Hiring a personal trainer

[connorlevismom]

I am getting a person trainer as a Christmas gift from my DH . It will be an at home trainer as I have a weight system, a treadmill, a Bosu, and balance ball at home. Does anyone have any advice how to look for a home trainer? What questions do I ask?

Kristine

 

[fofinia]

Sorry I don't have any advice for you. I've never used a trainer. But I just wanted to say what a lucky girl you are! That would be awesome!!

 

[Tiger Lily 03]

I think if you have friends or some gyms that may give referrals that would be a big plus.

The trainer I worked with was a womens coach for a local community college track team. I was paired with her by the gym I belong to b/c I was using her to improve my running/walking/wogging ability knowing that the rest of the healthy benefits would follow. She and I worked out of the gym. My point being that you may want to think out what it is you want to achieve by the trainer in order to determine if this person is the one with experience to get you there.

I thought about this since you first posted and decided to try to Google "questions to ask when hiring a personal trainer" and located a couple of good suggestions.

I will offer the links to the 2 I thought say it well:

How to Find a Personal Trainer Who's Right for You

6 Questions to Ask Before Hiring A Personal Trainer

I am interested to learn what you decide and how you made youir decision! WISHing that your personal trainer is everything you could dream of and I know you will find it a big success.

 

[dkostel]

I listen to Jillian Michael's radio show (from the biggest loser) and she gave a good tip for getting a bargain on a trainer. If you find one you like at a big gym (ie Ballys or 24 hour) and they charge $100-125, the trainer is only seeing about $25 of that. She suggested that you tactfully ask if you could hire them outside the big gym - she said a lot of them also work or workout other places where they can charge less and keep more.

 

[connorlevismom]

Thank you guys so much for your advice!

I did have a trainer at the YMCA that I really liked but I quit the club because it just got way to expensive. Maybe I will contact her and see if she does private in-home training.

This is much harder than I thought!

Kristine

 

[Tiger Lily 03]

I listen to Jillian Michael's radio show (from the biggest loser) and she gave a good tip for getting a bargain on a trainer. If you find one you like at a big gym (ie Ballys or 24 hour) and they charge $100-125, the trainer is only seeing about $25 of that. She suggested that you tactfully ask if you could hire them outside the big gym - she said a lot of them also work or workout other places where they can charge less and keep more.

Ooooh thank you for this suggestion. I may be able to use it. I really did like the person I worked with, but somewhat expensive and I had to rethink the spending.

 

[cewait]

I am getting a person trainer as a Christmas gift from my DH . It will be an at home trainer as I have a weight system, a treadmill, a Bosu, and balance ball at home. Does anyone have any advice how to look for a home trainer? What questions do I ask?

Kristine

Ask your trainer about their certification and what specialties they have certifications for. It should be from a national organization such as NASM, ACE, NSCM, etc.... Not from 24 hour fitness or Joes Gym

Experience - You want someone who regularly works with folks with your same set of goals. General experience areas would include working with someone new (we all do that), older folks, extremely deconditioned folks, runners or sports oriented folks. Ask for references

Meet your proposed trainer. A good trainer will be glad to meet with you and give you a free 20-40 minute workout. A secret here is that that workout is really an assessment of you. We are looking at key focus points to develop a training program from.

Do not hire a trainer by looks alone. Obviously you want a trainer who takes care of themselves, but some of us come from differing backgrounds. I was once morbidly obese and I will never look like Arnold S....but then I don;t want to either.

Talk over your goals with your trainer. Again a good trainer will ask about your goals and keep asking questions to dtermine a set of measureable goals to set in place for your sessions.

Do not feel obligated to meet daily or weekly, but do meet regularly. I have a few folks that I only see once every other month. But I correspond with them regularly.

More questions, ask away.

[edited and added]

Also, a good trainer will work the fitness triangle with you. The three pieces, cadio, strength and nutrition. Obviously, most trains are not RD but they can and should offer a few thoughts on proper diet.