Trainer criteria
What do you think of the statement highlighted below?
I read it in an article (pdf here) from the October issue of SELF, about a woman who thought she hated group exercise classes, but just had to find the right one – the Tracy Anderson Method. And as the paragraph above mentions, she was partially encouraged to try it by the way the trainer’s body looked.
I’ve been thinking about that statement a lot. I am a certified personal trainer. I teach a strength class. I think if people decided to take my class based on that criteria, no one would take it.
Don’t get me wrong – I want the strong, muscular body I have, but I don’t really expect many else too. I am just not your typical trainer build – mostly of my own doing, and partially genetics. I will always have a larger, more muscular frame. And there are so many different body types in the classes I teach… I think it would be odd if we all had the same ideals for our body.
But you do want a trainer with a body you can admire. One who works hard for results, and has a workout routine you get excited about.
Hmm.
Themocracy
Maybe not the body you want, but like you said, the one you admire. My trainer is a crossfit coach, not a runner. She is strong and fit, but her body is more suited for heavy lifting than high mileage. My goals are different than hers. But bottom line is she is dedicated to her craft, and guided me to a strong marathon. That’s what’s important.
Yes, yes, yes. I agree. And can I say how fantastic it is that you have an interdisciplinary coach? You have so much you could teach each other!
Yeah, that’s crap. It’s like judging a book by its cover. Whoever wrote that really doesn’t know what he/she is talking about.
There’s a reason your class is almost full every Monday night! The same reason I was sore four days after coming back after a month off! You’re a great trainer who puts together killer workouts!
I wouldn’t waste another minute thinking about that article if I were you! 🙂
That is a good analogy 😉
Awww, thank you! Hee hee. You felt better this week…. right?!?!?!
Yes, much better! It’s amazing how fast my body got back into it! (See, must be your amazing training skills!) I was expecting to in agony again this week, but I’m just feeling my usual level of post-Monday soreness today. 🙂
Ha ha ha, I am glad 🙂 Now you have to readjust to two-a-weeks next week… 😛
That is really stupid advice I think. Everyone’s body is different and is going to respond to workouts differently. There are so many stereotypes and judgments balled up into that one sentence!
I remember when I went to Jazzercise many years ago, I was surprised to realize that not all of the teachers looked like Barbie dolls. Some were short, some had big hips and butts, etc. etc. Yet they were all fit and confident. And my favorite personal trainer was very slender despite lifting heavy. He told me, “You’re not going to look like Jennifer Aniston and I’m not going to look like Gerard Butler.” 🙂
I also believe that Tracy Anderson is known for very unhealthy diet and fitness advice. She has people eat very few calories and work out for 2 hours a day so they can look a certain way. Very Hollywood.
Ahh, I should actually google this Tracy Anderson person! That might give me a completely different view of the author of this article!
I love that your Jazzercise teachers were all over the board, but all confident! 🙂
I can see where some folks would want to train with someone who has a body they admire- they are probably taking classes to get healthier, leaner whatever and it might be “motivation” to see someone further along in the journey they see for themselves. But… Like you said everyone is different. And to solely base their choice of trainer off of looks is just misguided. I’d much rather have someone who takes care of themselves and pushes me and inspires me to do better than someone with a “perfect” body who doesn’t inspire me to push myself. And I need to take one of your classes!!!! 🙂
I don’t feel like that’s an important criteria to judge a trainer by. I really think it’s more important to make sure the person has a style and personality that meshes well with what you’re looking for. I couldn’t take the body sculpt class at work though the teacher has a body I admire because I found her style to be too intimidating for me. It was very boot camp and yell-y and that’s just not going to work for me no matter what the teacher’s body looks like.
Ahh, yes, personality and style. That is SO important – that you jive with your teacher and they know how to push and encourage you!
Ugh, I don’t really like that sentence. Like you said, genetics play a huge role in what your body looks like. I’d rather have a trainer who helps me with my mental well-being and who helps me get strong but also come to accept and love the body I have instead of working with a trainer who encourages me to try to attain some body type that I might not be able to have, genetically. How you feel is so much more important than how you look!
I think it depends on your goals. When I had a trainer, it specifically appealed to me that she was a “normal” person. I knew she had struggled with weight ups and downs, and so I felt she would be much easier to relate to than some super buff athlete. I’m not and never have been athletic by nature, I just wanted to be healthy and fit.
I also sometimes feel a little weird that all my yoga instructors are so thin. I don’t think I’ve ever had a curvy yoga teacher, and it makes me wonder if I’m doing something wrong. LOL!
That is a good point – if it’s someone who has a similar life path, you will probably trust them more to guide you.
Hmm… I am not sure I have had a curvy yoga teacher either! But I highly doubt you are doing something wrong. Some people will have curve foreva (like me!).
I took a group class for a while at my gym and the instructor was a very normal build, a little bit older than me, but it was reassuring to me that she was still strong, enthusiastic and super fit, and most of all down to earth and easy to relate to. Her classes were the most popular ones at the gym. Unfortunately she doesn’t work there anymore, and I know a lot of people miss her.
Yes and no.
