10 Things to check when hiring a Personal Trainer

woman at starting line - runningMany people ask me about working with me as a Personal Trainer. However, with my career having successfully progressed into Performance Coaching and professional speaking I no longer offer this service.

I still do my best to offer people direction and guidance regarding choosing a (good) personal trainer. Below are some of the questions and things I advise you check when hiring a PT to make sure that you’re going to get looked after in the way you want and get the results you’re looking for.

  • Make sure the trainer is qualified and that they have a recognized qualification in the industry. Although this is not the most important thing about a personal trainer, their credibility is. Ensure they have at least done a course in Personal Training otherwise they won’t know what they are doing.
  • Check their success stories, don’t just check before and after photos, check any case studies or written video testimonials that they have. If a personal trainer is good their clients will want to shout their names and will be great advocates for them, maybe ask if you could get in touch with one of their clients to ask some questions. If he or she is good, the client will tell you so.
  • Make sure the trainer is interested in your goal and not just taking your money. Be very clear about your goals and what you want to achieve and make sure that you communicate this to your trainer from day one, otherwise you will just be training with them for the sake of training. Every session should be targeted towards reaching your ultimate goals, whether they are 3 month, 6 month or 1 year goals. Ensure you both know what you are working towards otherwise you won’t know what you are aiming for. Clarity is POWER!
  • Make sure your trainer measures you; you need to be measured, whether it is your fitness, your strength, your flexibility or your body fat, in order to measure your progress and identify if you have grown! Measuring is important, whether it is measuring a marketing campaign, a business’s growth or the improved results of an individual athlete. By measuring you can identify improvements in performance. Whether you measure your revenue or whether you have a yearly appraisal, or as an athlete measuring results to increase performance.
  • Make sure your trainer holds you accountable. It is all good having a trainer in the gym, once, twice or three times a week, but if they don’t check up on you and make sure that you have done your ‘homework’, then you’re creating room for failure. A large part of your time out of the gym is where you are going to get the results because you are only in the gym for say 3 or 4 hours out of your entire week.
  • Make sure your trainer gives you nutritional coaching, guidance and support because 20% – 30% of getting results is exercise and 80% is nutrition, you are what you eat! Without healthy nutrition you will not get the results you want; it really does come down to that. Make sure that your new trainer is going to be on your case about what you eat, holding you accountable, giving you meal suggestions, giving you a nutrition plan, educating you, and also motivating and inspiring you to eat better.

I hope this checklist helps you find the Personal Trainer and Extraordinary accountability coach that you deserve!

For a free personal coaching session to help you bridge the gap from where you are now to where you want to be, email [email protected]

Yours in health and happiness – JP

About the author

I'm Jean-Pierre De Villiers, otherwise known as the 'Reshape Coach'. I am fanatical about fitness and all the things that come with it, most importantly optimum health and happiness. I hope you enjoy reading my blogs and taking value from what I have to share. Most importantly I hope that you will apply what you learn. The Reshape Coach Blog. . Follow JP on Twitter @ReShapeCoach, facebook
Visa - WeAreTheCity - Pioneer 20 - nominations open
WeAreTech Festival 2024 advert

Upcoming Events

march, 2024

Job Board Banner

Related Posts