Train Smarter, Not Harder

One of my biggest pet peeves about the Fitness Industry is the lack of professionalism in a lot of the trainers.

An example of this was evident at a seminar I attended this past weekend. The title of the seminar was Senior Fitness. Having worked with seniors since 2003 I feel that I have the ability to judge when another trainer can work with seniors.

Our first two hour session was entitled Home-Based Workouts for Seniors. The instructor is a local trainer who runs a lot of boot camps.  He also taught a seminar last year for Baby Boomers Fitness.
During both this years and last years seminars he tried to impress us by how hard he could make us work. I call this having the boot camp mind set.

While doing this he knew nothing about our past medical histories. He also didn't care how the individuals performed the exercises. He talked about the importance of using proper technique when exercising, but didn't spend any time correcting improper form being used by the attendees. The surest way to injure someone is have them use improper form when exercising.

Each time I talked to other attendees on Sunday their comments where similar. We where sore enough that we knew the instructor had pushed us too far. He never took the time to find out if we where ready for the volume of exercises he had us do.

He also taught another session on Sunday afternoon entitled Ten Essential Exercises for Seniors. They exercises where all great exercise. Once again he had the attendees pushing themselves too hard and didn't try to correct improper form. Do the people that attend his boot camps get in better shape? Sure, but at what cost?

He did admit that the seniors that attend his boot camps are all healthy and stronger than your average senior. that doesn't mean he can train everyone that way.

How can you tell if the trainer you are interested in hiring is a true professional? How do you know if your training is truly personal?

1.  They find out as much about your past medical history as possible.

2.  They take into account this history before you attempt any exercises.

3.  They constantly monitor every movement you make while working with you. They will give you positive feedback when they see changes needed in the way you are moving.

4.  They explain not only how to perform an exercise, but also why it should be performed they way it is. They should be educating you while you train so you have a better understanding of how your body works. 

5. They admit when they don't know an answer to a question, but are willing to find out what the answer is before you meet the next time.

6. They are flexible when you don't feel like doing something during a work out. Just because they want you to do something doesn't mean they will make you do it. 

6.  They know when to push you when needed and more importantly when to back off the intensity when needed. Any trainer can push you harder. A true professional knows how to get results with the least amount of intensity required, not the most.

7. The next time you meet they should begin the work out by asking how your body is doing physically. This will also give the trainer an idea of how you are doing emotionally and mentally. Why is this important? What you do during a workout is not as important as how your body is adapting between workouts. No one gets stronger by working out. You get stronger by recovering between workouts.

8. The first few workouts should be fairly easy for you. As you progress they will become more challenging, but only after you are ready for that. I feel that one of the biggest mistakes people make when beginning an exercise program is that they push themselves too much. One of the biggest mistakes they make after exercising for a few months is they don't challenge themselves enough. The right trainer can make sure you know when and how much to push yourself.

These concepts can be summarized by one statement.

When hiring a personal Trainer make sure they have you "Train Smarter, Not Harder"