So, what does a Personal Trainer acutally do anyways??

The end of the year is fast approaching and that means a lot parties, booze, reunions and the big one, resolutions!  This yearly tradition for many is what Mary Poppins referred to as 'pie-crust' promises.  Our resolutions start off innocent enough but usually take a sour turn at some point.  We ask ourselves, "What can I do to better myself in the New Year?"  If you are anything like the majority, some sort of health or fitness goal is at the top of your list.  Ok, great.  You've made the goal, now comes the hard part, the execution of it.  The truth of the matter is, unless something or someone is motivating you to follow through on you fitness goals, not much is going to come out of it.  Statistics tell us that only 40% of Americans successfully act upon ANY of their resolutions, leaving the other 60% of lick themselves when beach season comes around.  But let's say you are a part of the 40% who are go-getters and want to accomplish your goals.  You've gone to your local gym and signed up for training services.  You are going in balls to the wall and doing whatever it takes to accomplish this.  As you drive home, reality sets in, "Crap! What have I just gotten myself into??!"  Well, what did you get yourself into?  Let's talk about this for a moment.

You better run!  I'm that intimidating!!!!!!  Now drop and give me 20.

Contrary to what you might thing, most Personal Trainers (PT) do not resemble the Hulk, talk like Arnold Schwarzenegger or eat their weight in s everyday.  Look at me for example: my 5'2", 139 lb. frame is a far cry from the Hulk and it isn't at all intimidating to people.  So what should newbies to the personal training world expect from their trainers during the first few sessions?  The first session basically is an introductory meeting of sorts.  The PT will introduce themselves, give you some of their education and background; then after all about them, it's your turn in the spotlight.  You'll both discuss your goals and what brought you to the gym for help.  The answers to the "Why now?" question aren't as broad as you might think.  Generally, there's about 3 to 5 answers that most trainers hear all the time such as 'I need to lose weight for my family' or 'My doctor thinks it would be a good idea to start working out regularly.'  I know you may think that you are the only one who needs to lose weight or get a handle on your health needs, but slow down cowboy, we've all got out problems.  You're not THAT special!  Anyhow, after you talk for a few minutes, you will most likely be put through some basic screens so that the PT can see how you perform.  The PT is also having you do these tests to create a baseline to start with during your regular sessions together.  One thing that you'll spend a lot of time and focus on is you diet and eating habits, after all, dies is about 75-80% of this whole battle.  The D word, I know it's scary but if you break it down in to easy to swallow doses, it's really not that bad to digest, lol.  Your trainer will talk to you about the importance of a well-balanced diet, crunching numbers in the process.  These figures that your PT gives you are your daily caloric needs and the percentages of what macronutrients you need a day.  Macronutrients are simply carbohydrates, proteins and the fats you get from the food you eat.  A good rule of thumb for macronutrient consumption is 50% Carbs, 30% Protein and 20% Fats.  But all those %'s weight heavily on what your diet looks like at the time.  PT's will usually require or ask their clients to record their eating habits for 3 to 5 days to give the practitioner a bigger picture of what their client is consuming and when.  This food log just give a more specific and detailed picture to the PT as to where your nutrition goals are and where they need to educate you on healthier alternatives.

These first couple sessions are not just your PT telling you what's what.  We don't know everything so that's why it's important to ask ALOT of questions.  If your trainer doesn't mention a certification, ask if they have one.  Although, most reputable trainers will let you know in some fashion they hold a certification, some may not, so it's important to inquire about it.  And don't feel that you are stepping over a line by asking.  YOU are the client and YOU are paying for these services and YOU deserve to have the best services that can be offered to you.  Speaking of certifications, there are literally hundreds out there, it's just some are more recognized than others.  Organizations like NASM, ACE, ACSM, and NPTI are some of the most recognized.  Among these, most are self-study but from what I know, NPTI, where I am a current student at, offers hands-on practice, in addition to standard coursework, giving students an edge and overall advantage to how concepts are taught and executed by the students as well as the staff.

Aside from helping people work out and get healthy, PT's also act as your Life Coach, Psychologist, Psychiatrist and Educator, just to name a few of the many other roles they fulfill.  At the beginning of this entry, I named a few things that personal trainers aren't.  Below are the top ten beliefs of people and their thoughts on personal trainers:

1.  We do it for the money.

2.  We're all magazine models.

3.  We're not educated.

4.  We're judgmental.

5.  We're Drill Sergeants.

6.  We're paid to workout.

7.  We're all conceded jocks.

8.  We have all the answers.

9.   We work out.  All Day.  Everyday.

10.  Our jobs are easy.

 

 

As stupid as these may sound, a huge sum of the population believes that these ten reasons sum up the scope of what PT's actually do on a daily basis.  We're not here to belittle you or make you feel inadequate, that's not why most of us got into this field in the first place.  Personally, I like the fact that I'm helping people better themselves and I also like the Medical aspect of it as well.  As for the money, unless you are really good at what you do, most personal trainers make a yearly income of around 45-60,000 a year.  Yeah, there are some fringe benefits from time to time you receive, but most of the PT's in the industry are not in it for the money.  And that shouldn't be what drives you to work in this sort of setting in the first place anyway.  Much of what mainstream television and movies portrays of fitness pro's and dumb jocks walking around gyms with their shirts off flirting with the clients whenever they get the chance.  You can definitely take dumb out of that sentence.  We've worked hard to get those letters behind our names and trust me it's not easy.  I've been taking classes, studying for exams and such since 2005 and that's added onto my undergrad collegiate degree, so basically I've been learning post high-school for about 14 years!  Also, if our jobs were easy, everyone would do it.  It takes a special type of person (that's very clique, I know.) to be able to guide and educate people in health and fitness maintenance, hold themselves and their clients accountable and keep a positive attitude all at the same time.  It's true, we do workout a lot but unless you're a pro-bodybuilder, you won't get paid for it. 

 

Back to those resolutions, don't think about the end result.  True, it's good to have the end result in mind, but make those goals short-term!  And if you have a positive support system in place, that's a great start.  Motivators can come in all forms and the more you have the more you'll knock those resolutions off your to-do list one by one.