What to look for when hiring a personal trainer?

Are you finally ready to take that next step to finding optimal health? Great! I’m so very excited to know that you are finally seeing your body and your health as a priority.

Before you search for a fitness program or a personal trainer, you need to determine what your fitness goals are and why they are your goals. Making realistic goals is important and knowing what kind of training your body needs (or can handle safely) is very important as well. Make sure to take your previous injuries, age, range of motion, and health related illness/diseases into consideration first. Not everyone is meant to do high intensity exercise, cross fit, and high impact exercises. As an experienced personal trainer, I have found that one of the biggest barriers for people to make permanent lifestyle changes is finding something that works for them, something that doesn’t cause injury to their bodies and is sustainable for them. There is no one size fits all in the programming of an effective fitness regimen. With this in mind, research places that are known to specialize in what you need; whether it be rehab based exercise, a weight loss program, muscle building, or cardiovascular training.

Then, look into the trainers they have on staff, look at their biographies and at their credentials. Sadly, a lot of gyms don’t require much education or training for their personal trainers, as long as the trainer is a good sales person. Your trainer is NOT an elite trainer without education and experience in their field. Yes a personal training certificate is important, but what makes an elite trainer is experience. And not just any experience, but experience in what YOU are trying to accomplish with YOUR goals.

It’s ok to question people about their background and to ask them about things that are important to your goals. Ask things like:

How can you help me accomplish my goals?

What success stories have you had in weight loss with your previous clients?

Why did you decide to become a personal trainer?

What kind of experience do you have with this type of injury?

One of the other important things to look for in a trainer is their ability to listen to you and modify exercises to your abilities. Do you feel heard when you talk to your trainer? Having an open line of communication with your trainer will surely allow you to accomplish any realistic goal safely. The trainers that stand above all are those that care about what they are doing for you and truly have a passion for fitness and changing lives.

If you can find a trainer that checks all your boxes, on your list of needs, then that is the trainer for you. Your time and your money are very valuable, so don’t let either be wasted with someone who only MIGHT be able to help you.

I hope this helps you to find a trainer and fitness program right for you. If you haven’t come to meet us at Fit Therapy of Texas yet, I want to assure you that our trainers represent what ELITE stands for. Set up a FREE consultation today and we won’t just tell you that you will see results, we will show you!