How Personal Trainers Differ and How to Hire The Best

So you want to hire someone to help you get fit or take your fitness to the next level? How do you find the right personal trainer for you? Of course at Energy Fitness, personal training studio of over 19 years we want to recommend that you find someone that doesn’t just have a weekend certification. It is after all, your health we are talking about protecting and protecting you from injuries and helping you get the best out of your investment. Not only is it an investment but you don’t want a trainer that does the same workout for everyone of his/her clients or the same exercises ALL the time.

Did you know there are over 300 certifications available for fitness instruction and states don’t have a governing body that requires more stringent qualifications and education of a personal trainer or fitness instructor. Massage therapists unlike personal trainers must be licensed in all but 5 states as of 2014, the states of Kansas, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Vermont and Wyoming. Those states do not require licensing but some local governments may.  Alaska started requiring licensure in 2015.

There are two companies/certifications that are considered the Gold Standard. These are American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM very science related and the one I obtained), National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA for performance based training). These two also require that you have a Bachelors Degree or higher to obtain their certification making you show official transcript as proof. Then the certifying agencies trickle down to other top and common ones in which you can google their abbreviations NSCA, NFPT, NASM, ISSA, NCSF, NESTA. More inexpensive ones are AFTA and ACE.

The top level certifications are going to require the trainer to take and submit more continuing education credits which means they are likely staying abreast of changes, trends and learning new stuff to help you reach your goals. My certifications are listed below if you are reading this and don’t already know me and my background. Of course you can see my bio on the staff page of my website.

Keep in mind that personal trainers come from a variety of backgrounds and fitness experience thus have different philosophies on how to train their clients. Some trainers look like they don’t exercise at all and look bored while training their clients or are too chatty making the clients not be able to focus properly. Some trainers just do the same body building style workouts with their clients having the client sacrifice form over function. Some trainers are chronically late, no show for their clients with no respect for their time or text on their phone during the session. Some trainers just make up the exercises as they go along and don’t write down a thing to track progress.

Then you have those great personal trainers in which fall into the following category which I believe I fall into (tooting my own horn). The best trainers do fitness assessments on their clients often and continually check in especially when it’s time to switch programs every 6-8 weeks.

Ninety-nine percent of the time I have client’s do a functional movement screen, ask them fitness history and health history questions via paperwork and conversation. I also assess different biomarkers like heart rate, blood pressure, pictures against a posture grid, body fat, girth measurements, flexibility assessment, push up test unless client has shoulder issues and  of course goal setting. I pick the program then have clients do twisting and bending exercises and base their program from where their body is now to where I want to lead them. The best trainers also correct clients form and strike the balance between heavy weights and realizing that’s it too heavy causing the client to end up adjusting the body however necessary to get the movement done with the possibility of hurting themselves. I have to watch clients closely and monitor my desire for them to get results with the desire for them to just move their body and do it correctly and with precision.

If you are ready to let us be your personal or nutrition coach, just give us a ring, text or email today.

You can get an onsite or virtual assessment (via zoom or google duo) so we can access the quality of your body’s movement and discuss your goals. We have streamlined our custom take out fitness programs in a way our clients really like and come back for more. How? We assess them, ask what equipment is available if any, write program for them, send via email or text along with a short 5-10 minute video demonstration of the 2 programs. Interested in this? Call or text to see how we can help you 901-466-6242.

Call, text or email us to get started Personal Training or utilize our Massage Therapy Services today! 901-466-6242 or energymemphis@gmail.com

CLICK HERE IF YOU WANT A VIRTUAL FREE FITNESS CONSULT OR IF YOU ARE READY TO MEET ONSITE FOR OUR PERSONAL TRAINING OR NUTRITION or GIVE US A TEXT OR CALL AT 901-466-6242