Keshav Kumar
Personal fitness consulting and training has gained some popularity in recent years with more fitness enthusiasts looking out for hiring a trainer for helping and guiding them to achieve their respective fitness goals.
Now whether personal fitness training is a lucrative career option is a whole other topic and deserves its own discussion. My focus would be only towards aspects that you may or may not be aware of and that may prove to be beneficial while making the choice before hiring a fitness trainer both online and in person at the gym.
Academic Background: No matter how good looking, well built and fit a trainer is, an academic background can the most ignored aspect which one may consider before choosing a fitness professional. Having a graduation and/or post graduation degree is exercise science, nutrition, strength and conditioning, etc. makes the professional more aware about human anatomy, muscle structure, neuro-muscular functioning, human digestion, supplementation, injury prevention, etc. Graduate and post graduate degrees from a reputed university can make a huge difference and can add to both the theoretical and practical knowledge of the fitness professional. Certifications in fitness training, personal training, sports nutrition, etc. are also necessary. However, they don’t cover enough information, are of short duration and are relatively easier to complete than a university degree. To be a little more specific, Fitness Certification in personal training have a minimum eligibility of 10th pass in India and duration of completing these certifications can last from 2 to 12 months depending on the institute. However, this does not mean that trainers cannot self-study and try to gain more knowledge in their respective fields, it’s just that it rarely happens. On a personal level, I have seem more trainers trying to sell nutritional and sport supplements to their clients rather than aiming for educating and making their clients aware about exercise, diet and supplementation. Some trainers are even clueless when it comes to naming the exercises that they have their clients perform and the machine names on which it is performed. On the other hand, I have also seen trainers and coaches who have made it their life mission to study, gain knowledge and experience in the field of health and fitness so that they can train not only their clients but also make them more aware about the fitness lifestyle.
Communication: Communication is key to any relationship, be it professional or personal. If a trainer is more interactive closer to their payday or when selling you stuff, it should raise a red flag. Communication in terms of explaining the exercises, their complete and safe description, type of exercise program being prepared/followed, why is this program being given and not something else, dietary advice, supplementation advise, hydration and electrolyte information, sleep, rest and recovery, etc. are just some of the parameters which should be clearly explained to the client. Notice that above I have mentioned supplementation advice and not selling supplements to you. There’s a big difference between the two.
Meal Plans/Diet Charts: This is probably the most common and popular parameter that most people take into consideration while hiring a fitness and nutrition trainer when it should be the last thing to look into. Consider the following example for a more in depth explanation of this point: Assuming that an individual wanting to lose weight hires a local trainer who gives the client a specific meal plan. Now before preparing meal plans, certain factors such as medical status of the individual, pre-existing or prior injuries, dietary habits and preferences, individual metabolism, age, gender, energy expenditure, nutritional deficiencies, etc. should be evaluated before a meal plan can be prepared for anyone. If our trainer in this example has not collected this information and/or not obtained a medical clearance from this clients doctor (in case of clients who have medical issues), you can yourself come to conclusion of this particular action. Also, giving out fixed meal patterns to individuals may make the fitness journey only more unattractive and bland as eating the same thing everyday at the same time can easily make one’s relationship with food go in the wrong direction and entice cravings which may lead to further enhanced eating disorders. If you are a client/fitness enthusiast wondering what should be done in this case I recommend reading a bit about dieting on my blog coachkk.blogspot.in and if you are a fitness trainer confused about what I’m saying, you may go through some nutritional and supplementation textbooks of reputed authors.
Interaction with Clients: For all those working with trainers either at a gym or fitness club, regular interactions are quite common. However, in case of hiring a trainer online, this can become an issue. Most trainers expect the clients to get in touch with them regularly to update about progress, any questions or difficulties faced, etc. while on the other hand most clients/fitness enthusiasts expect the trainer to contact them directly and inquire about progress. It is better to have this issue sorted out before paying the fee and hiring the trainer than to have unfulfilled expectations later on.
Listening: This is one skill which has numerous advantages for both the trainer and the client. A trainer who is patient enough to listen to what his//her client is saying, understanding and analyzing it and then giving the solution can have more success when it comes to compliance with the fitness enthusiasts. Listening also helps when you are trying to explain your current situation to the trainer and expecting a response for it.
Collecting Information: Whenever one hires a trainer it is expected that the trainer/coach would prepare an individualized and customized training program for the client/fitness enthusiasts. This can only be done if the trainer/coach has collected some preliminary information from the trainee beforehand. This information can be related to health history, current life style, eating habits, calorie consumption, physical activity status, injuries, food preparation methods, goals, timeline for goals, etc. The level of information to be collected can vary and may be based on the best judgement of the situation the trainee is in currently and the goals expected to be achieved by the trainee. If one gets an exercise, diet and supplementation plan from a so called trainer without the trainer/coach having collected any information, I would consider it as a red flag.
These are just some of the many parameters that one can look out for while hiring either a gym based trainer or an online trainer. Everyone has different fitness goals and thus would look for different attributes before they hire a trainer.
(The author is a Fitness Consultant )
Follow our WhatsApp channel
