Personal trainers at the gym

[Kungfu boy]

Hey Ya'll,

I was at the gym today and one of the pt's came up to me. We chatted a bit and I told him that I had a match(kickboxing bout) coming up in like 5-6 months. Then he burst into the sales pitch.

PT: "Oh I can get you ready for a fight man, no problem." And I was like

Me: "So you train MA and have had vale tudo matches before?"

PT: Uh well no, not really but I can get you some more muscle mass going."

Then he went into the areas he thought he could help me in. Like my abs, UPPER AND LOWER pecs, etc.

*WARNING*(Flashing red siren!)

Me: I actually am trying to get kinda leaner. Besides I don't lift anymore, I work for UPS, its 3-4hrs a night manual labor.(I unload the trucks, most packages weigh in the 35-70 range) I just work my cardio and technique here mostly.

He started to rattle off who he was certified under, lotsa initials. I wasn't really listening, but I never heard him utter KFO, so I just told him I couldn't afford persnal training.

Made him mildly ****ed because I wasn't gonna hand over some money to the guy. I didn't have the heart to tell him all the crap he told me was just that....crap.

Oh well, my rant is done.....

Later guys and gals

[ged]

how dare you not give him your money :|

myself, i just joined at a gym... its amazing how much more work i get done when i know i can barely afford the **** place. some trainer was full of helpful advice too. i asked him if swimming was good for burning fat, he told me that it was good for toning and cardio, and that's it. nice guy though :) he does karate.

[IronFist]

Most of them don't know what they're talking about.

IronFist

[Serpent]

Is there a standard of qualification to be a PT?

[Kungfu boy]

Ged, those karate guys are great aren't they?

Ironfist, I figured they didn't know what they're talking about. My knowledge of exercise and etc. has grown immensely since frequenting this forum.

Serpent, hey dude there are alot of organizations in which you can be certified under. Some more presentable then others but they all teach the same stuff.

Personally, I would like to get certified. It would be a good job to have for me, I just need to find where to go, what classes to take etc. But I will train my people with the KFO TRUTH! Muwahahaha

Maybe I could go in to there right now and say I'm KFO certified... see what they say. hahaha

"Oh yeah, who was your instructor?"

"Ironfist!"

[IronFist]

Originally posted by Serpent
Is there a standard of qualification to be a PT?

No. But there's a bunch of different companies or whatever that make you take a test. I mean, the tests make you demonstrate basic knowledge, such as "lifting weights is a form of exercise." But for the most part they're pretty basic.

T/F: Bench press primarily stresses the quads.

A lot of the questions could be argued either way:

T/F: Military presses should always be performed behind the neck.

So in this case, find out what the organization giving the test thinks is the right answer, and answer it that way.

btw, the answer to that question is most always false, but still.

They charge varying fees, too. I got certified under a less widely known group because it was the cheapest and to work at my University gym I needed a Personal Trainer certification, but it didn't matter which one. However, I had to do more stuff than most people do... I had to buy 2 books, take a test, make a video, write 6 essays, and interview two trainers. Most companies, even the more respected ones, only make you take a test and attend a weekend seminar.

But for the most part, I knew everything I had to know for the test before I even bought the books or ordered the certification package.

IronFist

[Serpent]

Bizarre. Just like so many other certifications it seems rather arbitrary.

[Suntzu]

Iron Fist
If u don’t mind me asking… who did u use??? I just did a quick search and it is quite expensive...

any comments on them (http://www.nestacertified.com/)

[IronFist]

suntzu, that's the company i used. I do like the fact that you have to make a video with them... at least then it demonstrates that you can do certain exercises properly.

IronFist

[Brian_CA]

While in the states there is no standard certification, there are certain ones that are industry standard. This simply allows the fitness professional to work national in the fitness industry. For instance A.C.E is one of the bigger national certification. Quite a low end certification but national recognized in most of the fifty states.

I will definitely agree that most PTs do not know what they are talking about. Many simply learn enough to pass the test. There is also a high turn over rate for PTs (at least in CA). Many don't realize in order to make money in the business, you have to quite knowledgeable in fitness.

hope this helps,

Brian
San Francisco, CA