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How Do I Choose a Personal Trainer?
What is the most important criteria in deciding if a trainer is qualified?
While it is hard to pick one criteria that is the most important, education is probably it. In the past, a "personal trainer" was the biggest
guy in the gym, and others who wanted to look like him asked him for advice. The funny thing is that those guys probably got big in spite of what
they were doing, not because of it. Now, as gyms try to avoid lawsuits, and the American public is starting to understand that exercise is critical to
health, more people are becoming Personal Trainers, and more people are looking to hire a qualified one. At minimum, a qualified Personal Trainer should
have a Bachelor's Degree in a field such as Exercise Science, Exercise Physiology, Kinesiology, Health and Wellness, Sport Science, or something of that nature. Looking
the part should not be sufficient! If a Personal Trainer has a Bachelor's Degree in an exercise-related field, at least he or she has had the
minimum standard of classes, such as Anatomy, Kinesiolgy, Biology, etc, to understand the human body and how it works. This is critical to understanding
each client's body, and how to properly design an exercise program based on each individual client.
For your information, Jacky has a Master's Degree in Exercise and Sport Science from Colorado State University, which has one of the leading research
labs in the country for this field.
Is it important that the Personal Trainer is certified?
While some people believe that a certification is just a piece of paper, it is a good idea to choose a Personal Trainer with a nationally-recognized
and respected certification as a Personal Trainer. Being certified means that the person has gone through some sort of testing to determine if he or she
has an adequate amount of knowledge on a topic to be considered proficient. However, some companies have formed in order to make money, where any person
can sit at home at his or her computer and take a simple test and get a certification as a "Personal Trainer". This type of certification, unfortunately,
is misleading to the average American looking for a trainer, since he or she probably wouldn't know the difference between a respectable and this
second type of certification. So, to help you, look for organizations like these when the trainer says s/he is certified: American College of Sports
Medicine (ACSM); the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM); the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA); or, lately, the American
Council on Exercise (ACE) has become respectable. There are many other organizations that certify people as Personal Trainers, but these are the leading
ones, and mean that a person certified by them is probably a knowledgable person.
Are there any "red flags" when looking for a Personal Trainer?
Yes, there are some signs that a Personal Trainer may not have your optimal health in mind. You should probably avoid the trainer if you encounter any
of these warning signs.
First, if a trainer tries to sell you supplements, they are probably working outside of their scope of practice. Some trainers sell "nutritional supplements",
like ergogenic aids that they claim will make you body burn more fat, etc. If you are required or pushed to use supplements beyond a vitamin or
protein powder, then the trainer is probably just trying to make more profits from you. Many of these supplements do not have any scientific evidence
supporting the claims they make about effectiveness. So, the trainer clearly did not do any research into whether or not this is a good supplement. Unfortunately,
there is no magic pill, and you should not be pushed into paying for a fake one. Plus, the trainer may require all clients to take the supplement(s) and
no supplement is right for all people.
Also, some trainers will write up diet plans for clients. This is outside of a Certified Personal Trainer's scope of practice. No personal trainer, unless
he or she is also a Registered Dietician, has the ability to write up a food plan for a client to eat. If he or she does so, then that trainer can be
sued for any damages that the client may experience. Again, no food plan is going to work for all people, and besides making general guideline suggestions
for clients, trainers may not overstep their bounds. If a trainer tells you to have a shake for breakfast and lunch and then what to eat for dinner, they
are not following their rules and are giving you bad advice anyway. This is almost never a healthy, long-term option, and so should not be recommended. Good
eating habits should be encouraged instead.
For your information, Jacky encourages you to avoid bad fats, eat fruits and vegetables often, and avoid junk food most of the time. She can help
with good eating habits, but otherwise, will encourage you to make good food choices yourself and teach you how to do that. All this is within her scope
of practice, and is something she passionately wants to help more people achieve--for a long, healthy life, lived at the best of your ability and with
the most amount of fun and happiness.
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Jacky Burke - Certified Personal Trainer
Jacky is certified by the following organizations:
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