There are a million personal trainers out there, and to hire a PT isn’t cheap. So how do you know if a specific personal trainer is good/knowledgeable in their field? There are three crucial aspects that I believe a personal trainer or training coach MUST have in order to be a good training coach:
1. Education
Throughout my career as a personal trainer, I have met many trainers who were inadequate or subpar to say the least. They either went to some online distance pt course, or they didn’t have any education at all. There are many people in this field who believe that “looking good” qualifies someone as being a good personal trainer, and that couldn’t be farther from the truth. Being able to train someone in order to help them reach their desired goals, whether it be as a competitive athlete or a person who wants to get in shape, is actually a scientific process, and it’s crucial that a training coach has a deep understanding of the anatomy and physiology of the human body. It’s also extremely important that a training coach understands what happens physiologically to the human body as it is undergoing the stress of physical activity. Without education, it is impossible that the training coach has all of the tools and knowledge necessary to help you get your desired results.
2. Experience
In order to really understand and be able to teach and coach others in training, one needs to have years of experience in training themselves. It’s not enough to just be able to teach how to do an exercise correctly. You need to be able to explain how the exercise feels, give tips that the client can think about that you have learned only by doing. You need to understand what working hard looks like and feels like, and you need to know how to recognize the limits of your clients. If you have very little to no experience in training yourself, you will never be able to help your clients on such an advanced level. Experience leads to confidence. A great trainer can teach exercises and design a program that will get you to your goal. They are confident about their work because they know exactly what needs to be done to achieve a certain goal. They have seen their programs lead to success over and over again.
3. Self-motivation
I am a firm believer that if your personal trainer or training coach cannot motivate themselves to train, how are they ever going to be able to motivate you to do it? Find a personal trainer that leads by example. They should absolutely live what they preach.
Before you hire a PT, ask them about these areas. Get an understanding of how much these three areas influence their work. Buy a small package of PT sessions with them first so that you can try them out and make sure that you feel confident that they are exactly the help you need to reach your goals. If they aren’t, try out a new personal trainer until you find the right match!
My educational merits:
- Bachelors degree in Exercise and Sport Science from the University of Wyoming
- Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist through the National Strength and Conditioning Association
- Licensed Kettle bell and TRX instructor
- Licensed nutritionist through The Academy
My experience:
- Worked as a personal trainer in both USA and Sweden for 17 years.
- As a professional basketball player, I designed and executed my own yearly strength and conditioning programs for 16 years.
- Strength coach for 3 different basketball teams
- Began training at the age of 13. I have over 26 years of training experience.
My self-motivation:
Even years after my professional basketball career, I continue to train at a high level. I love training hard and learning new training exercises. Training is quite simply my passion.
I love helping people. I love sharing my passion with people that need help to turn their life around and take control of their health. If you need help, email me at christybacontraining@hotmail.com. Help is only an email away.
