What should I look for when finding a Trainer?
Written by Andrew Meyer
7 Questions you should answer before recruiting your new trainer
The task of finding a Personal Trainer will be overloaded with options. Personal Trainers and training facilities are in a massive increase due to the demand. With so many options, you possibly do not have a clue where to start your selection, especially if you want a highly competent Personal Trainer. Choosing wisely will make a successful training experience, which will be great value for money and give the results you need.
1. Are they trustworthy?
Trust is a very understated part of a Personal Trainers business. If a trainer does not have the full trust of their client it will create a barrier to getting results. The encouragement, knowledge sharing and praise will go unnoticed if you do not truly believe them.
2. What do they offer other than a 121 session?
Is this potential trainer just a glorified fitness instructor or do they offer a personalised service that will inevitably get you the results you need. How are they measuring your progress? Are they changing things up according to your progress? Are you getting programmes for when you train alone? How much knowledge do they share outside of your training sessions? These are just some of the services trainers should have and offer as part of your training package.
3. Have they got a niche and is it suited to your needs?
It comes with the territory that all trainers start with a general client base to build a business. Hopefully once they have a few years experience they progress to training either a niche type of client or specialise in a training technique. Training with a trainer that does not usually train someone like you or in a technique they not proficient in will almost be a waste of your time and money, reason for this is they learning about you or the technique as they go along. They should be bold enough to refer you to a trainer that does fit your profile.
4. Are they available?
The largest obstacle with finding a highly competent trainer is their services are in high demand. If you have found that perfect trainer for you but they fully booked you could do one of two things: 1) Go on their waiting list and ask them for programme design to keep you going until your training starts 2) Ask them who they would recommend to train you until their services come available.
5. Have they got legitimate reviews and testimonials?
If this potential Trainer is doing everything right by their clients, the clients will be shouting loudly about the training journey they experiencing and what it is that makes them a highly competent Personal Trainer.
6. What do their peers say about them?
Peer reviews are like gold, especially in the testosterone dominant Personal Training industry because if a trainer says another trainer is good it’s most likely they are. Not all trainers will fit what you looking for so ask them what they think of your choices. Just take care to avoid biased opinions due to competition for business.
7. Can you afford them?
What a Trainer charges is mostly based around the facility they work in, experience and qualifications they have. So ideally work out how much per month you have got available, then workout how many sessions you can buy per month with that trainer on your budget. One session a week with your perfect Trainer will be better than three a week with a terrible one.
If you have done your search and found more than one option of Trainers to choose from, ask these questions for each and see how they measure up against each other. You might find you match with a couple them. So ask for a trial session or consultation to see if you click first before buying into bigger blocks of training. A trainer that may look good on paper, may not get their message across to you as you need it.
