Personal trainers

[Goosey]

I find this a very good summation on personal trainers.

Written by the retired coach of the Cincinnati Bengals.
Beware poor grammar

there seem to be many things in today's iron game that are
a give-away as to how sad our culture has become. One of those
things appears to be "personal trainers"... In the NFL few strength
programs are "coached" anymore and many have "strength coaches" that
are really just personal trainers.

True coaches are really "teachers"
(you could also call them "learning facilitators")...and real teachers
know that you can't "teach" anyone anything...but you CAN create a
situation where-by your "student" teaches himself.)
Too much
garbage in the personal trainer thing...too many dependency needs...
too much "help". A real teacher's goal is for the student to become
independent...to know what they are doing and to come to that state
of awareness on their own...

Personal trainers exploit
the dependency needs of the trainee...after-all, they're doing their thing for money! Personal trainers want the trainee coming back...personal
trainers want their clients to depend on them(yes, they actually call
them clients!)... Weight training knowledge is attained by trial and
error...it is a personal journey...it's between you and YOU! No room
for anybody else... you've got to find YOUR way...your "motivation"
HAS TO COME FROM INSIDE YOU(not from somebody you are paying money
to "pull it out of you" or worse yet, "give it to you"!)...
Depending on anyone else is not the way... to find the way: "it's
on you, Buddy..."

(oh, oh...that paranoid guy is gonna load up on this one...gonna try
to get me to pee down my leg but I'm here
thinkin' about how guys like Bob Peoples, JC Hise, Joe Kinney, Steve Justa
Paul Anderson and William Boone found their way... )

 

[Darkoz]

That's how it is these days
Those that want to look good but are lazy, seek 'personal trainers'
Those that want to be strong but are lazy, seek 'coaches'

 

[Jungnaut]

I didn't think there was a difference between 'coach' and 'personal trainer'. well at least not at my gym anyway!

 

[Snoochies]

I didn't think there was a difference between 'coach' and 'personal trainer'. well at least not at my gym anyway!

When I worked in a gym and did the sales pitch we were never to say personal trainer. Simply Mrs Jones finds it intimidating, but when I say to Mrs Jones that we will have a personal weight loss coach to help you achieve those goals, it sounds much more appealing to her.

No difference whatsoever in what they do, the wording helps certain people to commit or run.

 

[Grunta]

I can see the need for both, in my mind:

Coach - is someone you hire when you want more knowledge, experience, expertise in your chosen sport, someone who can show you the tricks of the trade to get better at what you do.

PT - on the other hand is some one with a cert 4 a fat chick, who has been on the couch with packets of salt and vinegar chips watching sex n the city hires to make look better.

 

[chocchillimango]

Those that want to be strong but are lazy, seek 'coaches'

I think this comment is neither entirely fair nor true.

Some of us have coaches in order to learn ... "teachers" as per the OP.

I approach my strength training as I have approached everything in life. Seeking to understand and find my own way.
The best part is when something fails and you figure out on your own how and why and what needs to be done to address that in order to progress.

If you have the right coach and the right attitude, your coach is there as a point of reference eventually and ultimately a good coach will make themselves redundant.

I have a coach and while I have many failings, laziness has never been one of them

 

[Goosey]

One of the reasons the "personal training" phenomenon concerns me is
when it comes to weight training, finding the deeper meanings of
training involve learning how to do stuff your-self...learning how
to "motivate" your-self is a key here...

The responsibility is on
you... not some guy you are paying.

Having said that, if you'd asked me 40 years ago if you thought PT's were going to be a thing of the future I would have thought that ridiculous, then again I would have thought selling bottled water just as stupid.

 

[Darkoz]

I think this comment is neither entirely fair nor true.

Some of us have coaches in order to learn ... "teachers" as per the OP.

I approach my strength training as I have approached everything in life. Seeking to understand and find my own way.
The best part is when something fails and you figure out on your own how and why and what needs to be done to address that in order to progress.

If you have the right coach and the right attitude, your coach is there as a point of reference eventually and ultimately a good coach will make themselves redundant.

I have a coach and while I have many failings, laziness has never been one of them

Yes it was a broad statement choc and I think it still applies to many
Most don't have your attitude though.

 

[chocchillimango]

Yes it was a broad statement choc and I think it still applies to many
Most don't have your attitude though.

true that

 

[chocchillimango]

One of the reasons the "personal training" phenomenon concerns me is
when it comes to weight training, finding the deeper meanings of
training involve learning how to do stuff your-self...learning how
to "motivate" your-self is a key here...

The responsibility is on
you... not some guy you are paying.

