Hiring A Personal Trainer In Salt Lake City

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Hiring a personal trainer in Salt Lake City can feel a lot like gambling, to say the least. There are thousands and thousands of trainers out there in the world, some of which are good and will be able to help you achieve your goals and others that are not, and who won’t. How do you know which ones are which? Well, there are some things that, in my opinion, are important to pay attention to.

Qualifications

There are a bunch, and I mean A BUNCH, of organizations that offer personal training certifications. Some of them are attainable in as little as a few hours, others require a weekend and still others require months of preparing and studying. Whatever you do, make sure that the trainer you are thinking of hiring has a cert that is recognized by the NCCA (National Commission for Certifying Agencies) ACSM, NSCA and NASM are three examples. Ask them questions about their cert, how long did it take them to get it, what process did they have to go through, what is the pass rate on the certification test? Asking questions like that can really help you understand just how much training and studying they’ve done.

In addition, ask them questions that relate to you specifically, include any concerns you have about past injuries, family history and medical conditions. If they are not comfortable answering your questions, seem to be hunting for an answer, won’t make eye contact and say “um” a lot, chances are they aren’t a trainer you’d want to hire.

Specialty

For some people, this is the next most important thing, and it can be looked at one of two ways. First, if you have a specific medical condition, degenerative disease, bad knees or any other, or a combination of, a myriad of other concerns it is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT that you find a trainer that is not only comfortable working with clients with said issues but that they also KNOW HOW. Just because you find a trainer who says, “Oh yeah, I can handle that. No big deal.” does not mean you have actually found a trainer with the knowledge base to do so. PLEASE don’t be afraid to ask questions, very specific questions and then consult with your physician to ensure that the trainers suggestions are indeed safe for you to engage in. I can’t count the number of people I’ve seen get hurt at the hands of other personal trainers, myself included (before I was a personal trainer in Salt Lake City myself, I hired a trainer at a local gym. In the process of working with her, I had both of my rotator cuffs torn due to improper progression).

Personality

For me, this is the next telling sign. You want to make sure that whatever personality your personal trainer in Salt Lake City has will mesh well with your own. For me personally, it would make my hour weight routines feel like four hours if I had someone standing over me with the personality of a toaster…or a hermit crab…or a pissed off grizzly bear…or a, well you get the idea. 🙂 Make sure that they are friendly, polite, professional but that you feel that they will be able to push you to achieve your own personal best.

The second way that specialty comes into play is goal oriented. There are personal trainers who only help clients lose weight, others that only train clients in bodybuilding, others who only work with clients going through rehab. It matters. You don’t want a trainer who specializes in bodybuilding if your goals are to lose 80 pounds. Choose wisely.

Professionalism

Make sure that you notice their level of professionalism. Not only in your consultation, but when they are in the gym working with clients. Are they paying attention to their clients or are they texting? Are they noting the weights and reps of their clients or are they talking to someone else? Are they engaged in training or are they staring off into space? Now don’t get me wrong, we are all human, and we all do these things sometimes. I myself am guilty of a few of these. I would only keep my phone with me when one of my kids was home sick, but I’m sure there are people who saw me texting while training…they didn’t know it was my daughter home with the flu. Likewise, I would have people come up to me in the middle of a session and ask me a question; I always handled it as quickly as possible and would remind them I was with a client and could talk with them in more detail after I had finished, but I’m sure people saw me talking to someone other than my client. However, the majority of the time, my focus is on my client. That’s how it is supposed to be.

Your Goal Should Be Their Goal

Whether your goal is running a marathon, climbing a mountain, fitting into your pre pregnancy jeans, or losing 60 pounds, it should be your trainer’s goal as well. Sometimes there are time lines and other times there are not. Regardless, make sure you explain your goals very clearly to your trainer. Ask them what they think about your goals, are they attainable or are they unrealistic? A good trainer will tell you, and if needs be, help you adjust them to be realistic.

Another thing to be wary of is resigning for the rest of your life. I tell all of my clients, “I don’t want to hold your hand forever. I want to teach you the things that you need to know, that fit your specific situation, so that you can then take the things you’ve learned and improve your quality of life. That’s my goal for every single one of my clients.”

Hopefully, this information has helped those of you looking for a personal trainer in Salt Lake City. If you feel I forgot something, or have a question about something specific that I didn’t touch on, feel free to leave a comment.  🙂

 

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