Confessions of a Personal Trainer

1. The relationship between you and your trainer is private. Period. You will likely share personal information with your trainer. Sometimes it’s very personal. It’s your trainer’s job to figure out whether that information is relevant to how you two proceed in getting and keeping you as fit and healthy as possible. There may be drama at work, a strained relationship at home or other problems going on in your life that make it hard for you to sleep, eat well or get restful sleep. Your trainer will not discuss it with anyone else unless you authorize it, and it’s directly helpful to promoting your health. Even communication about medical problems with your physician should run through you. If you have any doubts that this rule is consistently being upheld, ask and get an answer you’re comfortable with. If you don’t, get a new trainer.

2. We don’t judge what you like, except to notice the improvements in your posture and muscle tone as you advance in your training. So come to the session as schleppy as you like.

3. How you eat is not a point of approval or disapproval to us. It’s a critical component in your getting the most out of your fitness program and feeling strong, vital and resilient. Your trainer wants to help you find a way to eat healthfully given your opportunities for improvement, your schedule, budget and preferences. No one should make you feel like you need to eat just like they do. Your trainer just knows a lot of ways to get what you may be lacking (veggies? water? lean protein?) into your diet and how to avoid collecting  all those excess empty calories that lead to so many avoidable health problems.

4. Training should be difficult. You should be uncomfortable. You should NOT experience joint or back pain. But you should be wiped out at the end of your workout. But here’s the good news – the rest of your life will be easier because of effective training! I always tell my clients I’m less concerned with how much they enjoy the two (or three or four) hours a week they spend with me than I am with how they feel the other 166 hours.

The best trainers are not trying to leverage you into paying for a big block of sessions you may only use because you paid for them or that you may walk away from and then have to say goodbye to the money you paid. The most confident trainers will consistently re-earn your business and keep you coming back simply because of the continued value you get out of the work you do together. I want each of my clients to be happy about writing that check because they have no doubt they got their money’s worth. It’s also better in the long run for the trainer since you’re much more likely to send your friends and family to him or her because of what he or she was able to do for you.

Dan is a nationally certified personal fitness trainer and former continuing education faculty member of the National Academy of Sports Medicine and the American Council on Exercise. He is the owner and head trainer at Tri Valley Trainer in Pleasanton, which provides personal training, small group fitness and nutrition guidance. He can be reached at Dan@TriValleyTrainer.com