We get a lot of people doing their practical placement at the gym. I give them good advice, most look over my shoulder at the hot chick or guy across the room instead, or examine their nails. I've personally supervised the placements of about 30 students, there were only 3 who I trusted to do a health consult or programme showthrough, most were clueless and not very interested in what was happening around them. One of the ones who paid attention is now working at our gym, I'm not aware of any of the others being employed anywhere. This is a normal ratio, in a class of 20 you'll find 1, if you're lucky 2, actually go on to jobs in the industry. Most people doing the courses just don't know what they want to do, almost none have ever hired a trainer, etc.
In fact recently that has been my first question to the work placement students, and it will be my first question to people asking here about becoming a PT.
"Have you ever hired a personal trainer? or even got a programme from a gym instructor?"
In most cases the answer is "No, PT is expensive, and a programme, well the instructors at my gym are idiots."
"Right... so you think it's not worth paying for personal training, yet you expect other people to pay for personal training with you? You don't trust the expertise of people who've been doing this for years, but you expect other people to trust your expertise? Do you think PT has value, or not?"
It's okay if you don't think it's worth paying for something. I know guys who never pay for a haircut, they just buy electric clippers and get a #2 all over. But these guys aren't trying to become hairdressers. If you don't value what you're offering, why should anyone else?
So very true. The biggest thing that got me interested in PT was all the help I got over the years from gym instructors, most of whom had given me good (necessarily perfect, but good) programs, instruction on technique, and generally made the dank uninviting gym I trained in as a teenager feel a whole lot brighter and more inviting. Basically, I appreciated what they had done for me, and wanted to give the same service.
ReplyDeleteThe general attitude on a certain forum we both visit is that PT's are all incompetent, and I have met plenty of PT's who are incompetent, but prior to signing up to become one myself, I had literally had one bad experience with a trainer in my life, and that's when said trainer was trying to impress me with bizarre, fancy-pants exercises rather than sticking to a more solid exercise selection. The rest had all been helpful in their own way.
When I was at TAFE studying to become a PT, there was so much focus on how every other PT is stupid and useless, that I actually forgot the value of PT, and forgot that if I actually had an income as a teenager, I would have gladly paid for it. It took a lot of experience working with clients, hearing them tell me things such as "I've gotten more out of 3 months with you than I did out of 3 years on my own" for me to start remembering that PT is valuable and that I wasn't just ripping people off.
Of course, the attitude is always "everyone ELSE is useless, except you and me, of course." But if everyone is saying that, well, we can't all be right...
DeleteThe thing is that even the dumbest PT knows more than the typical gym member, so still has something to offer them. Of course we can aim higher than this, but still...
Such a great article- that is why I've always been so sceptical about hiring a trainer- but at the same time its so hard making progress without proper advice!
ReplyDeleteThe people answering "no" tend not to go on to jobs in the industry. Those who actually get jobs as PTs have generally be coached by someone at some point, if not PT, then a sports team coach, etc. So don't hesitate for that reason.
Delete