Kyle Aaron
Active member
I speak of beginners because that's what I know about. You want to get from not being able to do a bodyweight squat, to having 100kg on your back, okay I can help you. You want to move your squat from 180 to 190kg, well I can look at your form and point anything major that somehow you've battled through, but really you want a different trainer for that.
But other trainers have other experience and qualifications. And people with 180kg squats are unusual in most mainstream gyms.
But the thing is that any person who knows about lifting can help someone else train, whether they themselves can or have lifted that weight themselves. They just need the knowledge and the ability to communicate it. Whether that knowledge is worth paying for is another matter.
By your reasoning, national weightlifting teams don't need coaches, because all the lifters are bigger and stronger than the coach. And the instant any lifter lifts 1kg more than their coach once lifted, they sack the coach.
But it goes beyond knowledge. Markos mentioned recently on his forum that Nick had just finished two hours' training alone in Markos' garage. Nick works as a PT and strength coach, and I'm pretty sure lifts more than Markos ever managed. And Markos was inside having dinner, not even coaching him for most of that time. But Nick still took an hour or something to drive there, and paid to be there.
Why?
Knowledge, having a second and objective pair of eyes watching you, atmosphere of the place, accountability - these are all things trainers of all kinds can offer, and none of them depend on whether the trainer lifts a lot or has bicepts peakz.
Plus, never judge a book by its cover and all that. You look at someone, you never know what they can lift today or have lifted in the past.
But other trainers have other experience and qualifications. And people with 180kg squats are unusual in most mainstream gyms.
But the thing is that any person who knows about lifting can help someone else train, whether they themselves can or have lifted that weight themselves. They just need the knowledge and the ability to communicate it. Whether that knowledge is worth paying for is another matter.
By your reasoning, national weightlifting teams don't need coaches, because all the lifters are bigger and stronger than the coach. And the instant any lifter lifts 1kg more than their coach once lifted, they sack the coach.
But it goes beyond knowledge. Markos mentioned recently on his forum that Nick had just finished two hours' training alone in Markos' garage. Nick works as a PT and strength coach, and I'm pretty sure lifts more than Markos ever managed. And Markos was inside having dinner, not even coaching him for most of that time. But Nick still took an hour or something to drive there, and paid to be there.
Why?
Knowledge, having a second and objective pair of eyes watching you, atmosphere of the place, accountability - these are all things trainers of all kinds can offer, and none of them depend on whether the trainer lifts a lot or has bicepts peakz.
Plus, never judge a book by its cover and all that. You look at someone, you never know what they can lift today or have lifted in the past.
In my experience, that dude chose the weight himself, and asked the PT to spot him. It's bad business to laugh at the guy, and if you say, "perhaps a lower weight would be more appropriate" they tend to get all aggro. "Me strong! You little man! You weak! Spot!"