would have kept working at my job.

 

[PolePosition]

So I've been a member of two different gyms and usually I don't pay attention to the trainers, but sometimes between sets or if I'm just nosy I'll watch what they are doing with their clients.... I don't know if this is normal practice, but how come these trainers I've witnessed tell their clients to do such stupid routines or train with less than effective exercises? Basically exercises that bodybuilders and athletes do not do (because if they were effective at building strength they'd be doing them). I can't even think of the names of the exercises because they aren't listed under exercises that are normally performed when people give out their lists heh. An example of the stupid routine would be this trainer asking his female client to walk forward with arms extended while he offered resistance by being at the opposite end of her arms and walking at a slower pace, and then when that was done they proceeded to work on doing punches on some mitts. What's the point of all that? And he wasn't even correcting her extremely poor form in punching (she was just throwing her hands out there).....maybe these aren't good examples but anyone else know what I'm talking about? lol

 

[Eason]

Originally Posted by PolePosition

So I've been a member of two different gyms and usually I don't pay attention to the trainers, but sometimes between sets or if I'm just nosy I'll watch what they are doing with their clients.... I don't know if this is normal practice, but how come these trainers I've witnessed tell their clients to do such stupid routines or train with less than effective exercises? Basically exercises that bodybuilders and athletes do not do (because if they were effective at building strength they'd be doing them). I can't even think of the names of the exercises because they aren't listed under exercises that are normally performed when people give out their lists heh. An example of the stupid routine would be this trainer asking his female client to walk forward with arms extended while he offered resistance by being at the opposite end of her arms and walking at a slower pace, and then when that was done they proceeded to work on doing punches on some mitts. What's the point of all that? And he wasn't even correcting her extremely poor form in punching (she was just throwing her hands out there).....maybe these aren't good examples but anyone else know what I'm talking about? lol
The first exercise you are talking about is called a ward, and it's a decent and fun way of training core stability. Working out is easy once you have the technique down, it's just boring. Most people train with trainers because they want to be introduced to something fun and new for them, so that's why the trainers do that. I wouldn't want to train with someone who just had me doing basic BB exercises, it's not fun and I don't need to be shown them. As for punching the mitts, that's just for fun and to get the HR up again.

 

[beasty]

Originally Posted by Eason

Consultations are often depressing.

"I want to achieve x."

"Okay, you'll need to spend y time doing z."

"Ohh... is there some other way?"
*person never goes to gym again*

actually sometimes it's "alright, sounds awesome I'm gonna hit this **** hard!"
and then 1 week later *person never goes to gym again*

Hey, I am not riding on you but maybe its not them but you?
I mean like many here, you don't have an innate sense of the sort of help people need. You just babble away like the rest. If you note, I am the only who do offer great advice.

Also, I see many personal trainers while working, being disinterested, on the phone with one hand while spotting with the others, chatting with his other pals, not at all motivational and boring. Training should be tough, produce results and be fun too.

So you cant blame them if they find better alternatives. That aint a slur on you. Just others have a better fit than you.

Some people just cant find it in themselves to tell you off, especially if you gonna break down and cry. So they are just being diplomatic. Don't misinterpret that for laziness.

 

[why]

Originally Posted by whacked

Do tell.

There's a lot of varied reasons. Keep in mind this isn't a 'gym'. It's a private training studio where the same staff and same clients see each other a few times per week and everyone works with a trainer. There's no real machines and such besides an adjustable pulley functional trainer so it's pretty fun and varied. Most people go there to work out because they enjoy the atmosphere and the facility (clean shower, clean bathroom, free water and clean towel always, iPod dock, 40" TV that's only shared between 3 other people, adjustable satellite radio, etc.).

I'm starting to sound like I have my spiel memorized.

 

[thekunk07]

^i can;t stand gyms with ammenities. i guess that's why until recently, i always wnent to westside style gyms.

 

[Eason]

Originally Posted by beasty

Hey, I am not riding on you but maybe its not them but you? I mean like many here, you don’t have an innate sense of the sort of help people need. You just babble away like the rest. If you note, I am the only who do offer great advice. Also, I see many personal trainers while working, being disinterested, on the phone with one hand while spotting with the others, chatting with his other pals, not at all motivational and boring. Training should be tough, produce results and be fun too. So you cant blame them if they find better alternatives. That aint a slur on you. Just others have a better fit than you. Some people just cant find it in themselves to tell you off, especially if you gonna break down and cry. So they are just being diplomatic. Don’t misinterpret that for laziness.
Careful about projecting your own insecurities onto others, friend. Never had anybody want to change trainers on me, though I did pick up 4-5 clients who were changing from other trainers. People talk straight if you talk straight and professionally, and there's rarely any mis-communication.

 

[beasty]

Originally Posted by Eason

Careful about projecting your own insecurities onto others, friend. Never had anybody want to change trainers on me, though I did pick up 4-5 clients who were changing from other trainers. People talk straight if you talk straight and professionally, and there's rarely any mis-communication.

Really? If you say so.
There is no need to feel insecure since I do not do the same job as you.
Anyway you wont know if people change trainers on you. Its not as if the industry is that small.

Anyway there was a case where this gal changed from one trainer to another trainer in my gym and although all 3 parties were all smiles, you can detect the uneasiness in the currents underneath.