I’ve got a confession to make – I’m pissed off this week! Generally speaking, I like to think of myself as somewhat of a positive person. I’m rarely in a bad mood, usually get along with most people, and always try to make the most out of any situation, whether it be a positive one or negative one. But this week I finally cracked. This week I finally broke down. This week I finally lost control. This week I decided to call out the wannabe trainers, their generic training programs and their famous fad diets that only produce fictitious results. This week I decided to go to war and go face to face with these self proclaimed “Fitness Gurus”.

What is a Personal Trainer?

Wikipedia defines a Personal Trainer as: “An individual certified to have a varying degree of knowledge of general fitness involved in exercise prescription and instruction.”
Well that might be the text book definition of a Personal Trainer however this particular definition is far from what I would call an accurate description of what a REAL Personal Trainer is. In my opinion, a real Personal Trainer is someone who is more then just some gym rat or Instagram fitness star who has a few certifications that they received in a weekend training course. A real Personal Trainer is someone who is more then just a cheerleader who yells and screams at their clients to do more reps and to push harder and faster. A real Personal Trainer goes above and beyond their clients’ expectations and makes them feel confident and secure with their decision to hire a Personal Trainer. A real Personal Trainer doesn’t promise results, they simply deliver them.

Staying Calm & Cool

As I mentioned earlier, I rarely if ever allow myself to get upset or lose control of my emotions. In my experience, whenever I’m feeling stressed or mad about something, a good workout can usually clear my mind and allow me to tackle the most difficult of situations by using my intelligence and a little bit of common sense. However even my most hardcore of workouts (Leg Day) could not help me release my frustration and annoyance with the events that occurred from last week. But rather then relinquish my role as a highly educated and experienced health professional to the role of a social media know-it-all turned bully, I have decided to refrain from exposing those events and the people of whom I speak of.

A Friendly Reminder……

Rather then rant and rave about what separates a fake trainer from a real trainer, I would prefer to just remind you of a few quick components of what to look for when deciding to hire a Personal Trainer or take any advice on diet and training for that matter:

1) Ask for Credentials – No. Licenses, Certifications and Insurance papers don’t necessarily mean a Personal Trainer is good at what they do. However it does show that they at least take their career serious enough to go through the ACTUAL process to becoming a licensed and trained professional. If they can’t even take their own career seriously how can you expect them to take your health and fitness goals seriously?

2) Do They Practice What They Preach? – Now I’ll be the last person to tell you to take random diet advice from a guy with ripped abs or training tips from a girl with a great ass. In fact, some of most knowledgeable coaches that I’ve worked with in the fitness industry don’t even look as if they workout! But they know their shit and they own it! Ask your Personal Trainer for references from other clients who have experienced success while working with them. Better yet, visit their website for testimonials from REAL clients. And if your Personal Trainer doesn’t even have website in this day and age then he or she probably doesn’t really have too many clients to begin with which should tell you something.

3) Do Your Own Research – When it comes to diet and exercise, take everyone’s word (including my own) at face value. Go home and research what your trainer is telling you to eat or telling you how to train. Yes, you will find conflicting arguments on any subject however it’s up to you to figure out what’s right and what’s wrong for your body and your goals. Ignorance is no excuse when it comes to your health, and allowing someone to make decisions for you without educating yourself on any topic is just plain stupid.

“You can’t separate a fool from their foolishness.
You can only separate yourself from that fool.”
Unknown

Nick Cosgrove
Forever Fit Performance