Re: Selecting a Personal Trainer

[Guest guest]

<< If anyone has any other ideas as to what they think a personal

trainer should offer in the way of information or questions, I'd

appreciate knowing your thoughts in this regard as well. >>

My first impression is that the trainer(along with your suggestions) offer

the client the opportunity to ask the trainer how the trainer will address

the concerns of the client--specifically--in terms the client can compare

with other trainers. Obvioulsy what the client is after is a defensive,

ignorant or other wise moronic response that can be contrasted with other

impressions. Like you say buyer beware--capitalism seems to offer the

extremes of mastery and greed--and its the buyers( & our) role to ferrit out

and expose the greed. And according to Telles law of inverse

productivity--thos who have made the most money have provided the least

benefit.

maybe thats what good trainers can do is pass out a sheet of specific

intervention recommendations. IF the trainer is knowledgeable there wont be

a problem--and will soon seperate the seed from the __________. Maybe I was

wrong --maybe change can occur without " the money hitting the fan "

Jerry Telle

Lakewood CO USA

[Guest guest]

----- Original Message -----

>

>

> What I'd appreciate from anyone, either personal trainer or people

> who have used personal trainers, is what do you think someone who

> walks in the gym door and says " I'd like to hire a personal trainer "

> should request as far as qualifications? People on this list always

> have such marvelous suggestions and some I'm sure I would never

> think of.

>

You might find this article on my site useful:

http://www.stumptuous.com/personaltrainer.html

Krista -Dixon

Toronto, ON

[Guest guest]

The first two things I look for in a Personal Trainer are experience

and passion for exercise. I want to know what kind of

experience they have and what types of exercise they are passionate

about. If a trainer is only passionate about endurance training I'm

going to be skeptical about their ability to make someone else

stronger. If a trainer is passionate about powerlifting but has only

trained people with a prior history of heavy lifting I'd be skeptical

about their ability to train a beginner.

Seaburg

Sunnyvale, CA

[Guest guest]

<< If anyone has any other ideas as to what they think a personal

trainer should offer in the way of information or questions, I'd

appreciate knowing your thoughts in this regard as well. >>

My first impression is that the trainer(along with your suggestions) offer

the client the opportunity to ask the trainer how the trainer will address

the concerns of the client--specifically--in terms the client can compare

with other trainers. Obvioulsy what the client is after is a defensive,

ignorant or other wise moronic response that can be contrasted with other

impressions. Like you say buyer beware--capitalism seems to offer the

extremes of mastery and greed--and its the buyers( & our) role to ferrit out

and expose the greed. According to Telles law of inverse productivity--thos

who have made the most money have provided the least benefit.

Perhaps one thing good trainers can do is pass out a sheet of specific

intervention recommendations. IF the trainer is knowledgeable there wont be

a problem--and will soon seperate the seed from the __________. Maybe I was

wrong --change can occur without " the money hitting the fan "

Jerry Telle

Lakewood CO USA

[Guest guest]

I agree to a point, but this would seem to make the client easy prey for the

spurious guru who has a glib, well-rehearsed answer that is nonetheless

devoid of scientific merit. Unfortunately, the client is not necessarily the

best judge of what constitutes a moronic response; if he or she were, he or

she would most likely have no need to consult a fitness professional about

his or her concerns. A failure to provide a detailed answer can be a red

flag, but a detailed answer is not necessarily a correct or meaningful one.

McClinch

Arlington, VA

Re: Selecting a Personal Trainer

<< If anyone has any other ideas as to what they think a personal

trainer should offer in the way of information or questions, I'd

appreciate knowing your thoughts in this regard as well. >>

My first impression is that the trainer(along with your suggestions) offer

the client the opportunity to ask the trainer how the trainer will address

the concerns of the client--specifically--in terms the client can compare

with other trainers. Obvioulsy what the client is after is a defensive,

ignorant or other wise moronic response that can be contrasted with other

impressions. Like you say buyer beware--capitalism seems to offer the

extremes of mastery and greed--and its the buyers( & our) role to ferrit out

and expose the greed. According to Telles law of inverse productivity--thos

who have made the most money have provided the least benefit.