Having said that, if you'd asked me 40 years ago if you thought PT's were going to be a thing of the future I would have thought that ridiculous, then again I would have thought selling bottled water just as stupid.

LOL yes but how ingenious was the whole bottled water idea ...

I think motivation is an interesting thing. I'm not sure that motivation can be taught/learned. Some people gravitate towards self-motivation but many do not and require some external "push".

the coaches/trainers I know all say that most of their clients/students need pushing to give their all (and sometimes less than that). the good ones find no joy in that because in the end, a good coach wants you to succeed, learn and grow.
A client lacking motivation leaves you feeling like a teacher with a classroom full of disinterested students. A poor coach just thinks of the money. A good coach who loves their sport/fitness/whatever will get satisfaction from more than just a paycheck and feel dissatisfied.

Ultimately, it must come down to a number of factors: character traits/personality, how much you are willing to invest in a goal/commitment, and sometimes whether or not what you are doing is actually suited to you (do you love it or are you doing it because you have to?) and many more.

 

[Shrek]

The thought of having a PT or coach never crossed my mind.
I think I did OK.
The whole fun of lifting / bodybuilding / strength training / powerlifting is too learn along the way.

For me anyway.

There are so many mediums to learn these days that one on one (for me) would be the last resort or purely for fun.

 

[chocchillimango]

I like having someone there to challenge my thinking. I am fully self motivated and a natural researcher/student but I like having someone to mull things over with.

Quite often my coach will get me to try things that I would never have thought of on my own ... and I think that's a good thing.

 

[Big Mick]

Interesting, I try and do my best to avoid paying people to do stuff that can easily be done yourself.

I change my own oil, service my own car, cook my own food, and train without a coach. Really I don't have the $$ to spare to hire someone to telll me how to train, or buy bottled water.

 

[Goosey]

As usual we go from one extreme to the other, choc, you make some valid points, but this is not what I mean.

Systems, like programs might not be the way to go, i reckon weight training is first and
most importantly a way to learn about your self.

"Complete systems"
seem to chill or stop that process.

Systems that "have all the answers"
leave little room for discovery of any kind... In fact, i reckon stay away from
anybody who says he has all the answers.

Figure it out.

 

[Sticky]

Im actually going in to get a PT session next week...... Im very interested tpo see what people are getting taught/.

 

[spartacus]

Right on silverback.

No one has the answers, and always better to learn and think for yourself. More fun and satisfaction.

Having said that; I always listen to new opinions.

 

[Goosey]

Right on silverback.

No one has the answers, and always better to learn and think for yourself. More fun and satisfaction.

Having said that; I always listen to new opinions.

That's about it.

 

[chocchillimango]

As usual we go from one extreme to the other, choc, you make some valid points, but this is not what I mean.

Systems, like programs might not be the way to go, i reckon weight training is first and
most importantly a way to learn about your self.

"Complete systems"
seem to chill or stop that process.

Systems that "have all the answers"
leave little room for discovery of any kind... In fact, i reckon stay away from
anybody who says he has all the answers.

Figure it out.

I agree with that.

 

[jj80]

I've learnt a lot from the few personal trainers I've seen, but I've chosen them carefully.

I definitely wouldn't have figured that stuff out alone (deadlift form, squat form, bench form, etc.) - or it would have taken me longer to get there.

The whole notion of not learning anything from anyone and figuring everything out yourself as the sole way of learning seems ridiculous to me. In the world of gym articles and publications, where bullshit is so dominant, working things out for yourself unfortunately may be just as efficient as seeking advice (esp. if you take it from the first person to open their mouth/write a column). Articles/people/forum threads that spout extreme opinions that only represent part of the truth (e.g. some of this thread) dont help.

 

[bull]

I've learnt a lot from the few personal trainers I've seen, but I've chosen them carefully.

I definitely wouldn't have figured that stuff out alone (deadlift form, squat form, bench form, etc.) - or it would have taken me longer to get there.

The whole notion of not learning anything from anyone and figuring everything out yourself as the sole way of learning seems ridiculous to me. In the world of gym articles and publications, where bullshit is so dominant, working things out for yourself unfortunately may be just as efficient as seeking advice (esp. if you take it from the first person to open their mouth/write a column). Articles/people/forum threads that spout extreme opinions that only represent part of the truth (e.g. some of this thread) dont help.

This is a good point but the world has changed in recent years. I'm about the same age as Shrek and there was no internet and no PTs. We learned by trial and error and by talking to anyone who looked like they knew more than us.

By the time the internet came along with all its experts and magic programs we already had a rough idea of what worked and why. That experience of working it out for myself makes me very reluctant to pay for information. The one exception might just be the form issues that you mentioned.