How to Find a Personal Trainer
One of the many reasons people hire personal trainers is to ease into the fitness world as beginners.
However, personal trainers don’t come cheap, and if you are going to spend your money on one, you need to ensure that your trainer cares about your progress and goals just as much as they care about your money.
That’s why it’s essential to learn the correct way to approach finding a personal trainer before meeting with a few of them.
There are good and bad personal trainers out there, but you have to sift through to find one that fits your needs. Here’s what you need to consider before hiring a good personal trainer.
Related: Best tips for gym beginners (+ FREE workout plan)
How to Find a Personal Trainer
How to Find a Personal TrainerOne key takeaway from having a personal trainer is that it’s not the personal trainer’s job to define goals for you. You must know what you are looking to get out of the relationship.
That said, you must obviously start by explaining your goals to a few personal trainers and asses how they relate to you and how you relate to them.
A good personal trainer will listen to you and be straightforward about how you can achieve your goals.
I have met trainers who talked more about themselves, how they trained, what they ate, and pretty much cared less about what I wished to accomplish with them.
1. Is the personal trainer certified?
Do not assume that just because someone claims to be a personal trainer, they are actually qualified.
In this digital age, anyone can obtain certification overnight and claim to be a “certified personal trainer.”
It is your right to ask where they studied, the accreditation of the qualification, what they learned and for how long, etc., because these days you can get a personal trainer qualification with only 4 hours of study.
If you are not comfortable asking them directly about their education, approach the gym management and request the personal trainer’s credentials.
2. What is their experience?
Finding a personal trainer with the right personal trainer qualifications isn’t enough. The trainer must have real-world experience in the field to be considered for hiring, even as an online personal trainer.
Ask them questions. Please find out how long they have been in the fitness industry. Ask about the clients they have worked with.
You should also request the success stories and the ‘before and after’ photos of their clients.
Whatever your goal, please find out how many clients they have trained in that particular area and the time it took to see the results.
This will help you gauge how long it will take for you to reach your goals with them as your fitness trainer.
3. How do they relate to their current clients?
Observe personal trainers as they work with their current clients. You’d be surprised at how many trainers I have seen who do not respect their client’s time.
I have seen trainers who spend half the time chit-chatting with the client or with the people around them.
Some trainers ignore their clients and are constantly texting on their phones. I have also seen trainers who are impressively engaged with their clients.
A great and professional personal trainer will focus their attention on the client during their paid-for sessions.
Free workout plans
4. How does the personal trainer intend to hold you accountable?
If your goal is weight or fat loss, the trainer should be able to advise you upfront on using food tracking apps, such as MyFitnessPal or Eat This Much, or recommend a fitness planner to track your meals, workouts, and overall progress.
As the saying goes, ‘Anyone can work out for an hour, but to control what goes on the plate the other 23 hours, that’s hard work.’
A great trainer will ask you to track your meals and provide feedback at the end of the week or as agreed upon.
How long should you hire a personal trainer
Okay, so now you have found the perfect personal trainer who has the right qualifications and knows their stuff. Here’s the big question: how long should I hire a personal trainer?
Well, this depends entirely on your goals and budget. The trainer should be able to tell you how long it should take to achieve your goals.
If you have no set goals, I can tell you for free that some personal trainers will take full advantage of you and make you a cash cow.
Know what you want and match that to what is available in your wallet. A reasonable timeframe to hire a personal trainer is between 3-6 months.
Final thoughts
Finally, finding a good personal trainer who knows what they are doing is only half the work. You are accountable for the results you want to see.
If you put in minimum effort, you will get minimum results. Your fitness goals must be realistic.
Sometimes, people want to see results overnight and expect miracles from trainers. When this doesn’t happen, they quickly give up and tarnish the reputation of personal trainers.
Related post: Top 10 personal trainers/coaches in South Africa
This is super helpful! I always assumed that people hire a personal trainer and then ask them what they should do to be healthy. I hadn’t really thought about defining goals before hiring one. Great tip!
I’ve never thought of hiring a personal trainer, mostly because I’m afraid they’ll yell at me. Okay, so most of my personal trainer knowledge comes from TV and movies, lol. If I had the money, I’d do it now. I need someone to keep me motivated!
Personal trainers daunt me. I don’t know why but it is just not something I think I’d engage in unless I found someone particularly inspiring!
I’ve always wanted to hire a personal trainer but I’ve been lacking the motivation to even get myself to go to the gym. If I was going to hire one I would probably just use the recommendation at whatever gym I happen to be at .
I agree. There must be so many people out there claiming to be a personal trainer but the question is, are they actually qualified. It is important to check their certification and credentials.
This is one of the perks at my husband’s work, to get a free personal trainer each semester. He talks about many of your very points, especially the relationship piece and being accountable.
Very helpful information. Besides making sure my trainer is certified, I always want to work with someone who will push me but not to the extent of hurting myself. I also want someone who will take into account my body type and goals I want to achieve.
About 10 years ago I had just had heart surgery and really wanted to exercise but had to be extremely careful. I hired a personal trainer and it was a great experience!
Hiring the right personal trainer is so essential for someone who is looking for help reaching their health and fitness goals. Not every training style will work for every client, so it’s important for someone looking for a trainer to make sure they share what their goals/motivations are, as well as what helps keep them accountable.
Trainers are something you definitely want to research. It’s all about the right for. I have used random trainers at the gym before and hated them because they didn’t workout like I like to…
I would also consider the trainer’s personal experiences – for example, I had a trainer who wasn’t a mom and was freshly certified. She showed no compassion or understanding in regards to what moms deal with physically, mentally, or emotionally, and she had no training experience as far as postnatal recovery. It’s impossible to relate to every client but I felt that with so many moms out there, she should have been more compassionate towards parents as clients.