Perhaps one thing good trainers can do is pass out a sheet of specific

intervention recommendations. IF the trainer is knowledgeable there wont be

a problem--and will soon seperate the seed from the __________. Maybe I was

wrong --change can occur without " the money hitting the fan "

Jerry Telle

Lakewood CO USA

[Guest guest]

<< I agree to a point, but this would seem to make the client easy prey for

the

spurious guru who has a glib, well-rehearsed answer that is nonetheless

devoid of scientific merit. Unfortunately, the client is not necessarily the

best judge of what constitutes a moronic response; if he or she were, he or

she would most likely have no need to consult a fitness professional about

his or her concerns. A failure to provide a detailed answer can be a red

flag, but a detailed answer is not necessarily a correct or meaningful one. >>

Telle---sadly, I must agree. Yet I'm convinced the idea has heuristic

value--projected to enhance the state of affairs as it exists. The expereince

I have is that a well(definition?) stated inntervention paradigm will

increase,(but not insure) the clients probabilities.

Naturally " morons " will plagerize well constructed paradigms--suggesting

that most of the recommendations be given verbally. Somewhere in the grand

scheme of training the client needs to understand the importance of taking

the responsibility they would when purchasing a house or their dream car--as

in whats more important--who they are or what they have.

Obviously many confounding variables muddy the picture--but for those who are

truly seeking improvement the " word must get out " that there are

inconsequential and consequential trainers--and now a way to improve ones

odds.

For those clients looking to perpetuate dreams as opposed to facing reality,

the " moron " is the choice--who better to keep dreams alive then the artist of

delussions? I'm convinced a large % of clients fall in this categorie.

Edison said something along the lines of--' " there is always a better way--its

up to you/us to find it. " and " I did not fail 2,000-10,000 times before I

invented the light bulb--I found 10,000 ways that didnt work. "

jerry Telle

Lakewood CO USA

[Guest guest]

Though these are great qualities to look for, my experience as a personal

trainer in a corporate facility has shown me that experience does NOT always

equal competence. In fact, I think experience can sometimes work against

trainers in certain ways.

For example, as we all know, there are plenty of closed-minded trainers.

Oftentimes, closed-minded trainers will grow set in their ways with time.

Rather than pursuing further knowledge by way of reading journals and texts

and participating in lists like this, those trainers will reason that their

years of experience have taught them all they need to know. I see it every

day.

Please understand that I'm not suggesting that experience is not important,

as it is obviously one of the most important factors in determining

competence...but only one. I think an equally important factor (if not more

important) is the trainer's efforts to continue to educate himself/herself

with the widest array of information possible. We have to accept the fact

that we can NEVER know enough. There will always be much to learn. I

prioritize my education so that I am the best trainer I can be. I wish more

trainers did this so that the field wasn't so wrought with incompetence.

Matt Stringer

San Diego, CA

>

>Subject: Re: Selecting a Personal Trainer

>The first two things I look for in a Personal Trainer are experience and

>passion for exercise.  I want to know what kind of

>experience they have and what types of exercise they are passionate about. 

>If a trainer is only passionate about endurance training I'm going to be

>skeptical about their ability to make someone else stronger.  If a trainer

>is passionate about powerlifting but has only trained people with a prior

>history of heavy lifting I'd be skeptical about their ability to train a

>beginner.

>

>

> Seaburg

>Sunnyvale, CA

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[Guest guest]

Matt Stringer writes:

<< For example, as we all know, there are plenty of closed-minded trainers.

Oftentimes, closed-minded trainers will grow set in their ways with time.

Rather than pursuing further knowledge by way of reading journals and texts

and participating in lists like this, those trainers will reason that their

years of experience have taught them all they need to know. I see it every

day. >>

This may be the critical concept for all reasons--openness to error,

ignorance and persuit of knowledge. It's little wonder the great thinkers of

the world beleive the human race in general is a pretty sorry lot. I'm

continually staggered by the openness to diverse and contrary concepts and

the low levels of entrenched, ego defended stances taken on this list.

Awareness of this process, as Matt alludes to above, in my opinion, is the

greatest indicator of inteligence. The process of knowledge, not knowledge

itself, is the order of the day.

Then maybe we will not be guilty of Amiel's appraisal " Man defends himself

against the truth, as the child does against a medicine .......... he does not

willingly follow his path, he has to be dragged along backward......... an

active

interested liking for the truth is extraordinarily rare ........ " (much

ommitted-- it's a great quote).

Jerry Telle

lakewood Co USA