The body she /wants/ isn’t always one attainable with hard work. I may want the body of a ballerina but unless I can grow taller and find narrower hips and get a significant reduction on my breasts, no amount of hard work will give it to me!
Now…if what she means is, don’t go to a trainer who doesn’t practice what they preach, that I can get behind. The fitness forums throw this one out semi-regularly, would you go to a trainer who can’t do the exercises along with you, who is morbidly obese, etc? Some people say yes, because you don’t go to a cardiologist for their looks or endurance but their expertise and that trainer could have a lot of expertise. But a lot say no, because as a trainer, you sort of sell your expertise visually.
Now to what you said of no one would take your class…you look strong and fit to me, and like a good “advertisement” for your strength classes. I have no doubt you’d be good at helping me kick my own ass, haha.
I really interpreted this article as don’t go if she does not look the way you want. I like your interpretation better.
Aww, thanks! You are welcome to come try one some time… Grayslake isn’t far from you! 🙂
I didn’t read the article so I make no claims to know what she really meant! It is unfortunately very likely she meant what you said – and that, obviously, is crap. That sounds like a good way to set yourself up to fail and be disappointed. Also, a good way to lose out on possibly great teachers. I just wanted to point out that sometimes being visually off putting is something to think about – I mean, I wouldn’t trust someone who never ran to design a marathon training plan for me, yknow? So why trust someone who clearly doesn’t do strength work to design a strength class for me? You may not be the classic bodybuilder (and here’s the other side of the coin – if you were – I’d probably be way too intimidated to take your class) but you look strong, healthy and fit and like you actually know what you’re talking about.
I wish I wasn’t so shy. I really should do it one day. Actually I want to do something other than just run right now – I LOVE running, obviously, but I didn’t do anything other than elliptical and walk for XT during this cycle because I didn’t want to start something new while training for a big race.
Yeah, it could potentially make you miss out on some great teachers!
And I get what you are saying, too. You have to walk the walk/talk the talk / practice what you preach, for sure 🙂 And thank you for your nice compliments!
Aww, come on! You’ve met me! And you have so much fun with that mom running group you joined! Strength would be SOOOOO good for you! We have lots of spots in the Friday 5:00 am class. That one is not even super social since everyone is all zzzzzzzzz until a few minutes in to the workout!
I really hate that highlighted sentence.
My current personal trainer looks very “normal” – she is fit and strong, but you wouldn’t look at her and say “oh she’s clearly a fitness professional” or “look how amazing her abs are.” I personally LOVE getting trained by someone who I think has a reasonable / rational outlook on fitness. For many of us, we’re not going to look like Gwyneth or Tracy Anderson unless we stop eating all carbs, dairy, and sugar, and quit our jobs so we can spend 4 hours a day eliminating all traces of body fat from ourselves. I feel MORE comfortable working out with someone who is healthy and smart and strong instead of the more stereotypical “gym rat” body which I will just never, ever have and never want to put in the effort to get 🙂
I think it varies. I want to take classes and learn from someone who looks fir and healthy, but that’s about it. I think you limit yourself too much if you want every trainer to have the “perfect” body. I want someone healthy and knowledgeable. They don’t necessarily have to be tiny!
I can understand it but I also want a trainer who motivates me and isn’t intimidating, who pushes me but also encourages. I think the personality is more important. And that they’re following their own advice, whether that means a “perfect” body or not (an imperfect body is actually less intimidating).
In all honesty, I felt this pressure when I was teaching group fitness. I felt like I had to “look the part” at all times. But I was young and stupid. lol.
Now I look for someone who is knowledgeable and encouraging and supportive and strong. I could care less what they look like!
What kind of classes did you teach? 🙂 Since I have started teaching, I have felt it a bit… which is odd for me, cause I want to be healthy, but I am not one AT ALL to think about how I look!
I once took a cardio kickboxing class with this instructor who was RIPPED. Oh, man, it was a little bit scary. But then she told us that she was working really, really hard to be in a fitness competition and that no way should any of us expect to look like her. Like Heather said, I want someone who can do the exercises with good form and can give me advice on what I need to do differently, but I know I’m not going to look like someone who has no hips 🙂
I can see why someone would feel that way about a trainer, but then again, all the trainers and GF instructions whose bodies I envy seem to have a disordered relationship with food! Or, at the very least, they are picky in a way that I don’t want to be because they prioritize body shape over certain foods (or lack thereof)! And then I think it’s misleading because a client might not realize that to have this very ripped/cut look, you have to eat in a specific way! Ugh, I’m so over it. The end.
[Blergh, on an semi-related note, some Uber driver last week asked me, unsolicited, if I was trying to lose weight when I told him I was on the way to meet up with a running group. “You know,” he said, “because it’s all about what you eat.” Like, WTF, dude?!?]
Yeah. Exactly all that. A while ago I wrote a post about how I will never have a 6-pack or whatever cause I just DON’T want to care about food that much. It makes me fricking nuerotic! And… some people are more naturally inclined to look that way. Just. Ugh. Blah. ha ha.
Oh gosh. What did you say to that?!