There's a lot of individuals that call themselves "trainers" that's nowhere close to being qualified. Just because someone is "certified", doesn't mean they're qualified. So how do you weed out the bad from the good?
The internet and social media made it much easier to market personal training services. It's easy to think when we see someone do cool and crazy exercises on Instagram that they must know how to train someone. Well, does anyone who graduate college qualify to teach English grammar?
There's plenty of fitness coaches and personal trainers that are great at training themselves, but not diversified enough to teach others.
Where to start?
Referrals
Yelp, Google, Instagram, and Facebook will always be a good search tool, but the best way to find a personal trainer is through referrals. It's best to know someone with firsthand experience of what training with that person is like. It can reveal certain aspects of that trainer such as are they paying attention to you or are they busy talking to their coworkers. Are they providing feedback and motivation, or are they busy texting their friends and/or checking themselves out in the mirror.
First Meeting
Do you feel like you're being sold?
It's no secret that this is a business transaction, but it's also very much intertwined with emotions. It's your health and well-being, mental health, and happiness. Yes, your happiness. Imagine investing $2000 into someone that's not who they claimed to be. Bet you're not going to be happy.
If this potential trainer comes off more interested in signing you up for a package rather than getting to know who you are as a person, what your needs are, and also this is important, identifying if they're the right fit for you. It's time to say goodbye.
Let them down easy as their ego could've just taken a substantial hit.
Are they dressed for the part?
You may think this is not important, however, would you go to a physical therapist dressed like "IT"? I like my arm, I intend on keeping it thank you very much. You may think it's their knowledge that matters most and you're right. However, I believe those who take their profession seriously also dress the part. IT was much dedicated to his job of terrorizing the streets of Derry, Maine, and he was well dressed for his job. Too well.
Buy ONLY a few sessions, and check your chemistry.
No, not talking about the 3 forms of H2O kind of chemistry. The other important one. I believe your personal trainer should feel like a friend. They should feel like someone you can come to if you have a problem in your life or want to share something exciting that just happened.
Your personal trainer should be someone that motivates and empowers you.
Staying the course, and saying goodbye.
Once you've found the trainer that's right for you, be prepared for a potential long relationship. There's no magic pill. Trainers aren't wizards. There's no waving the barbell and boom, transformation. It's the day-in and day-out consistency in exercising and healthy eating habits that's going to help you reach your goals and lead a healthy life.
However, our lives change. It's the natural order of life. Your personal trainer should adapt to your life changes. If not, it's time to find what's right for the next step in your journey. All of this is about your and helping your build a better quality of life.